Child's play with a Kitchen Knife.

Raziah's curious eyes kept taking in everything around her. The place was very busy, bursting with people coming in and out, buying and selling. Everyone had moderate-looking shops, and from the corner of her eye, she sighted some guards patrolling the area.

"My lady, have you never been outside before?" Uariel asked as they stopped to buy more things for the palace. She offered to help him Carry them, but he told her he was ok. She also noticed that his attention was more on her than on the woman he was buying from.

"Not much." She replied after a short silence. Suddenly, the galloping of horses had everyone running out of the way as warriors came rushing by them, making their way towards the direction of the palace.

"Is there something going on? It seems like there's an event about to occur soon."

The vendor handed him the goods he had bought, and he paid her with money coins which she gladly took, "You haven't heard? There's a huge fight going on between Erandell and Dahomey, and some say a war might break out soon. Both kings aren't willing to agree with each other, so it's causing a ruckus in both kingdoms. Anything can happen anytime." He whispered to her the last part as they continued their walk around.

He was beside her, his hands full, "Isn't there anything they can do to avoid it? War would affect both kingdoms in big ways."

"Dahomey and Erandell are ruled by stubborn kings. They won't listen, but we have nothing to fear. The king knows what he's doing."

Raziah thought about how much she hadn't seen seeing his Majesty these days. He must be busy with his father, the King because of these matters, Or is it because of this upcoming war that he decided to introduce her as his guest first, and then after everything has calmed down he would finally tell everyone she was his wife?

"What is the King's name, by the way?" She enquired as they stopped in front of another shop.

Uariel paused and turned to look at her a bit confused. Raziah took note of his expression, and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No no," he shook his head with a small laugh, "Aragon Odysseus, that's the king's name."

"Sounds powerful," she commented.

"One of the most powerful Kings to ever be born."

"Does he have a queen? A wife?"

"Not yet, I heard the council have been pressuring him to get married to a princess from Sabaean kingdom, and he's planning to consider it."

Raziah was now confused. If the King doesn't have a wife, then who is the mother of her husband? Was he like...an illegitimate son or something? She wanted to ask, but the question would seem out of place and feel like she was trying to poke her nose where it doesn't belong, so she held back her tongue.

The vendor had just finished packing up their stuff, and Raziah jumped in and collected it from the man, who smiled at her. She nodded back briefly, gripping the stuff. Uariel's eyes widened a bit, "My lady, let me have them, please. You're not supposed to do anything."

"Considering your hands are full, do you think you can protect me that way? You won't even be able to protect yourself without dropping a few things." Raziah whisked around, and walked ahead of him, mingling with the crowd, "Aren't we done here?"

"Wait for me!" He called out, running after her.

Out of nowhere, someone stepped in front of him, blocking his path just before he could reach her. Uariel panicked a little and pushed the person away, his eyes scanning through the crowd, but her golden hair that had Stood out was nowhere to be found. When he moved forward, he stepped on something hard which turned out to be the things she had been holding a minute ago, all scattered around.

Uariel sighed.

His Majesty was gonna slaughter him for this.

.

.

Raziah fluttered her Golden lashes open. Her head was throbbing a little, and it was a little dark around her. She noticed that the walls weren't built well, and rays of sunlight were passing through which told her that it was still bright outside.

Was she knocked out? Where did Uariel go?

A sharp pain shot up her neck, and she stifled a groan from escaping her lips. The last thing she remembered was this same pain running through her neck, and her lights got turned off. Damn it, someone had probably kidnapped her. Maybe she should have listened to uariel's warning about the dangers outside the palace.

She couldn't move and was sitting on the floor, tied to something long and sturdy. Her hands were behind her back, and her upper body was tied with a rope to the sturdy pole. Raziah heard some noises coming from outside, and she closed her eyes to feel even the slightest vibration of the earth.

There was no one inside the room with her at the moment, so she got to work. She flexibly shifted her tied hands and tugged on her dress so the hidden knife would fall out. Once she got a hold of the edge, she began cutting through the ropes holding her wrists together. Untying herself was child's play, and she also loosened the one around her body and stood up.

Just then, quick footsteps approached the room and the door was thrown open. A huge man stood in front of her, and the others behind him who were busy drinking pulled up too.

"How did you get out of the ropes?!" He grunted.

She shrugged uncaringly, "Child's play, I guess." She replied.

He made this terrifying grumbling sound from his throat, and approached her, "Is that a small knife you have there? It'll be better for you if you sit back down like a good girl, and wait for the person who'll come save you with your Ransom." His voice sounded as if something was stuck in his throat.

"I'll say this once, Let me go and no one gets injured," She reasoned, "I won't hurt you if you do that."

They all laughed, coming up inside the room. They were staring at her as if she couldn't do anything, and that was their first mistake. That happens to be everyone's mistake who meets her at first, they assume she's a fragile woman who needs protection, but that knife she's holding might just turn out to be their worst nightmare.

"You must be the daughter of some rich merchant. Did your father teach you how to cut through ropes and beat up six huge men with a simple knife?" Another bemused, and they all rumbled again.

"Something like that, but it was two people who taught me," She replied calmly, "So, you guys are only six in number? That's good to know."

"You sound overly confident of yourself," The first one now sounded more annoyed than amused, unsheathing his sword, "Sit back like a little girl while we are being nice," he warned, pointing the sword at her.

"How about we have a little fun with her before she sits back, what do you say?" Another with a stupid grin suggested, and two other men joined him and nodded in agreement.

"Good thing it's a little dark in here, though it would be nicer if one of you could offer me a blindfold," Raziah all but yawned, getting bored, "Does anyone of you have a blindfold I can use?"

They shared looks among each other, and the one who had had enough approached her with the sword, his face etched with hardness.

Raziah sighed.

They should have let her go. Now she would have to beat the shit out of them with a knife, and they'd probably feel ashamed of themselves when they wake up later on and find out that a small harmless-looking woman had kicked their ass with a simple kitchen knife.