Alina’s head felt like it was filled with wool, and her entire body felt heavy… sleepy… She hadn’t ever felt so relaxed and…

Her eyes snapped open.

She had been taken!

Someone had grabbed her and she couldn’t remember who!

Peering around the room she found herself in, her mind immediately leapt to her father’s teachings about what she should do should such a situation ever happen.

Leave as many clues as possible so that she could be found.

Remain calm, speak slowly, but clearly.

Don’t agitate the kidnappers.

There weren’t any rooms that she could see aside from the one she currently sat in. There were white plaster walls, and worn unsanded floors… There wasn’t a chair in sight, but there was a fireplace burning to her left lighting the room, and a door straight across from herself.

A door that three men were huddled in front of.

The tallest and beefiest of them had a clean shaven face, and medium length brown hair. He looked to be in his mid-forties, a slight gut, and a broad nose, but he was not unfortunate looking like the other two.

The smallest of them was perhaps only as tall as Alina, but he was even thinner than she was. Wiry, and his whiskers several days unshaved, when he whispered he whistled a little bit as though he were missing several teeth.

The other one was clearly a mercenary. He had a deep straight scar in the middle of his forehead, and looked as though he were in his sixties. His eyes were dark, and his silvery hair long and partially tied back.

What indicated his profession was the telltale sword hanging at his side, and knives in his boots that most commoners wouldn’t have… and none of them could be Knights… there wasn’t any coat of arms anywhere on their person.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.”

Katarina Ashowan’s calm cheerful voice made Alina jump, and as a result she realized her hands and ankles were tightly bound.

When she turned to peer startled at her friend’s usual calm face she felt more than a little stunned, especially when she realized Reese Flint was on the other side of her still unconscious.

The three men turned to stare at them.

Alina immediately shrank back and did her best to mask her fear.

Katarina Ashowan on the other hand took a very different approach.

“Ah, hello there! I think we need to do a quick introduction here before this gets out of hand.”

The men wordlessly strode over to them, their heavy boots echoing loudly in the small room.

When they stood in front of them bearing down, their arms all folded save for the small wiry man who was grinning maniacally. Alina realized she had been right about his teeth, he had two small silver hoops in each of his ears and his bright green eyes bulged out of his head making him look even more deranged.

“Ah, yes, it probably is easier to hear me if you're closer,” Kat began, completely nonplussed. “So… given that it’s been only you three who caught us, carried us, and have been whispering about releasing us once Reesey here tells you what you want to know, I feel like you should know that your plans have a couple of unforeseen issues.”

The men looked collectively startled. “You… You were awake for all of that? How-”

“I’ll get to that after the introduction. This lovely lady beside me is actually the Princess of Daxaria, Alina Reyes. Beloved daughter of our King and sister to the Crown Prince.”

The men snorted in disbelief.

Alina on the other hand became confused.

They hadn’t kidnapped them because she was the Princess? Then why…?

“I realize it’s a tough thing to believe given our current dress, but once you’re discovered it’ll be properly verified.” Kat nodded down at the trousers and tunic she wore.

The ringleader of the men laughed coldly again, and slowly crouched down in front of Kat, his dark blue eyes wide and unblinking as his face was cast in the shadows of the fire.

“Your lies won’t save you and your friend.”

Kat once again failed to be moved by his obvious warning.

“Again, not a lie, and you aren’t allowed later to declare that you had no idea who she was when the King sentences you to death. Now, I suppose we should move along with the introductions. My name is Lady Katarina Ashowan of the Viscount house Jenoure. Daughter of the House Witch, Finlay Ashowan.”

The man didn’t laugh at that, instead he continued to stare with a curling lip. “Oh sure. I just happen to kidnap a Princess and the daughter of our kingdom’s hero at that bard’s place. More like you two are the whores he hired for the night.”

“What kind of whores dress in men’s britches?” Kat asked flatly.

The man paused briefly, a small twitch in his eyebrows appearing before the wiry man spoke.

“Maybe he has a fetish for the boys!” the wiry man interjected.

“Exactly,” the ringleader agreed, his confidence immediately returning.

