Sir Leiman walks towards one of the large dominant tents and tells the archer to pull the rope in accordance with his path. The knight walks up to another man dressed akin to him, they have a quick incoherent conversation and Sir Leiman looks back at the archer, ushering him to follow as he pulls open the tent flap. The archer pulls us through into the large shelter, and when I slowly emerge into the tent myself, I see the sight of five men hovering around a brazier fire, rolling up scrolls in their hands.


    Among the five men around the brazier, one stands out, as his clothes seem more barbaric than the medieval style of the others. In a strange mixture of exposed chainmail and leather, his entire arm is adorned with a large fur cloak held to his body by a silver chain that links around his other shoulder, he wildly stood out. His dark hair waves to his chest, a stark contrast from other men in the tent with shorter styled hair. With a short beard and piercing hazel eyes, his appearance is nothing short of alluring. Catching his eye, I quickly turn my green gaze to the grassy floor of the tent.


    Letting go of the flap, the knight returns to the group and stands in front of us, allowing me to hide my presence from the domineering man.


    “My lord, in accordance with your orders I have brought back personnel with intellect on the Evian uprisings. However, nothing on this ‘beast craze’ my lord.”


    “The woman?” A peppered man with grey hairs, amassed in jewels and a red drape asks, causing the other four men around the brazier to slightly squint their brows awaiting the answer. Seemingly as though my appearance was an odd finding in whatever the knight’s mission was.


    The knight moves out from in front of me, and turns to face my presence. Gathering an eye full before he looks back to power holding men around the fire. “She was found alone in the sacred woods, she hasn’t uttered a word of explanation since we found her. I suspect her a spy.” He confidently states in a low tone, as if unconsciously telling the powerfully sat men that I’m of dire interest to their campaign.


    The red cloaked man gathers the sight of me, I follow his eyes as they trace me head to toe, but he stops at my ankles tutting towards the knight, he changes his glace to avoid catching a second glimpse of my exposed skin and speaks.


    “Good God! She''s practically naked and bleeding out. Go get her some clothes and cleaned up!” He frowns, mumbling about the ‘loose styles of women these days’.


    “Soldier, take her to Ester, he’ll tend to her.” The large barbaric man orders the archer whilst scrutinising my being with his eyes.


    The archer walks towards me and unties my restraints from the rope that connected me and the prisoners together. Putting his hand on the small of my back, the archer guides me along to the tent entrance and holds the flap open for me as we exit the temporary war room. Still guiding me along the archer pushes me towards another large tent in the middle of a swamp of smaller tents that by the looks of which, seemed to be soldier barracks. Walking around the tent to the entrance, I was faced with the sight of injured men on mats on the floor, both inside and out of the tent. Gently pushing me in, the archer guides me to a middle aged man in a long light blue tunic with an apron marked with a cross.


    “Ester, the lord commands you to dress and tend to the maiden.” The archer announces to the busy middle aged grey man. He tells us to wait a moment as other men are in dire shape. Taking a seat on the ground the archer takes off my restraints and stands, so that’d he be playing prison officer to ensure that I’m unable to run away.


    After a short wait Ester returns and crouches on the floor to meet my sat down height. He takes a glance over my damaged and once bleeding arms. He looks up and halts a young lad carrying a bowl with a rag, taking it off him. Ester dretches the rag and pours the water over my arm causing me to hiss at the sharp pain it causes. Acting cautiously he slowly wipes away the grime and debris on my cuts. Once done he sets the bowl aside and places his hand over my arm, he concentrates and a warm green glow emits from his hand. What the fuck? I unhinge my jaw in utter shock at the sight of the strange glowing hand.


    “W-what?” I mutter out in a state of great disturbance at the unholy?! Unnatural?! And quite frankly, freaky sight.


    As if taken aback that nothing is happening, Ester frowns. Taking a breath he begins rubbing his hands together and saying a quick chant between them, before bringing them back to my arms with the weird warm glow once again. He scans his weird glowy green hands over my arms once more to no avail…Nothing happens, thank God. Frowning once more Ester stands, walking over to another soldier and committing the same action, I watch in utter amazement as the soldier’s arm wound is slowly closed up, leaving nothing but a scratch for Ester to bandage. Standing beside the sat down soldier, Ester looks back at me squinting in deep thought. His brows fuse harshly seemingly to have a quick thought of something strange he’d like to try. Coming back over to me he dips his finger into the water bowl that was mixed with my blood, and draws a symbol on his hand and claps it with the other, transferring a copy of the symbol to other hand. As if like magic, a soft blue light emits from the symbols and he hovers his hands over me.


    “My great Gods…” He falls back onto the floor in a gasp, the symbols slowly dripping off his hands as he rests them onto his knees in shock.


    “Ester are you alright?” The archer asks, slowly helping the medic onto his feet.


    “Uhh…Yes! Yes, I am. Too many patients today is all.” He reassures the lowly soldier, but with concern painted all over his face. His questionable demeanour causes me to quickly acknowledge that he knows I don’t belong here. But I look on, keeping up my clueless facade, it not only being due to my anxious state of being surrounded and kidnapped by unknown men, but also knowing I didn’t belong here.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “Is she a guest of the lord?” Ester asks the archer with an intense quizzical stare.


