Everyone was silent as the ship drifted closer to the shore,
' Something doesn't feel right' Arthur said quietly
' What do you mean?' Lancelot looked at him quizzically, Arthur didn't get a chance to answer seconds later the ship erupted into bursts of golden flames, and everyone's mouths dropped open in shock.
Arthur watched closely and Illyria voiced her thoughts,
' If that is a ship full of people why is there no screaming or people throwing themselves overboard?' she looked at Arthur
' Because there's no one on that ship' Arthur looked dejected and walked away from the cliff down to the campsite, everyone soon followed him. Without a word they packed up and began the long ride back to the village, Illyria was next to Bors;
' I don't understand' Bors said, his tone full of confusion ' why set fire to the ship?'
' They weren't on there Bors, they must have deserted the ship and swam to shore' Illyria answered quietly,
' Then how did it catch fire?'
' Maybe one stayed behind to ignite the ship or flaming arrow, who knows'
He shrugged and they rode on in silence, Illyria wasn't sure why she felt so dejected, perhaps part of her was longing for a fight? She could see the same expression on all their faces, she knew they'd all wanted to help, she knew that a big part of the men missed being knights. They rode through the night, they were all exhausted as they approached the village, Illyria soon woke up when she heard Bors shout though, she looked up to see smoke on the horizon where the village was and kicked her horse hard to make it faster. Smoke billowed from all the houses, people were on the streets injured and crying, Illyria frantically ran to the house Honoria right behind her, they searched every room and found nothing, Illyria fell against the door her heart hammering in her throat, no mother, no Viviana, no Vanora, and most importantly no Caleb.
Honoria stood over her; she was looking hysterically around for any clues of where they were, she paused as her eye caught sight of something, she pulled Illyria up and pushed the door over, a piece of parchment was slammed against the wood with a knife, she ripped it off and looked at Illyria, Illyria took it from her and began reading it;
To the youngest daughter of Drystan,
You are summoned by the lady Laudine and her husband Lord Marius, if you fail to answer this summons your son shall pay the price, and just as a guarantee we have taken the children of the friends the sarmatian knights, they must also attend, you must all arrive unarmed within the week or their blood resides on your hands.
Illyria read the message out loud to the knights; her hands shook with a mixture of rage and fear. Her mother and father arrived with Kane and Aiden, they had all been tricked by a diversion and missed the children being snatched, her mother had cried furiously with anger at herself for falling for their trick and for Laudine's behaviour, it emerged that they had also taken Guinevere as well, that did it for Arthur, he was angry before at his friends pain but now rage pulsed through him that equalled his friends'. They all agreed to leave immediately, Honoria and Illyria weren't ready to walk in there empty handed though. The two women ran through the streets until they came to Viviana's house, Honoria dug a key on a chain out from under her shirt and the two women entered, they knew their weapons would be taken off them, it was well known what they all fought with, but Illyria knew that house like the back of her hand and was devising a plan. They arrived back and mounted their horses, Kane nodded once at Illyria before leaving and riding deep into the woods, the rest of them set of Helaine and Drystan went with them. Hours later they arrived outside the house, they were all led inside and stood in the courtyard, Illyria had assumed they would be searched here, each of them, though some reluctantly, handed over their weapons and they were then led to the large hall, Illyria hadn't been in this room since Laudine's wedding.
Laudine and Marius sat in large chairs and watched each of them walk in, Evaine looked terrified and was searching the room for her children, Erec squeezed her hand tightly, everyone was searching the room for even a small hint of where their loved ones were being held, but there was nothing, Illyria kept her eyes on Laudine, piercing Laudine's brown eyes with her green ones, her expression still and calm.
' Well little sister you've been quite the trouble maker haven't you?' Illyria remained quiet as her hands were shackled in front of her, she didn't fight which seemed to irritate Marius,
' Not going to say anything, you know I could quite happily kill your bastard of a son, he's so irritating' she still said nothing but she was seething with rage and she could hear the others behind her starting to fight as they too were chained up,
' Someone would like to see you Illyria' Laudine paused and turned to signal the servants to open the doors, Illyria watched Marius's friend Gaius walk in, he looked smugly at her before nodding to Laudine who clapped her hands and Illyria felt the servants drag her away from the others, she still didn't fight them.
Illyria had her hands chained above her head and she rested against the stonewall, she heard the lock in the door click and Gaius stepped inside her cell,
' All you had to do was marry me Illyria, was that such an awful prospect?' she stayed silent and refused to look at him, he ran a hand over her cheek, then trailed it down her neck before gripping her throat,
' I can keep your son alive Illyria, all you have to do is be good to me, can you do that?' he let his hand slip inside her shirt, he squeezed her breast roughly and she felt his body push against hers, his breath was hot against her cheek and she cringed at his touch, her face a picture of pure disgust as she bit her lip to stop herself screaming,
' Can you be good to me Illyria?' she gritted her teeth and thought of Caleb,
' Yes' she whispered, her voice broke during the short word
' Good now here's the deal, you will marry me, you will let me have your body anytime I want it, you will bear my heirs and in return your son shall live a happy life, Laudine will let him go, quite good terms really so what's your answer?'
' I want to see him before I marry you'
' I'm sure we can arrange that, so is that a yes?'
' Yes'
' Good girl' he squeezed her breast again before leaving the cell.
Illyria stood still and let the tears fall down her face, she kept reminding herself that she was doing this for Caleb, but it didn't stop her feeling like a cheap whore.
The next morning Honoria was brought into her cell, as soon as the guard left Illyria asked about the others,
' The knights are locked up in chains, though apparently Marius has plans for them, Evaine is with the children, she said Vanora and Viviana are with her and the children are all fine, Erec's in a cell on his own, he comes into Marius's plan but I don't know how? Your parents are locked in an upstairs room, Laudine said she wants to talk to them, and no one's seen Guinevere yet, what happened to you, we've all been worried sick?'
' I had to agree to marry Gaius in exchange for Caleb's freedom' her voice was hoarse and quiet and she saw the look of horror on Honoria's face,
' Do you believe them?'
' Not one word of it'.