Chapter 4

"Who is this?" she asked, using the common tongue so that I could understand. It was obvious that while the Capitán may be in charge of the ship, she was of higher rank. I stored the information away.

Juan stood to attention. "A boy, trying to…how you say… spy on us." He stumbled over his words slightly and colour touched his cheeks.

The woman cocked her head to one side and flipped her auburn braid. "This is no boy. She is a niña." I ran my fingers through my wet hair, to make it more clear to them. Being a girl could work in my favour. They would likely be less intimidated.

"I'm not trying to spy! I was just looking for my brother. They say he was taken and his daughter is sick and he needs to be with her," I rambled, making up the lie as I went.

"Then why were you climbing up the mooring rope?" The woman asked.

I bowed my head. "If I walked up that plank I would have been shot."

"Yet you almost drowned with your own idea. Dying by a crossbow bolt is much more pleasant than drowning, I can tell you that much. The screams of the dead man are shorter."

I nodded meekly as those dark eyes flashed. That was blatantly obvious.

"What is your name child?"

"Georgie, your grace." I knew that 'your grace' was the wrong term, but a peasant girl would not. Then again my clothes were not those of a peasant.

"She has seen too much. Shall we dispose of her?" The captain asked. Fear took over my body and it took all my willpower not to show them I was shaking. After all this they couldn't dispose of me. I looked around, seeing if there was any way to escape. If I managed to get past the ten armed men I could either jump in the Slipsunder or straight onto the dock. The first idea would not be good. I mused at the name of the river. Slipsunder. It had a penchant for making me slip under its depths. The second idea would be painful, but if I timed my landing just right and had enough of a run up I could survive.

The woman walked closer to me. She gestured her hand upwards and Juan pulled me to my feet. He held me up by my elbow so that I didn't collapse, or decide to run. The woman's smile widened as she took me in and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I didn't like those obsidian eyes. It was like they could piece back every layer of lies and see who I really was. She took out her weapon, a rapier which glinted in the moonlight, and before I had time to cry out, cut the cloak from my shoulders. It crumpled to the ground, utterly destroyed. I shivered as the wind kissed my wet skin, but I had bigger problems. She could now see all the weapons that I had been trying to hide and raised a manicured eyebrow.

"She is no child! She was here to attack us! Look at that sabre and those knives! Let us finish her" the captain shouted, pulling out his weapon. A number of crossbows were pointed towards me. I swallowed.

"No," the woman ordered, continuing to pace around me. "Let us play a game first." A game? What on earth was she talking about?

Facing me she continued, "How many of these men do you think you could kill?"

"I'm sorry your grace, I don't understand."

"Don't play stupid with me niña! You handle those weapons with confidence. Answer me or you will never get asked a question again. How many?" I glanced around, taking note of their weapons.

"I don't know how many I could kill, but I could get past maybe four before the rest captured me," I answered. I didn't know how right I was, but the estimate was as good as any.

"Then go," she said, taking a step back and I didn't need to be asked twice.

I slid my sabre out of its scabbard and took three strides away from Juan. He was probably the most skilled of all the men given his discipline, and I wasn't going to face him and be defeated straight away. A man with a pot belly could barely hold up his weapon before I sliced through his forearm and then punched the wound with the hilt of my sabre. He fell to the ground in pain. I spun on my heel and knocked a second man in the nose so that his eyes filled with tears and he was temporarily blinded. The I stamped on his heel and pushed him over the side of the ship. He landed with a splash and I didn't even stop to consider whether he could swim or not. As I fought I saw drops of crimson leaving a bloody trail. I was still bleeding and at the thought, pain filled my entire body. I almost fell to the ground, but forced myself to continue. A third man charged at me. My instinct told me to take out a quattro and lodge it in the middle of his forehead, but a voice told me not to reveal all I could to. Instead I stepped to the side lithely and jabbed his ribs. Three out of ten. I was narrowing the odds in this stupid game. Suddenly the world turned on its side as I was hit in the head and went flying. Everything seemed to shake as my consciousness bounced around my head like a bird nonsensically attempting to escape a cage. When the blurs began to clear I saw Juan in front of me, holding a wooden slate.

He pulled me to my feet once more to face the woman.

"Only three," she told me and clicked her tongue. "Disappointing."

Turning to walk back into the cabin she looked at Juan over her shoulder. "Kill her."

