After lunch Tara set out for the west. She could not see any mountains, so she obviously had a long way to go. The next day she came across a road and began to follow it. Occasionally someone would pass her on horseback but she did not speak to them beyond returning their greetings. Finally she reached another settlement and took some work so that she could purchase some new clothing to replace the bloodstained shirt and pants. It was only a few days before she was on her way again, catching a ride with a man on his way west to trade for some goods. He told her of stories of a magic castle inhabited by a sith. Tara listened carefully at first, but as the stories grew more fantastical she began to tune him out.
The day after she left him she was awakened by rough hands grabbing her arms. Reflexively she began to struggle, kicking at whoever was trying to hold her. She opened her eyes and saw three dark figures hovering over her. She screamed, only to have a dirty hand clapped over her mouth. One of them put a knife to her throat.
“Well, look what we have here.” A deep male voice growled out, “What shall we do with you little lady?”
Tara brought her foot up as quickly and as high as she could, clocking him squarely in the jaw. He fell backwards, cursing loudly. One of the others hit her across the face, a coppery taste filled her mouth.
“Fiery,” the first man stood up, his hand holding his bruised jaw, “a temper to match that hair. You’ll fetch a fine price.” One of the men holding her began to tie her hands behind her back.
“Get moving.” One of them said, forcing her to her feet.
She was placed in the back of a wagon, her feet were also bound and she was gagged. One of the men climbed in the back with her, sitting a few feet away. Tara couldn’t see much of him, little more than his shadow, but she noticed that his ears were larger than a humans. She decided that he must be a du sith. The wagon was beginning to move. She worked on her bindings a bit, but they were not loosening.
Suddenly she blinked and it was light out, she realized that she must have fallen asleep. She looked over at the du sith, and realized that he was not a du sith at all, he was a sith. He nodded at her and offered to take the gag off as long as she agreed not to scream, she nodded agreement and he slid it off.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked. She shook her head.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded.
“We haven’t decided yet.” He said, “Wherever you will fetch the best price.”
“I won’t cooperate.”
“You think our clients will care if you’re willing or not to be their slave?”
Tara looked out the back of the wagon. They were travelling along the same road, perhaps they would reach a settlement soon.
“So where you from?” he asked.
“Avalon.” She said, somewhat sarcastically.
“Well that much is obvious, where on Avalon?”
“Does it matter?”
“Just trying to make conversation.” He shrugged and became quiet.
Tara stared out at the road behind her. She tried to look on the bright side, she wasn’t going to have to walk this long distance. As long as she could get away from them at some point soon then they would have saved her a day’s travel. She continued to struggle with the bindings as the hours ticked by, marked only by the shadows moving through the wagon. The sith grew bored with watching her and started practicing with his dagger. Around noon he offered her some food but she refused.
“You can’t refuse forever.” He said.
“I can try.” She answered, looking out the back of the wagon.
The wagon stopped as the sun was beginning to set. Tara was still working on the ropes on her hands, finally starting to have a small amount of luck. She could feel them starting to loosen. The men were starting to get sloppy at watching her, so she didn’t have to be quite so subtle with her struggles.
The men settled down for the night, one staying up to keep watch. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Around midnight she felt one of her hands come free. She quickly untied her other hand. Her eyes opened a small crack and she looked around for the man on watch. He seemed to be distracted with something in the woods. She cocked her head so that she could listen better. There was a twig snap not far from the camp site, it didn’t sound quite like an animal. The man pulled out a sword and walked around to perimeter. Tara looked for her own sword. It was with her other things that they had taken from her, in a bundle next to one of the sleeping men.
While the man was still distracted looking out into the woods she untied her feet. She flexed her feet slowly, trying to get some of the feeling back into them, keeping an eye on the man. He was on his way into the woods, apparently to investigate whatever it was that he could hear. Once he was more or less out of sight she crept out of the wagon and inched towards her sword. It seemed to take hours to cross the few feet from the wagon and every step she took she was sure that she was loud enough to wake the entire forest up. Finally her outstretched fingers touched the hilt of her sword and closed around it gratefully. Then she picked up her pack.
She was about to sneak away when she noticed her necklace was clutched in the sith’s hand. She hesitated .It would be foolish to risk her life for a mere necklace. But she did not want to lose it now; and it could be useful to help her escape.
A scream in the woods ended her pondering. Both of the men leapt up and looked at Tara. She stepped back a few feet, her sword out in front of her. |
