The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 9The Band of Bandits

Remember when I told you about that band of bandits that Conrad heavily encouraged Gerold and Cecila to form? The one where they granted murderers and other criminals freedom from prison if they swore a blood oath of loyalty to the crown? Remember how I said they were going to be very important later in the story? Well, later in the story has come.

Geneieve continued to struggle against the man on the horse long after she saw Conrad dead on the ground. She would kick and elbow at every chance she got. Finally, nearly three miles away from the castle deep in the forest, the mysterious man let her down. "Okay, okay, enough. Stop kicking me god dammit. At this point you've almost inflicted as much pain as the frickin' Almorian army", he barked at her, as he dropped her to the ground.

Genevieve just stared at him. She didn't even know what to say at this point. The craziness of the past day hitting her all at once. Cassius was dead. Lief was dead. Conrad was dead. The world around her began to spin, her breath quickening. Within moments, she was on the ground; passed out, likely her brains way of giving her time to process all that had happened.

The man let out a groan as he looked at her unconscious body lying on the ground. "Figures. When I want you to sit still, you kick me for three miles. When I want you to move, you faint", he mumbled to himself. Once again lifting her body onto the horse, then continuing to ride further into the surrounding forest.

Genevieve was out for nearly twelve hours. When she woke, she was nearly able to convince herself that the last few days had all been just another of her nightmares. That was until she finally noticed her surroundings. She was not in the castle, not laying in her comfortable bed. She was on the ground, a flat twig mat beneath her, with a canvas tent covering her body. It took her a moment to notice there was another in the tent. A woman. She sat up quickly backing into the corner furtherest away from the woman she did not know.

She took the woman in. She was about two feet taller than Genevieve with shoulder length brunette hair, blue cloth and beads intertwined into the braids that were spread throughout her hair. She appeared human, not having a giants or dwarve's size and lacking elven pointy ears. With tanned skin and a fit figure she was beautiful, but she also exuded an air of danger. The woman finally looked up from the pants she had been mending in her lap. She made eye contract and cracked a small smile, "Ah, I won't lie we had begun to worry that you had been cursed by a mage or poisoned. You've been asleep for nearly half a day, sleeping so deeply we would have thought you to be dead had it not been for being able to see you chest rise and fall as you breathed."

Genevieve did not return the smile, nor make any moves towards the woman. "Where am I? Who are you?", she asked sharply.

The women smirked. "Well those aren't very princess-like manners. I am Alice and you are in the Forest of Maeve. We laid camp here after Ohamed accompanied Conrad to the castle to search for you."

Genevieve took a moment to digest this new information. She knew much about the Forest of Maeve, while only having visited it herself a few times she had spent hours reading about it's rich history in books with Addy and studying maps. After fully working out the where, she mentally circled back around to the who. She studied Alice again, she looked slightly familiar but Geneieve couldn't place from where.

"Is Ohamed that brute that manhandled me on the horse?" She asked, doing her best to keep her voice from trembling.

The woman, Alice, let out a chuckle. "I don't expect he would like being called a brute, but yes that was Ohamed. He's never exactly been good with the ladies. But I'll have you know you did manage to give him some bruises. He's done nothing but whine about them since he arrived with you."

Genevieve wouldn't let it show, but the thought of the man having some bruises from her efforts did give her a small amount of satisfaction. That satisfaction faded quickly though, as she once again remembered the situation that she was in.