CROWN OF THORNS

CHAPTER VIII

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A darkness crept up on Eden during her departure from the Serpent, a darkness far more intense and threatening than the one she had left. It took her by surprise, obscuring her sight, she could see shadows and shapes through the scratchy canvas material. Two large arms wrapped themselves around her torso, she could sense there were two perpetrators, she thrashed her legs to fight them off. It proved to be useless, she was tossed aside like a bag of feathers and when she hit the ground it rocked, she felt around on the ground and it felt like a carriage. It smelt of bale and fertilized soil.

Surprisingly, her hands and feet stayed free, she was cautiously guided to a seat, far more gentle than when she was originally tossed in. Two bodies sat next to her, one on either side. She understood that they did not bound her as they assumed her to not be a physical threat.

"What do you want with me?" She asked, her breath hot against the material over her head. Eden heard the one on her right, scoff. "I demand an answer, you must know that my father is the Lord and when he hears about this-"

"We know, girl."

Her stomach turned, her heart in her throat. Eden's breathing became rapid and unsteady.

"Calm down." The voice was rough.

"She's having a panic attack." The other said, a hint of humanity in his tone. Out of all of them, his voice was the smoothest, a little shaky, as he must've been new to this.

"Take off that sack, and I will take off your head, boy."

"If she dies, we both dead."

The voices faded as Eden's consciousness entered a deep slumber...

The carriage rocked violently on a gravelly road, it jolted her awake. It came to an abrupt stop, the doors were wrenched open. Once again, she was blindly guided out.

"Just a little longer." The soft guard spoke low to her, she could make out that he was the one who tired to help her back there. "You will be home shortly."

"Help me." She pleaded, quietly.

"I am." He attempted to hush her in the most polite manner, like hushing a small child who began to cry over tripping on their own two feet.

The air smelt crisp, and there was a calm gentle breeze that glided across the parts of her skin that were barren of cloth, her cape was completely lost during the attack. Eden used all her senses to grasp her surroundings, the crunch of the rocky gravel underneath the wheels, the breeze smelt different yet familiar and the way she could tell the whistle in the wind was from tree branches swaying back and fourth. There was only one place in all of Kalypso that still had trees. Lady Eden was home.

When they removed the sack, light filled her eyes and she squinted at the blurry figure standing before her. As Eden's vision came back to her, she was met with her father's face in the throne room; his favorite place, worry etched along his harsh features, deep down she knew the worry was not for herself.

Eden's throat felt like sand-paper parched, "Father?" She croaked.

"Oh, my child." He cooed, looking at her pathetically like if she was an injured animal, laying in the open road, defenceless. His rough hand caressed her cheek, she shuddered at his touch and pulled away. She was not defenceless. Her eyes stinging as she bit back tears.

"You sent guards to retrieve me? what am I to you? A prisoner?"

The Lord took a step back, keeping the same wet eye in his look. "Of course not, you are my child."