Maya woke up to a moving carriage. Forcing her bleary eyes open when the force of rattling became too much, she blinked continuously, her gaze unfocused. She stared listlessly for a while before her brain began to function.

A chill running through her body, she realized just how cold she was. She tried to move but found out to her dismay that she had been bound, her wrists already red from the chaffing, the murky smell the carriage emanated kept turning her stomach, her dress reeked off the vomit and there were bloodstains at the hem of her gown. She reached up to her neck where a dagger was pressed against the night before, wincing at the pain. The sharp edges had bruised her skin. She glanced out the window. It was still dawn.

"Finally awake?" A voice asked, causing her to stiffen. She looked to the direction. There was a hooded figure at the door. It was Nicholas and he wasn't looking at her.

Maya tried to sit up, ignoring the splinters of pain running her body at the action. She stared outside once again, her heart slowly starting to pick up it's pace. It was only the two of them in the bare forest.

"Where are we going?" She asked, her voice painfully hoarse. Nicholas spared at her a glance before staring outside to the woods, ignoring her completely.

Maya soon grew agitated, panic begining to set in. "What happened? Why didn't you kill me back there? What did you do? What about Dexter?!"

Nicholas stiffened. Without a backward glance, he growled. "Shut up or I will hit you till you lose consciousness." Then jumped out of the carriage before she could ask anymore questions.

Maya held her face in frustration, her heart racing. Forgotten was her discomfort, all she wanted was to go back to Dexter's arms. She looked at her deplorable state, her eyes filling with tears but she quickly cleaned them off. She tried to free herself from the ropes but soon found out it was impossible.

Suddenly remembering her dagger, she searched her body for it and was glad to realize it was still in her socks. That meant Nicholas hadn't searched her yet. Not wanting to be caught by Nicholas with the dagger, she decided not to bring it out.

She small relief she got from seeing the dagger was here with her quickly dissipated when she realized she was alone with a monster in the woods with no idea of where they were headed. All she knew was that they were going through a rocky terrain, the rattling of the carriage told her at least that much. She had no idea how far away from the palace they were.

Left alone, different kinds of thoughts began to fill her head. They filled her with dread and left her with even more fear. Was she truly alone or is someone following after her? Is Nicholas planning on selling her? Or worse, is Dexter already dead? She shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly exhausted, she laid back on the bed, trying to calm her rattled nerves. The uncomfortable ride continued for hours and Maya was drifting off to sleep when Nicholas shwoed up, throwing her loaf of dry bread and a bottle of water.

"Eat that." He muttered coldly before disappearing once again. Maya stared at the bread for a long while before slowly picking it up, grimacing before taking a bite. She tried to ignore the meal but her stomach has begun growling, reminding her of how hungry she had gotten. She munched on it slowly, the dry, hard bread hurting her gums as she chewed. Softening it with the water Nicholas had provided, maya soo finished eating the bread.

If she wants to make it out of here alive, she would need to hav every strength with her. Occasionally she feared the bread would be poisoned but after waiting a while and nothing happened, she soon came to the conclusion that Nicholas had no intentions of killing her by poisoning yet. Which brought the question, why did he kidnap her?

They soon reached their destination at the middle of the day. Maya peeped out of the window to try and figure out where she was. It seemed to be a camp site of some sort below the mountains with thousands of men roaming around the premises. Is there going to be a war? The fear in maya's heart tripled.

She quickly ducked her head to keep herself from being seen. Changing the hiding place of her dagger, Maya took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The carriage soon rolled to a stop and Maya clutched herself, shivering from the cold as she waited for the next horror. Nicholas soon showed up at the end and covering her face with a cloak, dragged her out of the carriage.

Maya landed unsteadily on her feet, already numb from unuse. Her hands still tied, she felt herself been dragged forward. Too exhausted to struggle, she just let them keep pushing her along. They soon reached the largest tent pitched in the centre of the field and Nicholas led her in.

Maya gritted her teeth at the force of the shove but didn't say anything else. She expected the tent to be ugly smelling but was surprised when expensive perfumes wafted into her nose instead. Still, she crinkled them in disgust. Soon, the cloak was opened and Maya squinted her eyes, shocked at the bright lighting.

Blinking rapidly, she waited till her eyes adjusted to the brightness before looking around. For a tent, it seemed lavishly furnished. She could have mistaken it to be a palace room. Her eyes meet someone and she froze, all the color draining from her face.

"I brought her here, just like you ordered." Nicholas finally spoke after the uncomfortable silence.

Gavin narrowed his eyes to glare at Nicholas. "I can see that. You promised a flawless job."

"Things don't always go the way we plan." Nicholas replied simply, his tone flat.

Maya's gaze shifted from Nicholas to Gavin, utterly confused. What the hell is going on? Then Gavin glanced at her, his eyes lighting up in surprise. "To be honest, I'm surprised. I didn't think he would agree so easily."

"I told you she was his weakness."

That's when she realized what they were talking about. "You're working with him?" Maya asked in a strangled voice. Nicholas glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Maya took a step back, shock enveloping her face. "Of course, how could you!? You're working with a man who betrayed his king."

"Why do you act so surprised? Didn't you do the same thing?" Nicholas taunted back, his eyes narrowed.

"Besides, this way we both get what we want." Gavin chimed in. "Him, revenge. I, power."

Rage suddenly engulfed Maya. "How dare you!" She screamed, launching herself Maya. Nicholas swiftly dragged her back so her arms was flailing in the air. "I'm going to kill you!" She screamed. "I'm going to kill all of you!! You monster!"

"Guards!" Gavin bellowed and a guard rushed in, bowing his head. Nicholas immediately covered her head with a cloak, cutting off she sight.

"Keep her in one of the tents far end of the campsite. I'll see her later." He said in a dismissive tone.

Maya started to back away but she was soon caught, dragged out like an animal headed to the slaughter. Maya continued to scream, all of her worries momentarily forgotten.

Thank you for reading!!