Chapter Two

Kiera woke to the sound of footsteps, muffled voices, and the harsh jangling of metal bits and other tack for the horses. The warmth of her pallet tempted her to roll back into the blanket, to pretend to sleep and will the day prior to have been nothing more than a nightmare. Less than a day and she already longed for the contemptuous glare of her brother, or the uninterested looks of her mother, as she joined them for breakfast.

Her bladder was unwilling to cooperate and forced her to rise from her little nest of blankets. Groggy she barely avoided stepping on the tray laid attentively near her bed. A simple offering of boiled grain cereal, topped with a drizzle of honey and diced raisins; but the scent of it had her stomach growling in complaint. With her body at war, Kiera debated on which need to attend first, and decided on the need to empty her overfull bladder.

Tentatively she crept towards the closed flap of the tent. Alone, the tent showed little sign that Alessi had been present over the night outside of the rich spicy scent of the warlord prince. She shook her head, reprimanding herself for finding anything attractive about the male who had slain the majority of her family. The pinch of her bladder reminded her of its unrelenting threat of soiling herself if she didn't find a place to go. Desperate measures had her pushing the flap open, blinking at the bright light of the rising sun, and paused immediately at the sight of the two men who stood guard on either side of the opening.

Both were older, fit but their hair was streaked with lines of gray and the skin around their eyes deeply creased from squinting against the unrelenting summer sun over many years. Both were armed with the short broad sword favored among the laboring class. It served as both a weapon and a tool; the dual edge making it good for both hacking and the pointed tip giving it a stabbing edge. Practical and unadorned swords that declared them tools rather than something ornamental.

"Commander said you were to remain inside, Lady." The one to her right spoke first. His head didn't dip in respect but his voice was gentle, soothing. The tone one used on frightened children and perhaps to him she appeared so, disheveled as she was, and so much younger. Kiera knew she couldn't afford to be seen as meek, a frightened, an easy target in a camp of predators.

"I am certain he would prefer I didn't piss on his tent floor." The words were crass but she did her best to mimic her mother's imperious tone. Her chin lifted as she summoned what courage she could before stepping out of the tent. The sound of steel clearing its scabbard caused her to pause as the flat of the blade pressed against her chest. The motion so smooth and rapid it served to remind her these men were ruthless killers; even if they sounded like a kindly grandfather.

"He said you were to remain inside. Now I suggest.." The words cut off as Alessi approached. His long strides cleared the distance as he took in the sight of the barefoot queen trying to face down his armed soldiers without even the meager protection of her jewels. The way she shifted uncomfortably side to side hinted at the desperation that had driven her from the tent. Something rose in him at the sight of the bright flash of steel pressed to her chest, even if it was the flat of the blade it would only take a flick of the wrist to seriously injure or even main the woman.

"She giving you trouble, Illario?" Alessi forced his tone to remain calm and neutral as he broke the stare off between the diminutive queen and his most loyal of warriors.

"Nothing I can't handle. Says she needs to take a piss." The sword was withdrawn at Alessi's arrival and swiftly sheathed. A bit of the silent tension the warlord carried swept away by releasing the responsibility of the queen back over to the Warlord Prince. He could see her discomfort clearly written on her face. The way her mouth tightened and nails bit into her palms trying to distract her mind from that pressing need. He hadn't lived as many centuries as he had to not know when a witch needed to relieve her bladder and bowels. No doubt with the swaying movements the girl's control would lose against simple need.

"I will handle it." Alessi sighed as he stepped forward, taking a moment to glance at her bare and blistered feet. The useless silk shoes she had worn the day prior had done little to protect her feet and he would be soon she would be feeling the injuries. "Do not think to get used to this gattina." With that he swept her up into his arms, carrying her towards the thicker brush where she could find a reasonable amount of modesty to attend to herself.

