Thrown Through Time

Chapter 20

She was just reaching the last crossroads before the great hall where the celebration was taking place and she glanced down the side street. Still not another living soul in sight and she let out a long sigh. The leather corset was tighter than she was used to and she tugged at the bottom of it, but something felt out of place and she glanced down to find that one of the laces had come untied and was starting to loosen. As she worked to pull it tight again and re-tie it, she heard something and looked up to see that several men were walking towards her. She wasn't sure where they had been hiding, but it was obvious they weren't men from town.

Reaching for her sword, she cursed under her breath when she realized she had left it on the table at her house. She had made a comment that she should get it before joining the celebration, but the women who had helped dress her had complained that it wouldn't go well with the dress.

"Dhurial requests your presence," one of the men said. His sword was already in his hand.

"I'm afraid I'm busy at the moment," she said. She wasn't sure who Dhurial was or why he would want to see her, but she didn't rightly care. "Tell him he'll have to reschedule for another time that's more convenient for me."

"He thought you might say that, and he said to tell you that you have no choice in the matter. You'll be coming with us,"

While he was speaking, she was backing slowly away from him, but she didn't realize that she was backing closer to another man who was standing behind her. The moment she noticed that he was there, she tried to scream, but it was muffled as he yanked a heavy hood over her head. She fought for her life, but with four of them against her and the fact that she was unarmed, they were able to carry her off without much effort.

"Where is she?" Chief Yjorgan boomed. He looked at the small group of women who had helped her dress for the occasion. "She was dressed and ready when you left the house?"

"Yes!" Sabine snapped. "Of course she was dressed!"

"You don't suppose she's changed her mind about coming?"

"Father," Eirik said calmly. "Perhaps she's just nervous."

"I don't care what she is!" his father snapped. "I don't trust her. I think she's going to run. Go get her, right now!"

Eirik let out a sigh. "Father, just because she's a few minutes late doesn't mean she's going to run away. There have been plenty of times where she's had a chance to run and hasn't."

The chief snapped his fingers and two guards stood up. "Go see if you can find her!" he barked.

The crowd was starting to whisper by the time the two guards returned, slamming the door open as they rushed in. "She's not at the house," one of them said.

"Did you check her house, or my house?" Sabine stood up and asked.

"Both!" the other guard said.

"Well, where else could she be!?" the chief demanded, his voice echoing through the hall. "Find her and bring her to me!"

Eirik went running towards her house. He was faster and lighter on his feet than he looked and burst into her house without even breaking a sweat. He found her sword and dirk lying neatly on the table. Nothing in the house was out of place and all of her other belongings were still in the house. If she had left town, she had taken literally nothing with her.

He walked outside and looked around before walking to Sabine's house. She had said that was where they had left Sophie after getting her ready for the celebration. Her brown dress, the one he had just seen her wearing that morning, was draped over a chair near the fireplace and her favorite boots were neatly placed on the floor beside it.