Oh, it wasn't going to be as easy as that. I was going to take as many of them to heaven with me before I breathed my last. Or perhaps hell. Who was to know?

As Juan was holding my arm, I put my other hand on top of his and then jerked down with all my strength. He lurched forward and hit his head on the deck. Then I ran towards where Wolf was muzzled and kicked his captor over the railing before the man had a chance to figure out what was happening. I cut the leather around Wolf's mouth so that he could join me.

"Lets get these bastards," Wolf said, barring his teeth in a menacing growl. We ducked behind the mast as three arrows thudded into the wood. I stepped out slightly and threw a quattro. A body crumpled. I released two more in quick succession, glad that I had taken these instead of a bow which would have been constricting in this space. A second body crumpled while there was a cry of pain. Eight down.

Then everything stopped and I heard the sound of around twenty crossbows being cocked. The endless clicking noises all but signalled my death. The two ships beside me were lined with men, all pointing those looming contractions at my head.

"I knew there was more to you," the woman said. I threw a quattro, aiming at the middle of her forehead, without a second thought. But she easily evaded it and shook a finger at me as if I was a misbehaving toddler.

"Do something stupid like that again and you will be shot." My shoulders slumped. It had been such a stupid idea to try and climb onto this ship when the Iberian's had such an upper hand. No matter what I did, they always got the better of me. She came towards me with her rapier in hand.

"I'll maul her," Wolf said. "And you run."

"I'm not leaving you," I said stubbornly. He was not going to give his life for mine. I would not let him.

"Move and you die. I will take great pleasure in killing you niña," the woman said.

"Kneel." I stayed where I was.

"Kneel or they will shoot." I sank to my knees, but glared daggers at her. She ran the cold steel down my neck with enough pressure to scratch, but not enough to draw blood. Today had not been a good day, and was now going to be my last. I closed my eyes.

"STOP!" a voice yelled and my eyes jerked open. For some absurd reason I expected Edmund to waltz up the plank with his emerald eyes blazing and sword ready to spill blood, while Halt and his former apprentices emptied their quivers and downed every single man who had a weapon pointed towards me. But quite obviously I could not envisage any heroics from him on my behalf ever again. Actually, I did not want nor need it. I could save myself, thank you very much. Instead, my former prisoner marched up the plank and glared at the woman.

"What on earth do you think you're doing Silvana?" he spat. I raised an eyebrow at his tone. He was the first person to speak to her with anything less than respect. The first person to even look at her with anything less than fear.

"Killing the spy," she answered simply, as if taking a life was nothing to her.

"Don't be stupid. She's valuable to us," Riley answered. I didn't know whether to be pleased or furious. I was not an object to be valued, but the fact that I could not be thrown away like any normal person was pleasing.

"All I see is that she took out eight of my men," Silvana said. I would be lying if I said didn't feel a small surge of pride at the impressed look on Riley's face.

"El Jefe's men," Riley corrected. "And this girl happens to be the girlfriend of Prince Edmund of Araluen. She has more value to us alive than dead."

"Ex-girlfriend," I all but growled.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "No matter. She will make a valuable hostage." A hostage? I didn't want to be a hostage. While Silvana was distracted I was going to make my jump onto the dock but Riley was too quick.

"Matéo and Andrés, restrain her and the mutt," Riley ordered. I recognised the men from before. They had gone to the tavern to drink and must have discovered and released Riley on the way. My hands were soon tied together, as was Wolf's mouth, and my weapons taken off me.

Only the weapons they could see. I kept my face straight.

Silvana scowled and went back below deck without another word.

"Are you injured?" Riley asked, as he led me off the carrack.

"I'm fine," I answered, my lips tight. I would not show any weakness. This was humiliating enough. I decided to make myself the worst hostage they had ever taken. So annoying and hard to keep tied down that they would be begging to release me.

On their knees.

"I will have to present you in the best condition possible," Riley said, taking my hands and looking at the nicks and scratches. He frowned at the bite marks in my forearm.

"Thiago!" he called. One of the twelve men of Riley's retinue approached. I marvelled at the power Riley held. He was the spy but could still command the men and order Silvana around. Why did El jefe trust him so much?

