"No! You will not touch my daughter!" Ingrid shot up from where she was sitting in the group. "She will stay here!"
Cassius turned to Linus with a raised brow. "You can explain to Talbert why we are putting one of his citizens on trial. Soldiers, keep her mother with the others, and tie this one to the back of my horse," Cassius said with boredom.
"With all due respect, I'm sure you can work something out with Talbert?" Linus rose an eyebrow, but kept his head angled down in fear of Cassius' possible response.
Instead, Cassius just pressed his lips into a thin line and turned away. "Soldiers! Report!"
Ingrid screamed, anger causing her to pull and tug at the soldiers as they held her back, before finally throwing her down on the ground and knocking the air out of her. Emory gasped, watching as Ingrid took deep breaths, concentrating on staying conscious. Ingrid looked up to Emory, pain in her eyes. "Stay down," Emory mouthed. Ingrid slammed her eyes shut, angrily grabbing at the grass.
While the soldiers left the houses and shops of the village, Emory made eye contact with Ezekiel as he sat in the group of men. He was shaking his head, but wiped across his mouth in frustration. Calloused hands gripped Emory's wrists, binding them together with rope and lifting her up to her feet. When her shirt dropped, the soldier did nothing, and instead let her stand bare. Emory was led over to a dark horse, with light white speckles around it's back. She watched the horse as the soldier tied her to it, and tried to shield her chest from view while looking to Ezekiel with round, pleading eyes.
When Ezekiel looked back to her, he pointed out the line of girls coming out of the town hall, all of them looking at Emory with worry. She looked back to Ezekiel with confusion, and he moved to scratch his head, barely revealing a leather skin and a rock. He then looked around to the others, and they were all hiding similar objects among their clothing.
It became quiet as everyone listened to the soldiers reporting to their commanders on what they found in the houses. Most found nothing, and they all reported such.
"And the apothecary? Who searched it?"
Everyone in the village began muttering to one another as they looked to the building with the red door. Commander Linus narrowed his eyes as he glanced over the crowd of people. "You three," he gestured to a few of his men. "Go back to the apothecary. If there are soldiers in there, let them know they were asked to report back. If not, search the building and report back to us immediately."
"Yes, Sir," the soldiers said before heading toward the apothecary.
As they walked toward the apothecary, the crowd continued to whisper to one another, as did the soldiers. It was as if no one had seen the building in the first place. The muttering seemed to be too much, and Linus spun on everyone. "Quiet!" He commanded. Silence followed, and Emory watched from where she stood as Cassius furrowed his dark eyebrows together, looking to Linus.
The soldiers entered the building, and in the following minutes silence continued. Then, more silence follows. After a few more minutes, the commanders both grew impatient and sent one more guard to look into the building, but not enter. The soldier does as ordered, but as soon as he opened the door, he let out a short cry before falling back. Emory looked closer, noticing an arrow protruding from his chest.
The sound of swords being unsheathed met Emory's ears as the soldiers around her prepared themselves for whoever was in the building. Emory began tugging at the ropes, trying to pull free while their attention was somewhere else. She needed to get out of those ropes, because the one person she was in charge of was making herself a target.
High Commander Cassius called out, "Come out, and we will not attack!"
Silence. Emory's breath became fast, her movements more desperate.
"Commander Linus, go to the apothecary. Do not let them see you, but let them know we have a hostage that we are fully willing to take away with us," Cassius said with frustration, moving to Emory's side and grabbing her arm. "You," he said through his teeth as he looked down at her. Boring into her, his brown eyes made her freeze from trying to escape, and he looked her face over. "Stay here, if you try to escape, your punishment will only be worse." He turned away, turning his head up and pressing his dark lips together.
Everyone watched as Commander Linus walked to the apothecary before coming to stand against the wall beside the open door. "Whoever you are, you are outnumbered by many soldiers," he lied. Of the original fourteen soldiers, only nine remained. Compared to the villagers, they were the outnumbered ones, though they always were. It was just a matter of weapons.
Emory turned, counting the four guards who were still with the line of women. They walked them forward, now, making them join the rest of the villagers. Now, all nine soldiers stood around them, too focused on the commotion near the apothecary to sound alarm. All at once, at Ezekiel's signal, the men with stones raised their fists and launched their small projectiles toward the heads of their guards. All of them hit with near precision, knocking their lifeless bodies to the ground.
The High Commander drew his sword, looking to the new threat he faced. Linus also turned to see what had happened, and in the meanwhile Shay emerged from the apothecary, holding Emory's bow in her hands with perfect form. The tip of her arrow pointed toward Linus, who threw his hands up in defeat. "Walk," she ordered.
Shay forced Linus to stand about ten feet in front of Cassius, and glanced at Emory. "I assume you are the High Commander Cassius," she directed her question to Cassius, who watched Shay with wary, red eyes.
"Correct."
"My name is Shay. Shay Everelle. If you hand over that girl, I'll hand myself over to you."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Cassius said, holding his sword tightly in his right hand. The truth was, though, that he knew this girl was the daughter of King Alaric and Queen Lena. Like the portraits of her father, Shay had cheekbones high and elegant, drawing attention to the slanted brown eyes of her mother. Now she stared at Cassius, challenging his gaze.
"I don't think I need to defend myself."
"I find it surprising I haven't been shot yet, Daughter," Cassius drew out his words, watching the unwavering girl.
"Perhaps the time has yet to come. Now, release the girl."
"I can't do that," Cassius said before reaching over to grab Emory, gripping her arm to ensure she couldn't leave his grasp.
"Then I'll shoot your Commander right here and now."
"Which you could have done by now. Why haven't you?" Linus spoke, his blubbering voice grabbing everyone's attention.
"I won't be the one who decides your fate. That, I plan on leaving up to the villagers," Shay spoke quickly before huffing. "I'm not waiting any longer." Cassius looked to Linus, whose pursed face shook with anger and fear.
Cassius moved over to Emory and untied the rope from the horse, leaving her wrists bound together. "Don't try anything," he muttered.
"Send her over to the other villagers-"
Linus ducked and threw himself back into Shay's legs. She dropped her bow, the arrow flying into the air. Then, without wasting a second, he grabbed the bow from the ground where it lay and took off running for where his horse sat across the dirt. Cassius himself mounted his horse, but made sure to drag Emory up, hoisting her onto the saddle behind him and holding the reins tightly in his hands. "Ya!"
The speckled horse took off, running toward Linus as he reached his own horse. The villagers ran after, calling for Emory by "Rowena," but none of them were able to use their weapons in fear of hitting her instead. Emory watched as Ezekiel ran to help Shay from the ground, leaving Emory behind. "You have until sunset before we return for you in replacement of this girl," Cassius called.
"Let go of me!" Emory tried to pull on the rope, but Cassius wouldn't budge as he steered his horse to the dirt path leading away from the village. "Let me go," She cried again, thinking of jumping off the horse. Looking down, the thought of the horses hooves running over her made her pull back from the idea. At best, The High Commander would fall with her, and even then he was much too heavy to be dragged down by her.
Stay with him.
But she didn't want to. "Let me go!" Emory cried, tears blurring her vision. "Please!" She looked away, blinking away the fog in her eyes. She tried to pull again, but the rope tore at the skin on her wrist, and the running of the horse made her bare chest ache.
"If the Daughter of Rosalind makes the right decision, you'll be free to go," the High Commander explained, looking back with stress-filled eyes. The villagers were gone, unable to keep up. Linus followed, though, his eyes boring into Emory's back.