A Royal Ransom

I

I deliberately stepped further away from the chair and began pacing around, trying not to plummet to my death as I struggled to stand up straight.

The man pulled out his gun and directed the barrel at me, "I said. Sit. Down."

I laughed, looking directly at the barrel, "You're not going to kill me. You need me for something. Why else would you abduct me? So if you don't mind, I'll do as I please, thank you very much."

John growled at me, only confirming that what I had said was correct. He looked down at the watch he was wearing and started tapping his foot impatiently.

"What's wrong, Johnny boy?" I asked.

"None of your business, so shut the hell up," John snapped.

I was just trying to be nice.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Stop asking stupid questions."

I glared at the man.

Stupid question?

What was stupid was that he had abducted me in broad daylight and expected me to just shut up and deal with it.

I wanted to snark a reply, but there really wasn't any point in doing so.

My head was spinning relentlessly and I really wanted to take a seat but didn't want to give John the satisfaction of me listening to his commands.

"Could I have a glass of water?" I asked, breaking the silence. I hoped John would get up and allow me to find a way to escape.

John didn't even look at me, "No."

Aw, shucks.

My lips stung because they were so cracked and I was absolutely parched. It was the middle of summer and there was evidently no air conditioning in John's house.

"May I please have a goblet of liquid dihydrogen oxide that shall quench my dry throat, and moisten my torn lips, good sir?"

John glared at me and then rolled his eyes, "No."

"But if I don't get my water, I might die. You wouldn't want that, now, would you?" I questioned with a smug little smirk, "You did drug me, so I'm sure I must be dehydrated. I could collapse at any moment, and concuss myself and die, who knows?"

"Just take a seat so you don't fall," John snapped.

"I want water," I wined, pouting at him.

John groaned in annoyance before begrudgingly leaving the room to get me water, at least I hoped.

I began looking around wildly for some weapon or some way to escape. There was no window and the room seemed pretty bare aside from the chairs and couch.

The world suddenly rushed to my head at a sickening speed. I quickly took a seat on the chair I had previously been roped on.

I decided it was best to just sit tight and regain some strength before attempting to escape because I wouldn't get very far in my light-headed state.

Stupid chloroform. Stupid John.

"Dad? Where are my arrows?" I heard a voice call and footsteps approaching the room I was sat in.

A guy who couldn't have been much older than me walked into the room.

The guy took a look at me, turned away for a moment, then he had a double take, "Dad! What the bloody hell is that doing here?"