"It's her, see for yourself." A voice said, unlocking the door to Serena's cell.
Bright light flooded the dark room, nearly blinding Serena, who'd grown used to the pitch black of her prison.
A hooded figure and one of the horsemen that had captured her several days ago stepped in. The horseman hauled her to her feet.
"One of Chieftain Cynfor's aides let slip that she was at their camp. My men and I got to Kalingora and captured her for you, your Lordship."
The hooded figure gave a curt nod, though it continued to keep a safe distance from Serena. It made a small gesture with one gloved hand at Serena's captor.
"What's the name of the ship you were born on?" The horseman asked her, gripping onto her shoulder threateningly.
"The Celestina." She rasped, her voice hoarse from disuse. There wasn't any point in lying, Serena knew. Asking her about the Celestina was a simple precaution. One would have to be color-blind to fail to recognize her by her eyes.
The hooded figure nodded again, and withdrew a hand from its cloak to make a beckoning motion at Serena's captor. He eagerly let go of her to stand at its side.
There was a clink as it passed a leather pouch to the horseman. Serena was all too familiar with the sound. The hooded figure was paying him for her capture.
The horseman gleefully tossed the pouch into the air once, caught it, and stowed it in his pocket. "Your Lordship is much too generous. You may take her tomorrow morning, once I've weighed the gold."
The hooded figure nodded once and retreated from the cell. The horseman grinned at Serena and said "Thank ye, Princess. My men and I will eat like kings tonight, because of you." before shutting the door to her cell once more.
Sitting on the floor of her cell, Serena fumed. The hooded figure had just paid a band of raiders in gold for her, and he'd be taking her away tomorrow. Who knows where he'd take her?
She realized, with a hopeless feeling, that this was her last chance to escape.
But there would be no escape. Her cell was underground and locked. There were no windows, and a jailer sat outside her door at all times.
She sighed. Upstairs she could hear men laughing and joking, clearly enjoying their long awaited payment. It was rough, boisterous laughter, the kind brought about by too much beer. She sniffed disdainfully. They would probably all be passed out drunk within the next hour or two.
It would be an almost perfect time for her to dash into the forest, if only she could escape the confines of her cell. It would be completely impossible, though, Serena reminded herself, biting down hard on her lip.
She leaned backwards into the pile of straw that she'd been forced to sleep on for the past few days, her fingers brushing against the steel slab that had served as a tray for the little food they gave her twice a day. Serena picked it up thoughtfully, trying to get a real sense of its actual heft and weight.
A plan began to take shape in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the less far-fetched it sounded. There was almost a chance that it would work. Of course there were a myriad of ways it could go wrong, all of which a voice-Edmund's to be precise-patiently pointed out to her. Serena disregarded them. Her situation couldn't get any worse now, could it?
You can try, and have a chance, or not try and have no chance. She reminded herself. A ninety percent chance of failure was still better than a one hundred percent guarantee, and her chances of being rescued were growing slimmer by the minute.
With her resolve strengthened, Serena stood up and leaned the steel slab against the wall, making sure to stand in front of it. She ran her fingers through her hair, wincing as they tugged out some of the tangles. She even tore a stitch or two from her blouse, and tugged it as far down as she could. It was amazing what a dimwitted girl with a low neckline could accomplish, and Serena knew she was at least mildly attractive enough to use the fact to her advantage.
"Excuse me," She said pointedly, an extra layer of sugar in her voice. "Could you please help me with something?"
Her jailer, the large man who had tried to get Serena into his bed a few days ago peered in through the bars of her cell.
"Whatchu want?" He asked suspiciously.
"I dropped an earring, and I can't find it in the dark. It's a little diamond stud, you know, and I've been searching for it all morning. Could you please just come in with a torch and help me look for it?"
He mumbled something as he fumbled for the keys and unlocked the door.
"Where do you think you dropped it?"
"Oh, somewhere here," Serena gestured in the general area in front of her feet. "I'd really appreciate if you could find it and give it back to me."
The jailer stuck his torch into an empty sconce in the wall, and immediately dropped to his hands and knees to search for the non-existent earring.
"I'm so sorry to bother you; I know how busy you are at your job." She said, cautiously reaching behind her.
"It's not too much trouble." He said gruffly.
"No, no, if I weren't so silly…"
"That's alright." He crawled along, as if looking for the earring, though Serena could tell he was just getting closer and closer to her.
She smiled for the first time in days before bringing the steel slab crashing down on the man's head with all her strength.
He was pitched forward, and his nose hit the ground with a dull thud. Unfortunately, the blow didn't knock him out, but Serena was quick to dish out another one to the left temple that did.
She surreptitiously stepped over his prone form and out of the cell, tiptoeing her way up the steps to the main floor.
Her head bumped against the trapdoor, and Serena almost swore aloud. The gash running along her hairline that she'd received during her capture began bleeding again, but Serena impatiently brushed away the blood with the back of her hand and focused on listening to what was happening above her.
Silence. Everybody was either asleep or extremely drunk.
Marveling at her good luck, Serena carefully pushed the trapdoor open. She fought back a wave of disgust at the sight of several rough looking men passed out at the table in the center of the room.
She made her way to the front door, carefully inspected the area surrounding the building she'd been held in before taking off at a run and melting into the forest.
Serena ran, too exhilarated by her freedom to feel tired or be scared by the thick woods around her. A small mountain stream loomed into view before her, and she was quick to wade into it. The water would wash away much of her scent and make her harder to track.
Her euphoria was quickly cut off by the numbing cold of the water and the fact that she'd underestimated the depth of the stream. Water lapped at her neck, and the stream's flow made it hard for her stand properly in the river's silty bottom.
She plowed on, ignoring her fear that the river would grow deeper, though that was exactly what happened. The water was now over her mouth and making its way into her nose. She slipped on the slippery stones at the bottom of the river, and her entire body was plunged into the icy stream.
If she'd escaped only to drown, Serena thought furiously, she'd kill herself for it.
Kicking her way to the surface, she managed to make it to the grassy banks of the other side of the river. Serena leaned heavily on a nearby tree, struggling to calm her rapidly beating heart.
She stuck a hand into her pocket and pulled out Edmund's compass.
Go south, he'd said. I don't care who you have to leave behind, just head south.
And so Serena went south.
Well, as of right now, Vesi has published two chapters of Italian Pourquoi Moi. I'm happy to report that so far, the reviews have been positive. I find it really interesting how Italian readers review things differently-for example, most of my reviewers focus more on the characterization and plot in general, while they touch on more detailed aspects. Anyway, I'm learning some Italian now, from reading the reviews on Google Translate and then in Italian. Google's translations are still a little awkward, so I still depend on Vesi to understand what the reviewer means. At least I don't have to do that for you guys! (Pssstt...this is me asking for a review)
Here's the link (ooooh I hope it works...I've separated it with spaces in hopes that it will, so you'll have to delete them before trying to get there) ht tp: /ww w. efpfa nfic. n et/ view story. php? sid= 566539
Right now I'm grappling with what direction the plot should go in, so I'm completely and totally discombobulated. I hope you'll forgive me if the story is going in strange directions.