Jaya was having the second worst week of her life. She spent the first two days of her abduction floating in and out of consciousness, before finally waking on the third morning, unsure of where she was or how she had gotten there. She was groggy and there was a dull pain on the side of her head where she’d been hit. She sat up slowly and tried to assess the situation. She seemed to be alone in a tent smaller than her room back at the palace and her hands were bound by a coarse, thick rope that chafed against her skin. Every now and again shadows passed by the tent and she heard the lively sounds of human activity coming from outside. But before she could try and free herself or call for help, a young man close to Jaya’s age lifted the entrance flap and peeked his head into the tent.

“Oh good, you’re up. You were out for about two days, I promise I didn’t mean to hit you that hard, Your Imperial Highness,” the man said brightly. His cheerful demeanor was entirely at odds with the current hostage situation.

Jaya stared at him dumbly before realization struck. These people had clearly mistaken her for Valena. She opened her mouth to tell the man as much, when she shut it again just as quickly. These people, foolish as they were, had already proven to be very dangerous. There was no telling what they would do to Jaya if they found out who she really was. Not to mention what they would do to Valena once they went back to fix their mistake. Poor, young Valena who had already suffered so much injustice at the hands of her father. Pretending to be the princess might be the only way to keep herself safe.

Jaya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she glared at the man who at this point had been watching Jaya’s internal dilemma play out for a long time with a somewhat befuddled expression. Straightening her spine, she pulled her chin up in disdain. “How dare you! Do you know what my father will do to you when he catches you?” She made a point to struggle with her restraints before stopping with a huff.

The man laughed lightly and entered the tent fully to crouch down in front of her. “Soon enough, it won’t matter. Your father may be powerful but he’s a sinful man who does nothing but hurt people, all so he could become emperor.” His expression soured at that. “Think of this situation as payback for all he’s done.”

His face cleared again and he smiled sweetly. Jaya leaned away in disgust. Suddenly a taller, rougher man entered the tent. Spotting Jaya’s companion, he frowned. “What are you doing here? You haven’t been authorized to enter this tent!”

The man crouched down next to Jaya bolted up in a hurry.

“I’m sorry sir!” he replied, panicked. The new figure only grunted and motioned for the other man to leave with a jerk of his head. Head down like a scolded dog, he left the tent.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s a new recruit and very enthusiastic about bringing happiness back to the people of Agnizera,” Jaya’s newest visitor sighed, dragging his hand down his face. His face was lined and tired, making him appear older than Jaya initially guessed him to be. Nevertheless, he radiated an aura of command. “My name is Yvm. I’m the leader of the Anti-Agni resistance from the great country of Colovia, charged with ending the tyranny of the Emperor’s reign and bringing justice back to this continent.”

Yvm waited for Jaya’s response but she sat still as stone. One wrong move and she could be found out and murdered without hesitation. She needed more information.

Yvm tried again. “I know that as a member of the Imperial family, you have close ties to the emperor, but you must understand, we’re doing this with the well being of millions of people in mind. We need your father to go down but it’s impossible to approach him with all of his security. We need you as a hostage to demand change.”

Jaya was certain now. These men had no idea who she was. Not only did they think she was an Imperial princess, they didn’t even know who their original target was. Even if they had managed to capture Valena, it would not have mattered. Valena held no power in the Imperial family. Unloved and unwanted, she would have made an equally terrible bargaining chip as a lowly maid.

Jaya was astounded by their ignorance. It made sense that a rebel group hailing from a different country, the last to be annexed, would have limited knowledge of the family and inner workings of the castle from Agnizera, a country on the other side of the continent.But as evidenced by this botched kidnapping, they hadn’t even done basic research into the relationship between the royal heirs and the Emperor.

Jaya was thoroughly perplexed. Just how uncoordinated were these rebels? Did they really believe they would succeed? Jaya wanted to see the Emperor taken down as much as anyone, but this group obviously had no idea what they were doing. This did not, however, make them any less dangerous.

She was in serious jeopardy. While Jaya carried herself with dignity, she was no princess. The charade would not hold forever. She had to escape.

