I run and run until I get my leg stuck in a hunting net, which hoists me upside down. I groan in annoyance once I have gathered my wits again and unsuccessfully try to get myself down again. I clear my throat and start yelling.
"HELP! ANYONE? GET ME DOWN! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! HEEE!" I scream until I hear some horses approaching. I try to push my dress up to cover my underwear as good as I can and try to keep a neutral face.
"I'M HERE!" I yell again.
Five horses, four small grey ones, with soldiers holding spears on top, and a big black stallion with a dangerous looking man dressed in black from his hat to his boots. They laugh when they see me dangling from the rope, face flushed from all the blood that has rushed to my head in combination with embarrassment.
"It's not funny! Get me down!" The man in black orders one of the guards to do so with a smirk. The guard comes forward and cuts the rope just above my foot. I fall to the ground in a heap of limbs and skirts. I sit up with a huff and look up at the guard.
"Asshole" I hiss. He only laughs and pulls me up by my hair, dragging me to the man in black. The man looks at me, still on top of his horse. His face a combination of anger and boredom.
"Who are you?" he asks, his voice low and gruff. I pull myself lose from the guard before answering.
"Izzy" I say angrily dusting down my skirts.
"How did you get in there?" he asks pointing at the remains of the rope.
"I stepped in it, how else do people get in there?" I hiss back. The guard, who is still standing next to me, hits me across the face with quite a bit of force.
"Don't talk to Prince Septimus like that, you whore!" he tells me. I turn to the prince and give him a smile.
"A prince? Just an asshole with a big ego if you ask me!" I say sweetly, looking the prince right in the eye. His eyes narrow and his back goes rigid. He gets of his horse and walks toward me with big steps. He grabs my troat with one hand and pulls me closer, towering over me.
"Be carefull, you foolish girl., I can hurt you more than you could ever hurt me."
"Try me." I reply. I wasn't scared, not even a little. It wouldn't be the first time someone hit me. I wasn't the most obedient daughter and that angered my parents often, to the point where they tended to hit me for every misstep I took. Septimus squeezes my neck harder and turn my right arm on my back. When I didnt even blink, he grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls me to the ground. He hits me on my nose and I know I am bleeding, because I can feel it rushing down my face. It is becoming painful now, but I don't want him to notice so I keep my eyes cast downward. He orders two guards to bind my arms and legs and they put me over the back of the stallion. Septimus steps up behind me and looks down.
"I told you." is the only thing he says before he takes the reins. Then all of the sudden the horse starts moving and I would have fallen off, had I not grabbed Septimus' leg. He glaress down at me again.
"You can't even lie there yourself?"
"Try yourself before judging me" I answer and I let go of his leg with a huf. He just sighs and doesn't say anything anymore.