Torrs
The next hour turned out to be no less of an agonizing affair for Torrs and whatever unfortunate forest creatures just so happened to be living within hearing range of the two of them. For the princess, despite being thirsty and dry mouthed, somehow refused to shut up ever since he removed her gag. It was like she felt compelled to regale him with every single complaint she had at that moment. Complaints against him, their camp, the darkness, the cold, the wind, the bugs, the leaves.
“And another thing!” she hissed with a raspy voice. “Your coat stinks. How am I even supposed to sleep with that horrible stench!?”
Torrs closed his eyes with a sigh, struggling to control his building anger. Just hours ago, he truly felt that he was the one who held all the cards, but it was clear now that the princess too had a measure of leverage. Or at the very least, the power to make this trip absolutely miserable for him. Were he a lesser man, a simple prisoner like her would have been beaten or whipped for showing such disrespect.
“Look here, you useless brute! I demand that you give me some of that wine already. Can’t you hear how dry my throat is?” she shouted.
Well, even a good man had his limits. So, Torrs quickly took out a piece of fresh cloth from his pocket and made his way over to the princess.
“It’s about time.” she mumbled.
“It certainly is.”
And with that, he used the band of fabric to once again silence the woman. She put up an impressive fight against him this time, but in the end she was unable to stop him from muffling her voice for a second time. As expected, she began to yell and scream at him in defiance. But her spirited antics here would not change anything. He was going to deliver her as a hostage to the king of The North, one way or another.
Another yell came from the direction of his feisty captive. “You’re wasting your breath, princess,” he said. There’s no one around to hear you, and I am done listening to your rants.”
Despite his firm words, the princess just kept on going. It was truly a wonder how she even managed to get this far without anything to drink. He had been so sure that a lack of water would have pushed her to behave better by now…
After a minute, Torrs sat up and reached for the travel sack and pulled out the bottle of wine from earlier. Maybe it was against his own code to harm someone as helpless as her, but that didn’t mean he could not take a moment to taunt her in the meantime. So, he began to shake it, allowing the contents to splash around inside. When the princess heard this, she fell silent. It was dark so he could not see her reaction, though he was sure it had to be confused. But just to be clear about his intentions, he decided to explain things out loud.
“All your shouting sure is giving me a headache. I think some wine would do me good.”
He heard her mumble something, making him laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll save you a few drops of water from one of the canteens. And maybe if you’re a good girl, the king will give you some wine once we reach the castle of Ivarson. I have a feeling you’ll be one of his special guests for quite a long time.”
Then, just to add salt to the wound, Torrs held the bottle up to his mouth, and quickly gulped down the entire thing as loudly as he could. It was sweet in flavor and refreshing to drink. The princess remained quiet through it all, finally sensing her defeat.
“Next time, don’t press your luck with me.” He chuckled, tossing the empty bottle back in her bag.
And yet, before he had the opportunity to fully celebrate, Torrs heard an odd rustling sound coming from her direction.
“Whatever you’re doing over there, I suggest you knock it off,” he warned.
But the noise persisted, causing him to become alert. Had the rope securing her to the branches come undone? Was she in danger of falling?
Torrs immediately stood up to check on her harness, but as he moved, he noticed that his body started to feel like it was swaying back and forth. He took one step forward before coming to a halt to steady himself, but the sensation only got stronger. He put one hand on his head and reached for one of the taller branches nearby, looking for something to lean against until the dizziness stopped. But as he stumbled around in the darkness, he could hear the princess from somewhere close by.
“Don’t move around too much,” he told her.
As expected, she did not reply to his orders. But what he did not expect was for her feet to come rushing at his legs for a second time that night, knocking them out from under him again. Only this time, Torrs fell so close to the edge of the branch cluster that he ended up sliding down the trunk and tumbled out of the tree altogether.
“Arrrggh!” he yelled as his body hurtled to the ground in the dense darkness.
He landed on the hard dirt below with a loud crack. A sharp burst of pain surged throughout his body, indicating what might have a severe injury. But then it all became numb just as swiftly, leaving all his limbs without any feeling in them.
Ah, his body must be going into shock.
Torrs tried to sit up to get blood flowing again, hoping to reduce the chance of him passing out. However, it turned out that his body not only felt numb, it was numb. Meaning, he could not move at all!
What the-?
Torrs tried again to lift his head, his hand, his foot, even just one finger. Yet nothing seemed to work. Not one single appendage would so much as budge!
Well, this didn’t bode very well…
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