“When… ow…” Reese Flint slowly sat up with a wince as he recognized his bound hands and stared groggily at the men around them. “When have I ever hid my exploits? Hi there, Roscoe.”

The ringleader’s gaze turned murderous when he turned to the bard.

“Furthermore,” Katarina jumped in loudly, once again drawing attention back to herself. “Check our hands. Do our hands look like we’ve ever spent a day with a broom or rag in them? Do we really look like prostitutes? We aren’t even wearing makeup.”

At this the leader named Roscoe roughly grabbed and wrenched her hands forward making her wince before saying, “Easy there, you’re in enough trouble as is.”

The man ignored her as he checked her palms and noted the softness save for the pads of her fingers on her right hand… callouses earned from being an archer…

The flicker of uncertainty that passed over the man’s features had Kat letting out a world weary sigh.

“Yes, yes. There you go. Now, send us on our way and I’ll forget about this as will Alina for all of… a day? A day’s head start seems fair.” Kat’s patronizing tone resulted in a backhanded slap across her right cheek from the man named Roscoe.

Alina squeaked, tears in her eyes.

“Hey, Roscoe, your problem is with me, not these two ladies. Let them go,” Reese jumped in, his voice only warbling slightly.

“I’ll let them go once you tell me where my wife an’ daughter are,” the man’s deadly tone directed at the bard made Reese swallow with great difficulty.

“I-I-I don’t know! I sent them to friends of mine, who knows if they are still-”

Roscoe grabbed the bard and punched his stomach, immediately winding the man.

“You’ll tell me where you stowed that whore and her daughter, or the three of you are in for a world of suffering.”

“Mister… Roscoe was it?” Katarina’s unfailing chipper voice interrupted yet again, and a muscle in the man’s jaw twitched. “Yeah, hi, me again… so what is your long term plan here? Are we going to move locations if the bard doesn’t talk? The longer you all stay here the riskier it gets, you know.”

Roscoe turned to face her, and this time didn’t stop at the backhanded slap, this time he grabbed her by the top of her mussed red ponytail and jerked her face up, earning a wince from Kat as the bruise on her cheek deepened in color.

“STOP IT!” Alina’s voice boomed in the small cabin making everyone freeze for a moment. They had forgotten she was there and that was when she realized that had been exactly what Kat had been trying to do… she’d been trying to protect her…

However, Princess or not, she couldn’t let them hurt her friend without doing anything.

“That’s right. You should get the bard to tell him what he wants to know or we’ll keep hurting this chatty woman here,” the wiry man crouched down in front of Alina who was already beginning to breathe heavily.

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.” Alina’s voice was calm, and low. How she was managing it despite the familiar rattling in her lungs beginning to worsen, she wasn’t sure.

“Do you see Roscoe there, little girl?” The wiry man smirked as he gestured with his head to the large ringleader. “He’s going to make you and your friend scream.”

“Alina’s not really ticklish. I don’t think so anyway…?” Kat interrupted, her tone somehow impressively casual as though she were having a mildly dull conversation while her golden eyes slid sideways towards her friend despite Roscoe still clutching her hair.

Alina glanced at Kat worriedly without giving any indication aside from a small sharp intake of breath as she fought off another attack.

“Oh right, your breathing thing. You might die if tickled… makes sense…” Kat reasoned out with an understanding sigh.

Roscoe gave her a rough shake.

“Tickling the blonde will kill her?” the cold interest in his eyes made Alina’s stomach churn.

“I mean… possibly? Though I did hear the mercenary say you did not pay him to keep quiet about murder so… I don’t recommend trying,” Kat pointed out exasperatedly.

Releasing her with a snarl Roscoe instead grabbed the front of Kat’s tunic and drew her close to himself. “You don’t want to see what I’m like when I’m angry.”

The redhead did the unthinkable and laughed in his face. “Gods man, I’ve pissed off a Troivackian King, and you think you’re going to be special?! Alina tell him! That giant dumbass of an ex-fiance of yours is what… twice his size? At least in muscle…”

“Oh, I’d definitely say about that,” Reese Flint volunteered with a pensive nod before the Princess could say anything.

Alina was too terrified for her friend to say anything.

How could she make Kat stop trying to protect her in such a way without making things worse?!

