| |
“We’ll put Koura dress on the girl, which will get the war started. We’ll leave her on the border at dawn.”
“They’ll have the whole city looking for her by midnight, boss. Why don’t we dump her now?”
“Because it’s too soon. Carlos had to run from her brother to bring her hear, not to mention slip past guards.”
”Remind me again, Boss, but why are we trying to get a war started?”
”Because, Roland, my stupid friend, we’re the best war strategic men in Koura. We’ll get hired, and paid lots.”
They laughed.
“The boy did good. We’ll have to double his pay for this one. Better get the crystals off her, or we’ll kill her. It’s better for her to be alive. Get into Koura dress,” Boss hissed as he removed the three crystals around Elizabeth’s neck. “She’ll be awake soon.”
He disappeared behind a room divider, and put on the clothes the people in Koura wear: loose, gauzy like material in soft, light colors.
The three men sat and waited. As she began to stir, Boss barked an order, and Roland tore the third set of clothing they had, while Boss got the horses ready. Carlos lifted Elizabeth and threw her over his shoulder, barely keeping a hand on her.
“We don’t dump her until it’s midnight,” Boss said as they mounted the horses.
“But I thought you said-“
”Never mind what I said! I changed the plan. It’s an hour before midnight, we should get there with plenty of time for a drink.”
Off they rode, keeping to the alleys and outskirts of the town, that drink sounding better and better. They ran into guards from the estate, but managed to hide.
“Boss,” Carlos called out. “She’s waking up.”
”Put the crystal on her until we get there,” he shouted over the noise of horse hoofs on packed earth. Carlos put the crystal into her pocket, and she instantly quieted down.
When they arrived at the border, they put Elizabeth on the ground, and tore her dress up a bit, and made various cuts and bruises along her limbs, and torso. They messed her hair up, and put the torn Koura cloth a few feet away from her, heading into the city.
Boss gave them the ok, and they left for home, anxious to meet the beer and wine that lay waiting for them. But after they removed the crystal.
Elizabeth woke only two hours after the three men left her. She sat up, felt dizzy, then fell back onto her back. She felt so tired, so weak. She looked up to the sky, and could still see the stars. She wondered if it was the same night as the ball. A gust of wind chilled her to the bone, and she started to shiver. She hoped someone would find her soon. She was so cold, so tired, and so sore. She was afraid to fall asleep; for fear that she might never wake up again.
What had happened? She remembered that she left the ball to use the washroom when she paused, and she was grabbed. Then they had touched something to her back, and she instantly felt extremely tired. She was put on a horse, and that’s when everything went fuzzy. She remembered hearing voices, and horses. The smell of horses and liquor. And now the hard, cold ground.
After resting for a few more hours, she noticed a change in the color of the sky. It was getting lighter, and she still wasn’t found. She managed to roll over onto the front, and then got onto her knees. After minutes of resting, she shakily got to her feet, and stayed standing with the help of a nearby tree. She walked a few steps, then fell to her knees again. After many tries to walk, she succeeded, and the sun was already coming up.
She looked around, and couldn’t tell which way to Kanta. She didn’t even know where she was. For all she knew, she could have been unconscious for a month, and could be on the other side of the world.
“You there,” Someone said from behind her.
She slowly turned around, and slipped, landing on her bottom.
“You alright? You’re all shaky.” A young girl in Koura dress came closer.
“I’ll be fine once I get home… Which way to Koura?” She asked.
The girl pointed to the north. Elizabeth got back onto her feet, took a few clumsy steps, and fell again.
“You can’t walk,” the girl said.
“Yes, I know. But I have to get back home.”
”You should come home with me,” the girl offered. “Momma can take care of you. You can be my big sister!”
“No thank you. I think I’ll wait for my family to find me.”
”But the sandmen will get you,” she whispered, terror in her voice.
“Sandmen?”
”They’re people who travel in the desert, steal people, and make them slaves. When they don’t need slaves, they eat them, or sacrifice them to their god, Proga.”
“They wouldn’t make me a slave,” Elizabeth said quickly. “I’m the daughter of the city’s leader.”
The girl’s eyes widened.
“Get out of here. Get back onto your side before the guards from the palace comes for their rounds.” She ran over and helped Elizabeth to her feet, and together, they walked to the Koura outskirts. When Elizabeth was well hidden, the girl gave Elizabeth her shirt.
“It’ll give you some warmth,” she said, walking away in an undershirt.
