"So here you are, my beauty!" he growled, yanking me out by the arm with a single rough motion.
I screamed with all the strength I had left in me, but even that was drowned out by his booming laughter.
"Let me go! What do you think you're doing?!" I tried to sound firm and commanding, but my voice trembled — I sounded more frightened than fierce.
My shouting only made him laugh harder. He dragged me out from my hiding place and began pulling me along behind him. My arm ached under his crushing grip; I hissed at the sharp pain, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"Hey, boys! Look what kind of beauty I've found!" he bellowed.
His strides were so long I could barely keep up, stumbling over roots and uneven ground. I nearly fell more than once. My fear only deepened when I saw, just a few meters ahead, a handful of men like him — except they were mounted on horses.
When they spotted me, they started whistling and several of them turned their horses toward us.
"Well, well, what a rare beauty we've got here," one of them said as he dismounted and came right up to me.
Now two of them loomed over me, grinning down with their rotting, uneven teeth.
My instincts screamed for me to run. Acting on a sudden burst of desperation, I grabbed the strong arm holding me and dug my nails deep into his flesh. I used every ounce of strength I had, trying to inflict as much pain as possible.
It worked — he howled in rage and released me. In that instant, I spun around and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction.
"Catch her!" I heard someone shout behind me.
Blood roared in my veins, my pulse thundered in my ears. Adrenaline took over completely — I felt as if I were faster than the wind itself. I didn't care about the voices behind me, or the branches clawing at my skin; all that mattered was getting away.
Sharp pain lanced through my bare feet with every step as I tore through the forest. My lungs burned, screaming for air, but I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop — my life depended on it.
After a few minutes, my legs were trembling violently. My breathing came in wheezing gasps, and tears blurred my vision until the trees around me became little more than shifting shadows. I didn't even notice the root jutting out from the ground — my foot caught, and I went down hard with a painful thud, clutching my leg.
"There she is! Get her, you idiots!"
Panic took complete control of me. I heard branches snapping — they were close, far too close. I knew I couldn't run any farther.
Summoning what little strength I had left, I tried to stand, but a sharp pain stabbed through my ankle. I reached for a tree to steady myself, but before I could, a hand fisted in my hair and yanked me backward.
I cried out as agony shot through my scalp, my body colliding with something solid and unyielding — a man's chest. Tears streamed down my face, but the stranger didn't care; he only tightened his hold.
"You little whore! How dare you defy us?" he hissed through gritted teeth, his breath hot against my ear. The sheer venom in his tone made my skin crawl.
He jerked me around to face him, his eyes wild with rage. My blood ran cold. His hand tangled in my hair, dragging me closer, while the other clamped around my throat.
"One more stunt like that, girl, and I'll throw you to the guards. They'll teach you what happens to disobedient pets," he snarled. His fingers dug deeper into my skin as he spoke.
Through the blur of tears, I could barely make out his scarred face. Black dots began to cloud my vision, and I knew I was only seconds from passing out.
"Let her go!" The voice reached me faintly, as if through water — and then, suddenly, the crushing grip vanished. I collapsed to the ground.
I fell like a rag doll, gasping as air rushed painfully back into my lungs. But I couldn't open my eyes anymore. Darkness swallowed everything.
* * *
The first thing I felt was shaking. My head hit something hard, sending a sharp pain through my skull. My eyes flew open — only to find myself surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
As my last memory resurfaced, fear flooded back into my body. Every part of me ached, from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.
I looked around carefully, trying to make sense of what was happening, trying to figure out where I was. Darkness surrounded us — it must have been night already. I must have been unconscious for an entire day.
I was crammed into a wagon with several strangers. Instead of walls, iron bars enclosed us, and heavy shackles bound our ankles. Most of the others either slept deeply or stared blankly into space, but none of them looked as terrified as I felt.
Armed guards flanked the wagon on all sides. A few torches flickered, casting ghostly light, but beyond that, darkness ruled. Occasionally, I heard snippets of conversation or laughter from the soldiers — even that sound filled me with dread.
There was only one thought in my mind:
They're going to kill me.
My only hope was Charles. But I had no idea what had happened to him. Had he been captured too? Or had he escaped — and would he come back for me?
A violent shiver ran through me. Only now did I realize how cold it had become. My torn dress hung from me in filthy rags, and my hair was matted with mud. The upper part of my skirt was nearly gone, leaving only the thin white underlayer to cover my legs — and even that was stained with dirt and blood. My feet throbbed, raw and swollen, but I couldn't tell how badly they were injured.
"Open the gate!" a voice shouted from up ahead. My head snapped toward the sound, but I couldn't see anything in the dark.
The wagon stopped for a moment, then lurched forward again, rolling through an enormous black gate.
"Take the prisoners to the west wing!" It was the same commanding voice I'd heard before I fainted.
"All of them? There are too many," another man said, his tone uncertain. "Shouldn't we… get rid of a few?"
"No! Their fate will be decided tomorrow," came the sharp reply.
At that, the wagon turned sharply, and through the darkness, I saw it — a castle illuminated by flickering torchlight.
My heart sank like a stone.