Chapter 5 - Lost in the woods.

Summer woke up in a tent. Her whole body ached badly, like she had been hit repeatedly with a log of wood. 

She was in a filthy tent, with the crude smell of dirt and liquor pungent in her nostrils. Her head was banging. The pain was unbearable and searing and she felt like she was going to collapse under the pressure.

She blinked her eyes a few times as she tried to get used to her surroundings but it was futile. She didn't know where she was, or why she was there.

All she knew was that she had been kidnapped by some strange bandits. Some men who had attacked their carriage. 

What did she have to do with them? She thought angrily and shook her head.

They must have mistaken her with Astra or someone rich and famous. They were very wrong, she was just a nobody ward of the General. And even that wasn't enough to save her. 

The General wouldn't spare his guards to look for her. They would be more content with leaving her alone and forgetting about her. 

Sal! She thought as she gasped lightly, she could barely imagine what he was going through. She really hoped he wasn't looking for her. 

She blinked back hot tears, thinking of how devastated he was going to be. All of them, would she ever see them again?!

Maven?!

Oh! How she wished she wasn't Astra's handmaiden, this wouldn't have happened. Although something worse would have, Sal might have been the one kidnapped or killed.

Or Astra. 

Her fate was sealed. She knew about the bandits that patrolled the Forest of Abbot. She heard of them a long time ago. They mostly stole valuables, like jewellery, fine silk and important ornaments. Rarely people. And over the last few years their attack had dwindled because of the Plague.

The Forest was where they lived, it was where they carried out their nasty operations and they knew it as well as the back of their hands. But with the plague, it made things much more worse. 

The Forest was becoming too inhabitable for them and most of them had left when people rarely traveled or preferred to take the longer routes to safeguard their valuables. 

Seems as though some still remained.

She thought as she looked around the tent she was in. The whole room was filled with stolen items. Fine silk, leather, shiny ornaments and pretty jewels. It looked like they has been snatched and stolen from a lot of people.

There was even a few cages with exotic birds in them.

Oh gods. She thought as she looked around wearily. Outside the tent there was the loud raucous voices of men drinking and laughing loudly. She knew they were probably around the fire having supper while discussing where and how to sell their earnings.

She had to get out of there if she ever wanted to leave. 

She thought as she struggled with the rope her hand was bound in. It was futile. 

She could hear the sound of the men outside, they were surrounded by a bonfire. Eating, drinking and making merry. They were probably talking about how to divide their spoils.

Summer was sure the wine would knock them out before nightfall.

She had to work on an escape plan. 

Silver Falcon, Lord Jon of the Whitby house was a very strange man. He was always found in the weirdest and most odd places. Lord Whitby was popularly called Silver Falcon and it was a name that had stuck for decades. 

His house was one of the oldest houses in Avalon and the most secretive. It was believed that he was always engaged in one malicious act or the other. 

Even the King and everyone else in the City was weary of him. They tried their best to stay away from him, especially after her lost his family in a strange accident a fee decades ago. 

He also barely attended any Court functions or societal functions. 

He was so secretive about his life and what he did that no one had seen him for years. They knew he was not dead, but they didn't know about him any more.

In fact, majority of the people had chosen to forget that there was a thirteenth noble house ruled by the Whitby's. 

All they knew about him was that he had become a religious fanatic who ran a gathering of people who believed in Dragons and the Vita Navitas.

"Silver Falcon!"

Rhaegal, the head of the bandits called out to him after watching him approach his tent for a while and he turned slowly. 

The Head of the bandits, Rhaeghal, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. he had heard about the Silver Falcon, but never met the man in person.

All the business they did together was always conducted by a middleman of the sorts. He had believed it was so because Silver Falcon was probably too old to stand on his own two feet but reverse was the case. 

No, he never met him in person. But he could understand why the mere sight of the man also gave a lot of people a fright.

He was an old man. A very old man who had lived even before the King was born. He had scrawny silver hair and eyes as sharp as that of an eagle but beady and small in his hollow face. He had a prominent nose, one that seemed to make his face beak like. And he liked to walk around with a staff in his hands. An odd looking staff with a purple glistening gem, rumour had it that he never let it out of his sight.

"How was your mission?"

Silver Falcon croaked and Rhaegael shrugged.

