"Almost there," said Dan, waving his arm at the trail. Jerry nodded and galloped ahead.
I was again strapped to the back of Dans' saddle, and although I was still bound, I was no longer gagged. I had tried to yell spells as soon as they ungagged me, but my ties had some sort of drug in them, killing my jiwa.
"Dan, how much farther?" I whined. "I gotta PEE!" I heard Dan sigh and jerk his horse to the side of the road.
"You got five minutes," he said roughly. My hands and feet were still bound but not bound together. I nodded and ran behind a tree.
When I re-emerged, I heard Dan and Jerry talking. I crouched down and watched.
"Dan, they've doubled security; there's no way we can sneak past them."
"Oh hush up, Jerry, we have the fake IDs, don't we? And if all else fails, we can cast the ingatan charm on the guards."
Wait...sneak past? But...they were the ones kidnapping me! They were trying to take me to some evil assassin king...or so I thought.
And, 'use the ingatan charm'? I thought these people were non-magics! Even though they did seem oddly familiar...Maybe I had seen their pictures in the news or something.
"Dan, be rational! We have to take her back; we can just guard her there. That girl, the Mexie, she said to return if anything bad happened."
What!? The Mexie? Could that be Devi!? Had she orchestrated this whole thing? Did she know an attack was imminent? Had she hired these goons to protect me? What was going on?
"Jerry, shut it, you-" I chose that moment to stumble out of the woods, looking dejected. Dan shut his trap real quick and put on his usual gruff face.
"So, Fiona, there's been a...change of plans," Dan said slowly. Jerry scoffed, and Dan scowled but continued. "Fiona is your name, right?" I nodded, and stopped walking.
Dan sighed again. "Well, here's the thing - we, uh, we are going to take you back to Braie."
I managed to look surprised, widening my eyes and gaping. Inside I was actually panicking. I'd officially lost control of the situation. Jerry grinned, and Dan elbowed him in the ribs.
"So, uh, we have to put you in a bag; we can't have you spilling us to anyone, ok?" I nodded mutely.
Jerry stepped forward and levitated a sack over my body.
I began to protest, my eyes widening over his blatant use of Magic, but I stiffened as I caught wind of a sickly scent in the bag; they had laced it with a tidur draught. It must have been was was in my bonds, too. I began thrashing, trying to escape, but the drug wrapped my mind in darkness, and I fell asleep.