I have a lot on my plate, but I'm working very hard to get this out to the few people reading.


Courtney was thankful that the barbarian hadn't touched the mask still covering her face, for he would have seen her tear stained face whenever he turned to check on her during the ride. She didn't want to cry. Well, she did, but not in front of her captors. She resolved to be resilient, never give them any weakness. That's how everything failed, wasn't it? When a weakness was exposed and exploited? She was a princess for goodness sakes! She was supposed to be perfect, exceptionally accomplished, an ideal leader. That's what she had been preparing for all her life, right? To be perfect and above and beyond at everything she did? Yes, never give them a weakness. But, for now, if he couldn't see the tears, he couldn't see her present weakness.

She hated crying. It made her feel young, as if she were a child again. She had faith in Stefan. She knew he'd find her and extract her within days if not hours. But, the situation was still straining on her. She felt like she had lost control, and Courtney never lost control. She normally had everything planned, everything in her control, everybody's obedience. She reached up and wiped her face underneath her mask. She felt more ashamed at her crying. One last tear, and she was done. She pictured the frail, petrified Courtney inside and mentally built a stone wall around her in order to hide her away. She needed to be strong, for just a little while longer. No more crying. No more.

The caravan kept moving throughout the night, much to her disdain. Courtney felt exhausted, but she didn't want to fall asleep while in the hands of filthy men. Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, illuminating the inky blackness with just a hint of gold, Duncan gave orders to stop. At least, that's what it sounded like in to Courtney's ears. The wagons spread out to a form two circles, an inner circle and an outer circle. The inner circle contained all the wagons with the prisoners while the outer circle contained wagons that held supplies. Nobody began unpacking supplies just yet, but just stood around chatting with each other. Courtney watched as Duncan ordered a dozen men on horseback. They rode hard off in all directions. She asked him what he was doing. He smirked at her and replied in his native tongue. She scowled at him. He chortled.

"Don't get pissy with me just because I'm not translating everything for you. Learn my language if you're so damn curious."

"As if I'd bother learning your barbaric, rogue tongue. It's a cacophonous and austere language just like its speakers," she replied.

"Our language makes us more of a mystery because nobody in your land can understand it."

"Nobody wants to associate with you," she shot back. He grinned and leaned in closer to her.

"You're the one wanting me to translate, Princess," he whispered loudly. She scoffed.

"You are an infuriating, unmannered barbarian. I do not want to associate with you in any form nor do I want your translations. My guardsmen will find me soon enough anyway." Duncan stared her seriously in the eyes.

"I have been running this same slave route for almost three years, and the person before me had been doing it for almost three decades. Don't you think if my people could be so easily found, we would have by now? We are practically a ghost story in your country. Look at the facts Princess. Nobody knows about us as we have been infiltrating your country since before you were born. You will never be found by your people," he hissed. She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward as close as she could on the large horse.

"How many times in history have your people kidnapped the princess of the nation? If it were an accomplishable task, it would have been done before." Duncan grinned wickedly.

"How many times in history was the princess of a nation stupid enough to go wandering around in the woods at night without guardsmen?" Before Courtney could retort, a rider returned from the woods. He spoke quickly, but judging from Duncan's pleased response, it was good news. Like a rippling effect, everybody began setting up camp. Tents were being assembled inside the ring of wagons and outside them. Food was being brought out for the men and prisoners. Buckets were being carried off for water presumably. The large tent from last night was being assembled again. Duncan agilely jumped off his horse. He landed easily and turned. Courtney looked at his open arms. He said something short. It sounded like he was saying "darkshay" except his r and his k were rolling together into one sound. He repeated the sound and she simply stared at him.

"Jump," he ordered. She swung a leg over and slid off the horse as best as she could without leaping into his arms. She would not depend on him for anything. She landed tremendously less gracefully than he had, and he had to grip onto her forearms to prevent her from knocking both of them down.

