The Thief and Prince

Chapter 16: Confessions

He looks up and catches my eye, a small smirk forming on his full lips. Sighing, I decide to avoid him and go over to my horse and give him a good pat, happy to be reunited. His ears perk up and he nickers, greeting me.

"Morning," Amiri says before falling into another coughing fit. He then hacks up some blood and spits it onto the ground and I give him a worried glance. "I've had worse," he says lightly. "Probably just bruised a lung, it'll pass in a few days," he replies before turning to Laria. "I promise."

"I just wish you would take it easy. You need to rest, the both of you," she says, looking towards Crispin briefly.

Digging through my bag, I'm not surprised to find all my belongings are soaked as well. Thankfully, my tights were packed towards the bottom and I pull out a pair of sage colored ones that are damp. Slipping off my boots, I balance myself as I slip them on underneath feeling more comfortable now that I'm not walking around in just an oversized shirt. I then shove my dirty clothes into my bag and make a mental note to wash what I can the next time we stop at a water source.

"When do we ride out?" I ask, trying to keep things light to obtain what normalcy we had before being taken by Jasper and his men.

"That's up to Crispin," Amiri answers, fastening the last buckle on his horse, "We need to figure out riding arrangements because I really have no desire to get back in that wagon."

The three of us walk over to the pavilion where Crispin wraps a fresh bandage around his arm. He looks at the three of us and I notice his gaze lingers on me but I pretend not to notice and instead watch Darko who now makes his way over to us as well.

"Are you all ready?" Crispin asks, pushing himself up from the table. He winces but quickly recovers and slips his shirt on, glancing at me again.

"Aye, but we need to discuss other matters as well. The first being what are we to do with them?" Laria asks, throwing her thumb over her shoulder.

Amiri shrugs, folding his arms over his chest. "I say let them rot. Besides, we don't have the time or manpower to dig a mass grave."

Laria nods, placing her hands on her hips. I then notice that the two stand closely together, saving only a few inches of space. "We also do not wish to ride in that damned wagon and I think you can agree," she says.

My eyes drift to Crispn and he rubs the back of his neck. "I was thinking about that as well. Knowing what we do, there will be more scouts and outposts the closer we get to the Rorik stronghold. I was thinking that our best bet is to continue allow Darko to be our captor and just ride behind him on horses," he suggests.

We nod, relieved that the wagon would be left behind. Darko then steps forward, clearing his throat, "If I may, may I suggest that it would look peculiar if I were to allow each of you your own horse? What I mean is, the reputation of a slaver is not one that caters to the comforts of their captives. It'd be more believable to have you ride two to a horse, preferably tied to each other. Who is to say that you wouldn't ride off on your own horse when I'm not paying attention?"

Envisioning this, I can't help but to agree. It'd be easier to manage four captives if they were bound together on the back of a horse than having to keep an eye on four separate mounts.

"So you expect us to, what, double-up and ride one behind the other?" Amiri asks, sounding confused.

"More so along the lines of back-to-back. Sure it won't be comfortable, but you'll appear to be my captives and no one will think otherwise," Darko explains.

Laria frowns and steps toward him, squaring her shoulders, "Just remember that it is you at our mercy," she tells him, obviously not happy with the situation of Darko having control over us once again.