Chapter 2
The black clad kidnapper jumped over the side and splashed into the rocky shallows, hauling the tiny boat ashore. Reaching down, the figure lifted the light bundle, carrying her up onto the sandy shoreline then placed the wrapped child gently on the ground, pulling the blanket away from her face to allow the little girl to breathe easily. Returning to the boat, the figure hauled it into the short shrubbery then covered the dingy with a thick layer of scrub brush and branches to conceal its location.
Dragging a bushy branch across the sand quickly obscured the remaining tracks as the kidnapper backed from waters' edge to boat. Returning to the child, the precious bundle was picked up and carried deeper into the trees where two horses were tied.
Laying the little girl on her belly across the saddle of the smaller brown mare, she was secured to the saddle, head flopping and pale blonde hair falling to the horse's knees. The kidnapper quickly mounted the grey gelding and with a swift kick to the ribs, urged the horses into a ground eating walk, following a trail that lead deeper into the wall of forest.
Dawn's blush painted the horizon as they entered the trees, the forest thickening as they rode and holding the first light of day at bay. Heavy dew clung to the dense underbrush, soaking the lead rider's cloak from knee to stirrup. Hooting and clucking noises followed their progress and the figure glanced around nervously at a particularly shrill screech. The woods were never entered willingly, but this day, there was no other choice.
Choosing a north western path, they rode for about two hours before stopping by an outcropping of rock that rose beside the rough game trail. Dismounting the black hooded figure lead the two horses through a crack in the rock which widened and lengthened into a cavern, open to the sky and running vertically back through the cleft for as far as the eye could see.
At midday the sun would catch the upper reaches of the cavern, spilling a diffused light down to the rocky floor, but now the cavern was cast in a murky grey light.
About one hundred meters from the entrance, the figure stopped by a camp, complete with sleeping mats, a fire pit ringed in stones, dried tinder and branches at the ready.
The horses were hobbled and feed bags filled with grain placed on their noses. The kidnapper untied the child from the saddle, carried her over to one of the mats and gently lowered her to the bed. The blanket was unwrapped from around the child, her bonds untied and then she was tucked into the blankets to rest.
The figure gazed down at the child for a moment then swept a stray strand of hair from her cherubic face. Reaching up, the kidnapper pulled off the hood and mask and shook its head. Long red curly hair tumbled out to frame piercing green eyes and a host of freckles that marched across her nose like the sprinkling of fairy dust.
Turning back to the fire pit, she tucked the mask away in a pocket of her cloak then withdrew a piece of flint and a small sharp knife. She knelt by the fire and quickly shaved off some bark from one of the branches and added some dried grasses. Sparks flew under the swift strikes of the knife on stone and smoke began to curl up as the sparks caught the dry tinder. Gently blowing on the emerging flame, she added more fuel and the spark flamed and grew, warming the space.
She turned back to the child, expecting to find a sleeping form, only to find a pair of blue eyes staring at her from the mat.
"Who are you?" the princess asked. She blinked drowsily at the light emanating from the fire as the woman came and crouched down beside her.
"I mean you no harm. My name is Alyssia. Do you want to sit up?"
"Yes please, but I need help. I can't do it on my own" she said.
Alyssia reached over and put an arm under the shoulders of the child, helping her to a sitting position. Beatrix swayed and but for the support of the arm around her, would have collapsed back onto the mat.
Alyssia frowned at her. "Why are you so weak? I did not give you a lot of the sleeping potion, just enough to knock you out until I got you away safely. Are you sick?"
Beatrix rubbed groggily at her eyes with a curled fist. "I am tired, but not sick. I cannot sit properly because I cannot walk. I am a cripple. I have never been able to walk."
Alyssia sat back in shock and considered the girl. This complication, she had not anticipated, nor had she been advised that her target was an invalid. Surely they had known?
"You have never been able to walk?" she asked.
"Never" Beatrix replied. "Lots of physicians have examined me and all leave saying the same thing. They say they can find nothing wrong but still, I cannot stand or walk."
"Can you ride?" Alyssia asked?
"If I am tied to the saddle, then yes. Where are you taking me?"
"I am bringing you back to my kingdom."
"Good!" said Beatrix, without hesitation.
Alyssia considered the girl in front of her, puzzled. She had appeared to be about six years old at first but now she revised that opinion to ten years old, with pale golden hair and fair skin stretched over high cheekbones. She looked like a porcelain doll, but her eyes were somehow wise, as though an older soul resided in them.
"Good? You are not afraid of me for kidnapping you?"
"It cannot be worse than where I was, locked up inside that musty old tower room. I have no wish to return there, now that I am out." She replied.
"What of your family and your father, the King?" she paused then asked "Why would theylock you in your room?" Alyssia asked.
Beatrix studied her hands, thinking. "I have never laid eyes on the king. I do not know him. I only ever saw the physicians and my attendants and I only saw them when they came, three times a day with my food and drink, and to take me to my toilet." Her eyes shadowed at the memory and her lips curved into a pout.
"Never did I have playmates. Never was I taken to play. The only trips outside of my room were to see the physicians and that with an escort of priests. I have lived my entire life in that room." She looked around at the stone walls of their camp and her eyes drank in her surroundings.
"So this is what it looks like in a forest?" she giggled. "I always thought there were trees."
She looked back to Alyssia, a smile returning to her lips and a dimple creasing her cheek. Her sky blue eyes firmed. Alyssia could see she had reached some internal decision. There was no trace of fear in her face.
"I will go with you. I had this dream, you see. It was about you, I am sure of it. I knew someone was coming to rescue me. I am happy it is you. You are very pretty." The smile curving her lips grew into a grin and her face lit up with childish anticipation. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry!"
Alyssia smiled in return and went to fetch some dried meats and berries and a water skin from her horse.
Returning to the princess, she parceled out their meal. "I apologize for the water, I know you have a special elixir but this is all I have for now. It comes from our family spring and it is used to make the special water that you drink. I am hoping you will find it compatible until we can make arrangements to get you your normal water."
She handed the water skin to the princess, who took a drink. Beatrix's eyes widened and she quickly gulped more of the precious liquid, as though she had just crossed a desert. Slowly she tilted the skin upright and closed her eyes, blissfully unaware of Alyssia's smile.
"This is water?" she asked incredulously "This tastes nothing like water! It's so cool, so refreshing! Why I can hardly taste it at all!"
Alyssia took a drink herself, careful not to spill any. "We think it's special too. It has been in our family for generations."
Beatrix eyes traveled up and down the young woman in front of her. "You are small for a human" she said "Just like me. Are all people outside the castle small like you?"
Alyssia frowned at the comment. "No, I am undersized by normal standards. All my family are. It is why they engage me as a... huntress; a spy. I can go places and hide where others would be seen. It was why I was chosen for this mission."
Alyssia looked up at the blue sky now visible in the slit of stone above their heads. "We will rest for an hour then we must be going. There are sure to be people following and I do not intend to be caught."
Beatrix nodded and lay back down on her mat, closing her eyes. She was asleep in seconds.
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