We were out of the blizzard when the two stopped in a small clearing.
"Should we wait for the others to catch up or head forward?" The second man asked.
The two looked at each other and thought for a moment before I was thrown at the floor. "Let's wait. We have to cover her eyes anyways. We can't have her memorizing our path back to Ravana's."
The second man pulled out another cloth and proceeded to cover my eyes. Unfortunately, it wasn't see-through and all I could see was black. I could hear the first man make an irritated noise, "Why are her eyes glowing? I thought Erebus was sealed off from her." What…? What did he mean sealed off from me? What's Erebus?
I heard footsteps, a lot of them in fact. Another rough voice spoke up, "Grosvenor, Henwas, we're back. It took a lot to get the Prince and his troops off our backs. We lost some of our men. Approximately ten dead and seven captured."
The first man, who had seemed to be the one in charge, groaned. "Very well… I will report the casualties to Lamia. Are you sure you weren't followed?"
"Yes sir. One of the Prince's troops had followed us pretty far but we were able to take care of him." Lon… I'm sure it was him… and I feared the worst.
"Good. Let's get going. Her highness won't take kindly to tardiness. She's been waiting to see this worthless garbage." He said, kicking me in my stomach and causing me to gasp for air. "Henwas, you take her. I'll lead. Let's move out!" His voice roared and the other men cheered. What have I gotten myself into…?
Henwas grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder then proceeded to follow the others at a slower pace. Was now my chance to escape, and would I be able to pull it off? There was only one way to find out… I lifted my legs and brought them down quickly and forcefully, kneeing him in the chest. His grip loosened and he gasped for air. I quickly hit the ground in front of him and could finally tell how far away I was from the village because I felt dirt beneath me instead of snow. After ripping the cloth from my eyes, I untied my feet. There was no time to untie my hands or uncover my mouth.
"Gros— Grosvenor…! The Princess—is getting away!" Henwas called out while gasping.
I took off running into the forest looking for the snow. At this point, it was the only thing that mattered. I heard the men shout in anger and come after me. I need a place to hide! I looked around at every tree I passed but couldn't find anything. The air was getting thicker and it was hard to breathe so I quickly removed the cloth from my mouth, refusing to stop running. Eventually, I reached a small cave and immediately headed for it. The men's footsteps through the forest echoed and I could hear them coming. They were extremely fast. The cave was small but it had a lower section. Thinking that was probably the exact spot I should hide, I crawled downward and hid in the small space. I was cramped inside but if it meant keeping my life, then so be it. Anyways, it would be hard for anyone to see me in here unless…
I held my tied hands up. My eyes would be the end of me if I didn't do something quickly. Even if I turned my back towards the opening, the light would just reflect on the wall. I quickly pulled out the cloth they had used for my eyes and put it on again. I only hoped it'd work.
"She went this way! Hurry up and find her!" I could hear Grosvenor shout in anger. I really didn't want to get caught now.
One man entered the cave and I instantly froze. I mustn't make a noise… He crept around for a moment then whispered, "Chief. I think she's in here. I can smell that disgusting tool." Who the hell was he calling a tool? I bit my lip in anger, to prevent myself from lashing out. It was a bad habit that had caused trouble for me enough already. I felt blood run down my chin.
"Come out, Princess… You're only making things harder for yourself." Grosvenor stepped forward, coming into the lower section. It made my heart race but at the same time, I knew he couldn't fully enter. He was too big to fit in this enclosed space. "This is your last chance… Come out, now." He waited for a moment, both of them not making a noise.
"Chief Grosvenor, we can't locate her. Shall we head back to the palace or back to Lamia?" Another man asked coming in.
"We have no choice but to head back home. Move out, our Queen is waiting." Grosvenor slowly backed out and I waited a few moments before taking a deep breath. Big mistake…
The cave gave in and I was soon trampled by the falling debris. I couldn't move my body anymore. My arms, legs, chest… They were all numb. The cloth covering my eyes had slipped down so I could see out from my right eye. He stood above me, one foot on a giant piece of rubble that had landed on my chest. I felt myself fading.
