You Are Made of Iron

Chapter II pt. 6

​Zeilla went down the stairs. She had hung the necklace around her neck under her shirt, and was holding the note crumpled up in the same hand as she was holding the rag doll. She had done her crying upstairs, and now she had to decide what to do. Why had her mother abandoned her and then left the house with the rest of Zeilla's family? And where was she to go now that she had? As it turned out, she never had to figure that out, because waiting in the kitchen for her was Silas.
​"You know, I grew up in an orphanage with one pair of shoes a year and five other boys in my room. But this is nice." He toyed with a silver knife that had been left behind. He was referring to the fact that it could be left behind when it cost so much. Zeilla would have run, but she was frozen to the spot with shock.
​"How did you get here?" She practically yelled.
​Silas's upper lip curled in condescension, "How do you think, girl? I rode here on horseback. I'm surprised that it took you so long to get here. I was actually starting to wonder if you would even come. King Galleon warned me that you might try to return home, and he told me how to find it."
​Zeilla backed away and turned to run. Silas sighed. He had her caught before she even reached the doorway. A tear ran down her face, "What are you going to do with me, Silas?"
​He growled, "Right now I am going to tie you up. And then we are going to go home, where I will beat you until you learn enough respect for me that you do not call me by my first name." Silas moved towards her, "Walk. Now." Zeilla fearfully nodded, thankful that she had hidden all of the three things but her doll out of sight.
​Silas led her out to where he had tied his horse. He untied the beast before lifting her onto it and securing her by tying a belt around her hands and attaching it to the saddle. Then he hefted himself on to the horse behind her, and then he set off.
​They traveled for longer than Zeilla could tell. As far away as Muqiel was from her family's mansion, Silas's house was at least three times that. Zeilla finally realized that she was lost, and could not retrace the route if necessary. The cold truth froze her resolve like ice water on her back. She didn't know how to get home. She couldn't get home even if she did. She had to run away, but next time it would be to her new life, not her old one. On the way to her master's house she thought that she saw a silver wolf with a white underbelly and black markings on its head. Maybe wolves populated this area. Exhausted from her day full of stress, she assumed that she had imagined it and almost forgot about it later.