Spellbound

Chapter Seven

           

When she came to, Sakura found she was blindfolded and her hands and feet were bound. She shivered against the cold, realising her fur wrap had either fallen off or had been taken from her. She could feel her ring beneath her fingers which gave her some form of relief.

They came to a stop. She heard voices, several of them, but she hardly recognised them.
"I bought the girl, as you asked." Kyle tossed Sakura hard onto the ground and she whimpered in pain. Her shoulder and side ached from the impact and she was sure her arm was bleeding from being cut on some of the rocks.
"We've been trying to figure out how to get her back for months. Apparently, she's valuable or something-I don't see how, she's just a healer." One of the other men spoke.
"I don't know how far behind the king is or if he even suspects me for something yet. I'm hoping he'll think she just ran away." Kyle said.
"If they haven't caught up to you by now I doubt they'll come." One of the other men snorted.

Sakura jumped as several minutes later she heard something whistling through the air. Something pierced a man nearby her and the others shouted.

"What the hell? I thought you said you'd made sure they wouldn't follow you!"
"The king isn't stupid." Kyle snapped as he drew his weapon.
Sakura curled into herself as she heard hooves.
"Run!"
"Quick, get the bloody girl!"

Sakura felt her body being lifted from the ground and shuddered as she felt something warm spray on her face.
She heard the agonised screams of men as they fell to the floor, dead.
The bonds around her ankle loosened, quickly followed by her hands. The gag was removed from her mouth and the blindfold came free, revealing her surroundings.
Syaoran was kneeling in front of her. His clothes were covered in blood, but thankfully it wasn't his.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
Sakura struggled to find her words again. Then, she swallowed and spoke. "I think I'm just bruised. My shoulder might be injured-I landed on it funny."

He moved and she closed her eyes, afraid. Something warm wrapped around her shoulders and she opened her eyes to see Syaoran pinning the two ends of her fur wrap together.
"I'm glad you're not too injured. Your arm is bleeding pretty heavily though." He said softly as he proceeded to rip a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied it around her arm.
"Syaoran-what should we do with Kyle?" Takashi asked.
Syaoran lifted Sakura and carried her over to his horse, helping her up. "Kill him. He's too dangerous to leave alive, even as a prisoner." He replied as he lifted himself up behind Sakura who was still shaking with excess adrenaline. "It's ok, sweetheart." He murmured softly, "You're safe."
He held her head close to his chest, his hand covering her ear.
She jumped as she heard the slicing of steel through flesh and Syaoran geared the horse forwards to head back to camp.

Despite her protests and saying she could walk, Syaoran carried Sakura back to their tent and placed her on the bed. Tomoyo rushed through several seconds later and straight to Sakura, checking her for wounds and rechecking.
Sakura's shoulder was a little swollen and she was covered in bruises and minor scrapes. Tomoyo sighed with relief and gave Sakura a long hug, releasing her and leaving the tent.
Syaoran stepped forward and sat on the edge of the bed. Without much thinking she reached out for him and buried her head in his chest.
He held her gently.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry..."
"Hush." He said softly, "I promised I wouldn't let them hurt you again. I intend to keep that promise at all times."
He was so kind and so sincere Sakura found it hard not to trust him. Perhaps she had started trusting him a long time ago, but it wasn't until now that she realised how much his words meant to her. They weren't empty words. He kept his promises.
What hit her even more in that moment was the feelings she felt towards him, the feelings she hadn't been able to identify. Or perhaps, she thought, maybe she just didn't want to believe it.