"My scout informed me that he witnessed your guardsmen heading in the wrong direction, completely convinced by the fake trail I had some of my men create. It'll buy us enough time to reach ground that is untraceable," he told her cheerfully. Courtney was speechless. Just like that? She couldn't believe it. Stefan couldn't be duped by a simple false trail, could he? She had known him for years. He was a master of stealth attacks prior to being her bodyguard, and even then he had a way of always being able to keep track of her. When she was barely old enough to run properly, she had tried to play hide and seek, and just when she thought he had lost her completely, he would show up and startle her with a laugh and a "found you."

Courtney's eyes widen. She glanced over at Duncan who seemed at ease with the new information. She knew what Stefan was going to do. He had duped Duncan and his men by making it seem they were following the trail. Now, Duncan wouldn't be suspecting their attack. Stefan would have the element of surprise after all. Courtney only hoped her guardsmen could stay off Duncan's radar long enough to launch an attack to get her back, but before Duncan did reach the untraceable ground.

The tent had been assembled and Duncan brought Courtney and his horse over to the entrance. He tied his horse up outside with a stake to the ground. She watched him gently rub along his horse and whisper as sweetly someone speaking the horrid language could, and then he reached into a bag tied to its side. He pulled out a pair of metal cuffs. Attached to the chain connected the cuffs was another long chain, forming a T shape. Attached to the end of the longer chain was a metal steak. Duncan grabbed one of Courtney's wrists and jerked her inside the tent. Near the back corner he began to pound in the steak with the chain attached into the ground. Once the steak was firmly in, Duncan gave it a good pull. It didn't budge. He brought the cuffs and quickly snapped them onto Courtney's wrist before she could pull them away. She angrily attempted to squeeze her hands out of the metal rings around her wrist.

"What is the meaning of this? I am not an animal to be chained up!" she shrieked. Duncan looked at her as if she were stupid.

"Are you stupid? If I don't tie you up, you'll run away."

"You put everyone else in cages! Why am I the only one tied up in yourtent?" she demanded. Duncan's hand flew out and grabbed the sides of her face, covering her mouth with his palm. She squealed and reached up in order to pull his hand away. He squeezed tighter and she stopped.

"Stop it. Stop opening your mouth and letting out all your distasteful sounds. Think before you begin to open your mouth and make demands to me. One, you have no authority or control over me, so your pathetic sounds are a waste of my time to interpret and listen to. Second, you are forgetting that you are not a peasant or farmer or milkmaid. You are the princess of one of the most powerful nations in this region and beyond. You. Are. Valuable. More so than anything I have ever laid my hands on before. I will not risk you riding in a cage with thirty other people, some of which are from a different kingdom. If anyone with a grudge had the opportunity, you could be strangled in a heartbeat and my one way ticket to retirement is lost. You will remain at my side for the rest of the trip because you are the most valuable possession in my life right now, and I will not risk anybody stealing you away from me." Duncan let go of her face, whirled around, and stormed out of the tent. Courtney remained standing for a good few seconds before dropping to the ground. She felt appalled by the barbarian's behavior, but also frightened. She could still feel a twinge of pain in her jaw from where he had clutched it so hard. Her fear rapidly turned to anger. How dare he touch her? She was royalty. He was a thief, a stealer of lives!

When Duncan returned, she was sitting on the ground facing away from him. If she could have one wish at that moment, it would be a tossup between wishing for the key to her cuffs and wishing Duncan dead.

"We're only staying here till midday, and then we're going to keep moving. If you need to sleep, you better do it now because we won't stop again till midnight." Courtney remained mute and motionless. She could hear Duncan sigh and mutterer something in his native tongue before leaving the tent completely. All the excitement and turmoil from the previous day and night begin to worm its way to her head, and she began to realize how tired she felt. She didn't want to sleep, but maybe she would just lie on the ground for a minute.

She awoke to someone jerking her back and forth. She bleary smacked the hands away and shot up with discontent.

"Wake up, we're leaving," Duncan said. She reached up to rub her eyes but all she felt was her mask. It was still on her face. Her chains jingled as she attempted to rub her eyes underneath her tightly fastened mask.

"Don't move," he commanded. Courtney hesitantly stopped and watched through the eye holes as he grabbed the side of the tie string and cut it free with his knife. He pocketed the mask and his knife. She properly rubbed her eyes and face where the mask had been tied against. She felt slightly better now that her entire face was free. She looked up from her position on the ground to see Duncan staring at her face.

