Cedany's Voice

Sarabeta

The wagon creaked to a stop, waking Cedany from a sound sleep. She sat up slowly but hit something solid in front of her. She was about to moan in complaint  when someone covered her mouth and she bit into his finger causing him to yelp.

"Will you stop that?" Rowan snapped as he quickly withdrew his hand from her face. He was flushed and looked a little disheveled. His face flushed light pink from the wind.

"Why should I?" She asked sitting up. They were in the middle of a darkened forest. Above their head was a canopy of green leaves. A howler was heard from a mile away, its cry hung to the air as it traveled.

"Because I said so." Rowan said untying the horse from the heavy cart and tying it to a skinny tree to rest. He pulled out a wineskin and emptied water into a deep bowl. He was softly whispering to the horse, whispering sweet things and the horse slowly drifted to sleep. Rowan's movements were at ease and he stood in the middle of the encampment for several minutes thinking to himself.

"Rowan..." He turned around and looked at her. His deep brown eyes seemed to look right through her. She felt vulnerable and absolutely alone. He stood with his arms crossed and quickly looked away, busying himself with making a fire.

Cedany had remained quiet, unsure of why she had said his name. She was unaware that Rowan was surprised as well. Deep down, he wanted to hate the girl. She was not like other girls and she just pissed him off. He had been lucky that she had fallen asleep so she would not bother him while they traveled. However, deep down, in the pit of his stomach, it was telling him he could never hate her. It made him scared, he was taught to never listen to his body and now the messages wouldn't leave him alone.

He made the fire, took out a sleeping pad from his pack, and laid it on the ground in front of the fire. He didn't say a word to her.

"If you want, you can sleep on the other side of the fire, Miss Cedany. It's rather cold out." He said then turned his back. Cedany nodded to herself then laid down a pad, which was there, but before lying down, she quickly switched into a pair of pants. While in the woods changing, she heard a twig snapped and she began to get paranoid.

"Rowan?" She whispered thinking maybe he had come back to check on her or to go to the bathroom. There was no reply and Cedany shrugged it off as she began to make her way closer to camp. That is when she saw him. He was no more than four foot two. The little midget snuck from bush to bush making his way closer. That's when he turned and snapped his fingers. Three men came from behind  tall shadow- covered trees, each dressed in all black.

In the pit of her stomach, she felt bile begin to grown and it was making her sick. "Rowan!" She cried as the men snuck into their camp. Before she could say a word, a man slipped up behind her and covered her mouth with his hands.

Like earlier she bit it, this time drawing blood.

"You bitch!" The man hissed and took a swing at her. She ran before he could land it. Nevertheless, the sight before her made her want to run away. The midget had stabbed a knife into the horse's hind leg, he whined in pain and begun to panic, lodging the blade deeper into his hide. Rowan had a dagger drawn fighting off two other men. His face covered in sweat but his eyes never faltered. In Rowan, she saw was rage, not the whimpy boy he came off to be.

"Hey girly... I'm back!" The attacker whispered from behind her. This time he wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her captured in an iron grip. He also placed a blade to her neck.

"Brute, Carne, back off the boyo." The two men fighting Rowan stopped. Both men, Brute and Carne backed away but kept their weapons drawn.

"Sauce!" The attacker yelled and the midget came around from behind the cart, his pockets stuff with her stuff. In his hand was Cedany's  mother's pendant. She screamed at him, frightening the man who dropped the pendant into the mud below his feet. It landed with a plop and Cedany cried.