Chapter 6: Questions

I hear a buzzing sound in my head, but I can’t see anything.

Does this mean… I’m dead? Can’t say I don’t deserve it… I don’t even know what I was doing, blindly charging at a guy who was wearing armor. This isn’t a movie where armor is completely useless and gets cut through like butter. Why didn’t I just run away? I had a chance! But the moment I tasted his blood… I... couldn’t restrain myself. All the logical thinking I pride myself on is lost in the moment. And what now? I’m dead… I think to myself, as tears flow down my face.

Wait a second. Tears? Tears are flowing down my face, does this… Does this mean I’m still alive??? But why can’t I move? Trying to move my limbs, I feel my muscles, but I’m being held back. Now that I’m paying more attention to it, I don’t think I’m blind, I’m just inside of something? Trying to wiggle around I hit my head again, leading to intense, stinging pain.

“Ouch!” I yell.

“Oy, boss. Sounds like it’s awake again.”

There is rumbling around me as I feel myself being lifted and carried somewhere. I think I might be in some sort of box. After a bit of shaking, my head bumps against the box again as I’m dropped to the ground, intensifying the ringing in my ears and making me feel nauseous.

“All right, One. Open it. Slowly.” I recognize this voice. It’s the man with the red beard.

I hear some sort of mechanism unlock as the lid of the chest I’m in opens up slowly, revealing what looks like the insides of a tent being illuminated by candlelight.

“Looks like I was right after all, One. Ya owe me dinner,” the bearded man’s voice says, mockingly.

“Damn it!” Another voice exclaims from behind me, “Can I at least keep my ration of broth?” There is silence for a bit before the bearded man answers, “Aight, but only if ya clean ma boots.”

There is an audible sigh from the other voice as he answers, “Deal. But only one pair.”

“Fine. Now, for more pressin matters. Can ya put our honored guest out of her carriage and on the chair?”

“Aye, Boss.”

“No no no-no-no. Not the shite chair. We’re in the presence of a lady…get the good one with the cushion”

“Of course, Boss”.

There is a bit of shambling around before I look at the face of someone I haven’t seen yet. A blonde guy, probably in his late twenties, with a well-taken care of mustache and a big potato-like nose. He lifts me out of the chest and puts me down on the chair he prepared, while my arms are tied by a rope behind my back. A few feet in front of me is the red-bearded man, sitting on what looks like a makeshift throne, surrounded by two candelabras.

“So, lass. Welcome to the resort retreat, ‘Happy Camp’. You can stay until daddy picks you up again. You may walk around and enjoy the fun activities we have to offer, but yer not gonna leave until daddy comes and picks yer up. Understood?”

I… I don’t even know how to respond to that. “I don’t think I do, Sir.”

His grin widens even further, “Sir? I think I like that, don’t chu, One? Callin ME, ‘Sir’? You are the jackpot aren’t cha, my ticket out of this shithole.”

I… I still don’t get what he’s on about. “Look, Sir, I think you have the wrong person. You can keep the money; I don’t even know where I am so can I just go and we tell no one this ever happened? I apologize for biting… And stabbing you, but it was a high-pressure situation and you got me back tenfold.” I say while looking down at the bloody hole in my clothing where my lung would be. It did heal up without any scarring… This body can be scary.

“You think I’m stupid, don’t cha? An utter buffoon, is that it?” he says, with an angered face.

“No Sir, I don’t. I just want to leave. Please.”

“Well, that ain’t gonna happen till ya daddy shows up and pays your ransom. Or can the little lady not stand living in the shit with the peasants, huh? Is that it? You think I’m beneath you, don't chu? A pig, a filthy rat commoner!?”

“Sir, please calm down. I don't know what you’re talking about.”