    “On the contraire, we found her in our passing of the sacred forest.” The archer bends his brow, looking at Ester trying to gather more information as to why he was acting so strangely. However, Ester just coughs, putting on a neutral face in an attempt to disguise his thoughts to the situation at hand being ‘completely normal’. He walks over to a desk and brings back some bandages as well as a long sleeve green tunic and brown cloth trousers. He wraps my wounds and tells me to put on the clothes. I look at the men with an arched brow, and Ester replies with a confusing face before realising something. He takes me to the corner of the tent and holds up a blanket for me to change. His hands glow. HIS HANDS GLOW? I mentally freak out, now having time to acknowledge what I actually saw. After changing I tug down the blanket Ester was holding. I now face both the men shyly in my oversized medieval outfit I was given. These people are going to kill me with their weird freaky hands.


    “It’ll do.” Ester says nonchalantly with his arms crossed looking back at the archer for his opinion. Dropping down his guard to let out a witty word, the archer attempts to speak, but it is halted by Ester grabbing the back of his head and slamming his other hand onto the archer’s mouth with a cloth. The archer is guided to the floor by Ester as his body gets more limp, I gasp and step back, clasping the tent tightly behind me, my mouth agape. What the fuck?!  I go to say something, anything, but Ester points the rag towards me in an empty threat to ‘do me off’ next.


    In the bustling tent, Ester’s actions went unnoticed which I could tell he was glad for. He leaps to me and grabs my arm dragging me out of the tent in haste towards the direction to the war tent.


    “Get off me!” I finally shout, attempting to yank my arm out of his grasp, and drag him down with my weight.


    “Speak once more and you can meet him unconscious.” He threatens, yet he looks at me with such high concern that he seems more afraid than threatening. However, knowing he wouldn’t be afraid to knock me out, I pondered the actions I could make at this moment. Make a scene and get knocked out? Or wait for the right moment to do the same to him. Ultimately deciding that the second option was better, I scowl at him as he drags me along to the tent.


    Once at the entrance, Ester pops his head into the tent asking the lord for ‘a moment of his time’. Whilst he was speaking, with my other hand I try to clasp a vial out of the medic’s utility belt. I’m not sure what it is, but at this point anything was better than nothing. However, Ester kept moving in a way that made grabbing anything stealthily, practically impossible. Though my moment of potential escape passes, when the large dark tawny barbaric man pushes open the flap with his hand, catching my eye as he fully exits the loud tent.


    “What ales you my friend?” The colossal man questioned, looking at me with an investigative eye, just as though he was trying to piece together the situation without needing to hear answers.


    “She is...Without ferra.” Ester chokes out in confusion as if he seemed baffled by his own words, seeming as though that what he said could never be true, like it was an unnatural statement that went against everything. Ester stares at the colossal man, hinting that what he said might lead onto another conversation, a much darker one.


    Seemingly quick to realise what Ester was silently hinting towards, the dark haired man momentarily freezes in thought, to then return with a dark gaze targeted towards me, taking in my full presence with a harsh scan from his eyes.


    “Caspian-” Ester pleads but is cut off by the barbaric man’s hand being placed on his shoulder in a reassuring comfort.


    “I trust you my friend, I don’t question your skills.” Ester sighs in discomfort of his knowledge, knowing that what he holds secret is tormenting him.


    “However, this is a situation more dire than investigating criminals on the uprisings in Eiva.” Caspian slowly moves towards me, grasping the hilt of his great sword. “Who are you?” He continues to press forward, his advances making me stumble back and fall onto the ground.


    “G-Genevieve..W-Woodsman” I choked out in fear, at the potentially deadly scenario playing out in front of me.


    “Why were you in the sacred forest? Alone?” He sterns, crouching to my position on the ground.


    “I-I don’t know.” I blurt out, putting a hand over my heart in a failed attempt to seem as though I meant no harm.


    “I won’t ask again.” He bellows standing up and unsheathing his weapon slightly to reveal the intricately carved sword, littered with hand carved symbols.


    “I don’t know! I promise! I just ended up there! You have to believe me…” I sob out, clutching my tunic as my heart and throat tightens. The anxiety and fear building in me reaches its height and my breath becomes rapid and fast, as I continue to mumble out ‘I don’t know’.


    “Please don’t kill me..” I mutter out in my smallest voice. Upon hearing the sentence, Caspian’s face changes and he sheathes his sword. He puts his hand out and guides me to my feet.


    “If you truly don’t know, then you’re a danger to yourself and others.” He tuts to himself crossing his muscular arms.


    Unlinking an arm he points to me.”You are to never leave my sight.” He commands, pointing back to himself with his thumb. He turns to Ester and continues. “She is to be watched at all times.”


    Though sniffling and still recovering from thinking he was going to kill me a moment ago, I manage to make a dirty face towards him. What the fuck? Why does he think he gets the right to command me? Crossing my arms shrugging with a huff at the complete madness of everything.


    “Everything I do, is for a reason. And as I, and many people here think you’re a spy, I won’t have an issue cutting you down if you don’t comply.” He threatens with a stern look, his presence darkening. Intimidated, I take a deep breath and look away in compliance with what he said.


    “She’ll rest in my tent quarters tonight. Get Leiman to guard it.” The dark haired man commands Ester, receiving a salute of the medic’s fist to his heart in return.


    “Now are you going to comply or do I have to drug you?” Ester teases half heartedly, but it came off more like an unsettling threat.


    “I’ll comply…”