“What? What do you plan?” Kaiten said, standing. His hand flew to his sword belt as he heard footsteps from the forest. He growled as he realized he still didn’t have a sword and his claws tried to grip empty air.
“You’re fast, hardy, and not expected to be on this side of the mountains.” The scholar spoke quickly, weaving a spell between his fingers. Threads of blue light left an after image in the air as he moved. “Please, run for us, and get help. I hope this would last you at least to Hardwick.”
Before Kaiten could protest, Cassendir pushed the Beastman out of the cart. The prince tumbled out of the cart with a yelp, landing in the dirt just before the cart rolled to a stop. As Kaiten hit the ground, Cassendir’s blue magic covered him completely, winking the Beastman out of sight. Kaiten disappeared.
“Cassendir, what did you do?” Kae looked out of the cart, scanning the road blindly.
“He’s safe, and hopefully, we would be too.” Cassendir muttered. He slowly raised his arms, and as Kae looked back to ask what on earth he was doing, she felt the sharp tip of a pike at her throat. The huntress carefully raised her arms as well, a gesture of surrender.
As soon as Loren peeked her head above the wall of the cart, she was met with the sharp end of a pike as well. The princess went cross eyed as she focused on the blade tip hovering inches before her face. She followed the shaft of the pike down to who was holding it, and saw a scruffy looking man holding the pike in his gloved fists. He wore a mismatch of leather and steel armor, along with a cloak of furs like the northern nomads. He could have been from anywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends held fast by similar looking men.
“What do we have here, boys?” A loud, booming voice said just out of sight. A large man approached the cart, his chest as big as a barrel. He was dressed in mismatching armor as well, but his cloak bore a red and black pattern of twin lionesses. The sigil of the Red Sisters of Sagna. “A cart full of travelers, hmm?”
The driver of the cart fearfully nodded, keeping his head down and his gaze firmly on the ground between his horses. “Please sir, ‘m just a trader. They paid me for passage back to Hardwick. I’ve already sold all my goods back at the border town.”
“Hmph. No goods, just passengers.” The man watching Kae said. The side of his head was shaved, and bore two large, raised scars from Beastman claws. “Doubt these would fetch a bounty. Do we kill them, Hamilcar?”
The large man grunted, shaking his head. He approached Loren, and his eyes widened in surprise and delight. “Don’t rush right into it, Ain. We may have a prize on our hands after all.” He laughed again. With a quick movement, a knife appeared in his hand. With it’s point, Hamilcar lifted the dragon pendant off of Loren’s neck, holding it at the limit of its chain. Loren protested, but one of the bandits brandished the pike again. “Do you know what this is, Ain?”
Ain craned his neck and squinted over at Hamilcar. He shook his head. “Jewelry? Looks expensive. Do we sell it at Hardwick? Or the Eastern Shores?”
Hamilcar laughed again, and let the pendant fall back to Loren. “No, this little trinket isn’t for sale at all. In fact, its more valuable than all your hides! Round them up, boys! Bring the spares and the dog too! We make for Sagna!”
Hamilcar’s bandits made short work of Loren and her friends. They stripped them of their weapons, tied their hands behind their backs and put burlap sacks over their heads. For Ma’trii, the wolf was hogtied and stuffed into the largest sack they had. Loren felt the uneven sway of a cart, and all the bumps from stones and roots. Once the sounds of the bandits calmed into a smug bickering among themselves, Loren tried to feel around the cart. There were sacks and not much else, and the princess began to feel the sharp panic of being alone. Then she kicked something.
“Hey!” Kae’s muffled voice said from near Loren’s feet. “What was that?”
“Kae?” Loren whispered.
“Princess! Yeah, I’m here. I can’t find Ma’trii or Cassendir, they might be in another cart or on a horse.”
“Do you think they’ve been—“
“No, don’t think that. If they were take care of, we’d have heard it. There around and alive, I just know it.”
The two fell into a tense silence. The princess crawled and scurried around the cart, feeling her way with her bound hands, till she managed to maneuver herself beside Kae.
The princess brushed Kae’s hand with her’s, and felt the warmth of another body beside her. Reassured that she wasn’t alone, Loren seemed to calm. She pressed herself closer to Kae, and already her breathing slowed to a normal rate.
“Are you okay?” Kae asked.
Inside the burlap sack, Loren nodded, then realized that Kae couldn’t see her. “Yes, I’m alright. Unharmed, so far. They took all my weapons, my gold… my pack.”
“Same here. Took my bow. Took my wolf.” Kae shifted uneasily, twisting her wrists in her binds. “They had better not have hurt Ma’trii, gods above…”
“Kae.” Loren said slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For getting us into this. For even thinking of stepping foot in the Plaguelands, for making us trek across the north unprepared, and now this. Stuffed in a sack and laden on a cart, being delivered right into the enemy’s lair.” The princess’s voice was tight, about to cry.
“It’s like I said before, princess.” Kae said softly.
