A/N
Okay so I know that nobody's reading my story right now but I'm going to keep updating anyway because I know that eventually sombody will read it and maybe even enjoy it. At least I hope so. Any way, enjoy...
Kailia's P.O.V.
I couldn't feel my fingers. The snow was still falling, as it had been for the past few hours. At least, I thought it had been hours. I really wasn't sure. All I knew was that they hadn't even given us so much as a blanket to keep us warm. One or two of the girls had started coughing. I was worried they were going to freeze to death or catch some fatal illness, so I hadn't moved from my position on the edge of the huddle. Neither had any of the other girls. We shuffled a bit occasionally, to make ourselves more comfortable.
I groaned inwardly as yet another bump jostled us around. This time though, we were too weak to hold our positions and we all went sprawling around the cage. The back of my head fell hard against a one of the bars of the cage, sending a jolt of pain through my head and a yelp of surprise out of my mouth. A pair of hands pulled me up from leaning against the bars, while another pair gently probed the aching part of my head. I opened my eyes to see Selene, the girl I had seen shoved into the cage, holding my upper arms, keeping me upright. Turning my head slightly I turned to see Vail, the girl I had collided with, was the one checking my head.
"No blood," Vail said sitting beside me. I thought I heard some relief in her tone, which almost made me smile. Vail had never liked blood. Selene released my arms and looked for herself. "But you do have a pretty nasty bump. It'll ache for a while but you'll be alright in the end." I nodded gratefully at them.
Rather than forming back into one large huddle, we were all spread out now, curling up together in small groups. We all stayed like that for who knows how long. It slowly began to get dark, and we were still traveling as fast as the weather would allow. I sat curled up with Selene and Vail. We were practically sitting on each other's laps. Our fingers were entertwined in an attempt to prevent frostbite. No one really spoke. Whispered words of comfort could be heard coming from various huddled groups around the cage, but that was all. Most of the girls had screamed their throats dry earlier.
I wanted to sleep, I was just so tired. I could tell by their drooping eyelids that Selene and Vail were too. But we knew better. We knew that if we fell asleep we probably wouldn't wake up. I didn't want to die. However, the thought of being forced into a marrage with a fat old lord seemed just as bad at the moment. I wondered what we would do for the night. We were all exhausted. Surely they would at least stop to make camp, wouldn't they? What if they didn't need to? What if they were taking us somplace were they could lock us in a freezing dungeon for the night?
A shout came from the front of the line of guards, slowly building into a cheer that spread to all of them. I looked up and saw a flicker of something through the trees. Fire. A torch to be exact. Then another. And another. We slowly came out of the forest and my eyes widened. I heard Selene's sharp intake of breath as the light from all of the torches flooded over us. We glanced at each other. Her green eyes stretched wide as she looked from me to the fortress, back to me again. I nodded, agreeing with her. It was enourmous. Torchlight illuminated the huge tapestries that hung from the walls. Scenes I couldn't quite make out, despite the many torches. Gasps from the girls in our cage, as well as from the other one, slowly died as we realized we were almost upon it. Two great wooden doors opened to allow us entrance. The hooves from the horses pulling us along were no longer making a dull thump from hitting the dirt and snow, but a sharp clapping sound from hitting stone flooring. Many of the guards departed the caravan, no doubt heading to their warm beds. As for us, we continued to make our way across the courtyard, the torchlight being brighter here, we could see almost everything around us.
It was here that we finally came to a stop. My muscles relaxed, just a bit, from the end of the constant vibration of the floor of the cage. I watched as a group of guards walked around our cage. shackles in hand. My body tensed again when I saw those shackles. I had been right. They were going to lock us in a cold, dark dungeon for the night. I watched silently, fear and dread squeezing my stomach into a bunch as one guard swung the door open. He reached in and swiftly pulled a girl from the cage before she could react. All she could do was shriek as he held her firmly by the waist while another guard came forward and slapped shackles onto her wrists.
I looked a little closer at the shackles. It was actually four pairs of shackles attatched to one chain. I saw him reach in and grasp another girl, who struggled before the shackles were snapped in place. She just stood there, looking at the metal on her wrists. The girls all rushed to the other end of the cage as the guard reached in again. It didn't help though. The cage was so mall he didn't have to reach much further to get another girl. One by one the girls were taken from the cage. As each chain of shackles was filled, the girls would be dragged off, disappearing through a small door. Vail, Selene and I were already in the back of the cage, so none of us had been touched yet. Some girls screamed, some girls fought, some just stepped down willingly with their heads down. The guard had stepped inside the cage now to reach the last of us girls. Suddenly, Selene turned to Vail and I, a determined look on her face.
"From now on, we stick together. Us and whichever girl that ends up on that chain with us. We help each other, we stay together. When that guard reaches for us, we stand up together, we walk out of this cage together, and we let them shackle us to the same chain. Agreed?" Her eyes looked from Vail to me. I looked her in the eye and nodded my head. Vail did the same thing. Selene sighed. "Good. I was hoping that would be your answers. Here he comes." We all looked up at the guard, he was reaching for Vail. All at once we stood up, our fingers intertwined.
"We'll come willingly, if you keep us together." I said. My voice was stronger than I had thought it would be. The guards eyes widened for a moment, surprise etched on his face, before he nodded and we stepped forward. My legs were stiff and sore from sitting and croutching all day, but I would not allow myself to fall. Judging by the way Vail leaned on me slightly, I could tell she was experiencing the same thing, but her pride would not allow her to stumble. Selene stepped down from the cage first, releasing our hands and holding her wrists out to be shackled. I stepped up and did the same thing, standing next to Selene. I stood up as tall as I could manage, trying to preserve my dignity. Vail stood beside me.
I winced as the shackles clamped down on my wrists, then Vail's, then Selene's . Another girl was shackled to our chain, but before I could get a good look at her, possibly recognise her, we were yanked towards the door where all the other girls had benn dragged to. We walked towards it, not struggling, not even whimpering. The girl at the end of the chain followed our example, though I'm sure she didn't know why we were alright with this. I took a deep breath and stepped through the door, determination coursing through me. I would stay with these girls. I would stay loyal to them, I would protect them, I would be their friend and ally. No matter what lay ahead.
