by Nicole René
Xavier shot out of his chair so fast it toppled over. Tristan quickly held out his arm to keep his brother from attacking.
“Just what do you think will happen if we’re not able to hold them back?” Tyronian asked Yoro calmly, glancing between the Asori chief and his own.
“They will not simply walk away. They will come after you.”
Xavier shrugged Tristan’s arms off him with an angry jerk of his shoulders.
“The Asori have no reason to go into battle and attack an army that might not even be a threat,” Yoro said firmly. “We haven’t been to war in years, and I will not blindly lead my men into battle without the right cause.”
Xavier scoffed, his fists clenched with his anger at the naiveté of Yoro.
“Yoro,” Tyronian began, barely able to keep the steel out of his voice. “You are placing your men, women and children in danger by not acknowledging this threat.”
Yoro turned his attention from Xavier to give Tyronian a cold look. “It is your job to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“You fool!” Xavier yelled. He got some satisfaction when Yoro jerked at his raised voice.
“We have been protecting your tribe and the others for years, and now that we call upon you, you cower away? You are a coward!” Xavier hissed out between clenched teeth. Yoro’s expression grew stormy, but before he could utter a word, Xavier turned his back and stomped out.
He had tunnel vision as he marched to Killix. Tyronian and Tristan caught up with him.
“If that fool won’t help us, then we shall not help him!”
Tristan and Tyronian shared a look over his shoulder. Tyronian cleared his throat.
“Xavier, he’s blind, but soon the fog will lift from his eyes. We cannot leave the women and children to fend for themselves.”
“Then they can go to a different tribe!” Xavier growled before he lifted himself up on Killix.
“Xavier, you’re angry, don’t make any rash decisions.”
“No! If they were to fall, it would be because of their coward of a leader! Izayges shall not help the Asori until they help us!” Xavier glared down at Tyronian and Tristan one last time before he spurred Killix roughly, causing Killix to rear before galloping away.
“Well, that went well,” Tyronian sighed, rubbing his temples, which were starting to ache.
“I will follow him, you work on Yoro,” Tristan ordered Tyronian, climbing up onto his own horse.
When Tristan was settled in his saddle, he said to Tyronian, “If he does not come around, make him.”
“I will see it done.” Tyronian’s grin was all teeth.
Tristan jerked his head in response before he galloped after his brother.
Leawyn jerked Deydrey to a sliding stop when she finally spotted the place Castic described.
Right away she knew something wasn’t right. Castic luckily hadn’t noticed what Leawyn did. There were footprints all right, but the lower branch where Garnette had been hiding was an even more alarming sight. It was snapped, and there was a weird line that ran below it.
They must have dragged her down, then picked her up to stop her struggling, she thought.
Leawyn’s heart sank, imagining what the young girl must have gone through. Knowing she couldn’t wait for her husband to come and save the young girl, she urged Deydrey into a gallop again.
She would not make Garnette suffer more than she had too.
Leawyn pushed the thick branch away from her face and looked down on the camp below her.
She didn’t like what she saw.
It seemed there were at least forty or so men, and every one of them were armed.
“Garnette, what have you gotten me into?” she mumbled to herself. Her blue eyes took in everything around her, trying to find said girl. It didn’t take long for Leawyn to spot her.
Garnette was “settled” against a tree a few feet away from the men, their backs turned to her. They were huddled against the fire, trying to keep warm against the snow. The irritated glare the child was shooting at them would have been comical under different circumstances. Knowing time was of the essence, Leawyn began her slow descent down the incline and to her charge.
When she thought she was within hearing distance, she crouched down low behind a bush and called the girl’s name, trying to whisper, but at the same time get the girl’s attention. “Garnette!”
The poor girl looked upset, but at the sound of Leawyn’s voice, she narrowed her eyes and sat up straighter, searching for whomever had called her name.
“Garnette!” Leawyn dared to call again.
“Lady Chief?” Garnette asked, looking confused. She looked around again and perked up when she spotted Leawyn peeking out of the bush.