"What?" she snapped. Duncan said nothing. He unstrapped a tool from his belt and positioned it on the ground near the steak. The steak itself was like a hook pounded into the ground, and the tool hooked underneath the hook in the steak to pull it out. After pulling the metal out of the ground, Duncan used a key kept on a chain around his neck to unbind the cuffs on Courtney's wrists. She slowly followed him outside. The midday sun was shining bright. The summer breeze ruffled her hair and the strong, sweet scent of flowers invaded her nose. It would have been a nice day to sit outside and read under the shade of a leafy tree.

A majority of the camp had reassembled and appeared ready to leave. Duncan reached into a bag on his horse and pulled out a scrap piece of cloth. He walked away briefly towards a tub of water that had yet to be dumped out and dipped the cloth into it. When he returned, he held it out to Courtney.

"Here. This is for your face," he stated gruffly. She gingerly picked it up, but stared it uncertainly.

"Why?"

"You were wearing makeup last night, yes?" he asked. Courtney nodded suspiciously. Her handmaids had applied some rouge to her face and kohl around her eyes.

"It looks like you were crying. It's smeared now and makes you look revolting. Clean yourself up," he instructed. She swiftly scrubbed her face as best as she could without a mirror. She felt a combination of embarrassment and fury. When she felt like she had cleaned everything from her face, she tossed the wet cloth back at Duncan. It hit him in the back of the head.

"It's not my fault you were leaking from your eyes like a baby," he chided without moving. He finished packing his horse, and slowly swiveled to face her. He moved closer to her unamused face.

"Would you like it to be my fault that you're leaking fluids somewhere else though?" he asked huskily. Courtney gasped, and she could feel her face redden. She knew it was from a combination of rage and blushing.

"You cretin! You insufferable cretin!" she shrieked. She used both hands to push him away. He merely laughed and picked her up by her waist to put on the horse. He nimbly jumped up in front of her, and within minutes the rest of the camp was in motion.

Duncan, still chuckling, said, "I'm going to miss you Princess. You get so riled up, it's funny." Courtney felt her throat tightened up. He truly was going to sell her. But, of course, she didn't need to worry yet. She was going to get rescued, and if she wasn't and something happened, she'd figure out a way to escape herself.

After just a couple of hours of riding a horse, she began to feel sore. Her muscles began to feel stiff, and she wanted to get down and walk. They didn't stop when night began to fall but continued diligently onward. The group was moving northward, towards the not so distance border of her country. Courtney attempted to nonchalantly scan the tree lines hoping to see a glimpse of Stefan or another national guardsman. She never saw a sign of them during the ride. She hoped it was because they were succeeding in being stealthy and not actually traveling a false trail.

Courtney's eyes were beginning to droop significantly when Duncan signaled the band of thieves to stop for the night. They stopped in a small clearing that had a few short trees and some shrubbery, but not much else. The men circled up the wagons again, and Duncan dispatched several men on horseback to patrol the perimeter. Across the camp, men were lighting torches for light. In the middle of the camp, near the location where Duncan's tent was being set up, crates were being unloaded from a nearby wagon. Instead of sounding cranky and tired, the men were actually sounded jolly and energetic.

The band of men didn't wait for the patrol to return before cracking open one of the crates. Inside, from the distance in the dark that Courtney could tell, were bottles of some kind of liquid. She jumped off the horse next to Duncan. She landed unskillfully on the ground again. Duncan pulled his cuffs out again and led her to his tent. She glared at him all the while.

"Don't give me that look, Princess. You'll have a better time in here anyway," Duncan said after catching her glare. She laughed dryly.

"Better time? I'd have a better time if I weren't in chains," she replied. Duncan sighed and gave the chain lead in his head an extra tug forward. Once inside, he yet again hammered a stake into the ground, forcing her location.

"Since we're so close to the border, me and my boys are having a little celebration. So, you'll probably want to stay out of the way."

"No problem. Just unchain me, and I'll be on my way," she shot back. Duncan smirked.

