Chapter Two: Kath

Kath jerked awake to the sound of men laughing, the heat of near-by fires and of course the rough bark of a post digging into her back, which was now covered in only a thin shift. She shivered at the thought of unknown hands on her while she was unconscious.

She went to prod her throbbing forehead to see if there were any bumps or blood but her hands wouldn't move, they were tied behind her and wrapped around the pole. She pulled to see how sturdy the pole was, and was drawn back, bumping her head a bit too hard against it. She grunted as leaning her head against the pole caused a faint amount of pain but the real problem was that the grunt attracted unneeded attention from her captors.

The face of boy two appeared, his mouth pressed into an unforgiving line. "Someone is awake." The annoying lilt boy two drifted to her ears, it had been too much to hope he was dead. "I could have you killed for what you did to me girl, but since the boss won't allow it I'll beat you instead." His fists started pummeling her stomach and there was nothing she could do about it with her hands tied.

Kath cried out, her mind was in shambles and there was only so much she could take without breaking. Tears ran freely down her face and it was embarrassing to fall apart in front of her captors.

"That's enough Sir Dartsson, the girl has clearly suffered more than she can take." The hands pummeling her stomach stopped and her head dropped limply, teeth clenching the gag in her mouth. A soft hand pulled her chin up and before her eyes even met the gaze of the person who had saved her, she knew it was a noble. Her eyes fell on the face of the man who picked up her chin and she gasped. She was staring into the face of no other than the crowned prince.

His eyes were dark and cruel, matching his slick black hair that covered pale skin. His face had no wrinkles from laughing yet he was handsome in a scary way, nothing like she had imagined.

"You put up quite a fight for a girl who was supposed to be pathetic and weak, I suppose my informant lied to me. I'll have to have him put down."

Her brother, he had been on his way to tell her he was selling her as a slave to the prince.

"I am neither," she hissed, refusing to back down under his scrutiny. "I am strong from working in fields, smart from the education that I worked for, and I can wield a dagger and throw a punch. I can ride a horse as well, so-.”

“So what? You’re trapped, with nowhere to go and you are going to work as my slave for the rest of your pathetic little life. You will have no need of education when you are rubbing my feet and serving me food and won’t have a dagger unless it is shoved through your heart.” he stood up from his kneeled position at her side, “Get her injuries cleaned and fix her up, then send her to me so that I may access her.” With that he turned around and walked away, leaving her to be roughly led to the medical tent.

…

Kath was shoved into the medical tent and instructed to lay down on the cot inside on her stomach so that the older slave that was standing there could take care of her injuries.

The older slave wrapped the few open cuts she had and looked over the bruises and the bumps she had collected all while poking and prodding her. The woman cut open the back of her shift, increasing her shivering while she made sure that Kath’s back wasn’t harmed in the fall off her horse.

There was a sharp gasp and the woman’s hands that had been poking her drew away. There was the sound of hurried footsteps and out of the corner of her eye she saw the tent flap flutter back into place. She could make out voices from the other side of the canvas walls, the slave was mentioning something to Sir Dartsson and the guards. Someone left and came back, another pair of footsteps with them.

“Yes I see. What an abnormality.” The prince’s voice cut through the anxious air in the tent.

She gasped and rolled her, sitting up quickly. The back of her shift was cut open from neck to her lower back, leaving her normally covered skin bare.

“Roll back over girl,” his voice was commanding and she found her body rolling without her even instructing it to. Kath hissed, finding she couldn’t move once her back was facing up again.

“Interesting,” there was a moment's pause in which she shivered before it was broken, “Who had you whipped?”

The question was so random that for a second her brain only ran in circles while it processed what he had asked before she finally answered.

“My mother for me not getting the harvest in on time.”

“Any other reasons?”

“No.” There was another moment of silence in which she could have sworn she heard the faint sound of church bells, but she dropped the thought when she was able to move again. She jerked up, rolling off of the cot in the process, wincing as it sent flames of pain through her. Falling off things seemed to be getting more progressive. Boy one, who was called Lord Wavingmen, pulled her to her feet and stepped back.

The prince stepped to the entrance of the tent, and before ducking through commanded that she be dressed in a new shift, one befitting of a royal slave and reminded them that she was to be sent to his tent afterwards.

Five minutes later she was dressed in a slightly thicker shift, a relief, that was a white with blue cuffs, the kingdom's colors and was on her way to the prince’s tent.

She stopped outfront, breathing heavily. The guards had removed the bonds from her chaffed wrists so she could move them freely, yet they were still watching her like hawks. There was a river just beyond the tent and she was fast, not to mention a good swimmer as well. If she could get to the river, once she was on the other side, she could escape.

Before she felt like looking around suspiciously, something that could easily give you away, she took off running towards the river. There were shouts from the guards behind her, but she didn’t stop. She reached the river and dived in with no hesitation, even hesitating for a second could come at the price of her freedom.

The river was freezing and much faster than she had anticipated. It pushed her a ways down stream before she was able to climb out onto the far bank. Looking back to where her captors had set up camp, she saw the prince standing there, his eyes seeming slightly kinder than before. It didn’t seem possible that he could be anywhere near kind, but before she could dwell on the thought there was the sound of a galloping animal coming towards her and she was scooped up and onto the back of a horse.