Chapter Five

Kiera found herself napping off and on as the terrain rolled by. Something about the rocking of the wagon and the warmth of the sun allowed her to relax enough to doze off several times. Several times she woke up with a jolt, her cheek having been pressed to her cousin's shoulder, with the fabric of his abused shirt dampened from drool. His head was often dipped down so that his nose rested against her hair, buried into it as he snored softly.

Lunch called the march to a brief halt and Kiera took the moment between stopping and rations being passed out to unbandage her feet. The skin was mostly healed, leaving little patches of pink that contrasted against the soft bronze of her skin. Cautiously she flexed her foot testing the tenderness of the freshly healed flesh. 

"Are you certain you are supposed to.." Luca had finally woken. His head lifted from the side of the wagon where he had rested the past hour or so. The look Kiera shot him paused his question before he could finish. Instead, she carefully stretched her feet off the wagon towards the soil beneath. Her back arched as her hips pressed against the hard wooden edge before slipping to the ground. A soft hiss of discomfort escaped through tightly clamped lips. The brittle blades of grass, bits of rock, and various weeds poked at that tender new flesh. 

She refused to allow herself to crumple at the discomfort as she made her careful path toward the edge of the caravan. Nervously her gaze darted between the various rebellion soldiers, camp pages, and other army hangerons. None seemed to notice her standing there in her ill-fitting borrowed clothing and bare feet. Her teeth worried at her lower lip as the young queen debated on her next course of action. 

Stay in camp and become a pawn to Prince Gerodi or attempt an escape and leave the hope of ever recovering her jewels behind. The options tore at her soul and for once Kiera was thankful that she wore lighter jewels. Her toes flexed against the dirt as she continued to look around the constant shift and milling of the retainers as they went about their assigned duties or attended to the biological needs of their bodies. 

"Ach.." The soft yelp of alarm escaped her as she felt a cool hand curve around her forearm. Startled she jerked away, only for the grip to tighten. 

"Can you look more guilty?" Luca's whispered voice into her ear served to at least keep her from struggling even as she felt her heart trying to escape her chest in rapid thundering beats. Her hand lifted to press against her chest as she gasped for breath before swatting at her cousin in annoyance.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." The hissed retort was directed directly at him as they started to walk in a careful circuit that would bring them closer to the wooded edge of the road. The twisted and stunted trees, fragrant bushes of juniper and rosemary, all tangled together to form a dense underbrush that her bare feet were already protesting before setting foot. 

"What are you thinking?" Luca replied. His tone lacked any sort of reprimand. His head tipped to subtly indicate the small game trail that broke through the worst of the brush. Options that pulled at her. Remain with the man responsible for the death of her family or risk the unknown as a jeweless queen. Instinctively Kiera sought out the shape of Alessi where he sat consulting his advisors. Her jewels were there, dangling from his belt and so tantalizingly close. 

"Tomorrow. We will wait for lunch camp. Maybe I can reclaim what is ours." Kiera muttered softly before hissing dramatically to stoop down towards the ground grabbing at the arch of her foot. Hiding her movements under the guise of rubbing the arch of her foot she grabbed a few rocks from the substrate that were roughly the same weight as their jewelry. 

"You need shoes. Hopefully, the beast will remember that tomorrow." Luca sighed as he knelt beside her. Concern furrowed across his brow as he looked at her bare feet, already turning red in irritation from the scratching plants. "You can't exactly walk around outdoors without them."

That stated he scooped her up, ignoring her squeal of annoyance as he carried her back towards the wagon. The closeness in their heights just made the action more precarious as Kiera clung to her cousin in fear of being dropped. His arms flexed, for a second half dropping her before taking her weight again.

"Relax, I haven't dropped you yet," Luca grumbled as he started to pick his way towards the wagon. "Though sometimes I wonder if someone did when you were a baby" 

"Haha so funny.." Kiera started only to stop as an arrow flew past her head to embed into the canvas of a nearby wagon. Luca's arms tightened around her as the screams started. Startled she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Previously unbroachable bracken was now being trampled beneath the feet of landen malcontents. 

"Satan's balls..." Both of them breathed the curse as the ragged bodies, armed with a mixture of farming implements, swords, and other crude makeshift weapons seemed to crest against the camp. Arrows flew through the air and the acrid scent of smoke soon filled the air as the dried grass started to smolder. Short barked cries of pain from both sides soon started to fill their ears as she and her cousin sought a safe place to hide. 

No longer encumbered, Luca had let Kiera down, and they both were running, trying to avoid the soldiers that were running towards the threat, and the landens that seemed intent to push in and swamp the military camp. Only Luca's sudden shove between her shoulders saved her from a wild sweep of a hoe. The metal tool whistled just over the top of her hair as she fell forward catching herself on her hands and knees. 

Panicked, Kiera scrambled back to her feet only to pause as the landen exploded into small pieces in front of her, showering her in a spray of gristle and blood. Later, there would be time to break down about this later, now she could only focus on running back towards the center of camp. Her awareness narrowed down to the feel of Luca's palm against her back, and avoiding being trampled by either faction. 

