Chapter Thirty-Four

"Some souls are connected by an ancient calling beyond worlds"

"What do you mean you still can't find any sign of her?!" it is rare for the Lord of the Mines to be angry, but when he does, it is certainly a sight to see.

"This cannot go on Captain. The Steward must be found," growls the man looking at the cloaked figure at the end of the table.

Currently he, the now promoted Captain Matthias of the Winged Hussars, Captain Price of the Rangers, General Horst, Lord Blackwall, Queen Siora of the natives and the Pac Katari of Lescanna are gathered here inside this tent trying to discuss about their next current action in trying to find the lost heroine of Arendelle. By some miracle that Lord Viktor is certainly thankful for, the news of the ambush and loss of the Knightess of Arendelle had been kept silent. The scouts who witnessed it had been pain off and those that know wisely keep their mouth shut. The last thing that anyone needs right now is a riot and a mob just after they have won the war. Silvanna is beloved after all in the entirety of Arendelle and her kidnapping would result to the people being in up and arms demanding that she be found. Of course being the recipient of said demanding, it would obviously not go well with those who are in power on keeping her safe and alive. She is the Steward of Arendelle after all and it is their responsibility as members of her council to protect her.

"With all due respect Lord Viktor, we are doing our best," The leader and founder of the Ranger Corps reply with a growl. "As we are speaking the entirety of the Ranger Corps is scouring the land in the hopes that we manage to find her,"

"So is ours," Queen Siora adds. "I've tasked my best hunters on finding her. Don't worry Lord Viktor, we will leave no stone unturned in this island until we find my doll and bed warmer,"

The Lord of the Mines simply shivers at the purring tone of the native queen. It is quite well-known at the camp already that their Steward slept with Queen Siora and apparently his sister also thanks to the queen blabbing to anyone who will listen how great a lay the Knightess is. In a way Lord Viktor does not blame their Steward. War is a terrible thing after all and everyone needs a stress relief during its duration. Besides the native queen is an exotic beauty, no one can deny that. He just did not peg that Silvanna would be a poof.

"Thank heavens that she did not sleep with a guy at least and got herself pregnant. That would be a level of shit storm not seen before and I can't have her name besmirched until we get her to be queen of Arendelle officially," he thinks to himself sweatdropping.

"So is my company of Winged Hussars," the captain of the elite Arendellian cavalry points out. "I have tasked them on patrolling the roads and asking the help of the locals as to possible secret places where one might be hidden. We can hopefully narrow down our search areas soon and reduce the range that the Rangers have to roam,"

"I don't want to be the devil's advocate here, but are we sure that our Steward is even alive at this point? It had been a week already," interjects Lord Blackwall making everyone grimace.

All of them of course know the severity of the situation if the Knightess is captured. Silvanna is a very beautiful woman based on any standard. Add the status of her strength and reputation and she is a tempting target for any guy that is straight. Goodness only knows what she is suffering from right now if she is still alive and under whomever it is clutches.

"In that case then let us just hope that she is dead then," says General Horst making most of the council nod in silent agreement. Most of them after all are noble in heart and would not wish for any woman to suffer that way. It is only Queen Siora who scowled at their words.

"That may be so, but until we have full proof confirmation that she's dead, then we shall continue the hunt and try at least to find her. Captain Price, I've heard that your men had at least managed to capture some of those that ambushed Silvanna's entourage? Did they have any information that can help us on finding her?"

"None, unfortunately," the Ranger Commandant scowls. "They are simply your average henchmen in the wilds. It is not even a challenge for my men on trying to find out their lair. We had at least forty-five of them, the last five unfortunately chose to fight to the death instead of surrendering,"

"And?" the native queen asks impatiently with her hands at her hips. "Did they have anything that can help us find Silvanna?"

"No, unfortunately; none of them knows anything even after we put the screws on them," Price answers with a frown. "From what we managed to extract from them so far, they know little that can help us on our investigation. They're just hired grunts used by for their greed like an attack dog. It is their employer that concerns me. Apparently they are paid with enough gold to be brave enough not only to attack Winged Hussars but even the Knightess of Arendelle herself,"

"And our attackers have no idea who he is don't they?" asks Horst with a scowl.

"No, they do not," sighs Price tiredly." They're not lying either, especially after we put the screws on them. All that our dear bandits know is that their employer chooses to wear a cloak covering his face and form every time that he meets them. The one thing that all of them had though was that their employer had violet eyes,"

"It's better than nothing but not exactly helpful," grunts Lord Viktor. "What are we supposed to do? Check every person to see if they have violet eyes?"

