Xenovia
As soon as Xenovia heard her captor’s body hit the ground, she immediately began working on a way to free herself. She didn’t know if the fall would be enough to kill him, so she had to work fast! She used her hands, which were still bound, to reach into the inner fold of her left boot. It seemed the man had not bothered to search her for concealed weapons, otherwise he might have found her spare dagger. Now she had it within reach and at a time when he was not around to stop her.
Xenovia felt her back start to ache from the strange angle she had to twist and reach as her legs tied together and her body secured to the tree. Nevertheless, she persisted, using all her might to dig into the fold of her leather boot until she finally touched the hilt of the small knife. Then, very carefully, she removed it from the sheath in her foot gear.
Gotcha!
When it was at last free, she made sure to keep a firm grip on the blade as she used it to cut her hands free. Since it was too dark to see anything, she worked slowly. But once the ropes loosened around her wrists, she threw them off and began working on her feet. Then came the rope on her waist and finally the gag around her mouth.
Water! I need water!
Xenovia crawled over to where she had heard the man sitting with her bag. She found it and pulled out one of the canteens, which thankfully had some remaining water in it. She drank its contents as quickly as she could, then searched for the second one and drank that too. Plain creek water never tasted so good!
Afterwards, she searched through the rest of the items in her bag to see if they were all accounted for. As expected, her letter was missing, which had probably been the reason her kidnapper had been able to guess her identity. But no matter, she did not truly need it. She only had it prepared in case Sir Kurain happened to be out on the battlefield, or in a meeting and unable to accept an audience with her. Now, it seems that sort of planning had been both short-sighted and foolish.
After a moment, Xenovia took the bag and threw it over her shoulder. Then she made her way over to the edge of the tree, using her hands to feel around her footing until she found a secure place to climb down. Once she dipped below the leafy canopy, the light of the moon gave her a better view of her surroundings. She glanced down below and saw that the man was still laying there, unmoving. After everything he put her through, she hoped he had at least broken a few bones as payment!
As she reached the bottom of the tree, she stepped off and approached the spy quietly. Xenovia could hear his labored breathing and knew he was most certainly not dead. But now that he was in a vulnerable state, it was her to turn to have a little fun!
“Well, well, well. You’re still alive, I see.”
The man made an attempt to move his head to see her, but was unable to do much but twitch his hand or foot. “You…you escaped!?” he exclaimed with disbelief.
Xenovia nodded, though he likely could not see her haughty expression even with the light of the moon. “Of course I did. What do you take me for, a dolt? Did you really think I was going to let you drag me away to your kingdom so easily?”
“But how did you know to attack me?”
She smiled. Now this was going to be the best part!
“Wait…” he mumbled. “The wine…it was poison!”
Xenovia laughed. “You guessed it. But it wasn’t just any old poison. That wine is actually a potent paralyzing tonic. I knew that by demanding a drink you would refuse. And since you are so arrogant, I was banking on the fact you would try to take it for yourself instead.”
Her captor became silent at hearing her taunt, which was spot on. This gave Xenovia an overwhelming sense of victory. For, not only had she defeated her enemy, but she also managed to capture a useful Ivarson spy!
“You’re lucky I left my home to become a hero, not a murderer,” she said in a serious tone. “That is the only reason why I’m letting you live. The tonic you drank will last about three days, but by then I’ll have already sent some men to collect you and take you back to my father. From there, he will decide how best to make use of you,” she finished, using his own words against him.
The man glared up at her, his silver gaze full of fury. “I suppose you think you’ve won something by besting me?”
“Only the joy of seeing you reduced to this kind of humiliation,” she retorted confidently, suddenly pulling out the ropes used to restrain her. “Especially once I finish you off with these.”
Then, just like he had with her, Xenovia tied his hands and feet together and bound him to a tree, and with great satisfaction, gagged him and placed a blindfold over his eyes.
“Laying there in a helpless state isn’t quite as fun as it looks, is it?” She snickered. “Perhaps you should keep that lesson in mind next time you dare to attack a royal princess.”
The man grunted in reply, no doubt cursing the day they had met. And with that, Xenovia turned and ran off into the woods, a free woman once more.
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