The King's Possession ✔️

EIGHT

Word Count: 2302

My hands are planted firmly on the wooden seat, dampness gathering upon my palms.

The men threw us into the back of an awaiting carriage, locking the door behind us.

I want to cry, to be scared. Instead, I stare at the wall, where a window should be, wondering where we are being taken. The road beneath us is smooth, the first suggestion of wealth. This is a King we head toward, but one neither Marek or I have heard of, and I've lived in this Province my whole life.

But I was sheltered, and being one of the biggest span of territory in the land, the Jade Province is split into territories governed by different people. We have just happened to stumble into a King's.

Marek looks down at his hands, brow furrowed. I wish I could read his mind.

"You hesitated," I find myself saying, thinking back to only an hour before this moment, and the words Marek spoke, their sinister edge still echoing within my mind. I don't want to think too deeply into them, and what that would mean for me. Yet I'm still curious, with everything going on. If Marek has abilities he hasn't disclosed, and he didn't use them to get us out of this...I don't know what I would do.

"Sorry?" he questions absently, shaking himself from a veil of thought.

Shifting uncomfortably on my seat, I wonder if I shouldn't have brought this up. "You could have used your powers but you chose not to."

Marek's jaw tightens, a muscle in his jaw feathering. I shouldn't press this; it's none of my business. But he kidnapped me, and he could have used his powers to give us another chance to get out of here. Instead, my fists still aches, my knuckles beginning to bruise. I had to do something, even if Marek wouldn't.

"You pack quite a punch. I'm impressed," he muses, instead of answering my question. It's a deflection, but I allow him one mercy.

"I was an only child, and my father's in the army. He taught me to fight to keep up with the village boys. They all feared me," I recall, the faintest smile touching my lips at the memory. Father is good, and kind, but much too proud. He would rather teach his only daughter to fight, rather than be home to protect her. I never thought I would need it until now.

Marek shares my smile, an unfamiliar warmth creeping into his eyes. "If they weren't armed, you could have had them all on your own."

"I don't think so," I mutter dismissively. Father taught me how to use my fists, never to wield a weapon. My mind sinfully escapes back to seeing Marek's crossbow last night. "Where do you think they are taking us? I've never heard of the King, but I was isolated my whole life."

"Then expect to be in a forest far from your village. Clearly he has enough power to expend men to protect this part of the border," Marek murmurs, clearly troubled. I shiver, hiking my legs up against my chest. We could quite possibly be being carted to our death right now, or to be sentenced by a King to a life in prison, where I will never see my family again.

"I hate him already, and I haven't even met him," I admit, looking to Marek for some kind of comfort, finding it in his calm expression.

"We should keep quiet. No doubt they can hear us, and we don't need anything getting back to this King anyway. Whoever he is," Marek comments, to which I nod.

So we settle back into our seats, feeling each move and undulation of the carriage, taking us to an unknown location, and an unknown fate.

+++

We must have spent a minimum of an hour in the carriage, before we come to a jarring stop.

Exchanging wary glances with Marek, I listen carefully for hints. Familiar bird song, the whisper of a breeze through tall, dense trees. We are deep within the Jade Province now, which means an escape will fair better for us.