a/n: I have definitely been away for quite some time... If you saw my recent updates to Dossier, you may have picked up on a lot going on in my life. It's been quite the time - a lot good and a lot bad. Lurking on has honestly helped me get through some of the worst times. I was so excited to start this story a few years ago, so I don't want to give up! Thanks for reading :) I literally have three more chapters already written and edited so I plan on posting those immediately. Because there's a lot of plot in this story that we need to establish before I can deliver on the sassier parts. But also because you all deserve a massive update.
trigger warning: There is a brief allusion to human trafficking in this chapter. I don't go any farther than a mention of it.
Previously in Silk Road.
"Princess Relena." the handsome bandit spoke, while leading his own black horse from the woods.
"THE Princess Relena!?" The unruly bandit asked, clearly surprised.
But no one was as shocked as Relena herself.
Silk Road
Ch.2
The handsome bandit approached the newly-minted "Princess" Relena like one would approach a wounded animal. While his countenance betrayed no emotion, his eyes dripped with curiosity, and perhaps a bit of something else.
"Untie me. Now!" Relena hissed, ever so the feral cat.
"Now you know I can't do that." He replied.
"Let us go!" She yelled, eyeing the tied up Lucretia behind him.
"You know that I'd have to kill you. You've seen our faces." The handsome bandit lifted her in a fluid motion, over his shoulder.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he assured her. "You're worth much, much more alive to me right now."
He hoisted her up and over his horse, then joined her from behind. He pressed his legs into hers, forcing her to stay rooted to the saddle.
"Ah. A fine ransom she would be indeed," the unruly one chuckles. "Who the hell is she?"
By then the trio had mounted their horses and turned away from the main road, seeking a forested path. The bandit Wu had Lucretia bound and gagged, and laid ever so gingerly over his horse like a piece of cargo.
Relena winced, why were they treating them differently? She was happy to see the bandits hadn't killed Lucretia, but still, the group seemed unhinged. They could change their minds at any moment.
Relena had so many questions, but her years growing up in an abbey taught her to keep her mouth shut. Sometimes, speaking was a waste of time.
Instead, she returned her attention to the legs that held hers in place. They were larger than hers, but still slim, and wrapped in a style of pant that Relena had only seen maybe once in her life.
"Hakama..." she whispered.
"What was that muttering?" The handsome bandit bellowed behind her. She felt her ears prickle and her hair stand on end. How dare he have a voice like that.
"You're from Nippon-koku." Relena observed, betraying her cautious sensibilities for a phrase in fluent Japanese. She felt his legs seize for a moment, and his gloved hands tighten on his horse's reins.
"What do you know about that?" He grumbled.
She kept her mouth shut.
"What are you doing so far out East, your highness?" He said, voice dripping with a monotone sarcasm, if that were even possible.
"And what are you doing this far west? What are all of you doing in Anatolia?" There was that hiss again, she just couldn't help it. For some reason, she knew his patience ran deep.
She knew he wouldn't hurt her.
"So I'm assuming you're going to hold me for ransom then. Not sure why you'd want to do that." She asked in his language.
"What do you mean?" She could feel the muscles in his legs tighten. He held what she could only imagine to be the hilt of a sword to her lower back.
"I mean, I'm an orphan. I have no money or anything valuable, except maybe this silly outfit." She explained. "No one would pay a ransom for me."
"Don't play dumb with me, princess." The last word came out like ice.
"Do you call all the girls you kidnap 'princess'?"
She felt him shift on his saddle. He spoke not a word to her for the rest of the ride.
By nightfall, the group approached a grouping of tents set up in the forest.
The unruly bandit picked up his pace on his horse, raising up off his saddle in the process. He leapt from his seat, touching the ground with otherworldly grace. Like a demon.
"Boys we are home!" He shouted in English.
Another handsome bandit emerged from one of the tents, his hair swept over his face, which was half obscured by a Venetian mask.
"And what did you bring home today?" He questioned, eyeing the two women held hostage with a raised brow.
"Trowa, are they back yet?" A voice from a slight blonde could be heard emerging from a clearing, firewood bundles in his arms.
"They're back, and they've brought hostages." The one called Trowa replied. He approached the original handsome bandit, eyeing his royal prize.
"And who the hell is this, Heero?" He asked in Japanese.
"She can understand you. Change languages." The newly-named Heero replied. Relena wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She sunk into her seat, appearing demure while keeping her ears peeled to translate. She wasn't about to give the fact that she was a polyglot away.
"This here is royalty." Heero said in perfect Portuguese.
"You don't say. She doesn't appear to have that royal attitude." Trowa observed.
"Oh she's got an attitude alright. Help me get her off this horse."
Relena and Lucretia sat, bound together at their wrists, in the middle of the camp's largest tent. The five heathen bandits ate meager meals and discussed what to do with the two of them. A small fire in the center of the tent lit the room with orange light, and it's smoke escaped through an opening in the ceiling.
"Sister Lucretia-" Relena whispered. "We need to talk."
"I'm not sure if this is a good time..." the prioress replied.
"Well I'd rather know who the hell I am, before they decide to kill us."
"Hi ladies! I hope you're not too uncomfortable..." the blonde approached them, voice tinged with regret. He wore an outfit Relena would have recognized in Anatolia. This group of bandits appeared as diverse and patchwork as the very road they had been traveling on earlier.
Relena met the kinder bandit's gaze with an icy glare, and watched as his face turned pale, even in the firelight.
"Don't try to reason with this one, Quatre." Heero said as he approached. Relena felt her insides tremble at his voice, but she refused to let her fear and confusion get the better of her.
"You. I need you to tell me why you all think we are valuable enough to hold at ransom. I need some answers." Relena growled. She felt Lucretia stiffen her hold on the rope.
"They can't be serious? Heero do we have the right pair?" The bandit called Wu interjected from beside the fire.
Heero kneeled next to the women, studying Relena's face with cold eyes. She could feel him trying to read her, and it was almost too intimate for her to bear. She had never been stared at by a man before. She felt her entire face go red.
"I-I'm not sure, now." He said in a language he thought she couldn't understand.
"What do we do with them?" The unruly one said. "The other one is dressed like a man! Could we drop them off at a brothel?"
"Absolutely not." Heero growled, still staring. Relena felt her face deepen even more than she thought possible. Hopefully she hadn't given herself away, she could understand every word they said. She didn't like the idea of a brothel one bit, but she was trying to temper her reaction.
Heero noticed, but he didn't give her away.
He raised an eyebrow, which she caught on to immediately. She felt her body back away from him. He shook his head at her, as if to reassure her that he wouldn't say anything to the others.
How strange. Had she misread him?
a/n: Please bear with me on the historical and geographic parts! I'm trying to make sure any discrepancies are as minor as possible. I'm a writer, not a historian.
Glossary
Hakama - Traditional Japanese pants, originating in China, and adopted in Japan in the 6th Century. Heero gets around so he could have picked them up anywhere.
Dofuku - Japanese "battle jacket". A lightweight kimono that can end just above the ankles, but I've also seen them end at the waist online while researching. Assume Heero's ends at the waist.
Nippon-kuko - Nip-pon-koku or Nihon-koku. "Origin of the Sun" An older way of referring to Nippon (Japan), from what I've gathered.
Anatolia - Asia Minor, home to present-day Turkey
Tashkent - An ancient city first settled in between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE, present day capital of Uzbekistan. Known as Stone City for this story.