"She's injured," Riley said simply and Thiago nodded. Riley took me inside a building which seemed to be the Iberian's dock-side headquarters. There were supplies and maps and weapons and I tried to take everything in for future reference. I was placed on a wooden chair as my wounds were attended to. Thiago was gentle in washing away the blood and cleaning my wounds. Whenever I bit my tongue in pain or even flinched, his thin fingers moved all the gentler. He then applied soothing lotion before wrapping my hands up in clean linen. The bites from Wolf were particularly deep and as Wolf saw me wince, he growled, angry with himself. I smiled at him, to show my appreciation. If it wasn't for those bites I would be languishing with the fish on the river bed. When Thiago was done he handed me a pair of leather gloves to put over the linen. Iberian's treated their prisoners well! I wondered how much I was worth. When Edmund refused to pay the ransom or whatever blackmail was planned, I guessed the pampering would end.

Riley untied me and handed me a towel and some clothes before sending me in a small room. The first thing I did was check for any weaknesses so that I could escape. There wasn't even a window in the room and the only light was through a skylight which was three metres above my head. There was no way I could get out of that.

"Stop looking for a way to escape and get dressed," Riley called through the door.

"I am not," I answered, carefully enunciating my words.

"Stop lying." I scowled at the wooden door and heard Riley chuckle.

I ripped off my sodden clothes and wiped myself down. Then I pulled on the leather tights, woollen shirt and cloak – my damp skin a hindrance. I had a feeling these clothes had been worn by someone else recently. By the fit they felt like men's clothes but since they didn't slide off I guessed they were for a small man. Or perhaps a boy. Riling through my old clothes I found the rusted nail from earlier and placed it in the upper pocket of my shirt. They wouldn't dare pat me down there – at least I hoped. I emptied the water out of my boots and put them back on. As I walked out of the room my boots squelched uncomfortably and I was tied up once more.

There was a quattro wrapped in makeshift leather in my right boot. I had remembered Halt's story about the assassin he had tracked down. Hiding weapons in strange places had worked for Warren's advantage against the country's foremost ranger. I would be a fool not to heed some of those lessons.

As Riley led me to the horses outside I walked slowly so he had to pull me along and occasionally stopped dead in my tracks. I tried to wriggle my hands out of my constraints and attempted to step on his feet with my boots. For a while he said nothing but just pushed me harder. I relaxed my legs so that I fell to the ground and Riley almost toppled over. This was my favourite move of late. He grunted in annoyance and yanked me up.

"Stop it." Naturally, I ignored him.

"If you don't stop I'll knock you unconscious," he threatened.

I smiled sweetly. "You wouldn't do that to your star hostage."

Then I cocked my head to one side. "You couldn't do it to me anyway." Frustration laced his eyes. I knew I was right. Even though he had tried to put me to sleep earlier, knocking me out could have dangerous consequences, which he was not willing to take. My suspicions were confirmed. He liked me. More than a friend. I felt like laughing. I was going to use that against him.

Riley nodded. "But I could always kill Wolf. He is not useful to anyone." My eyes darted to where Wolf was being carried along in a wooden cage. He was too much of an unruly demon to be dragged along like me. His eyes were practically murderous and flashed red. It was a small miracle that they hadn't killed him already. Anyone other than Riley would have. I thanked my lucky stars for the time I had spent with Riley at Araluen. It seemed now that dances and flirting could indeed be a matter of life and death.

"So behave or he'll get it." I sighed and followed him quietly.

"Where are the rest of your things?" Riley asked. I wrestled within myself. He would take the rest of my weapons away from me but I didn't want to leave them out of reach in the tavern.

"I have a room at the tavern," I admitted, finally. "And my horse is stabled there." He gestured someone over and told them to retrieve my things. Reaching the horses I looked down at my bound hands and up at Riley's face.

"Are you going to untie me?" I asked with a smirk. He just put his arms around my waist and lifted me into the saddle, like I was a ragdoll.

I scowled at him. "It is improper to touch a lady like that." Edmund would have punched him. I inwardly groaned. I could have punched my brain for going back there. More than anything I was just annoyed at my own uselessness. Being pulled and lifted and prodded like I had no will of my own.

Riley snorted as he tied my horse to one in front of it. "I will treat you like a lady when you act like one. Now put your hands on the saddle horn or you'll fall down. And don't try to escape. There will be horses on either side and behind, riding close and pretty fast. If you try to dismount, you will be crushed and die."

I rolled my eyes but obeyed as Riley and I and his eleven men left. Wolf was stuck in the back of a cart. It was an uncomfortable ride, being tossed around as I held on tight. I squeezed my thighs together to get some purchase, but riding without one's hands was a nightmare.