"As said before, that's something at least. It beats us floundering about without anything to base our searches," the Captain of the Winged Hussars says with a resigned sigh.

"Not exactly," the voice of Price says making every eye in the room look at the Ranger. "We can narrow down our search quadrants even more I believe," he intones meeting the curious gazes staring at him. "As all of you already know, the path to Portsmouth that Lady Silvanna took was not by random. I had five of my best men scout it out in the first place and serve as patrol as she took the journey. All of them had been found dead at their respective sights and this is the curious thing. Their wounds indicate that all of them, not just one had been killed without warning. If these were ordinary sentries it would not be an issue. These were Rangers though, we were trained to hide in plain sight and notice even the barest of sounds. So whoever killed my Rangers is a master of stealth and skill that even my men did not had the time to draw their weapons against him,"

"And this helps us how in the search?" asks Horst. "Nothing you have said so far can aid us other than pinpointing the skill of our target,"

"That is where you're wrong general. By understanding our enemy can we predict his next move. Take into example his skill. He is a master of stealth, that means he would avoid open spaces and common roads taken usually. He has power and wealth enough to hire fifty brigands and buy their loyalty to not question his identity. That means his hideout whatever it is, is not some random cave, no. It should be somewhere that can serve as a modicum of comfort but at the same time out of the area enough to attract unwanted attention. He chooses to kidnap and keep Lady Silvanna alive, "unspoiled" according to our prisoners. That means he plans to bed her if we are logically speaking. Now forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that based on our kidnapper's wealth, he would not just take our Knightess in a random rock somewhere. This gives us time, time enough to find places that could fit into all these and at the same time. This also rules out our kidnapper trying to escape by sea. The seas after all of Lescanna is rough at this time of the year and unless you travel on anything smaller than a ship, you'll be smashed on the rocks of the shore,"

Viktor watches with a stern eye as everyone nods at the logic of the Ranger Commandant. There's just one thing though that sticks to him through his entire monologue. "Does this mean then that the probability of the Steward being bedded becomes higher?"

At the grimacing faces that appeared at the faces of well….each one of them, the answer is very yes.

….

Silvanna is graceful by nature even without trying. Thus in her unclothed state, her stretch is beautiful for any eye to see, sprawled as she is on the exotic silk sheets on the largest bed she has ever seen. It is the bed belonging to her captor, her brother. It is her resting place and apparently also her prison, evidence of the chains at her wrists tied to her back. Thankfully the thing has now taken off the elastic gag off her mouth after three days of clogging down her throat.

As she opens her tired eyes, she takes note of the large soft pillows that once belonged to the royal family of Lescanna around the bed. Last night she has been a little bit more preoccupied of the thing making her faint as wont his game to pay any attention the stuff around her. Add the fact that she is completely naked and feels so tired that she wishes for nothing more than to sleep and forget this nightmare makes it pretty clear to any observer of the activities she has unwillingly been forced to on the bed.

Closing her eyes and sucking in a long saddened breath, Silvanna lets out a soft shudder of genuine despair. She's not one to cry, she is a soldier and a weapon of war in both lives. Hormones and her nature though as a woman in this life though changed her. She is in tune more on feelings and emotions compared to the cold hardened logic as a marine before. Silver tears fell from her almond shaped eyes and silently flow down the side of her beautiful face. She does not want any of this no matter how much her captor insists she does as both of them consume the deed. She has to hold on to hope that one of these days he would not be able to force her to faint and she would be finally free of him. This thing calling itself her brother does not want money after all or power, no.

It simply wants her.

Silvanna closes her eyes and wish everything away as she buried her head on the soft sheets of the bed. Thankfully the monster hasn't "yet" tried beating her. Not that he needs to, the things he is doing to her is already torture enough to scar her permanently. Silvanna tried to fight, oh how she did try to fight but being chained like a caged animal and your options are very few when it comes to dealing with a being part human and part something else.

A finger without warning poked her ass making Silvanna's eyes pop at the intrusion of her backdoor and she would have shrieked if not for the elastic gag suddenly enveloping her mouth halfway through her scream. She can only lie down in distraught acceptance as her "brother" slips on the bed behind her, his chitin covered hands massaging her ass before the finger slipped again inside. She can only let tears fall at the thought of her bowels about to be tenderized again the entire day.

"Somebody please save me," she thinks to herself wishing everything away.

"Please, Princess Elsa is indisposed for today. If you have any concerns, do bring it to the office of the Prime Minister. Yes, Princess Elsa would look at your concerns once she feels better," the rather impatient voice of Kai sounds from outside making Elsa once more look at the door through her tear-stained face.

