The men all shouted at each other like barking dogs and built a fire in the clearing for warmth and preparing food. Only the stars and moon shined otherwise. The twisted, dead trees that they had been passing for miles cast eerie shadows over the camp like looming vultures. Kiara shuddered at how creepy they appeared compared to the lush greenery of her father’s kingdom.
She huddled herself up almost completely under the protection of the covered wagon in an effort to fight the bitter cold that threatened to drive her towards the fire in the clearing. Kiara knew one thing, if at all: these men were not to be trusted and getting near them was not an option.
All along their journey, the men would push and hit her cruelly with no remorse for the bruises she would have by morning. When men would dig into the wagon to find scraps of food to snack on, they denied any food to Kiara when she asked. While passing around a water canteen, none would pass it to her for her to drink. The men certainly were following the Deceiver’s orders and if her fate wasn’t to die in the Field of Fire, it was to die on the way there.
Kiara peeked out from behind the wagon wheel to see the men feasting on a hunted boar and drinking some portions of mead. She licked her lips as she eyed the pork with a hungry stare. If she hadn’t been tied to the wagon, she would have crawled over to the campfire and stolen a piece of meat while the men were not looking. But, even though the rope was at least six feet long, the wagon was at least twice that distance from the potential meal.
All night, Kiara tolerated their drunken shouting and cursing, talking of obscene and violent things. If it wasn’t for her hunger, Kiara could have passed out easily from exhaustion. She was used to eating three meals a day and already she had gone without a whole day’s worth of food. Her throat was dry, as well as her mouth, and her stomach wouldn’t rest as it constantly reminding her with a subtle growl that it had not been fed yet.
Kiara couldn’t understand why she was in this mess. She considered herself a kind girl and considerate, but fortune had another plan for her life. Kiara supposed she would meet her end with old age or in childbirth, but never had she imagined her death would be this brutal and inhumane. She would have gladly taken being married to Sir Claude than to endure this - despite the fact that just the previous night she had commented to herself that she would rather die than marry the knight. Now, more than ever, Sir Claude would have been a welcome relief to this treatment. Kiara hoped that her father had taken some thought that she would have been taken away to Deceiver’s territory. Her father, more than anyone, would have a bone to pick with the Deceiver and would have wanted some excuse to start a war. But, even if a war had started, it would probably be too late for her. By the time the knights or soldiers would find her, she would have been burned to a crisp in the Field of Fire. Her kidnappers would receive their just rewards, but it seemed almost inevitable that Kiara’s life would be sacrificed in the war that would ensue. She only hoped it would be a quick and relatively painless death.
Through the conversations that she had over heard, both on the trail and around the fire, Kiara knew that they were only half a day’s journey to the field and that Kiara was unconscious for nearly two days beforehand. She swore she could almost see the smoke off in the distance that billowed up from the bowels of the earth to cloud the sky with sulfur and gas.
The air in Deceiver’s territory always reeked of rancid, putrid garbage and the field must have been its source. Not only the trees and air, but the ground and animals seemed to be different too. It was almost like Deceiver’s presence had polluted the land. The ground seemed more rough and coarse, with no hope of future life. And the animals all looked deformed or disabled in some way.
Remembering the creatures of the territory reminded her of her shadowed companion that had been traveling along the trail with the bandits. She knew by its seemingly tall stature that it couldn’t be an animal. But, by observing the way it moved, it acted more like a wild beast. She never could see any definitive detail in the shadow that lurked among the trees, but one thing she knew was that it always stayed close by. Only on a few occasions did the creature disappear and then reappear a few moments later. Kiara half expected that she was just hallucinating or was seeing things. For all she knew, it could have been her own shadow or a scout that was a part of the bandit party. But, either way, the shadow was comforting that there was something there to watch and silently encourage her to keep going. If Kiara had nothing to occupy her thoughts while on the trail, she surely would have given up after the first mile from pure depression that came with her circumstance. The shadow was like her lifeline. However, she hadn’t seen it since they had set up camp and its presence seemed more distant as the light had disappeared from the sky.