“Lady Chief!” Garnette exclaimed happily. “What are you—”
“Shh! Not too loud,” Leawyn whispered frantically. She shot a look towards the men to see if they heard.
Garnette also looked at them, then looked back at her lady chief.
“What are you doing here?” Garnette finished, her voice much quieter.
“I’m here to get you out of trouble. Are you okay?” Leawyn crawled over to her on her stomach. “They did not harm you, did they?”
Garnette shook her head. “No, I am not harmed.” She pouted. “They broke my hiding branch, though.”
Leawyn paused in untying Garnette’s hands and gave her a stern look. “That’s the least you should be worried about.”
Once the knots were undone, she quickly put a hand on Garnette’s shoulder so the young girl couldn’t spring up and alert the entire encampment of her freedom.
“Garnette, you must listen very carefully. Do you see those bushes over there?” Leawyn whispered, pointing to the brush that was just to the side of the girl a few paces away.
Garnette followed her pointed finger and nodded. “Yes, I see them.”
“Good. I want you to slowly crawl your way over there. Once you do, climb up the tree until you reach the top of the hill,” Leawyn urged quietly. “You must stay on your belly and stay low to the ground. Understand?”
“Yes, Lady Chief.”
“Good. Now go. I’ll be right behind you.”
No comment passed as Garnette followed her Lady’s instructions. Leawyn waited until the child’s tiny feet disappeared into the bush before she followed.
When Leawyn pulled herself up the ledge, Garnette was waiting for her.
“Come now, Garnette. Deydrey is waiting for us,” Leawyn said hurriedly. She grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her along. It wasn’t very long until shouts rang out nearby. The men had noticed Garnette’s disappearance. Not wasting any more time, Leawyn swung Garnette up into her arms and ran as fast as she could. She skidded to a stop when one of the men hopped out of the trees and blocked their path.
“Now, looky wha’ I found,” the man grinned, showing off his foul teeth. “Where you think you’re goin’?”
Leawyn placed Garnette on the ground and pushed her behind her back. She’d known there was a chance of her being caught, but she never got as far as planning what she would do if that happened.
“Garnette, whatever happens, you have to run. Even if it’s without me,” Leawyn told Garnette quietly.
“I dun think that will be happening’, sweets,” the burly man chuckled, brandishing his sword. She heard multiple feet coming toward them. Soon Leawyn and Garnette would be surrounded with no chance for either of them to escape.
To Leawyn’s surprise, a rock flew and landed squarely in the man’s crotch. The man crumpled to his knees with a squeal rivaling a girl’s, and Leawyn took the opportunity to quickly pull her bow over her shoulder and let an arrow fly. It killed him instantly.
Leawyn looked down.
“Castic taught me how to throw. He’s the best at skipping rocks.” The innocent proclamation was so nonchalant, Leawyn couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
The sound of men yelling behind them alerted Leawyn. She quickly picked up Ga
rnette again and ran for all she was worth. Turning to glance over her shoulder, she wasn’t at all surprised to see the men right on her heels. She saw Deydrey in the distance but was afraid she wouldn’t make it in time.
Leawyn whistled for her mare. “Deydrey!” she called desperately, relieved when her horse galloped toward her.
They met halfway, and Leawyn quickly swung Garnette on Deydrey’s back and handed her the reins. She looked behind her again. She was out of time. Leawyn felt the heat of the oncoming men behind her, and knew what she had to do.
“Run!” she shouted. And with a slap on the rump, Deydrey took off, with Garnette screaming for Leawyn as she did.
Leawyn watched their escape until only seconds later, when several men grabbed her, hauling her away as she kicked and screamed in protest.
Xavier knew something was wrong the moment he rode into his village. He scanned the faces of his villagers and noticed how none of them would quite meet his eyes.