A woman's calloused hand grabbed her wrist and jerked her down to half-slide under a wagon. Liuca scrambled behind Kiera, happy to let the inanimate object catch projectile weapons rather than himself. Kiera panted as she slowly became aware of the rawness of her feet, the cold trickle of sweat between her breasts, and the sweet coppery scent of blood that sickeningly filled the air. 

"Stay down lady.." Her unintentional savior barked and Kiera finally realized who was holding onto her arm. Mirella forced her hand over the back of Kiera's head until her nose was nearly filled with dirt. Unable to shield herself, to defend or fight back, Kiera felt naked, exposed, and far more determined to steal back her jewels the moment she could. 

Suddenly she could feel the air thicken, the rallying cries of the raiders, cries of the frightened camp hangers-ons, and shouts of warriors all seemed faded. Then her ears popped, and the tension released as a fine spray of red mist floated over the air gently dispersing over any exposed surface. The world was silent except for the soft keening of mourning, faint whimpered moans of pain, and the crunch of heavy boots over the brittle grass. 

Mirella released her hold on the young queen, allowing the woman to rock back and peer her head up. The shield around them released and the three of them were at least free of the gore that coated the ground and surfaces around them. Shock gave way over fear as she looked over what remained of their camp. Arrows, axes, and old swords were scattered on the ground, stuck in hard surfaces, or lay next to oddly shaped corpses. 

Kiera forced herself to swallow hard as her stomach tightened. The urge to vomit pressed at the back of her throat as she fought for composure. The coppery scent of blood warred with the soured scent of released bowels added to the sensory overload as she rose to her feet trying to make sense of the last fifteen minutes. The few bodies that were still intact told the desperation of this rebelling band of landens. Skin stretched over bones, their clothing was ragged and patched in multiple places, and several appeared to be missing ears, fingers, or even the tips of their noses from either exposure or past wounds. 

Suddenly hands gripped around her shoulders and she found herself being spun about. A cry escaped her as she tried to jerk back only to realize the fingers that bit so harshly into the fleshy upper parts of her arms belonged to the Saphire Jeweled Warlord Prince who had become her bane.

"What were you doing so far from the wagon?" His voice was hard, clipped in agitation until Kiera felt like she was under interrogation. His fingers flexed as Kiera attempted to pull away. Alessi glared down at her, making her feel like an errant child rather than an annoyed and unwilling captive. 

"You could have injured.. if they had gotten a hold of you." His fingers tightened again and Kiera hissed in pain as she felt the tips of them bite against her flesh until she was certain there would be bruises the next day. His reminder of her helplessness was the final straw for her temper as she shoved at his hands.

"I would have been helpless to defend myself because you took my jewels." The angry heated words escaped her. Anger replaced shock and fear until it clouded her thoughts. "You put me here, you did this!" The sound of her hand striking his cheek seemed disproportionately loud in the sudden silence that surrounded them. Her second strike was stopped by his hand suddenly grasping her wrist as she tried to pull away.

"Only once" The evenness of his tone made her feel even further out of control. Her world was spiraling as she jerked back against his hold, writhing like a fight caught on a hook. "I won't be struck just because a little aristo witch's feelings were hurt." 

Suddenly, Luca was there, at her side as the more level-headed of their remaining family tried to insert himself into the situation. "She is sorry, or will be, once she calms down." He held his hands up placatingly at Alessi. "She was very sheltered and the past several days.." 

Luca's words did little to diffuse the situation. Kiera, instead jerked away from Alessi, ignoring the fact that he let her do so before she turned to storm away, back towards the healer's wagon. Angry and overwhelmed from the past several days she just curled up on a pile of straw and attempted to will herself to sleep despite the bright sun shining down and the stench that surrounded them. Anything for a reprieve from the nightmare reality that had become her life. 

Alessi watched the stiff back of the queen as she stormed away. The tangled mess of her curls swayed just above the dip of her waist, bouncing with each angry step. His cheek still stung and he fought down the reactive rage that demanded he lash out at the witch that hurt him. He had deserved the blow, he knew that on an intellectual level, but years of playing the sick games of the ruling witches had left their scars. 

His mind wandered back to the faces of the many witches who had demanded degrading things, demanded the price of his body, to buy safety for the weaker members of his family; not that it had mattered in the end for his father and uncle. A snarl escaped him before he turned, unable to trust himself to go after the angry queen. 

Barked orders saw the camp pulling itself together to march on. His temper was a motivation for those around to keep their grumbled complaints to themselves as they all pushed hard to get away from the bloating bodies; left to rot under the ever-changing sky. Only occasionally his mind wandered back, focusing briefly on the relief he felt in seeing Kiera unharmed. Of the sudden terror that chased over him when he realized she wasn't in the shielded wagon, he had left her. Each time only pushed his anger back into force as he wasn't ready to face any other emotions outside of contempt for the woman.