He looks at the guy he calls One in a, ‘can you believe this?’ sorta notion, before standing up and walking towards me. He throws my coin pouch in front of my feet saying,

“You know how much money that is? And foreign coins too. Silk clothing, the polite speech, not a single callus to be seen on your hands, and the obvious fact that you’re a fucking Fey, or at least a witch or something. Gave us a mighty scare when you keeled over but didn’t stop breathing. Your wound closed right in front of us. Not to mention you fucking ignited the moment the sun came out. Took us a while to figure out how that shit worked. We thought we were cursed or somethin. You’re some sort of big shot. Lemme guess, princess? High-ranking fairy noble or something? I don’t know how politics works in fairy tale land, so you’re gonna tell me all about it.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this Sir, but I’m sure you got the wrong person. I just found these clothes and the money on some dead druids in the mountains. I am no one important. I don’t even think I have any parents here. I most likely know even less than you do, Sir.”

He looks at me for a bit before starting to laugh, “Zehahaha, and they say Fey can’t lie. One?”

“Yes, Boss?” The blond guy answers.

“Take her to her tent without food. We’ll see how talkative she is during dinner tomorrow.”

As he says that, the blond guy grabs me under my arms and throws me over his shoulder. As he leaves the tent with me, I notice that the boss’ hand that I bit into looks almost black, and it’s just hanging down, as if he can’t use it anymore. Outside, I can see it’s dark out already. We seem to be in some sort of clearing with trees surrounding us in all directions.

After a few seconds of walking further from the tent, I can hear different people whistling and yelling things like, “Yeah, princess. You’re lucky the boss likes ya,” or, “I wonder how much money we’ll get for her!”

Followed by One telling me in a calm voice, “Want me to show you what happens to girls that aren’t important enough to be ransomed?”

“Wait, there are other kidnapped people here?” I ask him back.

“You’ll see…”

After a bit more time passes, being carried around, we stand before another tent. I can hear moaning and… Crying.

“If you got to vomit, pat my back first. I don’t want that shit on my back, we clear?”

“Yeah…” I answer.

“All right then, here we go.”

I feel the piece of cloth, that’s being used as a door, slide over my body as I’m being carried inside. Unable to see where we’re going, only what’s behind us, I can hear the moaning get louder as suddenly I’m being turned around to face what’s inside the tent. In front of me, is what could only be described as hell. There are multiple women that are bruised, beaten, and mostly naked, chained to beds. Most of them don’t even seem to have any life in them anymore, still breathing, but their eyes glazed over. Another one, continuously hitting her head against the bedpost. One of them is currently being raped by what looks like a fifteen-year-old, while two other men cheer him on.

“That boy over there,” One says, “he’s fucking his sister. If you want in the crew, you have to detach yourself from old blood ties. That’s the so-called mercy rule enacted by Boss.”

“That…That’s horrible,” I whisper under my breath, with tears flowing down my face.

“A bond forged in hell is stronger than one paid by coin or loyalty,” he answers with a somber tone.

“But, how… How could anyone do this!? To their own family of all things! That’s his sister!”

“It’s either that or death, princess. It’s not like the boy has a life to return to anyways. He’s not doing this because he wants to. Look at his face. It’s full of hate for himself. Having to know you weren’t strong enough to defend your home. Having to rape your sister. Watching her cry and have her sanity broken by you as you inflict the greatest act of betrayal onto her. You break inside. You won’t be yourself after, and then the troops will rebuild you. Convince you it’s fun, that might makes right, that you’re strong now that you have endured it. The girl will either die, be sold as a serf, or be married off to one of the boys. The boy will become scum like the rest of us, and most likely die on his first mission or become a meat shield if we need to run away. So, if you have any pity for the girl, don’t forget the boy suffers as much as she does. Anyways, time to get you to your tent.”

As we move back out of the tent, I lock eyes with the girl being raped by her brother, and the moment I do she screams, “HELP ME! HELP ME! Help me. Help me…”

After we leave the tent, I ask One, “Why? Why are you doing this…?”

“Everyone here has their reasons,” he says coldly, before we enter another tent. He puts me down after hanging up a sack at the entrance. Looking around, it seems like small sacks are hanging around the whole tent. Noticing me looking at the sacks, he just says, “St. John’s Ward. Keeps you from escaping. Boss’ orders.”

Looking around, there is a bed with two thick wool blankets, a jug of water, a hole, presumably the toilet, a desk, and a chair, as well as what looks like sewing equipment. Also, in the middle of the room, there is a small campfire with a makeshift chimney connecting to the outside of the tent. It doesn’t seem to have any fuel, however. I sit down on the chair. The screams of the girl, still ringing in my head.

