Chapter 12

Author's Note: Wow, thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favourites. It's so good to be back. This is a new chapter a.k.a. one of the chapters I skipped writing when I first posted the story. I have one more missing chapter to write after this before I repost the rest of the story.

"What were you thinking?" Basta said as he and Dafne cut a path through the forest following the light of Basta's torch, heading back to the village and Capricorn and punishment, in Dafne's case.

Dafne gave Basta a heavy sideways glance but didn't answer.

It was just the two of them. The rest of the men had gone after Resa and Basta had sent Silvio ahead to brief Capricorn prior to their arrival. Silvio was swift as a young wolf moving through the forest and he was possibly standing before Capricorn at this very moment. Dafne could imagine Capricorn seated in his armchair, sweeping through a list of tortures in his mind to select one for her.

Fear made her feet leaden, each step taking her closer to her unknown but inevitably cruel fate. Her hands were trembling, she balled them into fists and they quickly became clammy in their compression.

She peered into black void of the forest to her right. Basta was on her left, close but not holding onto her. There was nothing physically preventing from trying to make a run for it. It was the odds against success which held her back. Basta had a gun and beyond facing that danger, there were numerous other deterrents. Dafne had no light source, no bearing, no way of pinpointing Resa, who could have been captured herself now for all Dafne knew. These odds kept her chained to Basta's side like invisible shackles. He may as well been wheeling her to Capricorn in a cage.

Her situation seemed hopeless.

"I mean really," Basta went on in the wake of her silence, a slight sneer in his voice, "Did you really think you were going to make it?"

Disappointment and failure were a tightening sensation in her stomach, a sting in her eyes. Once, not so long ago, she had felt such hope, immersed in the belief she could, would, escape.

I did, she thought sorrowfully, I thought I would make it.

"Did you forget about the snake infestation?" Basta carried on, his tone arrogantly knowledgeable and chiding, "There are dozens of the blasted things out here and you two go blundering around in the dark with no antidote, let alone a torch."

A sudden heat swept over Dafne, a crackling of indignation at her captor lecturing about snakes when it had been men, not snakes, who had defeated her in this wilderness, only men and a misguided boy.

"Even if you avoided every single snake, you were bound to get lost. The forest doesn't get any easier to navigate in the daylight either, it goes on for miles and you have no compass or water or anything to help you survive..."

"None of those details really matter now do they," Dafne broke in with exasperated bitterness, "Since I've been captured."

Basta gave her a hard look at her interruption, his lip slightly stuck out.

Then he nodded with finality,

"Yes captured," he smiled, looking cheerful, "It didn't take long for Silvio to find you," he shook his head, marvelling, "Boy's got a better nose than those useless hounds and he's quick as anything. It was a good thing, having him stall you in time for us to catch up and capture you at least. A shame he couldn't hang onto Resa as well. I would have preferred to bring Capricorn both of you at the same..."

"Stall me?" Dafne repeated, horrified by the implication of those words, coming to a halt in her distraction.

"What?" Basta said, too busy following his own tangent to have caught her interjection.

He frowned at the gap she had widened between them by stopping and moved back to tighten it.

"You said you had Silvio stall me," Dafne said.

Basta eyed her with a fleck of curiosity,

"That's right. Why else do you think I let him go ahead of us? I knew that once he found you he'd keep you in the one place like his life depended on it," he smiled crookedly, "Well your life really, and your life seems to be just as important to the boy as his own. You should have seen him when he first found out you had run off. He expected Capricorn would have you killed and he got really upset, almost hysterical."

Basta rolled his eyes at the memory,

"He even pleaded with me to not find you on purpose. But I had to find you, little mouse, I'd be in trouble with the boss if I failed, and once I convinced Silvio that Capricorn wasn't about to have you executed and that you were bound to perish out here, he changed his tune and begged me to let him find you. He thought he could get you to come back willingly. I doubted that but I figured he'd at least be able to stall you while he tried," he surveyed her with mild triumph, "Turns out I was right."

"So you basically used Silvio to capture me," Dafne summarised, relieved Silvio hadn't been aware of his true role, that he had been a pawn, a pawn used to trap her like a rabbit snare. But pawn or not, she wasn't ready to forgive him.

"I suppose you could say that," Basta said, "But the boy did his part willingly. He understood you needed to be brought back to the village, even if it was only to spare you from dying in the middle of this from a snakebite or dehydration or what have you."

"What about dying back in the village?" Dafne forced the words from her mouth, licking her dry lips nervously, "How do you know Capricorn won't decide to have me killed?"

She shuddered to say the last word.

"Well I don't know for sure," Basta said to her dismay, "It depends on what mood he's in."

Dafne swallowed hard, a ghostly pressure seemed to squeeze at her throat like a noose.

"So I might die."

"There's a slight possibility," Basta said with appropriate sobriety, "I'm not going to lie to you."

"You lied to Silvio," Dafne pointed out, "You told him Capricorn wouldn't have me killed."

"I had to tell him that. Otherwise he would have done something stupid like take on the whole search party just because he thought it might save you. It was better to have him working with us. Anyway, it's more likely your punishment will be less extreme than death."

"What makes you say that?" Dafne asked, caught between doubt and hope.

