“At ease, Leiman.”

  Waking to the sound of shuffling noises withient, I roll over in a fur covered bed seeing the rge shape of a man with long wavy hair gathering scrolls. Caspian?

  “You have 10 minutes before they’re tearis down. I’ll be outside.” Caspian announces softly in a deep voice, keeping his bae in case I am immodest. I see the soft colour of the sun outside and realise it’s just hit sunrise. So it wasn’t a dream…

  Still keeping his body turned away from me, he pushes open the fp of the tent as, leavio hurriedly pull on my brown woollen trousers and y long strawberry blonde hair with my hands. Rubbing my arms to warm up I exit the tent, meeting Caspian outside. I watch as he hands his scrolls over to a knight holding the reins of a gigantic horse. Looking down at me, Caspian hands me a cotton bag filled with a light weight of unknown tents.

  “May I help you onto the horse?” He asks so I'd feel respected if he touched me. I turn to the very rge horse with an unsure look, being slightly intimidated going anywhere he beast.

  He seemed quite important in that teerday…We must be leaving early to avoid most dangers. Ugh, the nobility putting their safety above others, how criminal.

  “Have you never ridden?” Caspian frowns in fusion, leadio shake my head with pursed lips.

  Caspian just raises a brow slowly nodding at the information I gave him. He walks up behind me and grasps my waist, hoisting me up onto the horse as I clutch the bag he gave me. Why is it that the men of this pce are so handsy? After making sure I was seated fortably on the horse, Caspian’s swings onto the beast with ease, shifting his weight to align my body fortably with his. Pulling at the reins, the horse trots off leaving the camp.

  “Open that bag, eat something, today will be a long day.” A long day huh? So he pns to keep me alive until at least te tonight...I o figure out a pn of escape. I blow hot air into my hands, g the bag so it doesn’t fall. He’ll never leave me alone. Like yesterday he’ll have someoo watch me if he ’t. Surely he’s noble enough to allow a woman to use the bathroom without pany…Surely?

  I o get back to that forest if I have any hope of getting home.

  With the beginning of a rudimentary pn in my head, I focus on warming the parts of my body that aren't directly affected by Caspian’s body heat. Opening the bag I reveal ks of bread and cheese within, my stomawardly rebels at the unpatable food. I should be grateful I have something to eat, but…Stiff bread and cheese? I get a few mouthfuls in before I realise that nobody is following us, we are entirely alone, riding to a destination unknown to me. Getting tense, I swing my body to face Caspian and try to push him so I get off the horse. He’s going to kill me!

  Caspian, just drops the reins from one hand and uses that arm to tightly around my upper body so I ’t move.

  “LET ME GO!” I scream at the top of my lungs, squirming in his arms to free any part of me to at least facilitate some movement for escape.

  Riding through a small shrubby area o a small stream, Caspian brings the horse to an abrupt halt letting go of me. I immediately attempt to slide off the horse, Caspian grabs my arm to slow my dest to the ground. Jumping off the horse, he uhes one of his swords and throws it on the floor in front of me. I pick it up without hesitation and hold it out awkwardly in front of him as he ties the horse to a branearby. Caspian uhes another sword, hidden uhe half of his body covered by his fur cloak and walks slowly towards me.

  “Lie, and without a word of a warning, I will cut you down where you stand.” His brows deepen, a face filled with an ominous threat directed to me.

  “Where have you e from?” He demands with a harsh stare making me feel small and inpetent against him, I bring up the sword in a weak defense against his gaze.

  “I don’t know! I told you yesterday! I was hanging out with some friends and I fell in the forest and ended up here!” I scream at him, shaking in a quivering mess.

  “In the sacred forest? Where no man without great strength pass through?” He shouts, not believing a word I'm saying. He’ll definitely kill me if he knows I'm not from this world. What else I say? I’m screwed no matter what if he’s already determio kill me.

  “Who do you serve spy?” He snarls, advang his steps towards me, ering me against a rge trunk.

  “Spy?! I was just lost! You and y-your thugs kidnapped me!” I croak out, my arms beginning to wobble and tire from holding up the rge sword. Why would my dad’s shadow lead me here? To get killed? Hurt? Kidnapped?

  “Yet you never spoke. You never once spoke out. Spy.” He raises his sword up, I y eyes and hold my sword up to possibly block his attack? But in truth, I just cower, hoping fate would be kind to me in my death and Caspian would give me the mercy of a swift end.

  “FIGHT ME!” He taunts, but I just ch my eyes tighter together, holding the hilt of the sword so tense my knuckles turn white. I hear Caspian step forward and I brace myself for my impending doom. The etal shakes me as my sword is lightly tapped by another metal object.

  “Drop your stance.” I slowly open my eyes, murmuring as tears silently slip down my face. I watch as Caspian walks over to me and carefully plucks the sword out of my hands, sheathing it once again and thrusts a handkerchief at me.

  “I’m not a spy…I teach history to teenagers. Please don’t kill me.” I wail out, wiping my tears with my hands like I've reverted back to a childish state.

  “Yeah, yeah I believe you.” Caspian huffs, using his hand to smooth his forehead before ping his eyebrows together and looking down. “I truly had hoped you would’ve fought back…” He fshes me a ed face, as if he was anxious at the truth that I am just an ordinary woman.

