Karayan grinned, but not in a friendly or pleasant way. He withdrew one of the knives from its sheath and tapped the wall of the carriage where the driver was the other side. "Stop here,"

Accordingly, the carriage slowed to a halt. Karayan grabbed Miryanna's arm and opened the door. He jumped out, dragging her along with him and she landed ungracefully on the ground and felt like her arm nearly wrenched from its socket. She gasped at the pain and Karayan quickly brought her upright.

"Here we are. Have fun getting back to the castle," He snickered and got back inside the carriage which started moving again as soon as he was inside.

Karayan is lawful evil for most of the story but that had strong chaotic vibes

Realizing that she was being left behind to fend for herself, she screamed and tried to run after the carriage. "Stop! Please! I don't know the way!" She cried after them. She heard Karayan's laughter at her failing attempts and the carriage only went faster. Soon, it was out of sight.

It had been evening when she been kidnapped and by now it was night. The sun was completely below the horizon and she could barely see at all in the dark. She sniffled avg started crying again, not at all sure where she was or how she was going to get home. She hadn't been paying that much attention to the ride and how many twists and turns the carriage had made. She didn't know how dangerous it was to stay outside during the night hours and her stomach kept reminding her how long it had been since she last ate.

Seeing nothing better to do, she started walking. She was on a road and could feel with her feet when she left it. She didn't know for sure where she was going, but it was somewhere and that was better than nowhere. Her hands were still tied so she also worked on loosing them. She did so as she walked and eventually got the bonds undone. She'd completely lost track of time so for all she knew the sun had only just disappeared behind the horizon, or it had been dark for many hours.

The moon was only a sliver of light, but there was a multitude of stars. She knew if there wasn't that light source, she'd probably go crazy from not being able to see anything. She tried to look around, but though numerous, the stars could only give so much light. She didn't see anything that looked like a town or city, and the land was extremely flat. She saw the dim outlines of mountains and she knew that meant that was north and since they were to her right, that meant she was going west. At least she knew what direction she was going. But if she didn't know what direction they'd exited the city from, she could be going further away.

later in the story i say it takes about a week or two to reach the mountains, but slow travel though they have, unless the land is immensely flat and/or the mountains immensely tall, if it takes at least a week to travel there you definitely could not see it. unless the mountains are indeed exceedingly tall and the world is flat. which is actually a possibility. i haven't really thought about it.

She sighed in frustration. Did that Karayan Batal really only kidnap her just to cause turmoil? She didn't really trust anything he'd told her. While the bit about him being from the Empire of Amani could be true, she still disbelieved him. And why were his eyes red? She knew that sometimes Amanis had strange and almost inhuman characteristics. She heard of one who had scales instead of skin, but that had always seemed too farfetched to her. A strange eye color was more believable, but glowing? Well, also more believable than scales. It was said that long long ago, before the Empire was officially established, the peoples had interbred with strange and magical creatures, but that was just a legend. Wasn't it? Miryana didn't really believe in magic, and she thought herself too old for so-called "magician's" sleight-of-hand.

more worldbuilding and insights that everyone wants to here more about but doens't get touched upon often enough. Also girl you just said you didn't belive he was amani and then brought up evidence that he was? that was my fault acctually. Sometimes characters do stupid things and it's their fault, but in this piece of work.. it's probably the authors fault. 

She shook her head, thinking back to Karayan. His voice was also unnatural. Low and deep, yet smooth and soft. It really was pleasant to listen to, but she'd noticed when he was angry, it took on a more grating tone. And his laugh was almost enchanting. It made one want to believe what he was saying. Indeed, while in the carriage, Miryanna had found herself believing every word he's said, but now that she was away from him and thinking straight, she saw what a liar probably was.

he... wasn't lying for any of that... which is coincidentally because writing his dialogue was where i myself was working stuff out. funny how that works

She thought about the recent events until she saw a distant speck of light in the distance. She perked up a bit. Even if it was merely a simple farmer's hut, it would be better than nothing. As she walked farther, her pace quickened, eager to meet whatever the light was, more of them were revealed, so she thought it more likely that it was a village. The thought of meeting people who could tell her where she was and how to get to where she needed to go cheered her considerably, until she remembered that many of the respectable people would most likely be in bed, and the ones still lounging around of a more rougher sort.