"Because just disposing of you would be a waste," Basta answered, "Maids are hard to come by," he studied her a moment with a slight smile on his lips, "especially pretty ones. Capricorn knows that so there's a greater chance of him letting you live."

"You really think so?" Dafne said, allowing herself to feel relief, at least a little bit.

Basta didn't answer immediately. He came forward, coming very close to her. Dafne tensed.

"Yes I do think you're pretty," he said in a low voice.

Dafne stared at him, incredulous and rather worried,

"That's not what I was asking," she said a high voice, causing him to flinch.

"Oh?" Basta sounded embarrassed, "You meant..." he took a step back, clearing his throat, "Well we won't know for sure until we see Capricorn. So we should get going. Keeping him waiting won't work in your favour. Come on."

"Silvio said you told him that Capricorn would be merciful if I begged for forgiveness," Dafne said as they resumed walking, "Was that a lie too?"

Basta shook his head,

"No, I think it would help your case if you did," he shrugged, "Hell, if I were you, I'd throw all the blame on Resa."

Dafne stared at him appalled,

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" Basta said, "She masterminded the whole thing, don't tell me she didn't. Dead snakes in the kitchen has Resa written all over it. You were just a tagalong. Tell Capricorn she led you astray."

"She didn't lead me astray," Dafne said indignantly, "I wanted to escape. It was my choice," her voice rose with impassioned anger, "I wanted to be free."

Basta eyed her with pursed lips,

"Well you're not free," he drawled, "But you are in serious trouble so I wouldn't be so quick to reject my advice when it might help you."

"I don't care if it would help, I am not selling out my friend," Dafne said stubbornly.

Basta sighed impatiently,

"Then don't. But I would still grovel like your life depended on it, because it probably does."

Dafne shivered, a sense of dire purpose swelling in her breast, and she found herself nodding.

Basta caught her nod, nodding himself,

"Who knows, you might just get a week or so in the cages," he said brightly, attempting positivity, "That wouldn't be so bad."

"As opposed to what?" Dafne dared to ask. What other punishments could be in store for her?

"It's best you don't know," Basta said.

Out of the corner of her eye, Dafne saw Basta glance down at his hip. The action spoke volumes, that was where he kept his knife. Fear prickled over Dafne's body, fear of what this man and his knife could do her if his master bid it.

They broke out of the forest to set foot in the village so Dafne despised, the village she had hoped never to lay eyes on again. Capricorn's house soon loomed menacingly ahead of them. It was like marching towards the gates of hell, knowing the Devil was waiting beyond the door. Basta took hold of her arm, maybe he could he sense how much she wanted to whirl around and flee, grabbing her as a precaution.

There was a figure loitering outside Capricorn's house. He came running up to them.

"Did you speak to Capricorn?" Basta asked Silvio.

The boy shook his head,

"That old woman wouldn't let me," he said, causing Basta to groan frustratedly, "She made me report to her."

"And what did she say afterwards?"

"She said to put Dafne in the cages until you have Resa," the boy answered, avoiding Dafne's gaze, "She said Capricorn shouldn't be disturbed until then."

Basta sighed again, glaring at Capricorn's front door, glaring at the domineering woman inside,

"Alright," he said finally, jerking Dafne around roughly, "We'll put you in the cages for now."

He marched her around the back of the church with Silvio trailing behind. There were several houses with brown doors marked with numbers from 1 to 7.

So these were the cages.

Basta pulled her over to house number 3. He produced a set of keys and unlocked the door, gesturing for Dafne to enter. She stepped inside, inhaling the stale air of the dark room. Basta pushed by her to switch on the single light hanging overhead. There were no furnishings except for a pile of straw. Basta pointed towards it,

"You can sleep there," he said.

Dafne nodded wordlessly, eyes studying the dust-streaked walls.

Basta turned towards the open doorway where Silvio was peering in.

"I suppose I better join those idiots hunting Resa," he mused to himself.

With a sigh of weariness, he strode out of the room, Silvio moving aside to let him pass.

"Goodnight for now little mouse," Basta said as he was closing the door.

Dafne couldn't summon the words to reply, just stood and watched as her world became reduced to a dank uninviting room.

Outside she heard Basta twisting the key in the lock then footsteps,

"Are you coming Silvio?"

"Would it be okay if I stayed?"

A pause.

"If you want," Basta's voice sounded tired.

"Thanks Basta."

There was a soft laugh, accompanied by more footsteps which gradually died away. Silence, Dafne listened to sound of her breathing, breathing in the heavy air.

"Dafne?" Silvio called, his voice a loud whisper, "Dafne?"

There was an ache, a desperation in the way he said her name, reaching out to her through the wooden door.

Dafne didn't answer. She wasn't ready to speak to the boy who had wounded her through his actions. Though he had meant well, she still felt betrayed and the hurt she felt wasn't ready to be healed.

She drifted over to the straw and lowered herself down onto it.

"Dafne?" Silvio kept appealing to her, "Dafne, please."

Dafne buried her face in her hands.

Please go away, she thought.

There was a heavy pause.

"I'm sorry," Silvio's voice was soft and heart-breaking.

Dafne listened to him leave, beginning to weep quietly behind her hands. She wept for what could have been and wept for her present.

She was imprisoned, alone and afraid.

To be continued...