Aslem

Chapter 2, Ride into Capture

I held him tightly and nuzzled my face into his neck. It was summer but I felt oh so cold. A fever perhaps, or quite possibly just a side affect of the traumatizing event that had just taken place, I truly was left with nothing.

I watched the scenery go by. Lush grass untouched my evil human ways, trees growing freely and tall, their bark carved by Mother Nature herself so beautifully, but the leaves. The leaves were my favorite part so full of life and inviting; the way they turned vibrant colors in the fall and then slowly drift away from the branches in the winter reminded me of my currently falling kingdom. The people would always go through phases, four of them exactly, just like the season of the trees. The kingdom would thrive like summer, then everyone's true personality comes out setting them apart from everyone else showing their true color like fall. Then they would sink once again, fights would out break and people started to slum; this reminded me of winter because their true colors drift away. Last but not least, spring, spring was like their up rising when people started to remember what life's truly about again.

"Arlette, are you okay? Is something wrong", I must have loosened my grip slightly while getting lost in my surroundings.

"Yes, Nicolo I'm fine, I was thinking about my kingdom is all"

"Don't do that Arlette, I promise I'll do everything in my power to return your kingdom to safety, but for right now, just stay. Think about us, more importantly think about you. Your birthday is tomorrow don't you remember?"

It's true, I had forgotten all about my birthday. It would be my eighteenth birthday, one week after I would have been wed to Nicolo. We were suppose to be a family, have children and eventually have Nicolo take over my father's noble duties.

"I am much more worried about our cancelled wedding than my birthday. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together; we were going to be a family." I almost couldn't hold back my tears, Nicolo meant a lot to me. Throughout my childhood he was there when nobody else was.

There was a lush forest up ahead; the trees were twisting and intertwining together. It had rained yesterday, but it was summer time so the ground was dry once more yet just damp enough to leave that rich earthy smell.

"I know we were, we still will be. I promise you Arlette, we will have the family we intended maybe just not the life style we intended", Nicolo spoke so calmly like nothing had changed, nothing had happened.

I chose not to respond, to simply trust his judgement and believe in his promises. I didn't intend to bring it up again on this ride, or anything else for that matter. He didn't seem to want to talk either, he was probably just to busy with guiding the horse.

We had been riding for hours by now, five or six would be my guess. We had stopped as little as possible only for necessary bathroom stops and a snack once. The Kingdom of Gallia was coming into view, perhaps 50 miles.  If it wasn't all open plain, we most likely wouldn't have been able to see it.

The Kingdom of Gallia is known for their army. Of course Nicolo would take me there. There is no stronger kingdom than a kingdom known for its army's. A strong kingdom is a safe kingdom; King Doran of Gallia would surely house us safely.

The kingdom was nearing, towering over us now, no more than ten miles. It was so far, yet so close at the same time. I was able to count the windows in the towers now. Fifteen, no sixteen, or was it seventeen? I didn't know and I didn't care, all I cared about at that very moment in time was that I knew we would be safe. Nicolo had kept his promise; he brought me to safety.

The kingdom was close now, so close I felt as if I could reach out and touch the cold, gray bricks. I studied the castle more carefully. I believe it was almost "L" shaped; I counted six towers, one at every corner intersection. They had the ridged top so his high, spot shooter's arrows would have a gap to shoot and right next to them a wall to hide behind. The draw bridges were huge, big enough for a ten horse side-by-side line up at least. Two guards stood next to the bridge entrance one on each side  Their job must be easy; I mean after all, the bridge was the only entrance.

As we a approached the draw bridge, we came to an abrupt stop. The guards flooded towards Nicolo and me. They were yelling something, something to the effect of prisoners?

Prisoner? I was no prisoner, or was it just muffled? Wait, why are they pulling us off the horse. What's going on? I started screaming, but nothing worked. They didn't know who I was.