A quick recap, since it's been a while since I've updated this. Our Princess Mona has escaped her castle confinement only to discover the outside world is not what it seems.  She finds signs of her father's tyranny and discovers the existence of a rebel group, lead by the virtuoso Cedric. She agrees to join the rebellion and Cedric takes her out of the city to show the smaller towns that a princess has joined their ranks. Cedric and Mona had just settled down for the night...

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 I woke abruptly, something pulling me up by my hair and before a gasp could finish leaving my mouth, a knife was pressed harshly against my throat. I glanced around wildly and could see Cedric in a similar position, his arms being forced behind him, head held up by his hair. I could vaguely make out the shapes of our perpetrators, barely illuminated by the embers left in the fire. They appeared to be wearing scarves covering their faces, as though they were attempting to hide their identity.

"We're here for your parcels." A large man appeared from the edge of my vision, striding in between me and Cedric. "Don't fight and we won't kill you." There was a tug on my hair and my head was forced back. Tears welled in my eyes, as I looked directly into the eyes of the man holding me, narrow and harsh, with a scar right below the brow.

"Ey chief, this one is a girl. A bit of a looker too." His eyes crinkled in what I could only assume was a smile. I had been right, they had scarves covering the lower half of their faces.

"Let her go!" I heard a scuffle after Cedric called out, but all I could see was the face of this man and the stars beyond him. Footsteps approached me and another man peered over me, the large man from before. My hair was pulled back again, causing me to cry out and the large man smiled a grin that chilled me to the bone. I whimpered at the sight of it. His teeth were yellowed and some were broken, his nose was a bit crooked, and his eyes were dark and piercing. Dark curls framed his face. My tears spilled and I could feel them running down my face.

"Oh, don't cry like that darlin'. It only makes me want you more," he crooned, causing his henchmen to all laugh as though it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"Please..." my own voice sounded foreign, cracking and barely there. "Please don't kill me..." This only make the men laugh louder. I felt my whole body shake with my cries. I heard Cedric scuffle again.

"Tie that boy up, tie him to a tree or something. I think we should take the loot and the girl and head back to camp. Then we can have all the fun we want..." He guffawed.

I was yanked up and bound by my wrists immediately. Someone held me as they tied Cedric's hands together and bound him to a tree. I wanted to call out to him, but I couldn't. I couldn't get my voice to work.

He fought against them, pulling. Then they started kicking. They kicked him over and over again, knocking him down and kicking him more. I pulled against the hands on my arm, towards Cedric.

"Stop! He's going to die!" I cried out, automatically. My arm was pulled back and I stumbled backwards into the chest of the man holding my arm.

"Keep your mouth shut girl, or you'll be tied right next to him," I glanced up at my captor before turning my eyes back to the blonde, now a bit bloodied, kneeling next to a tree as the men walked away, laughing. I was pulled away, my head not turning from Cedric even though I was being pulled in the opposite direction. Our eyes met for a moment before I was forced to turn.

"Mona!" Cedric's voice was still as clear as ever, "Mona, I'll get you back!" He called out, as though he wasn't even afraid. Tears streamed down my face, but I pulled myself up. Cedric needed me, so he would definitely come save me. And maybe I would have an opening to save myself.

After walking for what felt like a mile or two, we finally stopped at a small clearing. More men were there, gathered around small fires. Sleeping blankets were scattered around. There was one tent, set up a bit farther off than the rest of the settling. The men there called out cheerfully to the band holding me.

"'Ey boys! You got yourself a woman?" The groups joined together, chatting loudly and throwing our bags on the ground where two other men quickly ripped them open to rustle through them. The chief harshly took my arm, steering me to the tent, I pulled back, trying to escape his grasp, but he only tightened his hand, causing me to cry out.

"If you just move along, you won't get hurt," He shoved me into the tent. "Well, at least not right now." He laughed boisterously. He left the tent entrance, sitting in front of the nearest fire, facing me. I could wait for him to move, but who knew how long that would be. I sat on the blanket that was spread on the ground, thinking. I had escaped a highly guarded castle, surely I could escape a band of bandits.

The night grew darker as the fires waned. A loud laugh echoed over the camp and moved closer. It was undeniably the chief's. The stamp of this boots filled my chest with ice; I took a breath in an attempt to steady myself.

I pulled my legs under myself, sitting up properly. Cedric's voice was clear in my mind, "Sit and look pretty". I shook it out of my head. It wasn't that I felt the need to be presentable, I just needed to properly prepare myself. For a moment, I wished I had done as Fianna and trained as a knight. She would be quite able to fight off the chief and escape.

Shadow fell over me and my eyes snapped up from my lap, where they had slowly sunk, to the chief standing in front of me. My eyes hovered at the knife on his waist, but quickly went back to his face. It was red and splotchy, though the leer was still present, same as before. He settled down in front of me, one leg bent up with his arm resting on top of it.

"Come 'ere, girl." I didn't move. A growl rumbled in his chest, turning into words that he spat at me, "If you keep me satisfied, girl, I won't kill you." I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Leaning forwards on my hands and knees, I crawled towards my captor. The leer grew into a full grin.

"That's more like it..." He grabbed my arm and pulled me the rest of the way into him. He smelled awful, reminding me of the pub, though much more concentrated. He roughly grasped my hair and it was again used to pull my head back. I cried out and he sighed happily.

"That's a good girl, don't hold it in..." He turned my head to face him. My teary eyes met his; I squeezed them shut before he forced his lips to mine. It was the first time I had kissed anyone other than my family or my wet nurse when I was a child. It tasted bitter and acidic.

