Part Ten: The Ransom

Emma was nearly dozing off. She forced herself to stay awake – the last thing she needed was to fall asleep and tumble off the back of her horse. She'd kept her distance from Rilian while still keeping him in sight. Sometimes his black horse would blend into the night so much that she thought she'd lost him, but then she'd see a flicker of movement up ahead. Now as she looked up in the pre-dawn light, she gave a start. Rilian and his black charger were nowhere to be seen.

Had he turned off somewhere? Stopped to rest for the night? She had seen him up ahead a few minutes before. Had she really dozed off? She pulled up, slowing Eira and looking all around. She couldn't believe it. She had lost him. Then she heard something in the forest to her side. She wheeled her horse around but it was too late. Something came hurling at her, knocking her from her horse's back. Eira gave a frightened whinny and took off into the forest. Emma cried out in pain as something heavy landed on her. She felt something cold and metal pressed against her neck.

"Don't move unless you want your throat slit," came a voice she knew well.

"Rilian get off of me!" she shouted at him.

"Emma?" He cursed vividly, the weight lifting off of her. She felt as if every bone in her body was bruised. And no wonder – Rilian was wearing chain mail over his tunic. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked. There was no hint of humor in his voice now.

"Following you," she stated the obvious.

"Well I know that! Why are you following me?" he spat.

"Because I was afraid you were going to go off and do something stupid and it looks like I was right!" she argued back.

"So you decided to come after me without any means of self-defense to do what exactly?"

"I don't know. I hadn't gotten that far."

Rilian laughed without humor. "Oh, you've really got this down, haven't you? Put a lot of thought into your plan."

"Oh, shut up!" Emma snapped at him.

"Keep your voice down!" Rilian hissed.

"Why?" She made no effort to lower her voice.

"Because there are bandits out here most likely!" Rilian told her. He sheathed his knife. "And if you keep shouting, they're bound to come and see what it's all about." He turned and grabbed his horse's reins, mounting swiftly.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked.

"I'm going to the Ford of Beruna as you seem to have figured out. I'm taking my father's place."

"No, you're not."

"What are you going to do?" he scoffed. "Stop me?" He rode past her. "You haven't even got a horse anymore."

"No thanks to you! Are you going to just leave me here?" she asked indignantly.

"I'm sure your horse is around here somewhere. You're going to find it and ride back to Cair Paravel like a good little girl."

"I am not going back without you."

"Really?" His voice held a challenge. "Well, good luck with that." He kicked his horse into a gallop and left Emma standing there fuming.

"Some chivalry," she muttered to herself, cursing her own lack of stealth. Still grumbling under her breath, she walked into the forest, searching for her horse. She found her grazing a few feet away. Emma dragged herself onto the horse's back. Her body ached from Rilian dragging her off her horse and landing on her in one swift motion. She cursed him, turning her horse toward the spot where Rilian had jumped her. "I'm not going back," she said to herself. She urged Eira after Rilian, this time making no attempt at stealth. Rilian had a head start, but Eira was fast. Emma leaned low over her neck, clinging to the horse's mane with both fists.

She realized three things in the same moment when she breached the edge of the forest. One: she had caught up to Rilian. Two: he was being overcome by five men with swords. Three: she was riding straight toward them when she herself had no means of defense. She tried to pull up, but they had caught sight of her.

Rilian saw her and shouted, "Emma, run!" before turning to fight off one of the men. Emma tried to turn Eira but the horse was still being carried forward with a quick momentum. One of the men grabbed her head as she slowed, hauling the horse to a stop. Another man grabbed Emma, dragging her from the horse's back. She screamed, kicking out. Rilian knocked out the man he was fighting and turned to face the next. It was three against one, however. Rilian was clearly a skilled fighter as he had stated, but the men were also skilled. With a swift maneuver, one of the men disarmed him and another sent him to his knees. Emma was forced down next to him, her shoulder banging into his.

"Brilliant," he said to her. "Really brilliant. You're so good at following directions."

"I tried to turn back!" Emma said. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't left the castle in the first place!"

"Oh, so now this is all my fault?"

"It's always been your fault," Emma snapped.

"Now, now, let's have none of this fighting," one of the men said.

"Please, like we're going to listen to you," Rilian said, derision dripping from his voice.

"You will if you value your life."

"Is that a threat? I do believe the man is threatening us. Glad you followed me now?" He glared at Emma.

"You are such an arrogant prat! Would you listen to yourself!"

"Shut it both of you!" the man shouted at them. "Grab their horses get their hands bound!" The other men shuffled to follow his orders. Rilian put up a fight when they tried to tie his hands, but between three of the men, they managed to subdue him enough to tie rope around his hands. Emma sat still as they tied her hands. She didn't see any reason to fight it.

"Nice ring," one of the men said, snagging a ring from Rilian's finger. It was gold and seemed to bear a crest of some sort. "Royal crest," the man said as if sharing Emma's thoughts. "House of Caspian the Tenth, I believe. You would be his son then."

"I'm sorry, I never caught your name," Rilian said. "I typically don't like to give my name and ancestral lineage until I at least know who I'm talking to."

"You keep up the wise-mouth and you're going to be making the rest of the journey unconscious," one of the men threatened.

"Where are you taking us?" Emma asked, trying not to let fear get the best of her.

"Somewhere far from here. The king will pay a nice ransom to get his son back."

"A ransom?" Rilian asked. "Really? That's what this is about? I'm really not worth that much."

"I very much doubt that."

"I'm actually headed somewhere rather important, so perhaps we could continue this discussion at a later time."

"One more word and I'm stuffing something in your mouth to shut you up."

"I thought you were going to knock me unconscious – make up your mind."

"Rilian, shut up!" Emma warned. Was he actually enjoying this? "The king is right behind us," she said, thinking quickly. "He'll be here any minute. You won't want to face his wrath so you'd better just let us go while you have a chance."

"I think that you're lying, little girl," one of the bandits said. "See, the king isn't due until tomorrow. That's when his little melee takes place."

"How could you possibly know that?" Rilian asked.

"Because our employer is the one who set up the little fight."

"Miraz?" Emma asked.

"You think he's behind all this?" The bandit laughed. "He's just a puppet. He's not even real."

"What do you mean?"

"That's enough chatter. You're coming with us. The king won't even notice you're gone." He forced them to their feet. "Get them on their horses!" he shouted at his men. Emma and Rilian were shoved toward their horses. The horses were forced to their knees so that they could mount with their hands tied before them.

"Where are you taking us?" Emma asked again but the men remained silent. "What have you got to say for yourself now?" she hissed at Rilian. "Because your plan has gone so well."

"At least I have you for company," Rilian said, looking at her with a smile. "I can't imagine anyone I'd rather be kidnapped with."