This caused her slow her pace and think more about entering. She bit her lip, wanting to find out where she was and where she was going, but also wanting to stay safe. She's never been trained in the fighting arts, lady of class that she was, but she was also headstrong and wanted to find out where she was, so, apprehensive though she be, she entered. The only activity seemed to be in a fair sized tavern. It was a small village and there was only one, but it seemed to suit the occupants just fine. She wasn't so foolish as to go into the tavern, but approached one of the characters around its entrance. There were two men sitting on a broken chair and barrel and swapping tall tales and other exaggerations. There was also a black cloaked figure, but his looks unnerved her, the appearance of her kidnappers still fresh in mind. So she went over to the two men and after clearing her throat, they noticed her standing there. What they saw was a dirty young woman with a bruise in her face and her once-fine clothes torn and also dirty.

it also was important to me that she not learn to fight until she actually had to. in a lot of stories that have the ridiculously overpowered protagonist, it's always that they need to learn to defend themselves, and yeah that's valid, miryanna really doesn't. she doesn't really have anything to worry about. (didn't, at least. she's got more on her plate now.)

"Gentlemen, could you be so kind as to inform me of my whereabouts? I fear I am lost," She said to them.

They both looked at each other, not expecting her speech to be so fine.

"Well, miss," one said, "This here village doesn't have a right name, but the people living in it have taken to calling it horse's snout.

on one hand, what would possess someone to call a village something like horse's snout, on the other hand, I want a detailed account of why a village is called something like horse's snout

She nodded, "Can you tell me how far away the city of Campel is?" She asked, referring to the capital city of Terinnia in which she lived.

"If you need to get to Campel, I know of someone who'd be all to willing to take you," A low, rough voice came from the behind them.

he was in front of them before but whatever. he probably circled around behind when she wasn't looking. Roric seems like the type of guy to do that. also, roric ex machina.

Miryanna jumped in surprise. Roric! What was he doing here? yeah, actually, what is he doing there? She spun around to see the cloaked figure standing right behind her. "My my, aren't you a sight," He said and grabbed her arm. She winced, as it was the same arm that Karayan had grabbed earlier, but he paid no heed and brought her around to the side of the building near the back.

neither of the two men are concerned about what could be a kidnapping. masters of minding their own business

He was the first to speak, "What are you doing here, looking like that? What happened?" He asked, crossing his arms. He'd taken off the hood and she could barely see his face in the long shadows.

"I was kidnapped!" She exclaimed.

"Shush!" Roric hissed, "Unfriendly ears may be listening."

Miryanna continued with her story more quietly. "I was kidnapped by Karayan Batal,"

Roric snorted and gave a short laugh, "Yeah and the moon is made of dust,"

haha, medieval people don't know what the moon is made of haha, so funny lol

but really, the moon could very well be made of something that's not dust. heck this is fantasy. there doesn't even have to be a moon

"I'm serious, it was him!"

"How do you know?" Roric asked skeptically.

"Because he told me he was and he had glowing red eyes." She retorted.

Roric peered at her, "Glowing red eyes?"

Miryanna nodded, "Yes. They were glowing, but only when he was excited or angry.

"Hmm," Roric stroked his chin, "I'll take you to Alarick. You can talk to him. I only have one horse with me so we'll have to ride double. You can ride, can't you?"

Miryanna glared at him, "Of course I can ride,"

She matched her stride to his as he strode to his horse whose color she could only half see in the dark. It looked to be a dark bay. Dark like it's master, Miryanna thought as she grasped Roric's hand and swung up behind him.

"Hold on," he said to her and kicked the horse to an easy canter.

It was a bouncy ride, and she wasn't used to this horse's stride. Her feet weren't in stirrups, so she just sat tight and held on to Roric harder than she'd been intending to.

