Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Twelve

The pain was excruciating. It was as if every inch of my body was wracked in agony and were it not for the subtle symphony of birds around me...I truly would have thought I was dead. But...I wasn't. I knew I wasn't. The pain alone was a dead giveaway, and as I opened my eyes, I had to squint at the sudden brightness that assaulted me. Where was I? What happened?

I coughed as some water came up my throat, my body protesting every movement my body made in reaction.

We...we had been attacked. By whom, I didn't know, but I remember that Cayden had whisked us away in a secret exit and that we eventually made it outside. They had followed us. The intruders, and then...then Cayden pulled us over the edge of the cliff, and everything had gone black after that. Right...Cayden.

Struggling, I managed to lift my torso enough to look around, and eventually, I caught sight of Cayden's unconscious, drenched form not to far off from where I was. There was a couple of cuts on his cheek, but otherwise, he seemed fine, and when I saw the subtle lifting and falling of his chest, I knew he was at least still alive. My only question was...how the hell did we survive that fall? That drop had easily been over one hundred feet, yet here we were, washed ashore on some bank by a forest, still alive. I knew there was water below where we had fallen, but even if that was the case, a fall from that high would have given us more than a few scrapes and bruises, right?

I shook my head and pulled myself into a sitting position, my breath labored with pain as I searched the area around us. Large twisting trees, lush forest grounds...and no sight of the castle at all, which meant we had drifted for a while before somehow washing up on shore. I then looked up at the sky to take in the position of the sun to try to figure out what time of day it was, and when I saw that it was nearly at its highest peak in the sky...I would say it was around noon, which meant it had been well over fifteen hours since the attack.

I looked down, feeling slightly dizzy. Had we really been unconscious for that long? We could have easily been eaten by one of the predators of this forest, yet we were still in one piece. I didn't know if that was a blessing, or what, but I wasn't going to argue. Well, not yet at least. If this pain continued on, perhaps it would have been better if I had died, whether by the fall itself, or by a predator of the night.

No, no, I scolded myself, pushing my damp hair out of my face as I glanced back over towards Cayden's unconscious form. This could be good, a miracle, perhaps. If Alton thinks you're dead...I-I could be free.

And I could be. Cayden was unconscious right now and if I left before he woke up...I could be free. I then felt for the metal collar around my throat, and when I felt the cold, smooth surface, I sighed and pursed my lips. Hopefully this thing didn't have some fancy tracker thing in it. Because if it did, even if I ran, they would still find me, no matter how far I went.

I risked a glance back towards Cayden. Should I take that chance? As bad as it was to say, I never had to fend for myself before. I never spent any time outside of the castle, other than when Cayden or Alton would take me into town. I never been in a forest before. I knew they were big and did have some edible things growing under their canopies...but where would I sleep? How would I defend myself if a bear, or some other large beast wanted to make a meal of me? What if I left, and Cayden ended up being eaten, or something?

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Would that really be that bad though? After all, he was no better than most of the nobles that roamed the land; enslaving and ordering around half-breeds like me as if it were some kind of game to them. Would the world really weep for a loss of one such individual?

I bit the inside of my cheek. He did help you escape those armed people, my subconscious spoke up, making me roll my eyes. He helped cover for you when you slept in and stopped that snobby old man from hitting you a second time. I tugged a hand down my face, stopping to stare at the grass from between my fingers. He even asks before taking you to bed...not that I really have a choice in the matter. Would he have gotten mad if I had ever said no?