Fortunately for the Lady, Reese’s interruption had once again drawn Roscoe’s attention, but before the man could take another swing at the bard, the mercenary with a scar in the middle of his forehead leaned forward.

“How did you stay awake?” His question was directed towards Kat, who grinned wolfishly in response.

“It’s part of my being a deficient witch. I’m a tad tough to drug. Not to mention it makes getting drunk more than a little challenging– though I had wild success on my sixteenth birthday! I mean who hasn’t heard about me and the donkey…”

The mercenary smiled, it was indeed a famous story across the kingdom. Then realized he was looking a little too friendly, the fact and immediately had his face fall into a more hostile eexpression.

“Ros… I want to check about these two… what if… what if they’re telling the truth?” the mercenary with the scar began slowly.

“Dexter! Look at you! Being the voice of reason for this ragtag group is not easy I can tell,” Kat winked at the man who scowled darkly at her tone. It didn’t help matters that she called him by name, which meant without a doubt she had most definitely been awake the entire time that she’d been kidnapped.

A look of sudden realization and curiosity sparked on Dexter’s face.

“Wait… if you weren’t drugged… why did you let us take you?”

Kat leaned back leisurely against the wall and smiled up at the kidnappers despite the bruise on her cheek looking painful.

“Well… it’s what Ashowans do. We protect people.”

For some reason that admission disturbed them all more than her outright introduction.

“Everyone outside,” Dexter growled, making Roscoe shoot him an icy glance over his shoulder and making the wiry man roll his eyes and let out a small whine.

Yet they all rose, and strode out the door, though only opening it a crack, which blocked the three prisoners from being seen.

Once the door had slammed firmly shut, Alina rounded on the bard.

“Who are they? What is it this ‘Roscoe’ is talking about?” The anger in her voice made the bard wince while smiling apologetically.

“Ah, well… bit of a story, but… as you can imagine he is a rather poor husband, and his wife happened to be a former… friend of mine and her daughter is… well…”

“Yours?” Kat asked with a sardonic raise of her eyebrows.

Reese cleared his throat awkwardly in confirmation.

“Why does he want them back so badly?” Alina asked with a frown as Kat wrapped her bound arms around her knees and groped at her boot.

“Well… he is the prideful sort. So learning his wife was once mine and our daughter is from our... time together... it was rather embarrassing for him to say the least. Especially given that I've taken and hid them. My daughter, I imagine he had some sort of profitable marriage arranged for her. Not too sure. Lorraine and my girl didn’t want to talk about it too much.” Reese shrugged, and it was clear while his expression remained complacent, there was genuine worry behind his eyes. “They’re with a friend of mine and I’m not throwing them both in front of death’s carriage.”

Alina let out an aggravated yet resolute breath before turning to her friend.

“Kat, how is your cheek? Are you alright?”

“Oh, just fine. Though I am most definitely enjoying the idea of him having to face off against the cavalry that'll come for us.” She grinned then winced at the pain in her face.

Alina raised her bound hands and gently cupped her Kat’s face.

“I know you’re trying to distract them from me, but I’m worried they may try to assault us. Don’t provoke them like that.” Her hazel eyes stared directly into Kat’s golden ones, making the Lady shift uncomfortably.

“I can take care of myself, don’t worry. Besides, assault? Pfft,” she chuckled easily. “That’s a little dark. That kind of thing won’t happen when it’d directly affect the House Witch. That sort of thing seems to somehow avoid my family… it’s the hair I think.” Kat tossed her red gleaming ponytail over her shoulder dramatically, and despite not wanting to, Alina couldn’t help but smile as she bit back a laugh.

“What about your brother? Something happened to him,” she finally managed after regaining her composure.

“He has black hair! Try and keep up! It’s like you were the one that got hit…” Kat trailed off shaking her head in mock exasperation.

Alina couldn’t help it, she laughed.

As she studied Kat’s good humored, albeit bruised, face she couldn’t help but feel a swell of gratitude in her chest.

She counted herself the luckiest woman in the world to have a friend like Katarina Ashowan.

Even if she was too careless about her own well-being, Alina could tell that without a doubt she was the best woman to have by her side at that moment.