Tatiana woke slowly, her head heavy. She felt thick rope binding her wrists together in front of her, and the rope tethering her in place with a slight bit of slack. Tatiana opened her eyes to look around but saw only darkness. Panic welled in her throat, as she brought her hands up to her face. She couldn't make them out in the darkness.
She felt her breathing quicken, her heart pounding in her chest. She swallowed her anxiety and took a deep breath to steady herself.
"The mortal is awake," a harsh woman's voice barked out. Tatiana froze, turning her head to the source of the voice. She scrambled to pull herself into a sitting position, as she heard movement.
"Where am I?" Tatiana asked.
"Where am I?" her voice mocked back.
Tatiana's jaw clenched as she heard laughter.
"Am I still in the Glittering Woodlands?" she asked, her voice cold.
"It knows our name for it?" the woman asked.
"I suspect that fool told her it," a man's voice said. "She was calling his name in the forest."
Tatiana gritted her teeth as the mimic mocked her crying out Robin's name, eliciting peals of laughter from the woman. She wanted to ask if Robin was okay, to demand they take her to him, but she had a feeling they would only laugh at her. Instead she sat in silence as they laughed at her.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to will her sight back. Her face stung where the bird had raked its claws against her skin, the wounds still fresh.
"Don't bother," the man's voice said again with a chuckle. "You'll be blind until the wounds heal."
Tatiana swallowed anxiously and opened her eyes tentatively. Darkness still. She didn't want to believe the wicked man, but she couldn't see at all. She pulled her knees up to her chest as best she could and rested her head on her knees. She closed her eyes to stop any tears and tried her best to think of Robin. She shoved the despair deep down and tried to remain optimistic that he would come rescue her.
He surely would know that something had happened to her, wouldn't he? He would know she's thinking of him, and he would know she's crying out to him to rescue her.
She shoved her fears about his safety down and tried to focus on the thought of him rescuing her.
Her other senses were beginning to adjust to her lack of vision, as her hearing became keen. She could hear the tell-tale crackling of a fire, and the sound of spoons scraping against bowls. Noisy eating as someone chewed and slurped. Her senses hadn't quite attuned to the world around her to give her a clear picture of what was around her though, and she sat in frustration.
Tatiana listened to her captors carefully, though they seldom spoke other than to discuss who would take watch. The gruff woman volunteered for first, a man volunteered for second and another man for third. She wondered who had mimicked and blinded her.
The woman's watch passed slowly in silence. Tatiana tried to will herself to rest, but she couldn't bring herself to relax enough to sleep in the presence of her captors. Instead she listened as the woman kept watch, occasionally stirring from her post to walk around the camp. Hunger crept in to the pits of her stomach, but she didn't dare ask for anything from her captors.
Tatiana wasn't sure how long had passed when the woman woke one of the men, rather unceremoniously from the grunting sounds he made. She listened as the man took up his post, and the woman started to elicit soft snores from her bedroll.
"You should get some rest," she heard the man speak. It was the man who had called Robin a fool and had told her she'd stay blind until her wounds healed. "We've got a long walk tomorrow."
Tatiana turned her head away from the direction the voice came, ignoring him. She could practically hear the sly grin she assumed was on his face. Her cheeks flushed red as she heard her stomach growl from hunger.
She heard the man stand up and start walking towards her. She scrambled as far back from as she could, but the ropes binding her wrists and tethering her to the ground prevented her from moving very far. The man chuckled, and she felt him move close to her. He took her struggling wrists in his hand. Tatiana did her best to try and move away from him, until she felt a piece of bread shoved into her hands.
"Eat up, you're going to need it if you want to keep up tomorrow," the man said.
Tatiana frowned, and tried to push the food back into his hands but he was already moving away. "I don't want it," she said defiantly. "I don't want to be indebted to you, thanks."
The man let out a hearty chuckle. "Clever girl," he said. His voice was low, evidently trying not to wake his compatriots. "Though I assure you, you won't be indebted to anyone if you eat that. I just want to ensure my catch makes it to where we're going."
"And where's that?" Tatiana asked. She could feel him near her still, sitting much closer to her than she was comfortable with.
"Rest up," he said by way of an answer, "It's a long walk."
Tatiana sighed in frustration and curled up into a ball. She suspected there was no use trying to ask anymore questions, the man did not seem interested in giving her an answer. Instead, she reluctantly bit in to the bread. She hoped he had been honest about the lack of favours attached.