"If I did that, I wouldn't have your prude, pretty face to come back to." He reached around and gave her rear and slight smack. She blushed scarlet and pushed against his chest. Duncan laughed cheerily and said something in his native tongue before leaving the dark tent. Courtney crossed her arms and glanced around the tent. It was very dark. Duncan had left with his own light. After her eyes became adjusted she thought she could make out the faint outlines of his bed. It was a mat on the ground with just a few blankets. The only thing she had near her was a fur blanket. She picked up the blanket and ran her hand across it. Although she couldn't see it, she could tell it was old. The fur was matted from years of washing, and patches of fur were missing. Although fur was better than simple linen or cotton blankets, the condition of her blanket could have been better for her standards.

She lay down on the soft grass and covered herself as best as she could with the timeworn blanket. She could hear the men outside beginning to get loud as they consumed what she assumed to be alcohol. She smirked to herself. If they became over intoxicated, and if Stefan was waiting to rescue her, he'd have no problem saving her if everyman in the camp was in a drunken sleep. She tentatively closed her eyes. She felt so worn out from the whole ordeal, perhaps just a few more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt.

She awoke sometime later to Duncan stumbling into the tent. She didn't move. She didn't want a drunken man getting the wrong idea and making advances, especially in her position. Once inside, he moved without hesitation towards his mat. She listened to blankets being pushed back and the adjustments of the mat as his weight was lowered onto it. She pulled the animal blanket closer to her face as she waited. She wished she was back in her house. She could only imagine the dinner she would have eaten. Freshly killed and cooked fowl seasoned with the richest spices, exotic fruits, mold-free bread, sugary sweet flavored water. At home, her bed was always laden with new furs and tightly woven blankets. Her maid, on the colder nights, would fill a covered pan with coals and slide it into the end of her bed. She lived a comfortable life. She wasn't used to living so roughly.

Courtney brushed a lock of brown hair out of her face. Snap!

Courtney's hand froze. She slowly looked over towards the tent entrance. She thought she heard movement, but she wasn't sure. She scanned the entrance back and forth with her eyes as if she could will herself to see through the tent. Movement brushed aside the flap to the tent. Courtney's eyes widen with excitement. She twisted her head to look over at Duncan. He was fast asleep and didn't stir from the sounds. Her eyes almost water with happiness. She saw a shape move closer to her. Her eyes were adjusted to the darkness and she recognized the shape. It was Stefan. His plan had worked!

Courtney sat up quickly. Her cuffs made a slight jingling, but Duncan's form didn't stir. Stefan edged over to her and examined the cuffs. She gesticulated that the Duncan had the key, but Stefan shook his head. Courtney assumed that searching Duncan for the key might cause him to wake up. Stealth was the key they needed right now. She knew that Duncan's men out numbered the guardsman. A fight would result in too many causalities.

In order to examine the stake holding her down, Stefan leaned down in between Duncan and Courtney. Courtney leaned close to him, their heads almost touching. She didn't hear anything, so the attack startled her as well as Stefan.

Duncan was already up and moving for Stefan when Courtney looked up. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was hoarse and no sound came out. Duncan reached around and attempted to stuff something in Stefan's mouth. Courtney reached and yanked on Duncan's arm. He had a strong grip on Stefan's face and combined with Stefan's struggling, she couldn't pull Duncan's arm away. Mere seconds later Stefan stopped struggling. Courtney gave a small cry of alarm and clutched at Stefan's body. His chest continued to move, but he looked unconscious. All her hopes for returning to her home were lying unconscious in her lap. She looked up at Duncan's triumphant body.

"What did you do to him?"

"The rag was soaked in a sleeping draught made from a plant in my country. I figured your guardsmen wouldn't be easily misguided by a false trail, so we anticipated their attack. I informed all men to deliver the same tactic to any guardsmen caught outside the tent when they raided the camp."

Courtney glanced down at Stefan's unmoving form. She blinked back tears of panic and disappointment. She turned back to Duncan.

"So you knew that I thought my guards were still coming for me."

"Yes."

"Why bother telling me they were misguided? Why let me think they had the upper hand?"