"Having fun?" Riley goaded from my right. I didn't want to reply but decided to continue being an exasperating hostage.

"Yes very. May we go on these rides every day?"

Riley grinned. "Taking a beautiful girl like you around. Someone up in heaven must be smiling down on me." I rolled my eyes and scowled, wishing that my hands could be released so I could pull out his hair.

The man on my left chuckled. "Oh no Riley, she is no mere girl. She is a preciosa mujer." He winked at me.

"Do not worry niña I already have a wife at home," Matéo said. "We need to get Riley a wife so he'll stop being so boring."

"We do not make friends with hostages Matéo," Riley laughed. He seemed to be quite close to the Iberians. I thought back to the conversation I had overheard at Castle Araluen. He had sounded like a reluctant – what had they called him – mensajero. Why was he suddenly so engaged in the plan?

"She's going to give us a hard time," Matéo said. I was impressed at his knowledge of the common tongue.

"How do you speak the common tongue so well?" I asked.

He went to answer, but Riley stopped him. "She's trying to find out about El jefe. Don't answer her." I shrugged as if the information wasn't important to me anyway.

"We do not only speak Iberian in my home country," Matéo answered, despite Riley's sharp look. "But some speak the common tongue better than others. My mother is from Araluen." My interest piqued.

"What about that Silvana lady? She speaks the common tongue very well." I knew my inquiries weren't subtle in the least, but while Matéo was feeling talkative and I wasn't in a dungeon it seemed as good a time as any.

Matéo and Riley both grinned but didn't say anything.

"Please tell me something at least Riley. You owe me that much," I said. "I'm going to be your hostage anyway so what does it matter." Riley sighed, giving in as I fluttered my eyelashes at him. Halt would probably roll his eyes at my actions, but a girl had to do what was necessary.

"She's Silvana. El Jefe's right hand woman. I don't know what else to say. What she says pretty much goes unless there's a matter involving Araluen royalty. You better not cross her because I don't think she likes you," Riley explained. I filed that information away. Silvana was quite beautiful and I couldn't help but wonder if she was more than just an adviser. Perhaps she was El jefe's lover as well. I shook the thought aside. El jefe and Silvana would not care for such things.

"Who is El jefe?" No answer.

"What are his plan?" No answer.

"How big is the army?" No answer.

"Will you answer any of my question?" I knew there was next to no chance that they would answer, but I could give it a try.

"Do you think I'm that stupid Mon?" Riley asked. "I might be just muscle, but I do have some muscle between my ears."

"A girl can try," I answered with a smirk. "How about a question that could not possibly harm anything, but my pride. How did you escape?" A simple question might loosen their tongues to further interrogation.

Matéo chuckled. "Squealing like a child he was. In that barrel of all places."

I expected Riley to frown but he grinned back. "I woke up in the dark and completely constricted. What would you expect me to do?" Maybe I had gone a bit far with the barrel. That would have been horrifying. I stopped myself. He was my captor and I his hostage. I would not feel sorry for him.

As if to reinforce my thoughts, Castle Caraway came into view. I noticed slight changes, but they made all the difference and it definitely was not the same place. The crest of Caraway Fief – a heron on a forest green background – was gone and replaced by something much more sinister. It was the coat of arms of the King of Iberion. Later I learnt it was the coat of arms of his family, the House of Castile. The flags were in the shape of a shield which rounded to a point at their base. They were split into four sections with either a castle upon a red background, or a red lion on white on opposite segments. The battlements were almost overflowing with patrolling soldiers. Countless crossbows were locked and ready to shoot.

"Who goes there?" a guard called from atop the walls. I had a sense of déjà vu.

"Sir Riley of El Jefe's personal guard, my men and a prisoner," Riley answered. The last time I had been here, I had come as a travel companion with Halt and Edmund. I just couldn't shake his name and it made me angry. Why couldn't I forget him? I needed to if I wanted to be happy. I wondered if he was plagued by thoughts of me. How he thought I had betrayed him. Edmund would be furious. Betrayal did not sit well with him especially, given his past. A part of me wanted him to feel all the pain he had put on me. Another part hoped he would find out the truth. But then what? Could I forgive him? I didn't know who was worse. The twins for framing me, or Edmund for believing I could stoop so low.

I forced myself to concentrate on what was happening and try to track guard rotations or something as Riley lead me inside. I would not think of Edmund. I didn't care about him. I had much bigger problems.