I need to escape. I really, really, really need to escape. I can’t end like this. But how? I don’t think I can leave with One watching me. And even if I did, there are at least twenty armed bandits that I’ve seen in this camp. Some of them were carrying bows. And after the last encounter… I’m not underestimating people again. Also, what will I do when I escape? I have no idea where I am. I have no idea where to go, and ever since that bite I had… I’ve been starting to feel hungry.

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I don’t quite understand how this hunger works though. I must figure that out before I run away or else I'll just starve to death. I think it might be similar to an alligator or a snake. I can go days or even weeks without food or water, provided I have had a large meal of blood before. I also presume that my healing ability must burn a lot of energy as well. And whenever I taste blood, I go into a frenzy again. Like an alligator, where I dumb down and go full instinct mode. What I don’t know is if it’s because I’m constantly underfed that I reach this blood binge mode or if it’s the nature of consuming blood itself. And where do things like honey, butter, and bread come into place? Are they nutrition for my body? Is it just like candy? The honey and bread are just carbs while the butter is just fat. They don’t seem to be related whatsoever. The fish didn’t agree with me at all. But why? Would I have been able to eat the fish blood? Or is fish in general something I can not eat? Also, blood is related to bone marrow, right? Can I eat that? Then there is also the thing with magic being real. Is there specific magic in this St. John's Wort that makes it so I can’t pass through it, like back in the druid cabin? Is it the smell? The chemical makeup? Wait, it’s called Saint John's Wort. Is it holy? Blessed? I need to test something.

“Saint.”

One looks at me weirdly.

So, I guess I can say saint, but I can’t say the name of higher powers? “Priest.”

One seems noticeably unnerved.

So, titles given to humans aren’t a problem?

Suddenly thinking back to that tent, despite trying hard to distract myself, I can't help but shiver. This isn't a dream. This is reality. If I...If I don't escape I'll...I'll...

No ignore it, ignore it, ignore it.

I need to sleep. I mustn't think of any of this.

Trying to sleep, I eventually manage to do it but it doesn't help. Through the entire night I just dream of these men and the poor women, with me being next.

When I wake, I’m looking at the ceiling of a tent. I feel like my bed is kind of wet. Sitting up, I notice that my left arm is covered in a black substance.

Jolting up from my bed I see One and five other men with their weapons drawn at my bedside.

“Put yer hands up missy. Slowly,” One of them says, menacingly. I oblige and when I do, I see the black substance dripping off my arm onto the blanket, and evaporating like fog, revealing my normal arm again.

“All right princess, get up nice and slowly now,” Another man says pointing what looks like a throwing axe at me. Still shocked by my everything, I prop myself up slowly from the bed. Still somewhat delirious, I follow their commands as they put a rope around my neck and drag me outside the tent.

It’s night out. What was that black stuff on my hand? Do I have secret powers or something? Was I about to turn into mist? Will I be able to just fly away in a cloud and be safe!?

Unfortunately, I’m being brought right back to reality as I realize I’m standing inside of the Boss’ tent. With the dread of almost dying and the sights of yesterday floating back inside my head, I leave the almost trance-like state that I left the bed with. I’m now suddenly, acutely, aware that it’s the next day and the Boss has questions.

“So, Princess. How was your stay at your royal accommodation? You seem to have had quite the tantrum today. I’m guessin our hospitality wasn’t good enough, ey?” He says as he slams his knife into his steak. “But, hey... Where are my manners? Come sit down with me, Princess. You musta built up quite the appetite over ya sleep didn’t cha?”

Not wanting to anger him further than he already seems to be, I sit down on the other side of the dinner table he propped up, with different sorts of food and drink, all on his half of the table. Yet he still put a plate, fork, knife, and golden chalice at my place.

“So, starting with all of you,” he points at the people that helped One bring me to his tent, “Fuck off will ya, there’s a lady present.”

Followed by a few, “Yes, Boss,” as they clear the room, leaving only One, Boss, and me.

“So, One. Tell me what the fuck happened today.”