Okay, another relationship thing. roric and miryanna's gets better, trust me, but for now, even though he's been a little pissy jerk to her, he has her back. she's a part of the club now, and he's going to respect that and help her out. as we see later, he gets to be less of a jerk as he gets over his inherent mistrust of everyone due to his *gasp* tragic background, and miryanna gets around his little idiosyncrasy's and barriers he's put up, down to the real him. Rori c helps miryanna expand her horizons, and give her idealistic self a healthy dose of realism, teaches her useful things, and reminds her of the important stuff. Miryanna helps him ease out of his uncomfortable hold-everyone-at-arms-length attitude he's backed himself into and gets him a sense of humor and also teaches him that being nobility isn't something inherently bad and that harmful stereotypes go both ways.

After a while, he slowed the horse's pace to let it have a breather. She took the opportunity to ask what time it was.

"Two hours til sunrise," Was his reply.

wow how can he tell?

She'd been away all that time? Apparently so.

She didn't have time to ask any more questions before Roric urged the horse to a canter again. The pace was now a full canter and nearly a gallop and Miryanna found herself unable to concentrate on anything except for not falling off.

Her own horse, Harrod, had a much smoother gait, but she was also a fine bred horse, and she assumed that the horse she was currently atop had no such bloodlines. 

by "not fine bred" you mean, less chance of inbreeding, right?

It seemed to take forever, but it was still just as dark as it had been when they started when Roric slowed his horse. They had reached the copse of trees.

"Is this the only entrance to the base?" She asked after dismounting.

Roric was walking the horse and rubbing him down after the hard ride. Miryanna was glad he at least cared about his animals. "Yes, but this is not the only base," He replied.

caring about animals is a surefire way to let the readers know that he's actually a decent guy

She nodded. While waiting for Roric to finish cooling down his horse, Miryanna surveyed her surrounding as best she could. She looked up and saw fewer stars than there were before. "How long did the ride take us?"

"You don't have a very good sense of time, do you?" He remarked.

she does, she's just frazzled

She huffed, "Well it has been a very interesting night and morning, so be easy on me. How long did the ride take?"

She heard him laugh softly, and mutter, Redheads under his breath. Out loud, he answered, "Just over half and hour,"

yeah, redheads, man. faintest hint of temper and oop, gotta be the hair

She nodded, "Thanks," She replied icily.

She yawned. She hadn't gotten any sleep at all and was now very tired and very hungry.

Roric, finished with the horse, tied him to a tree and escorted her to the secret door. She still didn't know her way around the underground base, so she followed Roric through the dark passageways. They entered the room to find a distraught Andarin talking to a tired looking Alarick.

"You can calm down, Andarin," Roric said as he entered, Miryanna right behind him, "I've brought your girlfriend and she's relatively unharmed; But I must say, she has quite a story to tell."

He stepped aside and Miryanna found herself in a warm embrace. Andarin crushed her to himself and she found herself fighting for air, "Andarin, please, I can't breath!"

He released her and held her at arm's length. He looked her over, anger filling his eyes when he gently touched the bruise on her face from when Karayan had slapped her.

She brought her hand up to his, "I'm fine, Andarin, but I do have quite a story to tell,"

"Yes, I should very much like to hear it, if Andarin will let you go anytime soon," Came Alarick's voice from his desk.

She sat down in the chair across from him that Andarin had recently occupied and began with her story.

"I was just getting ready for the evening meal when a shadow appeared in my room..." She continued with her tale, being sure to add all the necessary details. It took some time to tell, but it was finished at last. Her voice was now hoarse and she was more tired and hungry than ever.

"Roric, could you get Miryanna some water?" Alarick called to Roric, who was still in the corner and had taken a seat on a barrel.

He stood up to go get the water and returned shortly with a full cup. He handed it to her and she thanked him before taking a long drink. The cool wetness felt good in her parched throat and it spilled down, cooling her inside and out.

Alarick began the discussion, "Now that I've heard your story, I don't doubt that it was indeed the infamous Karayan Batal, but I don't trust this story that he told you about his plans. It does sound plausible and matches with all the reports we've gotten from our agents and other reliable sources, but I don't see why he would just tell you his whole plan when he knew that sometime or another you'd get back to us."

you can blame the author for that. sorry guys.

She shrugged, "That's just what he told me,"