Malisha,
northern borders,
Alishak.
A camp of soldiers; in their midst, a single golden tent stood alone. A maid clumsily approached it, her head bowed, but was immediately halted by a guard.
"I need to see the master," she said, bowing.
"What is it?! He's not seeing any 'visitors' at the moment, so bug off!!"
"What does she want?" Abijah said, stepping out of his tent bare-chested. The maid stared long at his muscular and hairy chest unknowingly; the guard scowled.
"What is it?!" The maid immediately fell face forward.
"Your Highness, we just received news that the Cyrusian princess has escaped."
She stammered.
"WHAT?!! How could this happen? When did this happen?!"
"We just received word of her escape now, my prince." Abijah grunted out loud and quickly rushed to his horse, riding off into the forest. A few men, all clothed in black, quickly followed after him.
"How could this happen!" Abijah thought. Another man in black rode alongside him. He nodded to acknowledge the fellow.
"What are you going to do? Your mother must not learn of this, my prince."
"I know!!!" Abijah barked. "Ethel, I don't need this right now.
If you can't shut up, then just head back and leave me be!!"
Ethel took off her hood; her skin was the color of chocolate, her raven-black hair falling to rest on her shoulders, her grey eyes gleamed.
"Nonsense, Abijah! As your betrothed, it is only natural that I support you without any question. So, I shall stand by you till the very end."
"Whatever!! Do as you like," he said as he angrily rode off faster. Unable to keep up with his pace, she eventually gave up.
Meanwhile, Yvonne and Grace, as she later found out was the girl's name, though reluctantly admitting she was actually the only daughter of the king of Cyrus, stated she was kidnapped by Malishan soldiers. She was still talking when a sudden wave of fear hit Yvonne.
She stopped her horse and looked around carefully. Seeing nothing, they progressed further, but the feeling only got stronger and stronger.
"Hey!" Yvonne called out to Grace.
"Yes?"
"What's the matter, Miss Yvonne??"
"I'm getting a weird feeling here. Let's take another path," Yvonne said.
Grace shook her head. "No, the spirit tells me we should continue on this path, and the spirit, Miss Yvonne, is never wrong!"
Yvonne grunted in frustration.
"Fine, but at least let's move off the main path. Is that okay?"
"Okay." As they continued on, Yvonne still didn't feel at ease; her hand never left her blade, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
"Miss Yvonne?" Grace called.
"What is it, princess?
Are you married?"
she asked, smiling at Yvonne.
Yvonne was about to reply when she caught a glimpse of something shiny coming towards them at the corner of her eyes. Through pure instinct, her blade moved forward to sidetrack the blade thrown towards Grace's horse. She stood up, steadying her weight on her horse and readied her blade.
Grace quickly rode beside Yvonne. "Stay down, Grace," she whispered to her.
Minutes passed, yet nothing happened. Yvonne was about to drop her arm when, out of nowhere, they were suddenly surrounded by people clothed in black on the treetops. One, two, three, four, five, and... Yvonne's eyes caught a man riding towards them at full speed,
a woman also clothed in black trailing behind him. A wave of fear washed over Yvonne again;
"The woman!! She's the one with the evil aura," Yvonne thought. "Grace??"
"Yes, miss?"
"When I tell you to go, you are to run without looking back. Is that clear?!"
"Yes, miss, but what about you? Surely you don't intend on fighting them all on your own?!!"
Yvonne glared at her. "Just do what I tell you, okay?!"
"Alright, but you better not die," Grace said before riding off in another direction.
Yvonne thought deeply on how to distract all of them long enough for Grace to escape;
She drew her knife and threw it at the woman riding alongside the man still charging towards her on a wild horse.
The knife swaved past her, merely slicing the side of her face,
she screamed in pain, distracting everyone except for the man on the wild horse, who came riding right towards her still.
Making sure Grace was out of sight, she immediately mounted her horse and rode the opposite direction of where Grace went, the man still in hot pursuit.
Abijah rode faster and faster into the woods, trying to catch up with either the Cyrusian princess or the thief that helped her escape.
But since it seemed like the princess was long gone, he decided he would capture and torture the thief for information;
either way, he mustn't go back empty handed.
He unsheathes a knife and swings it at the thief's horse, injuring it's hind leg, but the horse didn't stop, it only slowed down.
He climbs on top of his horse - imitating Yvonne's actions - he launches himself at Yvonne's horse, bringing her down with him as they both come tumbling down.
As they land on the floor, he uses the opportunity to climb on top of her. He raises his fist to punch her when he felt a sharp pain at his side, he pauses to see blood stains on his side;
When???