I pulled my mind together, now was not the time to panic. He was obviously distracted, so now was my chance. I opened my eyes as his lips moved around mine, They flicked down, the hilt of his dagger near my hand. I snatched it out of its sheath and stood up, pointing it directly at his throat, only a few inches away from his skin. My hands were shaking and his eyes were wide, hands up a bit, obviously shocked I even thought to defend myself. The tent was silent, even the crickets couldn't be heard.

"You..." My voice shook and I cleared my throat, trying to make my proclamation clear. "You will release me and I will not slice your throat," I attempted to sound as empowered as possible, though I was in plain clothes and even then, they were covered in mud. The chief lowered his hands.

"You have spirit girl, but you aren't that brave," He reached for my leg, I suppose to pull me down, but I was quicker. The knife moved of what seemed to be its own volition. Before I knew what I had done, the chief grasped his throat, eyes bulging, blood beginning to seep through his fingers. My own face contorted to a mask of horror. My whole body called for me to run, but my legs felt like they were made of lead, I couldn't bring them to move. My knees gave out and I collapsed, my eyes stuck on the chief, his gurgled cries echoing around my head. He lurched for me, reaching out suddenly and grabbing at my knee. I started for a moment before the terror that had filled my body with ice suddenly burned away and my fear became fire pumping through my veins. As he was grasping for the knife, I jumped up and grabbed it. The fire I felt fueled me as I cut a slit in the back of the tent and ran through the woods, back the way we came.

I needed to find Cedric. My mind was racing, trying to find anything to think about other than the blood slowly drying on my hands or the knife I was holding so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I forced my mind to focus on the trees in front of me. There was no path, so I could only hope that I was headed the right direction. A noise caused me to jolt to a stop, a loud scream. It was low and angry, coming from behind me. I could only assume that it came from one of the bandits. I started running again, the fire in my veins having traveled to my legs, they burned from overexertion. The air began burning my lungs, but I could still hear noises behind me, what sounded like a crowd of people all yelling and screaming at once.

Suddenly, I slammed into something warm, a person. I pulled the knife up immediately, standing and pointing to the person in front of me. They also assumed a fighting position, fists raised. I quickly recognized the blonde head in front of me.

"Cedric!" I quickly dropped the knife as my legs gave out from under me. It felt as though all my fear suddenly left me. He dropped to his knees in front of me.

"Mona? What- How did you-" He cut off, his gaze shifting to behind me, where the bandits' noise had gotten louder. A hand roughly grabbed my arm, pulling me up. I tried to get my legs to settle under me, but they refused to do anything of worth. Cedric's hand slid down my arm, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. I stumbled after him, half dragged half running until my feet found their proper place on the ground. We came to a stop and I barely had time to even think about where we might be when Cedric spoke.

"Up," he pointed to the limbs above us.

"Up?" He rolled his eyes at my question, his harsh glare having returned.

"Just go. We can't possibly outrun all of them," I grabbed the bottom branch with both hands, trying to pull myself up and failing. I had never really climbed trees, not even as a child. A pair of hands were suddenly on my rump, pushing me up. My face turned beet red, despite the situation. Oh come on Mona, he is helping save your life, not trying to win your hand. Cedric gave me the force needed to get onto the bottom branch. Once I was there, I was able to climb up a bit higher without too much difficulty, though my dress snagged and tore on the way up, leaving behind a small piece of cloth on a branch below me. I settled down, sitting about halfway up the tree. Cedric pulled himself up easily, grabbing the piece of cloth and tucking it in his pocket on the way up. He settled a few branches below me, looking down through the branches, towards the source of the battle cries.

We stayed for what could have possibly been an hour. My legs were aching from sitting in a crouched position and I kept almost falling asleep, almost falling out of the tree in the process. The bandits had passed all around us, but we had stayed silent and they hadn't noticed us. Cedric tapped my leg and pointed down, continuing the silence. I couldn't hear the fighters anymore, but I suppose he wanted to be cautious.

I slipped out of the tree as quietly and gracefully as possible. Sadly, it wasn't very successful, I snapped a branch on the way down and tore more of my skirt. Cedric and I froze, listening for any movement. We both let out a breath when there was nothing except the skittering of forest animals. Cedric grabbed my hand again, pulling me after him.

We seemed to be headed back for the camp; I could smell the smoke from the fires that had still been burning. I pulled on Cedric's arm, shaking my head, hoping to get the point across. What was he doing? Cedric yanked on my arm, bringing my close to him. I was almost up against him and, despite our situation, I felt myself flush.

"We need our things. We won't survive the trip to the first town if we don't have at least some of it." His voice was barely more than a murmur, his mouth practically brushing my ear in an attempt to keep quiet. The whisper still contained the same sharpness that it usually had, though. I pulled back a bit, bringing us face to face.

"Should I really go with you? I would only slow you down. I can meet you back here or-" he shook his head sharply.

"Sorry, Princess, you're coming with me. If I leave you alone, you might get kidnapped again," he replied, sounding a little too jovial considering the fact that we were debating the merits of sneaking into the camp we had just run from. I gave a hesitant nod and he turned from me. With the stars twinkling overhead, the smoke in the distance, and the ever constant chance of being killed, we snuck to the camp. 

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Okay, so I'm not sure if this is going to be weekly or biweekly, but I'm going to try and be consistently back at writing this. Please vote and comment! Do you think they'll be ambushed or be able to get their things?