Wiping the snot and the water mixing near her mouth, Elsa once more focuses on the crumpled piece of parchment lying forgotten at her table. Unlike the usual missives of Arendelle being given to her officially; this piece of paper is different. It contains the seals and the insignia of the Ranger Corps and had been discreetly passed to her this morning. It simply contains two simple sentences that brought Elsa's world crashing down around her.

"Steward Silvanna had been kidnapped en route on her way home. Everyone is looking for her,"

Judging by the snow covering her entire room, Elsa did not take the news well. Despite her calm façade as she sits on the bed holding protectively Kaldita on her arms, Elsa's heart and mind is a sea of turmoil and worry. When she woke up this morning, she did not expect well…..this. The news of Arendelle winning the war against Nogrod had already spread like wildfire and citizens are rejoicing at that fact. Elsa herself had relaxed assured that the people she loved would soon be home and Silvanna would be able to remove from her the burden of wearing the crown. Plus it would bring Anna back also within the safety of Arendelle's walls.

Now there is this!

Elsa scowls despite her worry and fear for her friend and lover. Every single time she goes on in one of her expeditions, things always go haywire. Last time had been the issue with Ahtohallan and the last before that was the Debacle. It seems that if Elsa did not keep an eye around her, she would get herself into trouble.

The Crown princess of Arenelle's first action initially would had been leaving Arendelle and helping out on the search for Silvanna. She immediately discarded that idea though. Elsa is not that good with the outdoor stuff and trekking through the woodlands of an unknown country and she would be more of a hindrance than an aid. Thus despite hating herself for it, Elsa lets logic dictate her action instead of her heart opting to stay here in Arendelle but sending a discreet message through Will to the Ranger Corps at Lescanna that they find Silvanna. Arendelle needs her now more than ever and Elsa knows that this is what Silvanna would have wanted anyway for her.

She just prayed to whatever deity there are that would listen that they bring back the Knightess to her okay. If she lost Silvanna, Elsa would not know what she would do. As it is, she consoles herself by humming a small lullaby to the baby at her arms wishing everything turn out okay.

…..

"YAH! YAH!" Anna urges her horse forward trying her best to hold on the reins with one hand while the other wipes furiously at the tears on her eyes.

She knows herself more than anyone, that is why here she is riding as fast and as hard as one rider could be on the thick forests of Lescanna. Suffice it to say that the Second princess of Arendelle did not take the news well about her sleeping with her friend and mentor. What's worse is the small fact that Anna knows that it is her fault. She remembers the night well. She remembers the celebrations as even the Winged Hussars take part on the revelry celebrating the victory of the Alliance against the forces of Nogrod. She remembers coaxing Alucard to drink that cup of wine after her. The young man refused but Anna in her stupor forced him. One cup then two, then something more before both of them ended up on her bed and well, one thing leads to another and Anna woke up alone, groggy, naked and her inner thighs extremely sore.

The reason why she is here right now riding hard is to lessen the feeling of guilt, anger and hopelessness coursing through her veins. Anna knows herself more than others. She knows she is impulsive, irresponsible, hyper and views the world in a carefree manner. Unfortunately she knows that such attitude of hers also has downsides, specifically, the inability to see the consequence of her actions long term. Sleeping with her teacher fortunately belongs to that. If she gets pregnant, she knows that she, or at least Alucard would be in deep shit. The man would be drawn and quartered due to the simple fact that he touched someone well above his station. Unfortunately his death would be on her hands and her hands alone.

Anna is just ready to force her horse to give another burst of speed in an ill attempt of getting the ugly feeling away when she hears it….a pained moan as if someone is shouting but has something stuck on their mouth. Blinking, Anna debates within herself what to do. On one hand she is still contemplating about her own problems and getting involved in something that does not relate to her seems instant karma, especially in her current state. However a small part of her, the part of the innocent girl that wants to simply help people, make them smile and bring a little light in their world through her actions says otherwise.

Emo Anna vs regular Anna and regular Anna wins in a landslide.

Getting down from her horse, she ties the reins to a tree before crouching as stealthily as possible to the source of the pained moans. Thanks to Alucard's training with the rapier, Anna is nimble with her feet like a cat, thus her passing through the eaves of the forest can barely be noticed. It takes about five minutes of creeping and simply following the source of the voice before Anna finds herself at the edge of a cliff with huge jutting rocks at its side.

