It happened in a flash, Elena had made some kind of movement as she slept that strained against the vines and they snapped, with the sound of a whip being cracked. The sound of the break was loud enough to wake Elena and the soldiers below her. Luckily for Elena, her reflexes were quick enough that she noticed that she was falling before it was too late. Her hands gripping the side of the wet tree limb as she prayed that she would go unnoticed. No such luck. There were shouts from below as she struggled to climb up higher but failed due to a number of factors: hunger, wetness, no grip and exhaustion.
"Hey, you there, monkey boy!" called one of the guards, trying to jump up and catch her foot, which she pulled up out of reach. Elena wanted to answer back but all that came out was a muffled noise.
Cursing herself, she realised she still had the gag on, and the only way to remove it would be to loosen her grip and she would fall.
"What have we here?" came the voice of the large man from the night before.
"A monkey up a tree, sir" said a soldier, half serious half laughing.
"You know boy, you will have to come down at some point, that grip of yours look quite tiresome" He called up at her.
Elena was well aware of the problem with her grip, her fingers were growing numb and her grip was slipping. At least they think i'm a boy, she thought. Not bathing unless it was pouring rain coupled with the rough clothing, malnutrition and wild hair, she wasn't surprised she was mistaken for a boy.
"We could shoot you with a bow, throw stones at you, or even burn down your tree... but I think the most amusing way for you to get down from that tree is to fall out" The big man chuckled as his soldiers laughed like sycophants.
Sweat was dripping down her face, into her eyes at the effort of holding on, she tried to get a better grip but she didn't have the strength to lift her legs above her hips. Two hours later, after enduring endless threats and vile jokes - even the odd stone hurled at her, slowly but surely, she felt herself slipping, inch by inch. Finally her fingertips lost contact with the bark and she fell.
Elena felt like she was falling forever.
She landed on her feet, pain shooting up her left ankle. However, that was the least of her worries as a net was thrown over her as soon as she hit the ground. She fought against her faceless captors but was outnumbered. Still, she didn't go without a fight. Elena sunk her nails into the nearest soldier's face, only letting go when she received a blow to the stomach, causing her to double over in pain.
She felt rope binding her wrists together behind her back as another pair of hands bound her ankles together. She writhed and thrashed about, shouting through her gag, but to no avail.
"Pull him up" Ordered the big man. Elena felt two soldiers pick her up off the floor, as if she were a piece of wood, bringing her to face the commanding officer.
"He's a puny little thing isn't he sir?" remarked one of the men.
"Yes. Although when I see Lorreans as pathetic as this, I'm surprised that we still need to be in this neck of the woods. They're nothing compared to us physically" he sighed.
Elena struggled against her captors, her matted hair falling in her wet face. "Stop that, filthy boy, or i'll put an end to you here and now" growled one of the soldiers holding Elena. Suddenly Elena felt dizzy. She knew that her dizziness was probably because she hadn't eaten in two days and was weakened from lack of nutrition and sleep in general. However, her understanding of the symptom did not help her stop what happened next: Elena fainted.
The commander sighed as the woodland creature collapsed at his feet. "Get that bucket of water and throw it in his face. Wake him up."
"But sir, wouldn't it be kinder to kill him where he lies rather than postponing the inevitable?" asked a soldier.
"That's not your decision to make private. I'll get all the information I want from this 'thing' and then I, and not you, will decide his fate. Now where's that water?" he barked.
SPLASH. Elena coughed into her gag as water dripped down her face and up her nose. opening her eyes she realised that was she was not dreaming, it was a nightmare come true.
"Now, we'll start again, shall we?" said the commander in a cheerful voice. "Remove that rag from his mouth" he ordered over her shoulder. Elena felt the cloth being yanked painfully from her face. She moved her jaw a few times as it was quite sore. She continued to look down at her feet, scared something about her would give her away.
"What is your name boy?" he asked in that cheerful tone.