One walks a little closer to Boss and whispers in his ear, “I think she can read minds. She looked at me weirdly yesterday when we entered the tent, then she said things like priest and saint to me as if she were probing my mind. After she went to sleep I saw her toss and turn as darkness, no light could pierce, suddenly appeared in the tent. As I gathered more men for reinforcement, I came back to most of her bed being covered in darkness and her left arm beginning to coat in what looked like possessed ink. I’ll be completely honest with you Ulchel, I think this one is over our heads, we should just let her go and hope she never bothers us again.”

This is another moment where I’m glad for my heightened hearing in this body as I now know the Boss’s name. Now I only need to figure out how my Fey curse powers work.

“Well, One. As you well know, I value your guidance. You’re my number one man in this shithole and your advice has proven valuable many times over. What you told me now, however, is utter fucking bullshit! I’m not gonna let this huge ass fish off the hook just because of a little ink. Like how frightened can you be by this little shit!?” He says before apologetically looking my way saying, “No offense to you of course my lady,” then looking back to One saying, “You’re scared shitless One. You’re going to be useless for the rest of this, so I’m removing you from watch duty. Go get some extra meat and fuck some of the throwaway girls so you can grow your balls back. We’ll need 'em on our next raid.” It looks like One is thinking of talking back for a second before he decides to shut up and leave.

“Now, Princess. It’s just you and me,” he says while filling his cup with what looks like wine. “Seems like you frightened the boys today… And in your sleep, nonetheless. So, tell me what happened.”

I don’t think I can get out of this one. It’s not like I can lie anyways, so I think the safest bet I have is to just tell him everything, no matter how crazy it sounds.

“I am unsure myself, Sir. I had horrible nightmares and then woke up to your men dragging me here, pointing their weapons at me.”

Seemingly unbothered, he keeps eating his steak saying, “So, you just happened to mention a priest before going to bed and creating dark evil looking ink that just happened to frighten my best man who just happened to have been abused by a corrupt priest? I’m just trying to see if I’m understanding you correctly.”

“That is correct Sir.”

“I see, I see. And I’m guessing you have nothing to add about how you ended up with some peasant boy?”

I sigh before continuing to answer, “No, I do Sir. I’m from another world. From a country called the United States of America. In this country, we managed to reach levels of technology beyond your imagination. Carriages that drive without horses, entire libraries accessible from our pockets, food so abundant it has become a problem, inching ever closer to discovering the laws of the universe.”

With his mouth half-full he asks, “I see, so how did you get here then?”

“I’m not sure, Sir. I had been beaten by my dad, then woke up in a body and world foreign to me. This is where I found the dead druids and took their money and clothing. The peasant I was with, I happened to meet while trying to find civilization. I befriended him and he took me on a ride with him.”

Using a cloth napkin, he cleans his mouth with his healthy hand and starts thinking, “So, what you’re saying is that all of this is just random chance. A bunch of weird events that culminated into all this?”

“I know it’s not easy to believe Sir, but it is the truth.”

“Oh no, I believe you,” he says while sitting up from his chair with his plate in hand, walking toward me.

“You do?” I ask him, both skeptically and filled with hope.

“Yeah of course! Of course, I believe that YOU’RE FUCKING MOCKING ME!” He screams as he pushes his knife into my hand pinning it to the table making me scream in pain. “You see Princess… I was thinking. That regeneration of yours is mighty handy. I can do whatever I want with you and you won’t break. See, if I just take one of your little fingers and,”

CRACK, pain fills my hand once again as he breaks my finger by bending it backward. “And then just wait, until it heals,” he watches my broken finger intently as it slowly starts getting back in the shape it’s supposed to be, “I can just break it again!” CRACK, my newly healed finger breaks again as he twists it backward. “I'm sure if your fingers heals so nicely than your pretty little cunt will too, no matter how many men play with it… I give you one more day to think things over before I start using enhanced interrogation techniques, do you understand?”

I nod while holding back tears.

“Good. Now go with your new friend into your tent and think long and especially hard about what will happen if you don’t tell the truth tomorrow.” He pulls the knife out of my hand and I scream out in pain.