"Because I couldn't risk you communicating to the guards and telling them it was all a trap. I figured you were the type to sacrifice yourself if you knew others would be injured." He smirked and Courtney looked away. She knew he was right. If he had told her that he was going to leave a trap for her guards, she would have warned them if she had the chance. That meant the excessive drinking was just a ploy. Duncan wanted Stefan and his men to attack that night and presumed they would if they believed Duncan and his men were asleep after being drunk.

"This seems like a bunch of trouble for just a few men," Courtney whispered vehemently. Duncan shrugged.

"I couldn't have national guardsmen following us across the border nor could I have them returning to gather reinforcements. I'll either sell them like everybody else or kill them when we get off of your country's land." Courtney gasped.

"No! Please, don't kill them!" she pleaded. Duncan raised a dark eyebrow. She bit her lip nervously. He squatted down and looked her straight in her dark eyes.

"What will you give me in exchange for their lives?" he asked. She forced herself to remain reaction less.

"Absolutely nothing. I wouldn't give you an inch to work with," she replied. Duncan grinned and grabbed her chin with one of his hands. His hands were rough and calloused, but not revolting on her face.

"You're a feisty one, Princess. You're breaking my heart," he said cheekily. She wrenched her face out of his hand.

"Touch me again, and I'll break something else of yours," she threatened. Duncan chuckled. He agilely stood up and patted her head as if she were a dog.

"I'm going to go check on the rest of our newly acquired prisoners. " He pocketed the rag and lifted the unmoving body of Stefan onto one of his shoulders. Courtney watched despondently as Duncan sauntered out the tent into the night. As the tent flap opened, she could spot several lit torches moving around outside.

She remained in an upright position. She didn't know what to do. She trusted Stefan to save her, but both of them had been careless. He should have disposed of Duncan while he pretended to sleep, and she should have been watching Duncan instead of watching Stefan scrutinized the chain. She felt alone. She was a naturally independent person, but she had never had to rescue herself. She didn't know if she could, but she had to. No one else knew where she was. No one else was coming for her. She had only a few days to rescue herself before they reached the border. At that point, she didn't know how long she had before Duncan reached his destination.

She lay down and wrapped the fur blanket around herself once more. Her only chance would be when they were traveling, for that was when she wasn't chained. She lay on the ground with her eyes closed attempting to sleep, but whenever she began to feel drowsiness creep upon her she remembered the desperateness of her situation and she was awake again. She cracked her eyes a few times as the rest of the night, or early morning, passed by. Eventually, small rays of sunlight penetrated the tent and illuminated the darkness. She remained in her position on the ground with her eyes close, but she was fully awake and alert even though she was exhausted.

The flaps of the tent moved gently aside and footsteps almost perfectly quiet stepped across the ground of the tent. She heard the boots of the figure stop near her. She controlled her breathing into even breathes rather than the erratic breathes she wanted to do. Something reached out and touched her face. The touch was so light, it almost tickled. She fought the desire to flinch away and endured the gentle movement of fingers across her face. As mysteriously as they began, they ended. Courtney mentally heaved a sigh of relief.

The figure began to move away from her form, and she dared to marginally crack one eye. In the morning light she glimpsed the backside of Duncan walking towards the exit. No man had ever touched her face before like that. The touch was more than a friendly pat on the cheek. It was strange to Courtney. She unconsciously reached up and touched the part of her face he had touched. Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion, but settled with realization. He must have just been doing something all guys do. He knew she didn't want him touching her, so he touched her in her sleep. Guys touched women all the time, it must be normal. She rubbed her face as if her touch would erase his, and she turned away from the tent's entryway. She had other things to think about than Duncan's perplexing habits.


AN: I'm thinking updates will be about once every 2 weeks or so, maybe earlier if I can manage. I'm decently busy, so I don't think I can do once a week. Hopefully that's okay Thanks to see my reverie, WhiteTigerStripes, MusicLuver78901, dauty1, and frizzle1872 for their lovely and splendiferous reviews. It makes me smile to read such nice reviews. My goal for this chapter was to not sound completely cheesy, but I may have rushed this chapter, so sorry if everything was thrown too fast.