And her name is…

It’s been three days and I haven’t made camp for more than a night. I almost lost my horse yesterday to another of those large bear like creatures, but we managed to lose it up a hill. The horse, that I’ve started calling Cliff after he almost tossed me off one, hates me. I’m about ready to set it free and let it fend for itself. It doesn’t like staying still when I mount, and I’ve woken up with a shit far to close to me to be an accident.

I’ve just found a small lake surrounded by trees in a little valley, and I need a rest. Cliff has been my guide to the foods I can eat, and what he doesn’t eat I don’t. My legs hit the ground with a wobble and, after riding all morning after a short food and water break after breaking camp, I’m not surprised. Cliff goes right to the water and I’m glad it’s safe. I haven’t been able to enjoy the fresh air outside of the cells with the smell of myself in two layers of tunics and this may be my only chance to clean up for a while.

I carefully undo the straps of the armour and pull it off my shoulders. My spine immediately gets straighter. It must be heavier than I realized in the moment and I’m not looking forward to putting it back on, ever. I flop onto the ground beside the water, kicking my feet up.

“I bet you they’re blistered and bleeding,” I tell Cliff, but he just moves farther away from me. “Maybe I’ll leave you here!” I call after him.

I start to take my shoes off but the pain is immediate. This morning when I dismounted for our break the stupid horse was standing in some rough rocks and I slipped. I had assumed I twisted it, but it feels worse than that.

I can’t take this boot off yet. I need firewood to dry my clothes and warm up near, extra wood for a possible splint, and something to help me tear an arm of the tunic to make a wrap.

I stand up and dry my hands on my pants. “Well, you hold down the fort, I’ll gather enough to make temporary camp.”

I begin retying my shoes tightly and then start adjusting my shirts. Pulling the first tunic up around my chest I pull the shirts down straight one at a time beneath it.

A sudden *thump* on my back has me stumbling forward, but a second strike hits the base of my skull, knocking me enough off balance to fall into a tree.

Stay awake. I need to stay awake.

My heart is racing again.

How did they find me? I was so careful, and strategic.

I’m going to die, or they’ll make me wish I could.

I hear feet jump down from somewhere in the trees behind me and beside me. I had drained plants on my way in to give me some warning to anything coming, and now I can hear their boots stomping on the dried leaves. I can’t let them take me and I blink feverishly trying to clear the dark spots in my eyes. The knife in my boot isn’t going to be incredibly helpful if I cant see them, but when they’re close enough I’ll be able to feel their energy signatures enough to know where to strike out.

“Back the fuck up!” I yell. “You’ll never get me back….” I pause because I can feel them now and can’t believe what I’m feeling. “You aren’t my guards… Who are you!?”

“Calm down, we’re not going to hurt you,” I rough voice declares and I turn toward him, blinking more.

“The day I believe the words of any Sioga is the day I deserve what I get,” I spit, as my eyes start to clear. “Cliff!” I turn quickly around and the stupid horse is gone. “I hope the bigger than bears get you!” I yell after it, wherever it’s gone.

“So itwasyou to set the gumberoo on King Kheliq,” one of them laughs and I turn to see a big man with light brown hair.

I can’t reply. I’m trapped against a tree with a lake at my side and three men coming at me. My heart picks up to another pace when a forth man comes over on horseback.

“Fuck it. Never without a fight.”

I lunge at the first two nearest me, slashing with the blade and catching both as I try to drain their energy. I feel like I could win, like if I can just get one their horses I could pick up where I left off in losing them. The fourth member of their party mutters two words and I find my legs feel like they’re pulling me through quicksand. I’m heading down, slowly lowering myself as I fail to pull my feet up with each step until I’m walking on my knees and then falling onto my hands to lay down in some dried grass.

“SleepTheodosine,” was all he needed to say.

—

I gasp loudly, dreaming of my last moments by the lake, and waking up in a big bed dressed in dark purple silk sheets and comforters. I’m laying on top, fully dressed in all my clothes, with six people arguing in the corner by the door opening into a hallway. All four from the lake are present, plus two additional Sioga that I’ve never seen before.

The sun is still up outside the window, but it’s much lower so I’ve been out for a while. The colour scheme carries through the room and the dress of the people looks nothing like what I saw while leaving the Sun Rise Court. It’s easy to gather I’m not back in the same house or under the thumb of the same people, but he knew my name, and that limits how far from Kheliq’s control I can be. A quick check on my person and I’ve been disarmed.

Never without a fight.

“Well the cell might be nicer, but aren’t you worried about getting blood out of silk,” I call out, catching all of their attention as I sit up.

“Excuse me?” It’s a woman who replies first, and she adjusts a large pair of circular glasses over brown eyes.

Her complexion if almost pink in hue and her features are round, almost like a child, making her look constantly curious. She’s petit, and wears a one piece outfit, pants and shirt all attached together, in a dark green colour with wide legs. Everything all together makes her look very young, but her eyes look like they’ve seen centuries, and her hands say she is never without work.

“Only nineteen people in the whole world know my name, and he used it,” I point to the man I had seen on horseback. “Either you work for Kheliq, or you’re trying to get his favour, but Iwon’tbe going back their alive.”

Someone spits and the woman hits him. “Tiago, do not spit on the floor! How barbaric.”

“She’s the one that thinks we’d be in leagues with that piece of…” His voice is the gruff one from the lake, but he’s interrupted by the one that was on the horse.

“Play nice,” he says softly and the man calms down.

“It’s not fair you using your affinity like that,” Tiago mutters.

His shoulders are broad and he looks like he could pull the plough better than the cow back home. His hair is a dirty light brown colour and I start to realize that the bright colours are more common among the noble families, almost like they breed to keep the rainbow going. He is obviously not from one of those with how he spat on the floor and the state of his worn hands. His eyes are a piercing green and I stare at him as he stares back.

I turn my body while maintains eye contact, but as my un-booted foot touches the ground I shrieked in pain and pulled it back up into the bed. The woman doesn’t hesitate, running over to me to examine the appendage and I’m too stunned to move away.

“Nyx, stop! Ugh,” someone groans, but I can’t look away from the woman to see which one was speaking. “You know she cut two of us before Ignacio calmed her down.”

“Ignacio?” I repeat, watching the woman with wide eyes as she gently pulls my sock free and reveals the very, very purple foot with a gasp.

“You’ve heard of me?” The man replies valiantly.

“Not a word,” I rebut, hoping my response takes him down a peg but if it doesn’t I’m sure Tiago’s laughter will.