“Something’s not right.” Tristan stated what Xavier himself was thinking when he brought his stallion up to walk beside Killix. They both pulled their horses to a stop and fluidly dismounted when they reached the massive stables. Xavier paused in taking off the saddle when Killix looked around, stomping his feet anxiously and snorting in distress.
He knew only one reason that could cause a reaction like that from his horse. A terrible feeling pooled in his stomach. Xavier rushed around Killix and to the pasture Deydrey would be resting in.
The mare wasn’t there. Leawyn was gone. Xavier whipped around, fury reflecting in his eyes. She disobeyed him! She ran as soon as Xavier left. He was a fool to trust her.
“What is it?” Tristan asked in alarm.
A piercing whinny sounded out seconds before Deydrey burst through the trees at a neck-breaking speed, stalling Xavier’s answer.
Absent was the body of her owner on her back. Instead, it was a child.
Xavier stepped in front of Deydrey, intercepting her. He grabbed the mare’s reins when she threw her dapple grey head in distress. Deydrey stomped in place, letting out earsplitting cries of suffering. Xavier looked up into the watery eyes of Garnette.
“Chief!” Garnette cried in sorrow and desperation. She practically threw herself off Deydrey’s tall back and into Tristan’s arms, who was quick to catch her and save her from hurting herself.
The little girl impatiently shrugged out of Tristan’s hold and ran to Xavier’s feet, grabbing hold of his shirt at the wrist and pulling him back toward Deydrey, all the while brokenly trying to explain through her sobs.
“You have to hurry… Lady Chief… You have to help!”
Xavier planted his feet and placed his hands on the small girl’s shoulders to still her.
“Garnette, what has happened?”
“It’s all my fault!” Garnette wailed, her tears sliding down her cheeks like a waterfall. “Save her, Chief, save her, please!”
“What happened?” He yelled, shaking Garnette’s shoulders with impatience. “Where is she?”
“They took her!” Garnette burst out. “The men took her! She tried to save me, and they took her!”
Garnette sobbed as Xavier quickly released her and climbed onto Deydrey’s back.
He wasn’t even properly seated in the saddle when Deydrey shot off in a furious gallop, leaving grass and dust in her wake. Only one thing ran through Xavier’s mind.
Save her.
Save his wife.
Leawyn’s head snapped to the side at the sharp slap against her cheek. She licked her already cracked lip before she slowly turned her head back to glare at the man who laid a hand on her.
“Tell us!”
Leawyn stubbornly kept her mouth shut, which earned her another slap. The men who had captured her were holding her hostage inside a large tent that was completely bare of furniture. Her hands were bound in front of her, held tightly together by a coarse rope that chafed her skin. The semi-dried blood trailing down from her cut eyebrow plastered her blonde hair to the side of her face.
Her five captors had tried to get information from her for quite some time. What tribe is she from? Where is it? Who is she? Does she know where Xavier is? Leawyn refused to answer any of their questions. She didn’t give them the satisfaction of even making a sound as they continued to beat her to try and force the information from her. They didn’t know she was Samaritan, Lady Chief of the Izayges, and married to the most fearsome warrior in history.
This was child’s play.
They only thing that kept her from breaking was the satisfaction she would get when Xavier came to save her. Because he would come for her, and when he did, all the men holding her captive would die.
That thought alone caused a smirk to cover her face. It infuriated the man and earned her another hit, this time with his beefy fists.
That hurt.
Leawyn closed her eyes against the black dots that controlled her vision, shaking her head to try and clear them away.
She grunted in pain when the man grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Her blue eyes stared down at the blade he trailed across her cheek, barely flinching when it dipped into her skin to make a shallow cut.
“Yer awful pretty,” the man leered in his strange accent, his rotten breath making Leawyn gag. “It would be a shame ta cut ya an’ mark that smile.”
Her captor chuckled and looked over his shoulder to the other men, who were also laughing. All the men looked unfamiliar, which made Leawyn confused. Were they the men who had ambushed Xavier? Their chests were bare, and they wore dark breeches made of a material Leawyn wasn’t familiar with. They had incredibly poor hygiene, as if they never soaked in oils, and their facial hair was ragged and untamed.