Elizabeth wrapped the shirt around herself, and stayed quiet in her hiding place inside a small hole the girl had found in the rocks. While in the hole, she examined herself. She was a mess: cuts everywhere, as well as dried blood. She had bruises from the blunt side of weapons, and thumb imprints on her arms.
“I want to go home.”
It was well into the afternoon when she heard a noise out of the ordinary. She decided to take her chances that it was a guard from the estate, and cried out. The face that appeared moments later was that of a guard at the estate. Elizabeth nearly lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck in joy. He lifted her out of the hole, and sat her down on the rocks. He checked her body for any injuries, and managed to clean the blood off, and put a salve on the cuts, which stung a bit. He explained that it was cleaning them.
He gave her something to drink, put her on the horse, got on behind her, and trotted off towards home. She dozed off from the riding motion, and woke up to the sounds of the city. Seem that everyone was out looking, and very few people remained to sell their goods. As they rode down the streets, women cried out greetings of “Thank Adia” and “Who would do such a thing.” Children ignored her, and the men glared suspiciously at each other.
It was late morning when the estate came into view. The gates were shut and locked with reporters and photographers crowded in front, some trying to climb over the top to be scared back down with weapons and fierce dogs. A reporter just happened to have sneezed at the moment when Elizabeth yawned, causing her, in surprise, to bite her tongue, and give a small yelp of pain. The guard groaned with annoyance at the reporters swarmed around them, questions being hurled at them, and nearly going blind from the flashes from the camera’s.
The guard swore loudly, and kicked a few reporters away, managing to break a few cameras in the process. He flung a protective around Elizabeth, and took out a rifle, and shot a few bullets into the sky.
The sound attracted the attention of the guards inside the estate, and soon, they were all rushing to his aid. They opened the gates, and each one of them grabbed a reporter, or a photographer, and pulled them back, making a path. The guard didn’t lower his arm until they were in the stables, and the rest of the guards were inside the gate.
As the guard got off the horse, and was tying him up, Michael came running outside, nearly tripping over a bush in the process. He looked very stressed, and relieved. He nearly threw himself at Elizabeth.
“Thank the Lord your safe!” He cried. “Where’d you find her?” He asked the guard.
“Koura borders. Hidden in a rock. She was wrapped in Koura clothing.”
”Did you see who grabbed you? What did they do to you?” Michael asked quickly.
“I knew something like this would happen on my vacation,” someone said from behind them.
Elizabeth looked past her father’s shoulder, and saw Ryan. Michael turned around, but Ryan was already at his side.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” He nudged Michael and the guard away, flung his rucksack over his shoulder, and mounted the horse behind Elizabeth.
“Where do you think your going?” Michael asked quite loudly. “She’s my daughter, and I’m the leader. I decide what’s to be done. Ryan, listen to me!” Feeling outraged, Michael stormed into the estate as Ryan disappeared around the side of the building.
Ryan led the horse to the back garden, and they jumped over the low hedge.
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth asked nervously.
“Going to track down these kidnappers of yours. Your wounds look to intentional, and what kind of moron would leave a clue to who had stolen the Leader’s daughter?”
“Oh.”
”Do you remember anything?” Ryan asked, pointing the horse to the center of the city.
“Nothing, just that the person was in the entrance hall last night, and stuck something sharp against my throat.”
”Where?” He asked.
“Here-“ she pulled her hair away from her neck, and Ryan ran his fingers over the skin.
“Not a knife,” he said after setting the horse’s course to a slow trot. “What happened after he put the sharp object against your throat?”
“Well, he dragged me outside and put something around my neck. But he tied my hands up so I couldn’t remove it. And I don’t think I could have. I began feeling very tired.”
”Crystal,” Ryan said
“Who’s she?”
“No no, Crystal, as in a Crystal used to zap Talented people’s power and energy. But those are hard to come by. Only those with large sums of gold can get one. Unless they went to the black market… Where did you wake up?
“Koura border, why?”
“That’s where we’re going. I’m not your fathers best tracker for nothing.”
They made it to the border by mid afternoon. It had warmed up a lot since the morning, and instead of trying to keep warm, Elizabeth was trying to keep cool. She managed to hike up her dress her to lower thigh, giving little relief.
“Where did you wake up?” Ryan asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said, as Ryan stopped the horse and jumped off, and crouched low to the ground, and began looking for some sort of sign. He crawled around for a good half an hour, and had to move the horse several times in order to keep Elizabeth in his sight.