"We found many things... Although, we're not sure what exactly you were looking for."

Silver Falcon groaned.

The signs had been truthful to him, they had led him to what was right, he knew it and he could feel it in his bones.

The girl was with them.

"The girl with the golden eyes. Did you find her?"

Rhaegal shrugged. Sure, his men had captured one girl, along the routes where Silver Falcon had said she would be. But he highly doubted if they had gotten the right girl. 

He didn't care enough to check when they arrived. 

Nevertheless he also didn't care if they did. He was still going to get paid either way. He had lost men. Good men that good coin would never repay.

The Old Man was still going to pay for it whether or not he got what he wanted. He thought as he hardened his face. 

"Yes. We found a girl. Would you like to look at her? I told my men to keep her safe."

He said. He didn't know what the old Lord wanted to use the girl for, but he could only guess that the old man needed a virgin or something for one of his numerous sacrifices. 

It wasn't unheard of for the Silver Falcon to dabble in dark magic or even more. 

He had a massive following of deranged fanatics who were always making pilgrimage to his temple every year. Even more with the plague.

"Yes! Yes! I would. Bring her to me."

He said and Rhaegal signalled to one of his men. As they inched closer he gave them specific instructions and they scurried off towards the tent that held all their loot.

"Do tell, is there a specific reason why you want her? I mean... Your instructions were so strange."

Silver Falcon shrugged.

"Do not concern yourself with my affairs Rhaegal. You have done what I ask and I have prepared a generous payment for you."

"For a job well done and for your silence."

There was a tone of warning in his raggedly old voice and Rhaegal knew better than to push the old man. 

Best he kept his mouth shut.

"And... There were some casualties... Will I get paid for that too?"

He asked and Silver Falcon sighed.

"All in due time."

The Old man threw him the rest of his payment in a hefty bag.

Rhaegal's eyes widened.

So much payment for a ordinary servant girl with gold eyes. What was so special about her?

He asked himself.

At that same time, his men dragged along with them the said girl. Her hair was all over covering most of her face and she was resisting as strongly as she could. 

"Leave me alone! Stop it!"

She mumbled and grumbled all the way and from the look on his men's face she was giving them quite a hard time.

He frowned as soon as he remembered that she had also shot one of his best men.

Silver falcon was going to have to compensate him for that too.

Silver Falcon was already quivering in his seat. He couldn't wait to see her. To see her eyes. He had dreamt about her.

He had fasted and prayed about her. Such a pity that the girl didn't know the infinite power she held. She didn't know what was in her.

Such a cruel shame.

Hidden in plain sight for all to see.

"Bring her to me."

Silver Falcon said impatiently and the men dragged her in front of him.

Summer was shaking. She had been so engrossed in trying to get the ropes on her hands off that she didn't notice when two men came to drag her out of the tent.

She was so scared and she fought every step along the way but it was futile. 

Silver Falcon reached out with his hands and pulled her hair out of her face. Summer squirmed under his touch, the Old man had wrinkly too pale skin. 

But he could see it. 

He could see what led him straight to her.

Her eyes.

Rich pools of molten gold that seemed to swirl beneath their depth.

She was thin and scrawny.

"Who would have thought..."

He murmured as everyone around watched the two of them silently.

He gathered himself quickly and turned to his men.

"Take her to the carriage. We leave tonight."

He ordered and Rhaegal frowned.

"It's too late. The roads aren't safe."

"I think you should considered staying the night here."

"Nonsense! I have much to do! Delaying will only waste the little time I have."

"Delay? It's too dangerous on these roads."

Silver Falcon turned with a smirk on his wickedly old face.

"Danger!!! That's not enough to keep me out of the woods."

"I'm yet to see a man born of a woman dare to challenge me!"

She didn't know where she was. She couldn't even make out what was going on with the sack cloth that was put over her head. Her mouth was gagged with a piece of rag and her hands and legs had been tied again.

She was tired and hungry.

She could make out dark dark tree trunks and shadows but she didn't know where they were.

She sniffed the air again. 

Rich earth and rotten leaves. That was all she could smell. She had been in the carriage for what seemed to be hours.

Her back ached. There was sweat on lips, dryness in throat and sometimes a cold metallic tang she could taste in her mouth. 

Where the hell was the Old Man taking her?

She thought as she drifted into a troubled sleep.