Jaya put her head down and pretended to ignore Yvm. Eventually, accepting that she had shut herself off from him, he left the tent. Once she could no longer hear his footsteps, Jaya stood up and immediately started looking around. Her bound hands hindered her search, but she was determined to find her way out.

The tent itself was empty except for her and the blankets she woke up in. She peeked out the tent’s flaps and her heart sank. Although her tent was not directly guarded, it was placed in the middle of an enormous camp swarming with people. Women and children played and went about their daily routines alongside heavily armed men patrolling the camp. Jaya ducked her head back inside her tent and tried to look for another way out. Towards the back, she found that one of the stakes holding the sides of the tent down were sharp and slightly exposed. She smiled grimly. It wasn’t a way out, but it could help level the playing field.

She wore her bindings down by increments. People would come in the tent to feed her or talk to her about their goals but she never listened and never ate. She continued to rub the ropes against the stake unnoticed, working well into the evening when they finally fell. She tied them back loosely so as not to raise suspicion and waited until someone came in to give her dinner for her to try and escape.

Finally, a plump woman with a warm smile came in. She set the food down but as she turned to leave, Jaya grabbed her wrist, hands still loosely bound. “I demand to take a bath!” she said, nose in the air. The woman’s face was a little shocked but when she spoke she resumed her calm demeanor.

“I see, well you have been asleep for the past two days and you’ve been cooped up in here all day. I’m sure you feel awful. Let me ask for permission to take you to the river.” she said kindly. The woman left the tent reappearing after a few minutes with a rough cloth, some clothes, and a blob of soap that smelled like lavender. She helped Jaya to her feet and took her to the river, undressing them both and getting to work. The water and soap that first came off was a dingy brown color and Jaya ended up needing to get washed twice.

When they finished up, the woman grabbed a cloth to dry them off and helped dress Jaya. Jaya endured the woman’s ministrations without complaint, but as soon as she turned around to grab her own clothes, Jaya took a large branch and hit the woman in the back of her head as hard as she could. She immediately started running as far and as fast as possible. She had no idea what direction she was going, or where she was heading as long as it was away from the camp. The forest loomed ahead of her, dense and foreboding, but she didn’t have time to stop.

After about an hour, Jaya finally slowed down and collapsed on the mossy forest floor. She laid curled in the fetal position, and closed her eyes, finally giving in to her body’s exhaustion, when she heard footsteps behind her. Her eyes flew open and she leapt to her feet.

Jaya ran faster than she had ever run before, a mixture of fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. She ran blindly, crashing into branches and tripping over roots. The footsteps only grew louder, however, as her chaser gained ground. Jaya suddenly heard voices along with the sounds of her own frantic breathing. The sun had already set and she could see a campfire in the distance, billowing softly against the night sky. Determined to find her way to freedom, she continued on. But by this time, the physical and emotional toll on her body was too much and she began to slow down drastically.

Her lungs burned and her limbs were covered in scratches. The campfire lay just ahead in a small clearing and Jaya could smell the smoke in the air. She was so close, just a few minutes more and she could be saved--!

BAM! A large body slammed into hers. Twisting and thrashing about, she tried to free herself only to be pinned to the ground. She craned her head only to see the young man from before. Teeth bared in a maniacal grin. He was furious.

More footsteps thundered by and stopped when they reached Jaya’s prone body. “Is this how you repay those who have treated you well? I would like to believe we’ve been hospitable to you, my lady. We have done nothing to hurt you and you still deserted us, going as far as to harm an innocent woman.”

It was Yvm. He sighed dramatically and shook his head.

Jaya spat a wad of leaves and dirt out of her mouth. “You hypocrite!” she gasped. “You knocked me out for two days and kidnapped me--!” The man holding Jaya down clamped his hand over her mouth after that outburst. Yvm moved closer and crouched down near Jaya’s head. “Obviously I can’t kill you for that stunt because you’re our best bet at a brighter future, but don’t think I’ll be doing you any more favors from now on.” With that, he turned around and waved his hand for the man pinning her down to follow.

He pulled her up and thought for a second before setting her down again and searching for something on the ground. He quickly found what he wanted: a large, heavy rock, and struck Jaya on the head, knocking her out once more. The last thing Jaya could remember was looking up at the stars shrouded by smoke as she was hoisted onto the man’s shoulder before everything went black.