Kiera bit back a squeal of alarm as she felt his arms surround her. Her arms circled around his neck out of instinct, the innate fear of being dropped had her clinging against him as he took those long rapid strides towards her salvation. She didn't waste time, the moment her toes touched the ground she hurried to the first tall bush she could find and once behind it lifted her skirts enough to avoid soiling them before giving a sigh of relief as the sound of liquid striking against the grassy ground started. The pinching ache of over extended kidneys came with the release of her bladder.

Once done she remained squatted down. Her skirt released as she took slow breaths, hoping that if she took long enough Alessi would go attend a different duty, leaving her an opening to escape. His boots remained firmly planted in front of the bush she was working to befriend. Finally she had to give up as her thighs started to cramp at the unaccustomed position. The mocking lift of his eyebrow told her that he had guessed at her ploy.

Kiera shot him a hateful glare before turning to storm towards the camp. The sting of a twig against the lacerated flesh of her feet had her pausing as she hissed softly as a blister was opened. "Son of a harpy's asshole.." The uttered curse escaped her as she lifted her foot in attempt to relive the stinging pain.

"That is rather unladylike language for a pampered aristo." Did he actually sound amused? Kiera worked through the indignation and humiliation that he had first seen her loss of composure and then had the nerve to mock her for it. "Don't worry, I won't tell." Again, without asking for permission or even offering a warning she was lifted from her feet. At least he held her cradled instead of slung over his shoulders like a stray goat.

"She is going to be trouble that one.." The laughing voice of the guard taunted her as Alessi paused waiting for the flap to be pulled open for him.

"Nothing I can't handle, Uncle." Alessi replied for the first time sounding amused. His tone finally broke that carefully cultivated calm and that frightened Kiera on a different level. Cold and distant she could easily place him as a monster; something to be vanquished for the greater good. Emotions made him real, more than just flesh and bone, made him a complex creature of shades of good and bad.

Once back into the tent he unceremoniously dumped her back on her pallet. A grunt of shock escaped her at the impact and she hurried to jerk her skirt back down over her knees and buried her toes against the edge of a bunched blanket. Kiera didn't bother to stand up, he could easily subdue her without much effort. Instead she wrapped her fingers around the bowl that had floated up towards her.

"Eat. I will send for Mirella once you are done." He motioned towards the bowl that she held as he looked down at her tattered slippers and muttered something that vaguely sounded like 'aristos' and 'fools' though the rest she couldn't place but knew there would be expletives mixed in. Kiera wasn't thrilled about putting the stiff gore covered fabric back on her feet either, but she wasn't airing her grievance.

"I'm not hungry." The lie came as a last measure of defiance. The small control she could wrest on deciding when she would eat or not. The bowl was set aside and her stomach gave a mournful grumble as she pushed it aside. At the arch look he shot at her Kiera just shrugged an went to finger combing the strands free of each other before plaiting them into twin braids that ran along either side of her head before coiling around her brow. A basic application of craft secured the braids in place while she searched for a bit of string to tie it into place.

"Suit yourself. Lunch is a long ways off though." Alessi's tone again turned cold and distant. Anything remotely human gone. Kiera refused to give him a reply as she worked on securing her braid in place, weaving a short piece of thread loosened from one of the worn blankets through the braids, binding them together securely on her head. Satisfied her hair wouldn't release itself to form a puffy tangled mess over the day, she turned to grab the ruined slippers only to watch them disappear.

"You need real shoes to travel. Mirella is sourcing you a spare pair of boots. You will be properly thankful for her effort, understand gattina?" Repeated calling of her kitten had Kiera clenching her jaw as he reminded her she was currently his pet. That her only options were limited to the basic functions of her body and he decided the rest of her fate, of what she wore, who she saw, and if she should continue to breathe.

"Of course, Prince." Kiera forced herself to dip her head, to allow herself to appear beaten. Longingly she eyed the bag that held hers and Luca's jewels. Suspended tauntingly from the man's belt as he kept them mostly powerless among his people. Subterfuge was the only weapon she had left to her. The temptation to flash a vulgar gesture at him, as he turned away to return to his desk, was strong and barely repressed. Kiera resolved herself to be a model prisoner and wait for the perfect moment to escape.

