The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 13

"Danni what happened to you?" He asks pulling me over to sit on one of the rocks.

"What happened to Mimi? Is she alright?" I say immediately remembering that she was taking too long that night to come back.

"What? Mimi is fine, she has been looking for you!" He says.

"Well, last night Mimi was taking too long and I stepped out of the carriage and heard some noises. Someone put something over my mouth and then when I woke up I was in a camp with some men. My hands and legs tied up and thankfully since they were sleeping I was able to sneak out of the camp" I explain and then I remember the brutal killing I saw Changwei do last night and I shudder.

"What happened after?" He asks, almost impatient.

"I just took off running after I got my legs free," I say.

"So no one hurt you then?" He asks with his eyebrows raised, and I grab my chest at the thought of what he is implying.

"No, if that is all you're worried about, don't be, I was not touched in that way" I say and stand up and start stomping away from him. I wonder if that is why he seemed so upset? Was he just worried some strange men may have touched his woman or done worse to her?

"Wait" He calls out and tries to grab my shoulders to stop me, but I dodge and I turn around to look at him.

"Can we just go back now? I don't want to talk to you now!" I say and he just nods his head and the men take the lead. He walks behind me back through the path in the forest and I don't say anything for the next hour. He doesn't try and talk to me either.

"Let's stop for some water" Changwei calls out and I have to admit I am thirsty, tired, and it is past lunch time at this point, but I don't even want to ask for food. Changwei comes over and hands me the water I take a long swig and hand it back to him without a word.

"Were you on the mountain yesterday then?" He asks.

"Yes, I took off running and thought I should go on high ground and so I made it up the mountain" I say and he hands me a bun, I take it from him because I am hungry.

"That is a relief, we have been looking for you all night" He explains.

"Didn't you think that I ran away?" I say curious to hear his thoughts.

"That thought did cross my mind, but there is not even a town close by here, plus you didn't take any of your belongings. I am also aware that there are many bandits and bad people that come through these parts so that was the more likely cause" He says looking very tired and I almost have some sympathy for him for looking for me that long.

"Did you find the men that took me while looking?" I say cautiously.

"My men did find some men that had taken some women but you weren't there among them. I didn't know for sure if they were the ones but I got rid of them! You don't need to worry" He says.

"By getting rid of them do you mean..." I trail off.

"Yes they are dead now" He says and my eyes go big.

"What? Can you just kill people, anytime, anywhere?" I say and I stand up actually feeling scared.

"Danni calm down, of course we can't just kill people, but we were ordered to kill any traffickers that have been plaguing this area" He explains.

"Then why did you kill that innocent, nice, old man?" I say in an accusatory voice.

"What? What old man?" He asks, looking confused.

"Don't lie to me, I saw you kill that man before I was taken!" I say, raising my voice and the men are now listening to us.

"My Lady, we killed an old man that night because he was a scout for the traffickers. He was targeting the women and was infiltrating the camp and relaying the information back to the traffickers." One of the men explains.