“Number Two! She’s yours to watch for today!” Prompting the spear guy, from my first encounter with the bandits, to emerge from outside the tent and drag me back to my chambers.

Whatever happens, I need to escape today! Ok, think Sam. What is the problem? The problem is, for one, the guard. If he sees me escape it’s all over. Number two, the St. John’s Wort bags hung around the tent. I can’t go past them because of some weird voodoo magic shit, and I can’t take them off either, because for that I would need to get close to them. Number three, I have limited resources. I have a bed made of straw, with two thick wool blankets, a jug of water, a desk, and chair, as well as sewing equipment consisting of a loom stick, a needle, and yarn. Otherwise, I only have the ripped bloody clothes I’m wearing and my two necklaces. And lastly, problem number four, the Boss, Ulchel, shit name if I might add, expects me to be at his tent at nightfall and I’ll burn up if I leave in the sun.

Wait a second. I burn up in the sun. Not just figuratively, I burn. So what if I used that to my advantage? I could pretend to sleep during the day and wait for my guard to leave to pee. Then, I can use the chair for the extra range to lift the cloth of the tent just enough to let in some sunlight, set my hand on fire, then light the hay bed up in flame, burn down the tent and run into the woods covered by the wool blankets! God damn, you’re a genius, Sam! The fire should be enough distraction, and if I’m lucky it will spread, so they get distracted even more!

It’s a dangerous plan, and A LOT can go wrong. But it’s the only plan I have. I should probably start rearranging the stuff the way I need it. I believe the shortest way to the forest is in this direction, so I carefully place the chair near it, already putting one of the blankets on it to save time. Unfortunately, I can’t put both of them on there, or else it would seem suspicious. As for the wool and yarn… I can lay it down in a way that it spreads quickly to the actual tent.

All right. Next, I throw the yarn ball to the edge of the tent and lay a fuse towards the bed after pretending to drop it, after some piss poor attempt at knitting on my part. Then, when the sun starts to shine, I go to bed, tired. Secretly grabbing some of the straw in my hand, I pretend to sleep. Waiting for my guard to leave. About one-hour passes. He doesn’t leave. Two hours pass and, yaaaawn, it’s getting hard to stay awake… One more hour… Nothing changes.

Ding-Ding Ding Ding, I wake up to the sound of the call to lunch. Frantically, I look around. My guard isn’t here. I don’t know how long he’s been gone, but it's time.

I jump up out of the bed, place the blanket on the other, and proceed with my plan. I take the chair and carefully try propping up the tent cloth with it. It’s a lot harder than I thought, curse those useless girl arms! After some fiddling, however, a ray of light comes through. I take my hand full of straw down to the ground to ignite it together with my hand, but as I kneel, I lose grip of the chair, and with a thumping sound it falls to the ground. I pray that no one hears it and try again. This time, with more success, my hand lights on fire and I’m barely able to hold back my screams as I put the flaming fist into the hay bed. It starts to smoke a little but it’s not fully on fire so I keep trying to blow air into it but the amber goes out. FUCK!!!

I try again, take the chair, fiddle around with it, light my fucking hand on fire, and stick it in again. This time it ignites! The entire bed is now on fire and spreads towards the edge of the tent. The smoke makes me cough and my eyes water up but I try to be silent enough not to attract others to the tent. The bottom of the tent has just started to catch fire as the lunch bell rings again, which means it’s time for shifts again. FUUUUUUUCK!!!

I don’t have the time to wait for the fire to reach the bags of St. John's Wort. What should I do, what should I DO!?!?! Panicking, I look around the room and see the loom stick. That’s it! Using some leftover wool on it, I light the loom stick on fire, get on the chair, and start burning down the rope holding up the bag. Come on… Come on… COME ON! I’m starting to hear footsteps. I think they’re coming back! Slowly, the rope burns until with help from me pulling down on it with my stick it rips, and the bag falls to the ground. I take the stick and kick the bag away with it like a golf ball while donning my makeshift wool cloak.

That is when I hear “Hey, sniff sniff, do you think it smells like burning?”

Panicking, I crawl through the little burn hole in the tent, while my body is getting singed by flame. I barely hold in my screams of pain as I get through the tent and into the woods.