In Dreams I Lie

Chapter Eight: Whisps in the Woods

I lie on my bed waiting. I am sure with all of myself that they will come for me tonight. It is a simple thing to figure out, really. Today it was impossible for the guards to keep track of every single suitor that entered the grounds, giving any intelligent spy a golden opportunity to slip in unnoticed. Am I certain that they are good spies? No. But for the North to survive so long and have the knowledge to kidnap the Eastern Princess from a castle famous for it's traps and hidden chambers? They have to have some talent. I of course, am better, but they don't need to know that. Today was the perfect entry point, but by now they will be aware that our spies are onto them, promoted mostly by the obscene amount of guards posted by the side of my sister and I. So tomorrow will be a nightmare to try and pull off. That leaves tonight, before my kingdom can fully recuperate. If they truly do have spies here, then they know that I'm up here alone. Elementary. Both Koen and Ammon should realize that I am a good spy. Ah well. Their loss.

I fix my cloths and lie down on my bed. Time to wait. My corset has been tightened, shallow breaths allow me to fall into a light daze befitting of a lady. The sun sets, darkness falls into my room from the curtains. I have kept no candles burning. I begin to fret. What happens if they do not come tonight? What if the have taken Sansori instead of me? No. I will not bare the thought, I will not let it bounce around the emptiness of my head. Seconds blur into minutes as minutes blur into unidentifiable stretched of time. My lids grow heavy. Sansori had not yet come upstairs. Hmm, Sansori. Hass will most likely find a reason to sleep in her room tonight. Perhaps she will invite him. It's happened before. My eyes close. There is no sound, only gentle floating darkness. Darkness that sways in on itself towards me....

Shit. I shouldn't have let my guard down.

A hand clamps over my mouth, accompanied by a silken voice in my ear, and the cold press of metal against the tender part of my throat. Oh goodie! My kidnapper has finally bothered to show up! I want to chastise him for being so late, but what normal girl would ever do that? None. I open my mouth, or as much as I can without getting a taste of my assailant's probably unwashed hand.

My mouth is shut by force. "I'm warning you, my lady. If you scream I will send your blood running across the floor, followed by your lifeless body. You don't want that, do you?"

I play along and shake my head. The voice was male, with a strange accent. Northern. But even through it I can pick out who it is. The black eyed suitor. Point for me!

He removes his hand from my mouth. Ooo, bad choice Mr. Kidnapper. But then he does something I don't expect. Instead of shoving a rag down my throat like he should, his hand moved the back of my neck. What the hell? For a moment I am puzzled, but then I feel the sting of a needle enter just above one of my vertebrae. The room starts to spin and I am falling down, down through my bed and the floor and to oblivion, just the other side of the valley and the depths of hell.

_______________________

The first item of business when I begin to come around is the throbbing, stabbing feeling in my head. It is like my kidnapper sewed sandbags to it. The next is the cold damp stone beneath me, uneven, and more natural that any palace stone. This, combined with the rushing air and animalistic noised tell me that we are no longer in the castle. I shift my legs, fully expecting the the swish of fabric. None. He must have changed my cloths. Fuck him.

"Rise and shine, Princess!"

I move my hand up to rub my eyes without opening them. "Nurse? Is that you? My head hurts like one of the smiths dropped an anvil on it..." I pretend to grudgingly open my eyes. The boy from before is squatting over me, hands buried deep within the pockets of his leather jacket. I scream, channeling my inner ditz. "Where am I? Who are you?" I try to scuttle back but something catches around my neck and I begin to choke. A rope.

He pulls me back. "Your highness, I would suggest staying in one place. Now I'm going to ask you a few questions. You will answer in simple yes or no's. Do you understand?"

I stare at him unresponsive. Thinking about him handling Sansori like this fills me with rage.

"I asked if you understood, Princess."

My neck is still soar, and my breath has not fully returned, but I speak none the less. "What I am I doing here?"

I didn't see his hand coming until it had already landed on my cheek with a harsh clanging sound. "Answer my question."

My head snaps back. Damn, he hits hard. "Don't you dare hurt me!" I shriek. "The guards will find you!"

He laughs. "No one's going to find us here, Princess. Say you understand."

I shake my head.

Then he's on top of me, crushing my chin in his grip. "If you don't want to talk, there are other ways I can persuade you. Call this being nice."

This is going to be a long rest of my short, miserable life. Tortured for information. At first indignation pervades my body, but then I think of Sansori sitting here, Sansori with this man on top of her, Sansori with the rope around her neck. In a manner of seconds, as his grip tightens, my perspective switches rather rapidly. If this is the way he's going to treat me I might as well show him who I am. "Go fuck yourself, you perverted Asshole." I spit into his face.

His face hardens, and he yanks the rope around my neck, shutting off my air flow. For what must have been thirty seconds or less (air volume divided by a few things, simple mental math really) but what felt like an eternity for my burning lungs and neck, he holds me there. He asks me again if I understand. By this time, as I'm not stupid,  I know I'm going to have to submit. I nod, and he releases the rope. He removes himself from the compromising position atop me and sits back, a placid grin filling his face as he watches me gasp and struggle for air on all fours. Bastard. I bit down hard and clamp my hands to the cave floor to prevent the tide of darkness rising within me from escaping.

When I can breath enough to speak, I turn back to him, eyes burning with hatred. "You pathetic, mewling toddler." I stop myself from going on as Sansori's face blooms in my mind. I can't let them decide to take her when I don't cooperate from pride. He rears to pull the rope again. I lift my hand. "I'll answer. I'll answer, but I hope that each once curses you to a different layer of hell to suffer for all your excruciating, agonizing eternity."