As the moon glided steadily upwards, most of the bandits had fallen asleep or gone to bed in the wagons. Others remained partially sober and by the camp fire to stand watch for the night. Kiara’s drowsiness slowly overtook her will to stay awake and she faded to sleep.
However, not more than an hour later, Kiara was thrown from her sleep by a firm shake of her shoulder. She cracked open her dreary eyes and was face to face with a hooded rogue that she didn’t recognize as one of the bandits in the caravan. She opened her mouth to scream, but the man swiftly covered her lips with his rough hand to stop any sound from coming out.
The man put his finger up to his own lips as a sign for her to be quiet. She nodded and allowed him to remove his hand so he could pull out a knife to cut the ropes that bound her wrists to the back of the wagon. He threw the ropes to the ground, took her hand and pulled her up for them to escape into the dark forest at a fast jog.
It all happened so quick that Kiara hardly had time to know what was going on. She glanced behind her occasionally to the camp and saw that one of the bandits with a lantern of some sort was walking towards the wagon she had just been rescued from. She watched as the bandit then let out a resounding yell to the rest of the camp that Kiara had escaped.
As soon as that yell was let out, the rogue tugged on Kiara’s hand sharply to the left to change directions. She didn’t have the time, nor the sense to ask him where they were going. She simply followed the hooded figure deeper and deeper into the woods.
The whole camp was awoken in an instant and mounted their horses to search the woods for Kiara.
She clutched tightly to her only hope and ran faster with the stranger, being dragged down constantly by the branches that ripped and tore at her dress, slowing their escape.
Finally, the rogue knew that running wasn’t going to work. He stopped near a dirt road and looked around them for a hiding spot. Kiara thought it was hopeless to hide, seeing as there was hardly any leaves, shrubs or low lying branches to speak of in the desolate forest. Then, the rogue must have spotted something. He tossed her forward, towards a small hill just beyond the road. Kiara whimpered at the suddenness of the action, but saw that there was a small hole in the side of the hill that must have been used as a burrow for some wild animal. By the looks of it and the spider webs and grey vines that hung around the entry way, the burrow hadn’t been used in a long time.
Kiara quickly crawled into the hole and was soon followed by the stranger, who motioned for her to go deeper in the hole. So, she scooted back as far as she could go into the darkness with the stranger right beside her. She knew well enough to stay quiet as the sound of approaching hooves and shouts from the men drew closer to the burrow.
The man with her didn’t make one noise as the torch light and boots of the bandits could be seen on the road just outside the burrow. Kiara felt herself trembling with fear. She didn’t want to be found. She would have rather been with a stranger that was willing to protect her from the bandits than to be led to her doom. She took this time to examine the stranger.
He looked muscular, tall and young. He couldn’t have been a few years older than Kiara, so she knew he wasn’t Deceiver. He must have been some sort of ranger or mountain man that happened to know her situation.
Then, it hit her like a lightning bolt. This could be the shadow that was following the caravan all day. Had he come to rescue her? Or did he want her for his own interests? If he lived in the Grey or Deceiver’s kingdom, then he certainly wasn’t going to be an honorable or noble man in any sense of the word. She had heard stories of men from this side of the Shin Mountains that would rape and murder women just for fun. Of course, those were old wives tales told to little children to keep them from running away or wanting to rebel against the king. Either way, she hardly knew this man and he could have been just as dangerous as the bandits. She was appreciative of his help for escaping, but there was no way she could travel with him or even spend another hour.
Once the bandits had passed, the stranger made Kiara stay in the burrow for a few extra long minutes to wait for the bandits to pass on completely. Then, he slowly edged forward towards the exit to poke his head out and evaluate whether it was safe or not.