  “A spy would never be untrained.” He scoffs, seemingly amused at the reality of the situation he's in. That I'm no spy, but an ordinary lost woman without “ferra”? Whatever that is.

  “I said I wasn't…” I mumble crossing my arms, huffing at the rge barbaric hard-headed man.

  “That doesn't mean you're not hiding something, which I know you are.” I 't deny that, but I 't tell him about another world where I belong. He looks chaotiough to want to take it over with his weird magid friends.

  “I won't attack you again, unless you prove otherwise, so you step away from that tree.” Caspian speaks with his bae as he uhe horse and brings it over.

  “I'm not going anywhere with you.” I spit at him with a snarl, tensing my brows in disgust towards him.

  “Is that so?” He smirks back at me.

  cxxx{}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

  With my head popped out of Caspian's fur cloak he ed and pinned around us, I frown deeper in annoyand hatred to the rge man sitting behind me. Who throws a woman on their shoulder and puts them on a horse. He may act like a gentleman but he's just a brute! A barbarian! As if he thought that sharing a fur cloak with me would help?! ‘Oh she must be so cold, I'll let her use my cloak as well’.

  “If you keep frowning, it'll stay like that.” He chuckles deeply into my ear before moving his head back to an upright position.

  Seeing a small army of men with horses, wagons and banners, I realise that the camp has been fully packed up and we are back to travelling. Caspian had mentiohat he o report to the capital of this world, Arrton. Wherever the hell that is? Swiftly riding past most of the war weary men, Caspian makes it to the head of the troop. Where a well dressed silver armour ight, with a purple scarf draping his shoulders, is leading the troop.

  “My lord, everything is on schedule. Sir Leiman's troops should be leaving the barrier now with a mage to properly close it up.” The knight salutes Caspian.

  “Thank you, Pavlore. Is Ester following the vanguard?”

  “Yes my Lord, you'll still be able to catch up with him.” I watch the iioweewo with my hands under my as they rest on the edge of Caspian's rge brown fur cloak.

  “Once we are done here, you send me all the information you know about the Pawell people?”

  “Yes, my lord.” Caspian urges the horse from its slow trot to a gallop. Rag through the rge grassy pins, I begin to see the faint distant shape of a rge wall with battlements.

  That must be the ‘great capital’, Arrton.

  As we speed through the vast green pins, the ndscape began to ge as the city walls became sharper and rger ihe once long wild grass has ged into maintained crop fields, with men and women with rolled up garments w the nd. Anroup of men isn’t far in front of us, within a minute of steady motion we meet up with a group of men in long decorated blue tunics. I hadn't noticed before, but the war weary men have ed themselves up. Grime and muck was washed away, and their outfits ened or new ones were put oirely. It was clear they were all trying to impress someone, as if that person was behind the gates of that magnifitly sized city ahead.

  We ter to the front of the troop once again, and I'm met with a familiar face. Ester.

  Upon catg our eye, Ester folloian as he moves aside from the men, at least a good ear listenih away. Once we are a fortable distance away fr ears, Ester spoke, seeming a little fused at my presence.

  “So…” Caspian just shakes his head to Ester's words. Giving him a clear indication that whatever answer he had to the question in his head was cleared with certainty.

  “I don't think the dy even knows.” Ester stares in befuddlement, purely baffled at Caspian's words.

  Know what? It's clear they're talking about me, but about what?

  “How is that even the case?”

  “I don't know, but the fact that it's happening now…” I hear Caspiahe out a deeply anguished sigh. I look up to him and he, in turn, looks down at me with great , causio pop out a fused face.

  What's going on? Why is he looking at me like that? It's not like I'm a tig time bomb.

  Upon hearing Caspian's words, Ester looks onto the ndscape with a deep frown, seemingly pting his entire life.

  “I'll get onto researg, until theer states with the same mournful look.

  “She will be entirely under my duty of care, I expect you to keep this between you and I. h and Aaedan ot find out.”

  “How do you expect that to happen when you'll be bringing her directly to them?” Ester scoffs in disbelief, throwing his hand out in the dire of the capital.

  “You said you aren't going to kill me!” I gasp, turning my head as far back as I to face Caspian. Who in the capital is so dangerous that they 't even know my presence?! “Are you takio my death?!” I tinue before they speak, my breath deepening as panic starts to set in once again.

  “I never spoke such a sentence.” Capsian scowls at my abrupt screech of . I pull my face back at the harsh tone. Seeing that he intimidated me with his voice, he sighs. “If I could avoid taking you here I would.” Caspias go of a rein and grips my upper arm, looking at me in the eye with an apprehensive gaze. “Genevieve, you must listen and follow every ive you if you want to live.” His inteare was anything but disho. I know I shouldn't trust this situation, man or his words…But everything iells me that he wants the best for me.

  I nod to him, accepting his demands.

  “Genevieve, I need you to say that you agree.” Is he the only one I have faith in? The only oti of harm's way? I even rely on his words?...Yet he, himself, has vowed for my safety. Who else I depend on in this screwed up world besides… Him?

  “I trust you…” I whisper out, still looking into his eyes. He appears slightly taken aback at my words, a small furrow on his brow at the thought he must fulfil his words without any injury to keep my trust. His gaze suggests it'll be a hard request to keep faithful too.

  Trusting him is better than trusting those in the capital that might want to hurt me. I think Caspian is the only option I have if I want to survive.