"I told you, you were only making things harder for yourself. You worthless tool..." Everything went hazy and I passed out.
When I woke up, I noticed I was being carried by Grosvenor. My legs were tied up again and my whole body ached.
"…just in time, Princess." He said with a voice full of hate.
I looked over my shoulder towards the direction we were headed and saw a pair of enormous gates that were rusted to the point where it was impossible to move them anymore. I figured that's why they had been opened. There probably wasn't any worry about enemies attacking since this country was the most feared. While walking through the village, I saw how barbaric it really was. Children ran around swinging their weapons at each other while men spent their money at the bar, getting drunk and killing each other to prove who was the strongest. Most of them were gigantic and beast-like, similar to Grosvenor. There were a few women walking around in provocative clothing which I easily assumed to be prostitutes. They held knives strapped to their thighs and walked around with a bottle of alcohol in their hand. I felt disgusted. Please Johan… Help me.
We continued to walk down the street and eventually caught everyone's attention. They stared at me with their cruel eyes. At the top of a dirt hill was a large throne that had also been worn out from the years of use. A nasty looking woman sat there with a crooked smile on her face. She looked about my age and I quickly pieced it together that she was Lamia. Normally, it would've come off as obvious to me but my head was still spinning from being crushed.
She stood up and proceeded to come down from her throne. I was thrown at the bottom of the hill as everyone bowed.
"Your highness, you requested the Princess of Celeste." Grosvenor bowed, in front of the rest of the group, taking the majority of the credit for my capture.
She stopped when she reached me and nudged me with her foot. "Good job. You managed to capture her yet again…" She looked at me with her maroon eyes. Half of her body was deformed… Actually, it looked like two people were stitched together. The right half was a regular woman with dark, short pink hair. She looked slender and had a light skin tone similar to mine. The left half was a disgusting looking witch with black skin. I failed to hide the alarm on my face. Lamia glared at me and kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying past Grosvenor and the other.
"How dare you look at me with such a disgusting look! I am the Queen of this country! You will respect me while you still live! You… worthless… tool." She walked past the men and continued to make her way to me. I spit up some blood and tried to get up.
"What do you want with me?" I managed to get a sentence out before coughing up more blood. She had kicked me with a lot of force.
Lamia laughed cynically and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me into the air. "I want you dead." Her grip on my neck tightened. Was she going to kill me this very instant? Was Johan even on his way…? No, he's the Prince and has to guard the village. Was there any kind of help coming? Lamia's evil glare quickly turned into a creepy smile and she let me drop to the floor, gasping for air. "Lock her up. Have the snakes inject their venom in her as well. I don't want her escaping."
Henwas cut the rope binding my legs and took my arm, hauling me off in another direction with guards following behind. We reached a small crate that fit a single person. My body started to shake. I didn't want to go in there.
Henwas ordered the guards, "Get the serpents."
They quickly did so. The serpents they had gotten a hold of were thin, small snakes with red skin. Henwas took my arms and held them out while the guards placed them down on my skin. I tried to tug my arms away but they held me down. The next thing I felt were the snakes sinking their fangs into my arms, releasing the venom into my blood stream. I screamed and continued to struggle but I felt myself losing the feeling in my arms. The snakes made their way around my body biting my shoulders, neck, waist, and legs. I dropped to the floor, unable to move my body anymore and the guards dragged me into the crate, chaining my hands behind me to a wooden pole.
As the men walked out, I could hear them snickering. They were excited for the ceremony Lamia would be hosting tomorrow night. I only figured that it involved my death. The crate had a slight crack at the top and I could see it was evening. There was no escaping this. There was nowhere to go. Whatever Lamia had planned was going to be placed into action and there was nothing I could do about it. I let my body slump and sat there for hours. No one else came in for the rest of the day.