Before Kiara got an affirmative from him, she decided to make her move. She hastily pushed her way past him, stumbled out of the burrow and burst down the opposite direction that the bandits went. She didn’t know if this led to the Field of Fire, Deceiver’s castle or if it was the way home, but she had to take a chance.
But, she didn’t get very far - as usual. The stranger ran after her, telling her to stop. She didn’t listen and the man grabbed her around the waist from behind and lifted her clear off the ground. Kiara couldn’t help but remark to herself that the man was as strong as an ox as she struggled in vain. The rogue turned her around and pinned her down on her back, holding her hands up by her head and sitting on her legs, disabling her from making any more movement. Their position was very precarious.
“Let me go!” she ordered, but the rogue obviously wouldn’t listen.
He jerked his head back to let the hood slide off, revealing his face for the first time. Kiara was taken breathless by his piercing blue eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness and his short, dark, matted hair. His eyes were soft, but exotic, resembling an animal’s in their shape. His chin and jaw was lined with a bit of dark stubble, but it was hardly noticeable on his tan skin.
“Will you shut up before they hear you?” he whispered seriously in a mature, strong voice.
“I demand that you let me go!” she said even softer.
“Stop squirming and I might.”
Kiara peered into his eyes for any sign of fibbing. There was none, so she let her body go slack under him and just as he said, he let go of her hands, then slowly climbed off of her legs. Kiara sat up quickly and stood up to begin her run again, but he could tell of her intentions. The rogue stood up and grabbed his wrist to stop her.
“I told you to let me go!”
“You’ll never get out of these woods alive by yourself,” he stated bluntly as if there was no question about it.
“I can if there are road signs.”
“There’s no road sign pointing the way towards Malcolm’s kingdom.”
Kiara looked at him with puzzlement and stood there, him still holding her wrist firmly.
“How did you know I wanted to go north?”
The man chuckled. “No one around these parts wears a dress like that. You’re one of Malcolm’s daughters... A princess.”
The look in his eyes gave a feeling of warmness, kindness and sincerity, almost like he had known her from somewhere before. She gazed up at him calmly, trying to memorize that look on his face. No man had ever looked at her that way before except for Sir Claude… That thought disturbed her.
“How do you know me?” she asked softly.
“Everyone knows the princess with the emerald green eyes. Malcolm and the rest of the royal family have brown eyes, but yours are green. Your eye color, plus your dress is a dead giveaway.” The man carefully let go of her wrist and stood in front of her boldly without fear, nor respect.
“What do you want with me then?” Kiara asked with a miserable sigh. If the man knew she was royalty, he might want to give her up to Deceiver for a price or hold her ransom. Rogues were known to do that sort of thing with young maidens. Even Esther, when she was smaller, was kidnapped just as Kiara was. Only, Esther’s attacker was killed before he could collect any ransom.
“I intend, if you’ll allow me, to take you back to your father,” the man sounded a bit perturbed by the fact that Kiara would want to run away from her rescuer. But, who could blame her? She was in a strange land with even stranger people and it was dangerous to trust anyone.
“And I suppose you’re going to want some sort of reward for bringing me home safely?” Kiara said, folding her arms like she was the one in control.
“Reward or no reward, I just thought I would do the king a service and return his favorite daughter…” the man shrugged and began backing away, “But, if you don’t want my help, then I guess I can just leave you out here to get caught by those guys again. Hey, it’s your funeral - or lack there of.” The rogue turned and began to walk away, but Kiara saw the wisdom in accepting his help. After all, he could be some sort of mountain guide and know the land better than she did. And besides, she would rather have been with him than with the bandits any day. Kiara ran after him and gripped his thick arm tightly.
“No, no! Please, help me get home? I’ll see my father rewards you, I promise,” she pleaded earnestly. The rogue didn’t seem surprised or thankful for her plea, but only nodded and pushed her back towards the burrow.