The laughter instantly ceased when bloody spittle landed on his face and slowly trailed down his cheek and chin. He turned murderous eyes to Leawyn as he wiped the spit away with the back of his hand. “You’ll pay for that, ya bitch.”
Before Leawyn could prepare herself, she was thrown roughly on the ground. She screamed in pain when she landed hard on her shoulder. It made a horrible popping sound as it disconnected.
She had no time to recuperate; she was roughly turned over onto her back and straddled by the man who was abusing her. Struggling violently, kicking and clawing at the man’s face, she tried to throw him off her by bucking her hips and kicking out with her feet.
The powerful punch he landed to her face disoriented her enough that he was able to gain an advantage and grab both her wrists to hold them above her head. Leawyn shrieked at the agony the action caused her dislocated shoulder.
“Grab ‘er!”
Another pair of hands held Leawyn’s wrists down so the man on top of her could shimmy down her body. He grabbed her thighs and spread them open, resting his body between them.
“Now you fight and I’ll actually enjoy it!” the man leered, reaching down with one hand to unbuckle his belt and pull down his pants.
“No!” Leawyn’s heart seized in horror at the realization of what he intended to do to her. She renewed her struggle.
“I want a turn afta’ ya!” The man holding her wrists down said. Her soon-to-be rapist laughed his agreement as he positioned himself. Leawyn felt sick when his arousal brushed her inner thigh.
She squeezed her eyes shut—refusing to look into his eyes and give him any kind of enjoyment of his deed. She felt the stiffness of him brush against her opening. Leawyn bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, determined not to make a sound. The tip started to push inside her.
Shouts of alarm rang out. Suddenly, the man on top of her was roughly yanked off her and thrown across the room.
Leawyn’s eyes flew open, and she stared in shock at the man before her.
“Asten!” Leawyn yelled, sprinting through the trees as tears clouded her eyes.
“Asten!” she called again, her voice cloaked with fear and desperation.
“Lea? What is it? What’s wrong?” Asten asked in concern.
He stumbled back a step when she flung herself into his arms, clinging to him desperately and soaking his tunic quickly with her sobs.
“Lea?” Asten asked in alarm, though his voice was as gentle as his arms when he wrapped them around her and rubbed her back.
“What’s wrong?” Asten whispered in her ear. His only answer was for her to clench her hands tighter around his tunic, making her knuckles turn white.
“I-I—” Leawyn tried, but couldn’t seem to speak around her gut-wrenching sobs.
“Shh, calm down,” Asten whispered soothingly. He continued to rub her back. “It’s okay, you’re okay.”
“No!” Leawyn croaked, tilting her face up so she could meet his eyes.
“I-I’m not okay! Everything isn’t okay!” she sobbed brokenly, her eyes shining as they overflowed with tears that made her eyelashes clump together.
“What happened?”
Leawyn’s lip trembled, and Asten caught a tear with his thumb, only for it to miss another. “My father, he—” she sobbed, bowing her head.
Asten moved his hands so they were holding each of her cheeks, forcing her head up so he could stare down at her.
“He what?” he prompted.
“He’s making me marry him,” Leawyn whispered.
Asten froze, his grip on her cheeks tightening in his shock.
“He’s making me marry the Chief of the Izayges!” Leawyn crumbled around him, and he stiffly but gently tugged her back into his chest and held her as she cried.
They both stood there, Leawyn sobbing into the arms of her childhood friend, knowing this might be the last time they would ever be together.
The man in front of her was tall and fit. His thick arms were curled around the man who was just moments before on top of her, holding him by his neck so high her attacker’s feet skimmed the ground.
Her rescuer’s hair was cut short, except for the mop of curly hair on top.
“Asten?” Leawyn breathed when the man in question glanced at her, and she looked into the hazel eyes that haunted her dreams.
