Ria nearly let out a sigh of relief when he had sheathed his sword. Yes, she had her crude club, but he looked comfortable with a sword in his hand, not like he was merely using it to intimidate her but as if he used it on a regular basis. Used it enough that it had become comfortable in his hand, which was not reassuring to her at all. If he had been using it in an attempt to frighten her, she could've probably knocked it from his hand before he could use it effectively. But a trained swordsman, on the other hand, would have her disarmed and possibly even dead before she could even process that he'd moved.

However, her relief might've been too soon because the man stepped further into the clearing, grinning widely. He announced brightly, "Good news, miss. You have not been kidnapped. You have arrived in the Sprinth forest on Audilandre."

It took her brain several moments to process his words then she gave an audible sigh. Setting down the makeshift club, she stripped off her suit jacket and started carefully examining her arms. He frowned at her, taking a step closer. "What are you doing?"

She snapped sarcastically, "As if you don't know."

He shook his head, "I have no idea what you're doing, Miss."

Well, if he wanted to play the fool, fine. "I'm looking for the injection site. I'm obviously on drugs and hallucinating. None of this makes sense otherwise. Although, it would be helpful if you could at least tell me what you've drugged me with. I have severe allergies to a couple of compounds and it would be bad if I had an adverse reaction. You'll definitely not get your ransom if that happens."

He looked startled at that, good. She hoped that she had rattled him good. Truthfully, the worst that she would get was a rash, but it was a rather spectacular rash. Still, that would be miserable, so she really hoped that they hadn't used that particular one. However, it was strange that she wasn't feeling at all drowsy or floaty like she had the two other times that this had happened.

She sighed inwardly. Her father would surround her with guards because of this and now she'd never have a normal life thanks to this thug. It just wasn't fair after how hard she had fought for the right to live a normal life and now her dreams were shattered because of someone's greed.

He took another step forward, his expression concerned, and she scowled angrily at him. "Don't come any closer or I will hit you with this stick, I don't care if it's imaginary or not."

He held up his hands placatingly, "That branch is definitely real, I assure you. However, it's too heavy to be an effective weapon, I could easily dodge it. However, I am telling you the truth. You are not drugged and you have not been kidnapped. You are a star traveler and you have been carefully selected to come to Audilandre. Maybe the arrival jarred your memory a bit, but don't you remember accepting the invitation?"

Giving up momentarily on finding the injection site, her arms were clean of marks, she folded her arms across her chest, "If I had accepted an invitation like you seem to think, don't you think that I would remember doing so? I received no invitation of any sort. Yesterday, I spent the day at work like I usually do, although I stayed a little later than normal to verify a likely trend. I went home, stumbled exhaustedly to my bed, and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was in this purple hallucination masquerading as a forest. So if you'd like to fill in the blanks in a way that makes sense and doesn't involve kidnapping, drugs, or invitations that I did not receive, I'm all ears."

The last part was forced out through gritted teeth, but she was fast coming to the end of her patience. This whole thing had gone entirely too far and she was done. If she was going to spend the rest of her life locked in a gilded cage, she was going to take the person responsible for her fate down with her.

X

Ward stared at the defiant woman, her amethyst eyes burning with anger, trying to process what she was saying. Her words made no sense at all. He'd seen several cases where the transfer to Audilandre had temporarily scrambled the star traveler's memories, but they had always remembered accepting the invitation. And once they were reminded of the invitation, the rest of their memories usually sorted themselves out quickly. If she hadn't accepted an invitation, then what was she doing here?

His humor at the situation fell away when he realized that she was dead serious in her belief that she had been kidnapped and drugged. That wouldn't do, not at all. Taking a deep breath, he set about calming the situation. "Listen, Miss, I think that we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we start over? I'm Ward Kiftan, a Guardian here. You're safe here, I promise. I will allow no harm to come to you."

She frowned at him, the anger in her eyes dying slightly, "Why do you keep pretending not to know who I am? I'm sure that you and your team checked and double-checked my identity before removing me from my room."

He shook his head, keeping his expression non-threatening, "I did not kidnap you. I do not know who you are, nor did I receive any notice that you would be arriving in the Sprinth forest, which in and of itself is unusual. Until I heard you demand for your kidnappers to show themselves, I had no idea that you were even here. May I ask your name?"

He saw a hint of doubt enter her posture at his calm words before she caught herself. Still, her voice was calmer as she replied, "I am Allegria Willows, as if you didn't already know."

Ok, that was a start. Now he at least had a name that he could use instead of miss. Keeping his movements slow and calm to keep from spooking her any further, he unhooked his canteen from his belt. "I'm sure that this has all been very disorienting and I apologize. Are you thirsty, Allegria? It's just fresh water, I promise. I filled it fresh this morning."

He took a small drink from her to reassure her that it was safe before wiping the rim with his sleeve and holding it out to her. She studied his face and he let her, his face calm as he held out the canteen patiently. Depending on how she chose, he would know how to proceed. Best case scenario, she accepted the water. Worst case, she ignored the water and chose to attack him instead.

Watching her, he really hoped that she chose to accept the water.