Matthias was dragged by two warriors along some dark, endless tunnel under the cliffs, his feet barely touching the ground at all, shoulders in painful grasp of the captors as if they weren't bruised enough already.
He remained silent though, knowing that every little complaint would just encourage those men to hurt him even more. He smiled to himself instead, weak and bitter smile that only caused his cut lower lip more pain.
Oh, why did he insist on being the one to lead his father's soldiers into that pointless battle ? Their castle was such a perfect fortress, they could have stayed inside and no Northern Lord would ever manage to break those oaken gates.
But no, no. His father insisted on picking up the gauntled the other man had thrown down, not even bothering to consult his allied neighbours or the king. He always had to have things done his own way and immediately. That one trait Matthew inherited completely.
,Honestly, who would ever expect those savage warriors to fight like that ?' he asked himself wordlessly.
And then it was over. They lost ignominiously, beaten and outnumbered. He only remembered being wounded badly and falling off his horse just to be captured by those two grumpy Northerners.
It Had not been a battle anymoreback then. Northerners Had been leaving as if they hadn't bothered to fight anymore and his farther's troops had seemed so hopelessly broken. Matthias wondered how many of them had survived and will be able to make it back home.
He felt as he'd been carried like this for hours if not longer and he started to wonder how much more he'd stand until he lost consciousness. Then suddenly the tunnel curved sharply and the way out appeared, arch-shaped and bright, too bright for his tired, used to darkness eyes.
,So that's it.' he thought, surprisingly calm. ,That's where I'll meet my death, at least according to what I was told about this place. About HIM.
Once again he curved his lips into small, suffering but a bit rebellious smile as they left the tunnel. He blinked few times before his eyes got used to sudden brightness but he only managed to see a large cave full of warriors and then his captors released him.
Unable to stand on his own legs, Matthias immediately fell down to his knees and found himself left alone in the middle of hostile crowd.
,Great, that was one impressing entrance I must admit' he thought ironically. His exhausted, confused mind almost made him burst with laughter but luckily he kept himself just in time.
And then the full image of his current situation hit him. He hadn't been killed or rather finished off just because HE had demanded to see him first. Lukas Bondevik, Northerner, just like him, only from further North. Fearsome, ferocious and merciless warrior lord whose actions, despite of his young age, had grown legendary.
He wasn't a lord in true meaning of that title, it hadn't been granted to him by any king but then again...there were no kings that far North. No kings, no official law, no borders as well. Everything was fluent and changeable if one was mighty enough to fight for that.
And Lukas Bondevik surely was strong enough to get whatever he wished for. Otherwise he wouldn't be feared by the kings. Young man with a small army of half-wild fighting men and women shouldn't be a threat to actual kingdoms but somehow he had managed to make them avoid messing with him.
Whenever Matthias thought of the man his imagination created a picture of a wild looking, tall and muscular warrior with short beard and furrowed, bushy eyebrows, probably also wearing animal's skins instead of regular clothes.
Actually, it was the way he had imagined every Northener to look like until he saw those people in the battle and realised that they were not that different from him. But theoretically he was a Northerner as well, even if he came from more civilised side of the Northern Sea.
Caught deep inside his slightly chaotic thoughts, Matthias didn't even try to stand up until he finally acknowledged everyone looking down at him. He forced his worn up, wounded body to move and with heroic effort, he got up, staggering just a bit.
,,I don't recall granting you my permission to stand up." blank, ice cold voice cut through the air and sudden silence fell, not even louder breath was heard. And before Matthias got to react, some warrior's hand clenched on his shoulder, pushed down and made him kneel again.
He felt quite indignant at such behaviour, especially considering how much effort he had put into standing up at all. He raised his head and then he saw that.
Right in front of his eyes there was a coarse, wooden throne standing on natural podium made of huge, flat rock. And on that throne there was a person sitting casually, looking down right at him, piercing him with intense kind of stare.
Matthias' eyes widened unwittingly as he realised who that person must have been. And that confused him greatly for the man was nothing like he had pictured him so many times before.
First of all, he seemed so young that he could've been taken for Lukas Bondevik's son rather than him in person.
Secondly, he didn't have the slightest look of a ruthless warrior. He was of medium height, rather slim although his uncovered arms were shaped with quite visible muscles. His hair was platinum blond, not so long but still there was a silver cross-shaped hair clip shining above his ear.
And the man's face...his face was not simply handsome or beautiful. It was perfect, every detail made to catch and hold others' attention. His dark blue eyes big but narrowing toward his temples unusually. His features slightly delicate but not in feminine way, more in unearthly one.
That was it. He didn't even remind a proper human. More like some eerie creature from that disturbing Northern folklore.
