Spellbound

Chapter Twelve

           

Syaoran returned a little later than expected that night. Sakura was in bed when he entered, though she wasn't yet asleep.
She looked over as he set his things on the table and held her pillow to her chest as she sat up.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Sorry-it took a while to sort things out. I didn't think it would take so long." He murmured.
"Did something go wrong?" she asked.
"Yes, you could say that." He sighed. "The prisoner we were supposed to be talking to killed himself."
"I see." She murmured.
"Here," Syaoran walked over to her and handed her a small jar. "I wasn't entirely sure what to get you." He confessed.
She smiled, "Thank you."
He returned her smile and then moved to get undressed before slipping in beside her. Then, after dousing the lights, they eventually fell asleep.

...

Sakura felt incredibly relaxed once she was back working in the medical tent. As weird as it sounded, it was a place of comfort. She rushed about, filling in orders for medicine and helping tend to patients. The end of the day came fast, and she fell asleep quickly that night, waking in the morning to assist with packing up camp.

...

After a few days of travelling, they set up camp by a small lake. Sakura assisted the medical team as per usual and was making her way back to her tent went she spotted several prisoners being led into the black tent. Syaoran was speaking with one of the soldiers outside the tent and soon headed into the tent.

She bit her lip.

She knew she wasn't allowed to go near the tent, but curiosity got the better of her. She made her way around the back, making sure she wasn't spotted, and crouched low.
A shout of pain sounded, and Sakura clenched her fists in the skirts of her dress.
"She still won't talk. The barriers in her mind are strong as well."
Syaoran sighed. "Keep trying. We need to know why they want Sakura."
"Well, we're confident she knows something."
"Good."
Sakura bit her lip. What could they know?
There was another whimper of pain.
"Don't hold back." Syaoran ordered.
"Yes, sir."

Something rustled nearby, and Sakura looked up, seeing a rabbit run into the bushes. She swallowed. For a moment she thought she'd been caught.

"Why are you after Sakura?" Syaoran asked. "You won't be killed if you give us the information we want."
A low laugh sounded. It wasn't from the woman they seemed to be interrogating, but rather a man.
"You're wasting your time. She won't talk-not about that girl, anyway."
"You're familiar with Sakura?" Syaoran murmured.

Sakura felt she remembered that voice from somewhere but couldn't remember who it belonged to. She had been beaten and abused by many in her time held captive, some she remembered more than others.

"You could say that," the prisoner replied. "That girl is just a tool for us all to use."
"Interesting you should say that when you're the one who wanted her off your hands. Very interesting indeed." Syaoran murmured.

Sakura recognised the voice now. It was the leader of her former village.

"Keep working on her."
"Yes sir."

There were more whimpers of pain and Sakura flinched, remembering her own experiences of being tortured, but she hardly felt any sympathy for those in the tent.

"Trying to break into her mind is taking too long. Its been days. I don't really want to resort to this, but they are married..." Syaoran sighed.
"You think it'll work?" The soldier asked.
"We should try."

She heard them shifting around and she wondered what they were about to do. If it wasn't anything to do with sexual assault, she didn't care what methods of torture they used. As far as she was concerned, they deserved whatever they got.