“Here we go,” he said, dropping to his knees. This looks like the imprint a dress might make when it’s pressed against the ground for a while, so this is where you woke up.” He followed the dusty ground to a tree. “Here’s where you stood up. Or tried to. Here you fell…”
”This is all fine and dandy, but what about the people who took me?”
“Getting there,” he replied, nodding as he spoke under his breath to himself.
“Here,” he said a few feet away from the rocks where she hid. “Horse prints. No doubt the estate’s guard. But there’s another set over here-“ he jogged a bit away and pointed them out. “They came from Koura, no doubt. Not from Kanta. So our man is still in the city. No doubt trying to jumpstart the war. Well, let’s get back. We should arrive early evening, and I’m sure your dieing for a bath, and sleep.”
Elizabeth nodded, and Ryan got on behind her, and rode off.
They arrived just as Ryan predicted, early evening. Michael as well as General Andarie were standing outside. Michael was pacing, though.
General Andarie poked Michael as Ryan came up to the gate. He looked up and dashed over.
“Ryan, I told you not to go! Can’t you see Elizabeth needs rest and medical attention?”
”Yes, I can see that. But it’s more important to find the kidnappers then have a meal. I’ll speak to you in your office on all I know. Better get Elizabeth something to eat.”
General Andarie helped Elizabeth off the horse, and inside where Hannah grabbed her from him, and brought her to the kitchens. She was sat on a stool while Hannah ran back and forth, having this one make tea, and that one make soup.
“Hannah,” she pleaded. “I’m not hungry. Just tired and dirty. Can’t I just have a bath and go to sleep?”
”No. You haven’t had anything to eat all day! Your mother would never let me live in peace if I neglected you.”
”But your not. Hannah, I can take care of myself. I’ll have the tea, and then I’m off for a bath,” Elizabeth said tenderly, making Hannah a good offer. Won’t her father be proud.
“Oh alright. Have your tea, and then you can go. But I’m sending Megan to help.”
”Fine,” Elizabeth said with a grin.
“Remember when I used to call you Liz?” Hannah said sitting down on a stool across from Elizabeth.
“Yes, and I almost killed you for it. You used to say that whenever I had friends around.” She took a sip of her tea. “They’d call me Lizzy the Lizard.”
Hannah laughed. “Would you kill me if I called you Liz again?”
”I probably wouldn’t. I have no more friends anyway. I seem to have dropped out of school altogether with everything happening in my life.”
”That’s a shame. You are such a bright young girl. You deserve to go to school. And don’t you think I won’t mention this to your father,” she said shaking a finger at Elizabeth.
“I know you will,” Elizabeth said, finishing her tea with a smile.
“Megan!” Hannah called into the kitchen. Megan, a young girl of twenty came skipping out holding towels in one arm, and dirty plates stacked high in the other.
“Yea?” She said, placing the dishes on the counter.
“Aid Elizabeth in a warm bath, and dressing for bed.”
”Of course,” she said giving a small curtsy. “Come along, Elizabeth,” she said, walking past her.
Elizabeth got up just as Hannah said, “I’ll tell your mother you’re here, but that you’re sleeping.”
Elizabeth nodded, and continued after Megan.
After she was bathed, tucked into bed, and Megan left, she let out a long sigh. She was back in the comfort of her room.
“By the time Megan gets back to the kitchen’s, supper would just start,” she thought and rolled over to her side. While she tried to get to sleep, her mind drifted to Jack. Jack’s beautiful eyes, and shiny hair… but her thoughts her disturbed by voices in the hall. They sounded like Donovan, and Aaron. She pushed back the covers and went to the door, opening it a crack to listen.
“Jack wouldn’t. He wouldn’t help with the kidnap of Elizabeth. He’s my friend, Aaron."
“All I’m saying is after you went running after them, he was acting all weird. He kept out of sight, and instead of untying the horses, he tied tighter knots! Something’s up with him.”
“Coincidence. He was nervous. Anyone would be with a kidnapper loose. Besides, he wouldn’t-“
Elizabeth shut the door. She leaned against the door, and slid to the floor.
So Jack wanted her gone… She was always getting in the way of their pranks, and fun. But that wasn’t a good enough reason! She pounded her fists on the floor. She’s never going to speak to him again, she promised herself. She got up and climbed back into bed, and pulled the covers over her head.
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Book
|
|
Welcome !
