Captive

Chapter Two

 My head was pounding and as I opened my eyes I could smell a fire. There was also a pain in my ankle and as I rolled it a pain shot past the muscle. I turned my head in the direction of the burning fire, a headache forming. What the hell was going on?

The sky was darkened so I didn’t know long I had been passed out. I lifted a hand to the side of my head, feeling a large cloth band aid over it. I didn’t dare press down on it. I swallowed and tried to push my legs on the ground, only to find them tied together. My eyes narrowed as I lifted myself up on what seemed like a cot. I glanced around slowly, seeing no one around. I reached up and felt my hair which was hiding the royalty mark, not wanting whoever had tied me up to know who I was. If they were from my land they would recognize me, and if they weren’t, they shouldn’t know me at all. The name, yes, but by the way I look? No.

I slid my hand to my pants, lifting them up to where my dagger was, quickly slipping it from the sheath. I ran the blade through the rope, watching it fall apart. I quickly got up from the cot, moving slowly as my head spun. My dagger was in my hand, ready for if I needed to swipe it at anyone. I glanced around as I moved forward, studying the tent pegged into the ground, a chair on the outside of it, but that was about it.

There was clattering as I stepped in a huge pile of metal pots and pans, the stack falling over. “Shit!” I hissed. I was mad at myself for not watching where I was going.

“Hey!” The voice was harsh and I didn’t want to stick around to see who it belonged to. I quickly lunged forward towards the line of trees that surrounded the small camp. “Hey!” I heard the voice right behind me and now I really darted into a run, but my head was going crazy as I stumbled forward, at least making it into the trees. I was being clumsy and wasn’t moving as quietly as I normally might have been able to.

I screamed as something wrapped around my legs and I tumbled towards the ground, smacking right into it. “Where do you think you’re going?” The growl rumbled in my ear as I gritted my teeth. Thank God I hadn't stabbed myself as I fell. I bent my elbow slowly, trying not to cause any attention to my movement. I quickly forced my arm backwards, trying to jab the dagger at whoever had me held down. I felt it make contact to something and let go of the handle, trying to move out of reach.

“You bitch!” The voice was definitely male. He let up on my just enough that I wiggled free and moved forward once again. I screamed loudly, praying for someone to hear me. We couldn’t be far off from the castle. I had only gotten about a quarter of a mile away from it when I got lifted into the air by that trap.

I couldn’t see where I was going, but I was trying my best. I let out another screech, this time my voice high pitched, trying to get enough volume for someone to hear. I grunted as I was flung into the air once again, but this time I was flung over someone shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I screamed again, only to have a large hand cover my mouth, muffling my struggles. I kicked my legs, but whoever it was just let my feet pound into his back as he kept his hand clamped tightly over my jaw to the point where tears started to seep out of my eyes.

So I did the next best thing I could think of, I bit down on his hand as hard as I could and he brought it away from my mouth with a groan. “You stupid bitch!” He snarled and I screamed once more only to have his hand wrap once more across my mouth, this time he was careful to where he placed it because as I tried to bite down again I never could get a good hold on his hand. He slumped my body up so my stomach landed forcefully on his shoulder and I let out a whimper, though it was muffled. At this point I was starting to panic and tears were streaming down my cheeks.

I was dropped to the ground with a thud and the light from the fire was around us once more. I tried to crawl away only to have his hands reach into my hair and tug me back as another whimper escaped my lips. I tried to kick him but he just yanked my head back more and I cried out. He let go of my hair and I let my body collapse to the ground, breathing heavily. “Stupid little brat. Should have checked you for weapons.” He muttered as he grabbed my legs and wrapped something cold around them. It felt like metal, and he pulled it too tightly, causing my ankles to hurt. I tried to pull my arms away from him, but he just help onto them tightly as he wrapped the cold chains around my wrists tightly.

“Please…” I breathed out as I looked up to the man, shadows flickering off of him from the fire. I’m sure I was looking beat up and bruised, but there was blood staining his white shirt just below his shoulder where I’m sure I had caught him with my dagger. His hair was tangled and shaggy, thick and dark in color. His eyes bore down on me, an unnatural electric blue color. His eyebrows were thick and his facial structure was square. He stood up, grabbing me and pulling him up with me. I stood almost a foot lower than him as he tugged me towards the tent.

“Where are you from?” His voice was force and gruff as he pushed me into the tent. I couldn’t move my legs so I just fell into a pile of blankets, quickly rolling onto my back to look at him. He was obviously toned, I could tell that for sure so I didn’t stand a chance of getting away if he tackled me down again, even if my head wasn’t spinning. “Where are you from?” He asked again, but my vision was starting to blur over. There was a sudden weight on me and my eyes widened as he shook me. “I asked you a question! Where are you from?”

“D-Dane.” I mumbled, closing my eyes only to be shaken again.

“Dane?” I heard as I stared blankly up at him.

“Yes…” I whispered, lifting my head up a little, trying to shake the pain away.

“Who are you?” I heard as my head fell back onto the blankets. There was another violent shaking and I tried to concentrate on the man.

“Nobody.” I lied, my lips feeling chapped.

“What is your name?” I took in a slow breath, my vision starting to smear again. I had to come up with anything but my own name. But I was having a hard time concentrating, so I just croaked out, turning my head to the side. “Listen to me, what is your name?”

“I don’t know…” I breathed out, my eyes narrowing. I felt one of his hands released my shoulder as he lifted it up and pressed it where my head hurt the most. He pressed down on it and I cried out, my head thrashing away from his hand.

“Shh, it’s okay.” His voice softened a little and I closed my eyes tightly, biting down on my lip. He pulled and my hair was getting tugged on and before I knew it there was air pressing to my head. “I don’t want your head to get worse.” His hands left my body completely and when I opened my eyes, he was leaving the tent. But there was absolutely no way I could escape.

I waited, the only thing that I could hear was light clunking and the crackling of the fire. I tried to pull my hands out of the cuffs he had made, but my skin only cut into them, making me cringe.

“Don’t do that.” I heard as I tried once more. I breathed carefully, letting my eyes follow each sudden movement he made. He was carrying something but I couldn’t tell what it was. He moved down beside me, pushing something to the side of my head. I closed my eyes, expecting it to be painful, but it wasn’t. It was just hot water dripping along my scalp, cleaning the wound. My hair was crusting together in a clump so I knew that it was a laceration along my head. It made me worried. But the man pulled my hair to the side, applying the water carefully with a soft material.

He was applying a new cloth bandage to my head now, his fingers light and gentle. I took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing pulsing through my temple. I winced, snapping my head away from his hands, but he just growled, his fingers gripping my head harder now. “Stop it. I’m trying to get the bandage on.” I heard him snap as I struggled, lifting my arms up a little as I tried to push his arms away, but it didn’t work, he just used one of his hands to push mine away.

Once the bandage was on he pushed me further down into the blankets and leaned over me so his eyes were connected with mine. “What is your name?”

“I don’t know.” I lied, staring up at his eyes which again were getting blurry. His fingers moved to the bandage as he let out a sigh.

“Are you lying to me or is your head so fucked up that you don’t even know what is going on?”

“What?” I asked, feeling confused. He let out a gruff snarl as his hands moved to my shoulders before into my hair and I turned my head away as he tugged on it. Then suddenly his fingers were sweeping quickly at my left side, pushing my hair away.

“The royal mark?”

And that were the last words I heard before my vision blurred completely and I was enveloped in a blank black world.