Previously in Silk Road
"I do believe this is yours. And THIS," he said while pointing at a small painting. "Is you." He deposited the locket in her outstretched hands. When she brought the small painting up to her eyes, she let out a sharp exhale.
It indeed was her, albeit as a young child. And she was accompanied by a taller boy, a man and a woman. She and the boy bore a striking resemblance to the two adults in the portrait.
"Are these? Are they-"
"You really have no idea who you are, do you? Shit." Heero said, sitting back onto the floor and running his free hand through his hair. One hand still remained around her wrist.
"Even better. You're worth even more now. Long lost princess Relena Peacecraft."
Chapter 4
Relena swallowed hard as she started putting the pieces together. No one at the abbey had explained anything to her, instead rushing her into fine clothing and shipping her off in an unassuming carriage.
Heero let out a low chuckle.
"It's all starting to make sense now, isn't it? Your isolation, your ignorance. That born and bred attitude of yours no nun could beat out of you." Heero let go of her wrist and stood up and over her.
She cowered into herself, only now realizing the gravity of her situation.
She saw him falter, if only for a moment.
He walked around the low table and joined her on the ground. He took one of her hands and raised it to his lips.
"I've been searching for you for so long," he began. "I..." he stopped himself, as if he didn't want to give anything away.
They both heard the sound of footsteps approaching the tent.
"How are we doing in here." Wu asked in what sounded to Relena like Mandarin Chinese.
"If she falls for all this, we are bound to make a lot of money." Heero replied much too easily. Relena raised her eyebrows at the two men, trying to feign ignorance.
The bandits had packed up their camp, and their hostages, not long after.
Since the one with the Venetian mask was the tallest, he took Lucretia with him on his horse. He promised Relena he wouldn't treat her like cargo, and had her sit in front of him.
Relena again was paired with Heero, and wore her unease about that on her sleeve. She didn't care how pleasant he was to look at, she didn't trust him. Not after the conversation inside the tent earlier.
What did he mean when he said 'if she falls for this?' she wondered. Was it his lame attempt at chivalry that bothered her more? Sure, she had been raised in an abbey for most of her life, and had little to do with men, but she was stronger than the kiss he placed on her hand that morning.
His actions, coupled with his words, made him appear all the more sinister to her.
"Where are we going?" She asked in English.
"We are going to the next town over to stop for supplies, before heading West on the Silk Road." Heero answered, almost too quickly.
How could she know what direction they were going? She had no idea how to navigate. All she knew was the feeling in her gut told her not to trust him.
She looked over to Lucretia, as if to confirm whether or not she heard what he said. Lucretia answered her silent question with a small nod. If Lucretia was smart, she would pay attention to the route. She had been the most learned sister at the abbey. Relena had no doubt in her mind that she could discern which direction the party were truly traveling in.
The first hour or so of their journey was spent in uncomfortable silence. She sat up, ramrod straight, eyes fixed on the road. Although she was tired, she couldn't doze. She wouldn't.
Heero's legs were pressed in towards hers, keeping her in place like a vice. His knuckles gripped at his horse's reins with all the gentleness of a rearing cobra. He kept the hilt of his sword near the small of her back, as if daring her to move.
Relena chanced a look at his companions. The tallest one, Trowa, as he had been called, looked more like a statue than a bandit. His one eye, unobscured by the Venetian mask, didn't appear to blink.
The blonde one hummed lightly to himself. He looked too kind to be a bandit. What was wrong with him?
The unruly one, slumped over in his saddle, but Relena could hear the tell-tale sound of a snore. He must have trusted his horse.
And of course, the bandit they called Wu, was staring straight at her.
Relena quickly turned her head back towards the road in front of her after meeting his gaze. Chills descending her spine. He was perhaps the scariest one of the five.
"Did Wu-Fei startle you, princess?" Heero asked her in English. Relena bit her tongue, refusing to admit he was right. But Heero didn't account for the fact that he had revealed his companion's full name to her. Perhaps that could be of use to her, later.
Soon came the smell of smoke. Relena felt an arm encircle her waist.
"Lower your eyes princess," Heero whispered. Relena's skin lit on fire. Relena refused the order, but quickly came to regret it as they came upon the charred remains of a carriage.
A dead horse smoldered in front of the carriage, which had collapsed into the sandy road. Pieces of timber and something else protruded from the vehicle's carcass. Relena's nose picked up the smell of something distinct.
Burning bodies.
As they passed closer, Relena saw that the protrusions were in fact, arms and legs. Three bodies seethed with glowing embers from within the carriage.
Relena quickly averted her gaze, struggling against Heero's grip to raise her hands to her mouth.
She felt Heero nudge his horse to pass faster, and when they approached a brush, he dismounted, taking her with him.
His timing was more than perfect.
Relena released the contents of her stomach on the side of the road with a loud retching sound. She felt Heero gently move her hair away from neck, to allow for a cleaner evacuation. While she was touched, she was also reminded that she was his hostage. And with that, she retched harder.
The others in their party soon approached, stopping to check on the two of them.
"Miss Relena!" She heard Lucretia yell.
"Now, now sister. She's fine. See?" Trowa chided. His voice was cool and betrayed no emotion. The blonde bandit rode up beside him.
"We need to get her cleaned up Heero. A lady can't travel like that." He offered. Relena heard Wu-Fei scoff behind him. The unruly bandit with long hair was the lone holdout, he was the only rider to not quicken his pace.
"Wake up you idiot!" Wu-Fei yelled. They heard the unruly one snort and soon his horse rushed to a gallop.
Relena kept her head down as she keeled over on the road, but her vision was soon obscured by a pale linen handkerchief. She looked up to see the blonde bandit offering her the cloth.
"Are you alright?" He asked, smiling. Relena gritted her teeth and yanked the handkerchief out from his hand.
"Feisty!" The unruly one whooped from his horse.
"Duo. That's rude." The blonde one chided. "Lady, please forgive that numbskull. Heero told me who you are, I'm Quatre, my lady." He bowed slightly.
"Please... don't," Relena said while wiping her mouth with his handkerchief. "Don't call me lady, please. I'm no lady."
"How far do you think we are from the next town, Duo?" Heero asked. The unlikely navigator looked towards the horizon, shielding his eyes from the stark mid-morning sun.
"How long was I out for? An hour? I'd say we are not 30 minutes away from our first stop." He smirked.
"So we are near a river then?" Heero asked, eyeing Relena up and down.
"We should be, yes." Duo began. "We aren't far from Tashkent, either. There should be two rivers north of here."
"A short detour. Tashkent is a good place to rest, anyway." Heero said while mounting his horse. He offered a hand to Relena.
Relena looked up at Heero, then back to the road. It was useless to run. They'd catch her before she even had the chance to take a step. Her stomach lurched at the idea of making a foolish escape. She could feel bile rising again in her throat.
She took Heero's hand and let him hoist her up on top of the horse. He secured her with one arm around her waist, this time as if to steady her. He pulled on the reins of his horse, as if to guide him northward and off the main road.
Relena could see a tall stone tower in the distance as they traveled north on a beaten road. She kept reminding herself of the city name, Tashkent. She was sure she had seen it on a map in the abbey. She assumed they were traveling the Silk Road, of that much she was sure.
"There's Stone City." Heero mumbled. "The rivers should be close by. We can stop there before taking a rest at Tashkent."
a/n: Hi readers ... I appreciate you! The world is a sad place right now. I hope this offers you an escape.