--
She wasn't quite sure when she finished her bread, or when she fell asleep. All that she knew was that she was being roughly woken up by someone shaking her. Her eyes sprung open, but all she could see was darkness surrounding her. Tatiana's body was sore from a fitful night sleeping on the uneven ground, and her joints creaked in protest as she was dragged to her feet.
Tatiana was dragged along, one of her captors holding onto the rope binding her wrists and tugging her forward. They were relentless, tugging her ever forward even when she tripped over roots and stumbled over fallen branches. She suspected it was the gruff woman pulling her forward, as she could hear the woman snicker every time Tatiana fell.
She stayed quiet as best she could as they walked, listening to their conversation. She surmised there were only three captors, the gruff woman, the kinder man, and another man who was soft spoken and rarely spoke. When he did speak, his voice was icy cold, revealing nothing.
They stopped briefly after a few hours to rest, she assumed for lunch. Exhausted, Tatiana sunk to her knees when they stopped, trying to rest her aching legs. Her mouth was parched from the exertion, her lips dry. Her wrists chafed, and her wounds stung in the cool wind.
She heard one of them approach her, and her body tensed as she quickly shifted from kneeling to crouching. They pulled on the rope with enough strength to pull her to her feet, and the captor put a hand on her back to steady her as they pulled her towards them. Their hand let go of the rope, their hand still on her lower back.
"Drink this," the man who had fed her the night before said, lifting something to her lips. He raised the bottle and she drank the water from it as best she could. Water dripped down her chin as she tried to catch as much of the water in her mouth as she could, but the angle was slightly too steep, much of it coming out quicker than she could swallow.
The bottle left her lips, and the hand left her lower back. The rope they were using to pull her forward was picked up, and the man gently tugged on it to let her know they were walking again. Tatiana sighed, as they began their march again.
The rest of the day was much gentler than the morning, with the man being much more considerate of her than the woman. He allowed her to catch her balance every time she tripped or fell, and even gently guided her down a rough hill, one hand on her elbow as he helped her navigate the rocky hill blind.
As the day wore on, she could hear them approach a river, the sound of the water rushing and roaring drowning out much of the other forest noise. They made camp not far from the banks of the river, and she was grateful for the reprieve from the day's march.
Her rope was tethered to something, though she wasn't sure what. She listened as the trio ate and spoke, though nothing they said gave her any indication what she was in for. The evening passed in much the same way as the night before, the woman taking first watch, and swapping over with the man partway through the night.
Tatiana's heart beat rapidly in her chest as the man approached her again, though she didn't scramble away in terror.
"Hold out your wrists," he instructed, crouching in front of her.
She did as she was told reluctantly, her hands trembling. The man's course fingers brushed against her skin, as he untied the wrist binding her wrists.
"This should help with the chafing," he said, gently massaging an ointment into her red-raw wrists. The ointment soothed her burning skin, and she sat quietly while he massaged her wrists tenderly. His touch was firm, but it didn't irritate her already sore and broken skin.
"I'm going to leave you untied while you eat, but if you try anything, I won't be so kind in future," he warned, gently placing her hands back in her lap. Tatiana nodded obediently. She heard the man stand up and fetch something.
Thoughts of escape crossed her mind, it would be so easy to start running while he was on the other side of the camp and her wrists were unbound and untethered.
She swallowed nervously, and before she knew it, she was on her feet and running through the forest. She ran with her arm outstretched, trying not to run into trees. Her legs burned from a full day's walking, but adrenaline coursed through her, giving her strength she didn't know she had. She heard a flurry of feathers behind her, and then the man was colliding with her, tackling her to the ground.
She fell into the dirt with a thud, gravel and stones digging into her skin. The man's body was pressed up against her, keeping her securely on the ground. She kicked and thrashed underneath him, as he grabbed one arm and held it behind her back. He pinned her down with one knee as he tied her wrists behind her, pulling tightly on the rope. She let out a frustrated whimper of pain as he pulled her into a standing position, her wrists burning.
"I warned you," he said, his voice cold, as he pushed her back towards their camp.
He led her back to the camp, pushing her roughly to the ground and tying the ropes binding her wrists to whatever they were using to tether her in place. The man didn't speak to her for the rest of the night, and she went to sleep with tears in her eyes.