The silence between them was only broken by the muffled sounds of the camp breaking down and the irritating scratch of his pen against paper. Finally the hearthwitch from the night prior appeared. A pair of thick, though often mended, wool socks were draped over a pair of worn boots that looked approximately the right size.

"Thank you." Kiera uttered the words honestly, glad that she wouldn't have to spend a day walking in shoes coated in the blood of her relatives. A small gift that helped her retain her sanity and Kiera quickly pulled on the socks and boots. A little big they would serve. Mirella squeezed the Kiera's hand in quiet encouragement. The gentle touch almost enough to bring tears to her eyes as the hearthwitch walked off carrying out the tray of uneaten food.

"We have wasted enough daylight." Alessi rose, his letter clutched in one hand before he pulled her up with the other and marched out towards the opening. The moment they were out she watched as the tent folded in on itself. The efficiency that the camp broke down around them was surprising and spoke of their experience in the routine.

"Here send this to Prince Matteo. Be certain to put the letter in his hands directly." A young Prince took the carefully folded letter. Kiera's disapproval of someone so young being drafted into their fighting ranks must have shown on her expression as Alessi turned his attention back to her. "Aristos drafted and threw younger as fodder on the battlefield. At least here I keep them as camp aides." He released her arm then as the pair of older warlords approached. The one Alessi called Uncle offered his arm to her politely and uncertainly Kiera placed her fingertips against the sleeve of his wool coat.

"I have her, go make certain that everything meets your standards." He easily waved off the Warlord Prince, the confidence of the lesser ranked male a surprise to Kiera as she tried to judge the mercurial moods of the man who controlled her very fate. Surprisingly the guard was at least polite as he led her over to the small gathering of the other captives waiting to be sorted. Luca was there, looking no worse for wear outside of the dark smudges of exhaustion around his eyes. Without thought she released the guard's arm to run to her cousin, falling into his arms with a soft relieved sob.

"You are alright.." The whispered words of relief escaped her as she took in the solid feel of him against her, his familiar sandalwood scent, and steady beating of his heart. Guilt seeped in as she looked over all the other faces still smudged with soot and dirt from their trek the day prior. Most looked numb as their minds worked to cushion the shock and trauma from the day prior. Among them she only saw a few young male children, no adults.

"I haven't seen him, but your brother is smart." Luca squeezed her slightly in the hug between them. "He probably escaped when it was clear he was on the losing side." The disgust in her cousin's voice told of the emotion he held for her older brother. Kiera sighed softly against him before looking up as the crowd of them shifted nervously. A cart, nothing more than a flat bed with some straw and latticed walls, stopped beside the ragged group.

"Children and healers in." The command was clear and they wasted no time pulling the younglings and healers out of the crowd. One by one sorting them to fit onto the wagon. So many faces she didn't recognize; faces that told her that her family's estate was just one stop among many that this party had conquered in the name of the rebellion. Once filled the cart pulled away and started towards the long line of moving carts, wagons, and marching members of the rebellion. The flutter of dresses and colorful scarves told her that women were mixed into the Prince's troops.

The rest of them milled, waiting to see what their directions were, before at last it was their turn. The guard's shouted orders sounded garbled over the noise of an actively moving camp, but some of these people had been with the troop long enough to understand the cue and started to line up three abreast. Following example the rest of them did so, with Luca in the center and Kiera holding to the outside.

"I don't care how good they are, eventually their attention will lapse. When it does I want you to run as far as you can." Her lips parted in protest only to be shushed by her cousin. "I know, your jewels, but better to be without them and alive, than have them in death" The statement wasn't something she could completely agree on. What was a queen without access to her strength? It wasn't something she wanted to ponder even if her mind kept circling back to the question as they marched.