Yvonne kicks him off, intending to mount her horse when she's suddenly pulled back down again, but this time, he knots his hands around her waist and hooks on, not letting go, even as he drifts off into unconsciousness.
She struggles to get free to no avail, his grip was firm and determined,even while unconscious.
She was still struggling when a cold chill sorrounded them, a shiver ran down her spine ;
swallowing hard, she slowly raised her head.....
A giant black, cat-eyed python stood proudly a few feet away,
Her scream was silenced as it rose to it's fullest heights, in a second, it opened it's mouth, swallowing her.
or so it seemed.
_________________ ___________________ She came awake immediately the cold water made contact with her skin,
her body shivered as the cold wind whispered by.
Which could only mean we're officially in Malisha,
she thought.
She felt weak physically,
and somewhat mentally....
Her legs and hands were tied to a chair, obviously,
her coat was gone and she was barefooted,
a blindfold covering her eyes.
She sighed.
Apart from the torture aspect, everything was going according to her plan.
So yeah,
she had known rescuing Grace would result in something like this along the way,
she would be captured - though it didn't go the way she had expected it to - guaranteeing her safe entry into Malisha without having to deal with the border guards.
A sharp knife is used to slowly cut her left arm,
She winces in pain.
Who are you?
someone asked.
Yvonne remained silent;
he slices across her right arm,blood trickled down her arm.
she groaned.
Somewhere in the room, a door opened; someone stepped in.
Has she said anything?
No, hasn't said a damn word!!
He wants to see her, untie her and bring her.
That must be the boss,
she thought.
She braced herself before hard hands hurled her to her feet, leading her out of a room, only to be taken into another, then tied to a chair again.
She took a deep breath, taking in the air around her ;
JUdging by the scent of rotten books and dusty furniture:
This is probably the boss's tent. The cloth covering her eyes were yanked hard off her face,
she winced.
Slowly opening her eyes, her vision gradually adjusting,
Dark golden eyes glared at her ;
Where is the girl?
Abijah asked.
Yvonne smirked.
Wellll, no introductions at all?,
She joked.
His large palms landed a hot slap on her face, sending her head sideways....
Ouch!!
Well, well, you sure know how to treat a lady,
keep that up and the ladies will avoid you like a plague,
She joked again, spitting out blood to the floor.
His veins popped, his jaw tightened as he glared at Yvonne.
He doesn't need any other woman's attention other than mine,
Ethel says.
Yvonne felt her body freeze, the hair on her back rose at alarm
You're lucky my betroth is soft, if it were up to me, i would have slit your throat long ago in your sleep,
Ethel said coldly.
Yvonne flinched.
Well aren't you a sunshine,
Yvonne snickered.
Uhhhh!! Let's just kill her Abijah, she's not going to say anything,
Ethel said in frustration.
He waved her off, sitting back in his chair to study Yvonne closely.
Leave us Ethel, i want to speak with her alone.
Ethel grumbles before angrily storming out of the room,
Abijah continues to study Yvonne who stared back at him.
You're a spy aren't you, from Tyrane, right?? She remained silent, her face neutral.
Abijah chuckled.
Aren't you a bit too young for stuff like this, do you want to get killed at a young age?
Despite all he said, she remained indifferent.
Well i didn't think your king had the intelligence to suspect any hidden agenda's, but, i guess i was wrong...
He said getting up from his seat, making his way to her ; Oh well, either way, i have to kill you. I can't let you live after all this, can i?
She remained still. Or....
he drawled, moving closer to raise her chin :
You could become my mistress, i won't lie, i'm quite fascinated...
He joked, intentionally provoking her, and it worked ....
Something snapped, and he saw it in her eyes,
Predicting her next move, he quickly moved back as she lurched forward ;
NEVER!!!
She said coldly.
I would rather die than become any man's slave.
He stops to look at her, a bit surprised at her outburst, then chuckled.
You fear men, why is that? He said, sitting back in his seat before continuing :
Could it be a childhood trauma caused by an abusive father, or an abusive brother?? No! That can't be it, probably the father.
Calming herself, she remained quite. You're quite confident, what's your name?
She didn't say a word, but this time, she glared at him. He chuckled and stands up,making his way to her, he was about touch her face when he saw the panic in her eyes ;
Yvoone!! My name is Yvonne, now get your disgusting hands away from me!!
He grinned.
Yvonne. That's a really nice name, i like it. I think i might name my first child that, what do you think??
She glared at him but said nothing.
Oh, and one more thing love, don't even think about escaping, cause i know your hands are not bound anymore, unless you want the Cyrusian princess to die.
Grace?!!