To the Sun, to the Stars, to the Sky (A Soldier/Rebellion AU)

Chapter 4: The Silent Soldier

Will POV

I woke up with sun filtering through a window in the tent relaxingly, birds singing outside. The air felt fresh. It would have been a beautiful morning, except for the fact that my back ached and I couldn't stretch my arms due to the rope tied so tightly around them that it was digging into my skin. I let my head hang and closed my eyes again, hoping I could find some comfortable position in all of this, but it seemed like rebel-leader Reyna had definitely specifically ordered for me to be uncomfortable.

Someone stepped into the tent. I would've looked up at them, but my chair was not facing the door. Figures. I'm about to be murdered and I can't even look at my killer's face before it happens.

I felt the rope being untied from around my ankles, and then from my thighs and upper arms until all that was left was around my wrist. I was free from the chair. I leaned in different directions to stretch before looking at whoever had freed me.

A woman, pale and with black- and purple-dyed short hair, stood in front of me with a dagger pointed at me. She held herself high, and she already was wearing armor. She put the dagger to my throat. They must be really low on supplies, I thought, or else she'd have a sword. (A/N: Sword women? Gorgeous.)

"Stand up. You're the prince, right? We're going to the bay and we're stealing everything we can carry. Reyna doesn't know we're doing this. We only have a small portion of the camp, so if this is a trap I would recommend that you tell us now so you don't waste your identity on the lives of less than ten in a camp of thousands."

I stood. "This isn't a trick, and I'm not a spy. Well, not on you at least. Am I leading the way, or what? What's my job?"

"Yes, you're leading and you're carrying supplies. Come on. We have to be gone by the time Reyna wakes up, which should be very soon. Reyna's an early riser."

She put her arm on my shoulder and her knife to my back as she led me through the camp. Not many were awake, and the few that were, were by a large fire pit, setting it up for breakfast. There were a couple rebels fishing on the beach, which was on the east side of the camp, and I guessed there were some in the woods, hunting and gathering food for today's meals. The rest of the camp was spread out along the beach, on the grass, in tents, and anywhere else they could fit sleeping bags. Most of them didn't even shift as we passed by, too enveloped by their dreams.

The woman pushed me into the forest, and soon enough we found the group we were leaving with. There were, like the woman had said, only about nine of them, plus me. We had horses, and the woman with the knife loaded me onto mine before tying my hands to the reins and my horse's reins to hers. Again, comfort was not a priority, I suppose, because this truly sucked.

Then we left, and though it was difficult to ride with my hands tied together, I was doing well enough that we were able to pick up the speed. We didn't run into the army on the way there, nor did we run into any other problems. The woman with the knife—I should learn her name—stopped halfway there to tighten my bonds.

We heard another horse, and all ten of us froze. The woman swore quietly and tightened the knot on the ropes one last time before hopping back onto her own horse and gesturing for us to get going again. It was too late. Whoever it was was going fast, faster than I could go with my hands tied, and they were catching up. I could hear their horse, and they were getting too close, and they burst through the foliage on my right—

"Reyna?"

She had a grim expression on her face as she rode next to us. "You better be right about this, Thalia," she said to the knife lady, "or else we're all dying together."