All of those creatures, especially the beautiful ones were considered seductive but extremely dangerous, vicious and powerful, realised Matthias, noticing the man's blank expression and sharp, warning gaze focused on him.
And yet he wasn't able to turn his own look away as if he had been bewitched. Which might have been true, considering Northerner's fairylike appearance.
After a moment that felt like eternity to Matthias, Lukas raised one corner of his lips, barely noticeably. Then he stood up and jumped down from the podium, his moves had that unattainable for regular humans grace, like the one of a cat.
He slowly, casually walked toward Matthias and stopped right in front of him. His attention seemed fully centered on kneeling prisoner, nonetheless Matthias didn't look up, not wanting to get captured by his unhuman stare again. He kept his head hang down but the rest of his body was signalising will to fight and stubborness.
Then, completely out of sudden, Lukas' hand caught a firm hold of his chin and decidedly lifted it. His fingers were cold against Matthias' skin, almost as cold as those darkened eyes. Frightfully mesmerising eyes.
There were very few things that could make Matthias speechless or uncertain. And even less that could have had him so captured that he wouldn't even want to fight back. But those eyes had it all and more.
He stared back, slowly realising that somehow he wasn't terrified or even scared a little bit. He was just...so fascinated, so drawn to that enthralling young man whose gaze got him motionless, that he simply couldn't contain any feeling more, not even fear.
,,Are you not afraid ?" asked Lukas in quiet, emotionless voice.
Matthias did that one thing which was the most typical one for him. He grinned, just a bit insolently and replied bluntly ,,You don't look frightening."
Warriors surrounding them closely seemed to hold their breath for a moment of silence after his words. But Lukas only tilted his head slightly, not breaking their eye contact.
,,What's frightening about me should be my actions, not my looks." he replied blankly, but there was a tiny twinkle of approval in his eyes.
,,You saw me. Now, how are you going to kill me ? Because if your plan was to get my father to trade his castle for me, then I tell you it was such a waste of time and effort to get me here." continued Matthias, unsmiling, but still with no signs of fear.
,,If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't breathe now." said Lukas in a matter of fact tone. ,,And since I decided to spare your meaningless life you clearly owe me something."
,Well, that was smooth.' thought Matthias, feeling rather offended at first but then he chuckled, squinting his eyes.
,,How canny of you."
,,Isn't it ?" asked Lukas rhetorically, his voice indifferent. ,,Now, what I need from you is to make one, simple decision."
Matthias shrugged and supressed a hiss, when that move caused him some unnecessary pain.
,,Bring it on." he encouraged cheekily.
Lukas' fingers clenched tight around his chin and he leaned down towards him, lowering his voice a bit so it sounded sinisterly.
,,The choice is between two options. First one is simple. I let my warriors have some fun so they kill everyone you know and burn down your castle. The second one however is more complicated. It involves you smuggling me inside that pretty castle of yours and helping me to find and carry away some stone, shiny, little onyx that just needs to be in my possession."
Matthias gasped resentfully.
,,Oi, you don't threat my homeland." he objected. ,,And don't call that a choice. It's called compulsion, you know ?"
Lukas noded once.
,,Feel free to call that anywise as long as I get my answer."
Matthias laughed unhappily.
,,And why would you need that stone ? I don't even know if we have any onyxes in the castle, I highly doubt that."
,,This one you have. It had been safely hidden though, which is why you have to buy me some time to look for it. Otherwise I'll just find it in the ashes your castle will turn into."
Matthias snorted and rolled his eyes so not respectfully.
,,All right already, I got that burning thing first time you mentioned it. And I doubt some old, forgotten stone will be such a loss to my family so you can have it if you insist. And if that means you'll be gone right after you get it."
,,I will." reassured Lukas, his tone somehow ambiguous but Matthias didn't really catch that. Then his chin was released and he barely kept his balance without that strong grasp. His head was spinning slightly, he had lost some impressive amount of blood after all. His red shirt was soaked with blood from his right side.
Lukas sat on his makeshift throne again and looked down at him but his words were directed to someone else.
,,Take care of him and let the healer make him useful enough to get me into castle as soon as possible, preferably within next few days."
Now, when Lukas was back on the podium, his warriors once again seemed rather relaxed and were chatting to one another.
Those two men who had brought him here, once again grasped his shoulders and lifted him to a standing position, ignoring the hiss he gave them in return. They took him into another tunnel, lit up with torches. But this time middle aged woman followed them, murmuring to herself about wounds that should knock out some certain people quite a time ago.
And strangely right after she said that, Matthias stumbled, suddenly seeing nothing but darkness as he was slowly passing out.
,,Finally" he heard the healer say, before he let himself drown in that relieving emptiness.