As Alessi promised, lunch was a long time away from when they started. Her stomach started cramping and knotting on itself long before the caravan started to slow. Her stomach felt tight and angry despite being empty and she realized she had been a fool to pass up the breakfast. Images of it taunted her, floating around the back of her mind, as she walked leaning more and more on Luca. Blisters from the day prior burst and new ones formed despite the thick socks and boots; leaving her limping as she stubbornly walked on.

By the time they had stopped for lunch Kiera was ready to lay down in the ditch and simply wish herself to the afterworld. Just the idea of standing in line for rations brought tears to her eyes as she crumpled to the ground unable to take another step. The scent of the warm bread and reheated stew had her stomach heaving as nausea replaced the extreme hunger. She leaned against Luca, letting him brace her for a moment before he pushed her upright.

"Stay here, I will get us food." Gently he patted her hands while silently cursing Alessi and the other men who ruthlessly pushed them despite Kiera clearly struggling to keep pace. He didn't acknowledge that she probably would have refused help just to be obstinate.

"Feed yourself. I don't think I can eat." She gave a wan smile in attempt to reassure her cousin. "I am just too tired to chew." The clawing in her stomach turned and when she was handed a beat up tin cup filled with water, just that small mouthful sent a lancing pain through her forcing her rock forward as she heaved up even that bit of moisture into the earth. The camp aid closest to her cursed before handing off his water bucket to the nearest person and took off running.

Luca returned as she was wiping her mouth, uncertain if she should put the effort into righting herself, or if her stomach had more to protest. As swiftly as he could without spilling the bowl of soup in his hands Luca dropped to the ground, putting the soup to one side as he helped her sit up.

"Piccola?" The endearment told her that he was worried. They weren't court bonded, but they were family and that bound them in different ways. Her head tipped back to rest on his shoulder as she sighed. "You need to try and get something down. It will only get worse if you don't." He retrieved the cup that she had emptied and carefully poured some of the broth into the cup. Luca didn't hand her the cup but instead held it to her lips, forcing her to drink only a couple sips before pulling it away.

"Slowly, alright?" He coaxed her to take another small mouthful until the cup was emptied and the dry bread consumed. She didn't look much better, but there wasn't much more he could do to help his cousin. Carefully he shifted to guide her head to rest against his lap. "Rest now, I will wake you when it is time to march again." He crooned before picking up his own meal only to pause as Alessi broke through the crowd. Frightened witches and warlords parted before the Warlord Prince and the cold snap of his anger. His face gave nothing away, but the chill the emanated spoke of his temper riding a thin razor line.

Luca put down his bowl and wrapped his arms around his cousin even as he moved enough to shield her with his body. It wouldn't do much, but even with his jewels he wouldn't have been a challenge for the warlord prince. "Leave her alone." He snapped at the man who held their lives to his whim. "She hasn't uttered one complaint." The justification to spare the exhausted queen fell on deaf ears as Alessi knelt down to gather up the bundle of pathetic witch.

"Out of stubborn pride." Alessi retorted before glaring at the caravan guard who had been marching closest to the duo, being only one row behind. "You should have notified me. I gave clear instructions didn't I?" His voice lowered to a silky purr, a threat to a warlord that he had never before found fault in.

"Leave him alone you bully." Kiera managed to whisper as she tried to push away from his chest, her back arched in protest as she tried to slip from his arms to reach the ground. "and I can walk." The words lacked the fire she had aimed for, ending up more a mewling whine than the fiery snap that she would have given.

"Bully?" He questioned, uncertain how to respond to the woman as he shifted his grip to keep from dropping her. "Stop writhing like a child damn it, or I will put you over my knee and spank you like one." The threat stopped her continued efforts; feeble as they were. The guard looked at his commander, still trying to comprehend a good reply.

"You did. She was up and fine until we stopped." The excuse came as a partial truth. He had noticed her distress and taken some delight in watching the aristo struggle through the first part of the day. He would have eventually followed Alessi's command and sent for him before they ended the break.