Elena didn't know what to do, so she did nothing. No comment.
"Don't make me ask again, boy. You won't like the results" He said in a low voice that sent chills down her spine, although nothing compared to the chills that bolted down her spine as she saw him unsheath his sword and point it at her stomach.
There was no way around it. Elena cleared her throat a few times before saying "Alice."
The two men holding her dropped her in surprise and even the commander took a step back. Elena took advantage of their dumbfounded state and made a lunge for a sword within reach, but her bound ankles tripped her up.
The two soldiers hauled her up again, both laughing at her feeble attempt at bravado. The commander too was chuckling but for a different reason.
"I should have known. You're way too tiny for a man, but I guess it was the crazy hair and dirt that threw me off!"
Elena didn't know what to respond so she said nothing.
"So, Alice, is it? what are you doing in our neck of the woods?" he asked.
"Your woods?" Elena said hoarsely. "These woods belong to the kingdom of Lorrea."
The large man stood staring at her, as he rubbed his chiseled chin. "I don't know how long you've been up that tree Alice, but there is no more Lorrea. That war was lost two years ago."
"You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the...." but what the Kravaolian's may or may not have won, the commander never heard, as Elena fainted again.
*
When Elena came to, she felt positively awful. She had never felt as sick and weak- even after eating the wrong mushrooms a year earlier in the forest she hadn't felt this bad. There was a constant thumping against her stomach and her head was bumping into something hard and soft at the same time.
She opened her eyes, only to shut them quickly, fear gripping her. The sounds of the horse galloping at full speed was nothing compared to seeing the ground so close up, only to see it flying by. Elena was strapped across the saddle, in front of the rider, her hips on the saddle, her head and legs hanging helplessly over both sides.
Elena felt a large hand press warningly against her back, which only caused her to struggle more.
"Stop your squirming or you'll fall from this horse" said the voice Elena recognised as one of the younger soldiers.
"Let go of me- please! I feel sick... I can not stay this way..." she cried over the thundering hoofbeats.
"Too bad. You smell something awful and I won't have your Lorrean stench pressed against me." he grunted as his horse galloped on.
"So let me go!" she cried.
"I have my orders. The commander is heading home to Kravaolia and is bringing you along. I think he means to give you as a gift... or maybe as a joke.. who knows. Prince Henry is not very forthcoming with his thoughts." he stated.
Elena stopped struggling at the mention of Prince Henry. "Henry? King Alexander's son?' she asked, her mind moving painfully slow.
"The one and only. Of course in the field, we are to address him as commander so it's less likely that some loser Lorrean sniper picks him off. You" he added with a smirk, "will address him as Your Highness."
"He's no prince of mine" Elena spat.
SMACK. Elena squealed as the soldier brought his hand down hard against her bottom. "Respect is paramount in his presence. Do not anger him or you will find that you do not enjoy the result," he snapped, pressing a hand between the junction of her thighs, cupping her mound "trust me on that" he said with one last SMACK to her backside that caused Elena's eyes to water. Face crimson from the shame of being touched by a dirty Kravaolian soldier, let alone where she'd never been touched before, her tears fell thick and fast, rolling into her hair as they galloped into the cold night.
They arrived at daybreak. The soldier slowing to a trot as he made his way through small cobbled roads and gateways, until stopping abruptly outside a large stone building. Elena felt other hands pull her from the horse, and guide her roughly through the door, her feet not even touching the marble floors. She surmised from the humidity and sickly sweet smells that they had brought her to a bath house.
A large woman came through the door, eyeing Elena with a frown.
"This is a Gedortian bathhouse - we do not tend to men here. Take your dirty little boy out of here this instant!" she ordered, snapping her fingers for good measure.
The soldiers laughed, causing Elena to cringe, as she was once again reminded that she didn't fit the bill of a woman, let alone a princess.
"Yes, that's what Prince Henry thought too- hell, we all thought that! But beneath all that filth is a girl. She even has a name: Alice."