For a moment Anna contemplates simply standing up and looking. The part of her that loves to sneak urges her otherwise and Anna chooses to crawl instead and peek before deciding what to do. She would be congratulating herself the next three minutes or so for deciding the latter as what she sees makes her eyes widen in horror.

There below her are the ruins of a palace and a city; but what makes her eyes widen though are the two figures at the topmost floor of the palace. Even in the distance she can see the familiar face and form of Silvanna, her beauty shining in the night like a star. What's the problem though is the simple fact that she is gagged, tied and crying through her bonds pressed to a pillar as the figure behind her moves their bodies together in tandem. If not for the fact that she's horrified at what she is seeing, Anna would have been wondering why the Knightess is here. The last she heard from the grapevine of the Winged Hussars, her friend had ridden ahead back home. Thus Anna felt bewildered as the question remains unanswered and what she should do.

Fortunately the figure behind the Knightess made it for her. It looked up at her direction crouches down behind the rock she is hiding. It is only a split second but she sees the figure clearly. Covered in chitin with parts of its body, it looks like someone fused an insect with a human. If not for the simple fact that she has not eaten anything, she would have vomited. As it is she is just green with the gills as she tries to tune out the moans of fear coming below.

Heart beating inside her chest, Anna crawls back to her horse at the forest before riding as hard as she could back at the Arendellian camp. Rules be damned about someone finding her tagging along here, they need to be informed that Silvanna had been captured and was currently being used as a sex toy by a monster. Someone needs to save her friend.

"YAH! YAH!" Anna urges her horse as fast as it could through the dirt path even as twigs snap across, bloodying her face. Every second counts from here on out.

….

"No news from the patrols then huh?" General Horst looks at the newly commissioned captain of the Winged Hussars who sighs tiredly rubbing his hands in front of him near the fire. The two of them have camped out here to remove themselves from the hustle and the bustle of the camp. Other than the Winged Hussars after all and the Death Dealers, none of the regulars in the army are informed of the loss of the Knightess to prevent a panic. Thus the army is still in a celebratory mood and can cause enough noise to wake the dead.

"Makes sense I suppose," Horst gives off his own sigh as he drinks from the coffee at his hands. "The men at least will have the feeling that they're contributing something. That way's better than them sitting in their asses twiddling their thumbs wondering how they could help,"

"Besides we could be lucky and the kidnapper would be found out by some random patrol," points out Horst making the Winged Hussar beside him snort.

"Please, General. What are the odds that the kidnapper who managed to avoid Rangers of all people be found out by some random person in the woods?"

The sound of snapping wood makes both men jump, drawing their swords just in time for a horse to burst out of the bushes at the middle of the night of all times. Horst nearly drops his sword though as he recognizes the familiar face of the Second Princess of Arendelle all scratched and covered in leaves and twigs. He can't even fathom the reason as to why she is here.

"Princess Anna, what is-," he only starts to talk when the Princess jumps off the horse and throws herself at him, clutching his coat as if in desperation. Her eyes are red rimmed and she seems to be in near panic.

"I found her! Silvanna!" she cries. "Someone kidnapped her, and that monster in the woods is doing something to her! Please SAVE HER!"

Horst does not need to hear her desperate shout to be galvanized into action.

"Captain, you and I will ride now! Half armour I think. Princess Anna I need you to focus, where did you find the steward?" Horst asks sternly but strongly at the panicking girl.

"At-at some kind palace ruins at the edge of an abandoned city. She is at the courtyard with the monster behind her. It-it is mating with her g-general," Anna garbles through her tears.

"The old palace of Lescanna, that is the only place that can fit her description," says Matthias coming back with their horses and two lances.

"Very well, we ride there Matthias," nods Horst before returning his attention back to the crying princess. "Princess Anna, I need you to do something for me," he looks sternly at her making sure that she's paying attention despite her sniffles.

"I want you to ride at the middle of the camp and tell Lord Viktor what you told us. You don't stop for anything or anyone. Send aid to us at once. We might not need it, but it is better to be sure. Do you understand princess?"

"I-I understand," the young woman gulps as she runs back to her horse and gallops off into the night towards the main camp as if the hounds of hell are behind her.

"We could just wait for the others before we head off general," Matthias points out as Horst climbs up his battle-horse putting on his helmet as he holds the reins.

"Normally we should. But if someone or something is taking liberties on the body of our dear Knightess, then every second counts. We ride!"

"Sir!"

….

Author's Note:

Next chapter is finally the end of the Lescannian Arc and the start of the last three years of Silvanna and Elsa. Hope you are enjoying the story as do I. Ill be updating a lot soon.