Luca bit his cheek to keep from lashing out at the warlord. If his caste had been anything but Prince he would have reacted with violence. Instead he clenched his fists against his thighs as he looked at his cousin. The stiff way she held herself despite no longer fighting to free herself. He didn't like the arrangement anymore than she did; but his hopes of her escaping had lowered as the day went on and her lack of stamina became evident.

"Was she now? And I suppose her puking was just a side effect of her pure joy. I said the moment she showed distress I was to know. Aristo or not, her caste is precious right now, and finding an unbroken queen was nearly impossible." The ground around Alessi covered in ice and Kiera's teeth started chattering in reaction to the cold fury that poured off the male holding her.

"I. I understand Prince. I will do better." The man bowed deeply as he apologized with pure terror in his voice. Witchslayer, the whispered insult lingered behind their commander's back, but never had he feared the man's temper before now. He took a step back as Alessi turned to walk back towards the head of the caravan.

"See that you do. If he doesn't I will also hold you responsible Prince. If you are going to claim escort status, then act it." The last barb was thrown at Luca. An unfair statement as the unfamiliar sensation of guilt ran through him as he looked at Kiera. She looked spent. A sigh of frustration left him as he strode through the camp, ignoring the questioning looks from his followers. His distaste for the fair sex was well known. The fact that he loathed aristo witches wasn't exactly a secret and he had killed a fair amount of them during the reclamation of Hayll.

"I told you to eat this morning. Your sorry state is your own pride's doing." He growled into her ear as he lifted her higher against his chest, adjusting the balance of her weight as she remained rigid against him. It wasn't fear that he took from her scent; but frustrated anger. The tick in her jaw gave away the efforts she was putting into snapping back at him. "Poor little aristo, couldn't even handle a day of walking." The crooned taunt continued as he watched her cheeks redden with her temper; the color flooding back into her features served as a reassurance that she would recover.

"Maybe you should have left me then. Or maybe it was your lack of foresight to think I could march on raw blisters." The snapped words escaped her before she gave a moan as her stomach spasmed again. The ache relentless as her stomach fought between the desire to retain the food and the reflex to empty the contents. Kiera second guessed the addition of the bread and tried to push back the nausea.

"You could have sent for me. Would it hurt your pride too much to ask for help?" A small curl of basic healing craft wrapped around her, just enough to ease the pains of her stomach. He didn't have enough skill to repair her feet and he was afraid to even look at what the boots hid until he had time to sort through his emotions. "Or do you enjoy my carrying you too much?"

"Ask the maniac who murdered my entire family and half of our retainers for help? I would be a lunatic to do that." She hissed her reply as she shoved her palm against his shoulder. "Stop easing your conscious. You deserve every ounce of guilt, Prince. I find no enjoyment in this" Luca had once stated she would cut off her nose to spite her face if the mood struck her and in that moment she understood what he meant.

"Stop being a martyr little queen, your suffering won't bring anyone back from the dead." He replied, barely keeping his tone even. Something about this little sylph of a witch managed to rattle him. He wasn't certain what he should feel and when he reached his horse all he could feel was relief to have something else to distract him from the frustrating creature. Of course Mother Darkness would see fit to bond him to a damn coddled aristo.

Wordlessly he handed her over to his Uncle, pausing long enough to make certain the warlord had a good hold on her before mounting. Kiera did her best to remain still as the warlord who held her now did his best to pretend that he held nothing more than just a particularly heavy pack. A hiss escape her as Alessi pulled her up onto the saddle in front of him. Just the action of her feet bumping against the horse's side sent pain chasing from her heel bones directly up to her spine.

"Damn fool.." Alessi muttered and Kiera wasn't certain which one of them he referred to. As the shout and whistles rang across camp Alessi took his place in the lead group. His Uncle on one side along with the other older warlord to the other. Neither commented on the witch he cradled close as he did his best to settle her comfortably as one could be across a saddle bow.

Kiera fell asleep to the sound of hoofbeats mingled with the steady thrumming of Alessi's heart beneath her ear. Later she would reassert that he was a bastard, but right now that just took too much energy.