“Good. We’re not going to get anywhere tonight with those mercenaries hunting you out there, so hide in the burrow and get some sleep. In the morning, we’ll head for Peh,” he said curtly, guiding her into the little cave as if she couldn’t walk herself.
“Peh? Where’s that?” she asked as she hunched down to crawl in.
“It’s the only city between Deceiver’s border and the Field of Fire. We’ll pass through to get supplies. There won’t be any more cities after that if all goes well.”
“I don’t remember passing through any city on the way here,” Kiara commented as he stayed outside of the burrow entrance.
“It doesn’t matter, just get some sleep. You’ll need it for tomorrow,” the man said, then disappeared to the side of the hole. Kiara curiously stuck her head out and saw him sitting with his arms crossed, leaning against the hill very nonchalantly.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” she inquired with a half-nagging tone.
“No.”
Kiara waited for any explanation, then when she received none, she rolled her eyes and looked off towards the road like she had no intention of going to sleep either.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered.
“Nope,” she said stubbornly.
The man looked to her with annoyance. Apparently his patience was running thin with the young lady, but she didn’t care. In fact, she took a little bit of pleasure in irritating him.
“You need to sleep,” he replied.
“So do you.”
“Go to sleep.”
“No,” Kiara said, sticking her nose up in the air like a real palace brat - like her sisters.
“Go to sleep or I’ll knock you out to make you sleep!” the rogue threatened, clearly aggravated. Kiara looked to him with coolness and smirked.
“I’ll go to sleep when you tell me your name.” She thought she was so sly and the man was evidently caught off guard by such a random question. He recovered from the shock and looked out across the road with indignation.
“Nate…My name is Nate,” he answered.
“Nate,” Kiara repeated soothingly. She rather liked the name. “Well, Nate, goodnight.” And with that, she wiggled back inside the cave to figure out how to make herself comfortable. As she was adjusting a mass of moss for a pillow, she heard Nate whisper a “goodnight” in response.
Kiara didn’t know where they were going or what would happen, but she had a strange feeling that after knowing the rogue’s name, she could trust him better. Maybe he would actually lead her safely out of D
eceiver’s territory and back to her father. For the first time since she had left home, she had a real lifeline of hope to cling to. Kiara wasn’t about to ask Nate if he had been the shadow that was following the caravan, but she had a gut instinct that he was. How would he know her true identity otherwise? She could see the logic in why he would assume she was a princess, but any woman in Malcolm’s kingdom could dress like she did and have green eyes. Nate must have recognized her from someplace else. And what was with that look he gave her before? She couldn’t imagine how such cold eyes could give out so much feeling and sensitivity. Kiara hoped that all of her questions would be answered soon.
After Kiara had been missing for nearly three days, Malcolm sat on his throne in contemplative silence. He refused any company or comfort. Even Eshean and Justin were cast out from his sight. Nothing would console him. His heart was too distraught over the disappearance of his daughter to find any joy in his life.
His other eleven children, on the other hand, were glad to see her gone. They reveled about the castle and town with no remorse or fear that their antics would be tattled on - like they ever were in the first place.
Miss Heather and the orphanage mourned greatly over Kiara’s absence. Thankfully, however, Justin had known about Kiara’s trips to town with the extra food and took her place. Every other day, as Kiara did, he took food and gold to town and gave it out to those less fortunate. But, it wasn’t the same. Justin didn’t have the kind smile and affection for the towns people as Kiara did. He was nice enough and visited with the villagers in a friendly manner, but everyone missed Kiara more than words could describe. It was like she was one of them, despite her fancy clothes and royal position.
Eshean and Justin, too, missed Kiara’s lively spirit and energetic flare that she gave to the cold, damp castle. Eshean seemed to lose whatever luster he had left in his worn face, making him appear even older than he already was. Justin, just like his father, grew melancholy and secluded himself in his room for much of the day, wishing that Kiara would return soon.
The Princess and Her Rogue Page 4
