Chapter 4- Caught
I wake up to Senka shaking my shoulders and whispering loudly.
"Get up, Asena. Get up! They're coming. Soldiers, they're coming." I jump out of bed and pull on my boots.
"How did they find me already?" I ask, opening the window.
"I don't think they're here for you," Senka says. "I heard them downstairs. They said my name." Senka is stuffing her clothes into her bag while pulling on her boots at the same time.
"Yeah, well if they find you, they got me too," I say, taking Senka's bag from her and helping her out the window. We hear footsteps running up the stairs. "Go, go now." Senka slides down the roof and lands in a cart full of hay two stories down. I barred the door with a wardrobe to slow them down and followed after Senka, landing just behind her in the hay. A crash comes from above. The soldiers are in the room. Senka jumps off the cart and turns around to help me down. "I'm right behind you. Run."
Senka runs off towards the woods and I follow closely behind her. There are shouts from behind us and gasps from the people on the street as we run past. I run at top speed, Senka following close behind. We reach the woods but the soldiers are not far behind. A few arrows whiz past us and I hear a short scream behind me. I turn around and see Senka, laying on the ground holding her bleeding leg. An arrow had lodged itself in her leg just below the knee and blood was spilling on the ground. I curse under my breath. I tear my cloak and wrap the strip of fabric tightly around her leg. She holds onto my shoulders and I help her stand up. After only a few steps, however, she falls back onto the ground.
"Come on, Senka." I plead, trying to help her up again. She shakes her head.
"No. I'm only going to slow you down. Just keep going." Her eyes fill with tears and I know she's really hurting. I look around and spot a hollow in the ground surrounded by roots and weeds.
"Come on, we're going to hide." I help her up and she limps over to the hollow. We duck inside just in time. Just then, a group of about 10 soldiers run past, shouting at each other. We freeze when we hear barking behind us. Senka and I look at each other knowingly. Hounds. If the hounds catch our scent, we'll be found in the blink of an eye. Tears are streaming down Senka's face now from the pain in her leg and I can tell she's really trying not to make any noise. But, then again, it's not going to help much since the hounds are here. Minutes pass, though it seems like hours, and we wait in anticipation, hardly daring to breathe. My neck and back hurt from crouching but I don't move.
It all happens at once. Something bites down on my arm, I hear Senka scream, and we are dragged out of the hollow. Soldiers point their swords and arrows at us and blood drips from my arm from where the dog bit into it. A cold laugh sounds behind us and I turn my head to see who it is. It's the general.
"Well, I was expecting to only catch a witch, but I ended up with a thief as well." He drawls. There are no words that can express the amount of fear I felt at that moment. I look at Senka, her eyes are closed and she's biting her lip. Blood is dripping through the cloth that I wrapped around her leg and she's trying not to cry. Two soldiers lift me off the ground and tie my arms behind me. Senka lets out a yelp when they lift her up and I can't stay quiet anymore.
"Be careful, she's injured!" I shout. "She needs help." No one seems to care but there's nothing I can do. Senka and I are tossed in the back of a cart along with two soldiers. My arm is bleeding and stings whenever I move it but it's nothing compared to whatever Senka's feeling right now. Every time we hit a bump, she lets out a short yell. Her eyes are red and puffy from crying and the cloth around her leg is doing nothing to stop the bleeding. We travel for hours till the sun starts to go down and finally we stop. The soldiers take Senka and I out of the cart and take us into an already pitched tent then leave. Normally I would have already tried to escape but now I have Senka and I can't leave her behind. Another hour passes and we hear laughter outside the tent. I can smell fire and food and my stomach growls. I hadn't even realised that I haven't eaten since yesterday.
I don't know when, but I fell asleep. I was dreaming about sitting at a long table filled with cheeses, meats, breads, and cakes when I was jerked awake by sunlight pouring inside the tent. I open my eyes and the bright sunlight blinds me. A soldier comes into the tent with two bowls of cold soup. He stands in the tent until we are finished eating then takes the bowls and leaves the tent. Senka falls asleep soon after that and I'm left alone with my thoughts. I'm about to fall asleep as well when I hear voices outside the tent.
"We can't any longer, I have to gather my troops immediately." Says a voice I recognise as the general.
"No, not yet. My father wants to try to reason with them." Another voice says.
"There is no reasoning with them! They will kill us if we don't do anything now." The voices grow louder. "The king has gone soft, we must act now before it's too late."
"That is considered treason, General. If you value your position you will not do anything without the king's permission. Understand?"
"Yes." the general says coldly. "I understand."
"Good. Now, how long till we can move forward with phase 3? You have the assets, so what's next?"
"We need to bring them back to the castle. The king has the plans for phase 3 I do not know any more than what I was told." What is phase 3? And who or what are these assets?
"Very well, when can we start heading to the castle?" The other voice asks.
"Not till tomorrow." A pause "Would you like to meet the assets?" A few seconds later two men walk into the tent. One is the general and the other I have never seen before. He is tall, with sleek black hair and dark blue eyes. He is wearing a black suit with silver trim and a thick, gold crown on his head. I curse under my breath. I look over at Senka who is now awake and I know she's thinking the same thing as I am. What is the prince doing here?