Chapter 6 Escape

The first thing Anna became aware of was the sound of hooves. Gradual consciousness spread through her body, and she realized she was sitting on a horse. Her wrists were bound tightly together in front of her, and she was leaning against something solid.

Vivid flashes of the moments before she blacked out suddenly swept through her mind, and her eyes shot open.

Dash. Barclay.

Lines of soldiers trotting along overwhelmed her vision. The silver armor with red markings dispelled any lingering doubt. She was surrounded by soldiers from the Serin Empire.

She squinted at the rows of glistening armor and finally spotted Dash, dressed in Mevani's brown uniform, riding along in the line to her left.

"Dash!" She tried to yell, but her friend's name came out as a squeak.

"Oh, you're already awake."

Anna flinched at the gruff voice behind her. Pain shot through her forehead as she strained her neck to look back. The movement threw her off balance, causing her to lurch forward, and an armored forearm pulled her back.

"Easy," the man soothed.

"...Where?" she finally managed to choke out, fighting to regain control of her vocal cords.

"Are you asking where those other Mevani dogs are?" The man chuckled. "You really are clueless, aren't you?"

Anna coughed, trying to vocalize another question when she caught the familiar pungent odor from before.

No!

She tried to throw her elbow back against the man's abdomen, but her arms refused to obey her.

"Sorry, princess."

The man brought one hand up to her face, and the world turned to darkness once again.

When Anna regained consciousness, she was lying on her back. In the dim light, she could make out canvas walls and a peaked roof. She guessed it must be a small tent of some kind.

Feeling some strength return to her limbs, she rolled to the side. Something coarse brushed against her arm.

A blanket?

With great effort, she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her hands were still bound tightly, making it difficult to balance. Ignoring the throbbing in her head, she tried to sort out her situation.

There was no doubt she was currently being held captive by Serin. However, judging from the sheer number of fully armored soldiers she'd seen, capturing Mevani's princess likely wasn't their original objective.

So how did they find us?

She suddenly thought of Dash and their final moments in the clearing. Was he the one who had sold them out? He said he was going to drop false intel, but had he led the soldiers to them instead?

Anna shook her head. There had to be a misunderstanding. Dash wasn't the kind of person to sell out his own country. Besides, Anna wasn't even the real princess, meaning he'd have even less to gain by handing her over to Serin. In fact, it could ultimately prove dangerous for him if she were found out.

She sighed. Her head was pounding too much to make sense of Dash's bizarre behavior. Instead, she decided to piece together the things she knew for sure.

First of all, Barclay was definitely in trouble wherever he was. He'd probably been taken hostage along with her, so finding him should be her top priority.

Second, before she could find Barclay, she'd need to figure out how to get away without anyone noticing.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut, urging her foggy mind to think. Since Serin had openly declared its intentions to take over the entire continent a few years ago, she'd spent a considerable amount of time studying the empire's military strategy as both a soldier and a princess.

She pictured herself sitting next to Adriell, staring at a carefully drawn map of a Serin war camp. The same map was occasionally referenced during military training as well.

Serin custom was to set its base up like a triangle. She could visualize the oddly shaped camp on the map. Two of the three points were designated guard stations responsible for keeping constant watch.

The thing that really made Serin's war camp different from those of other nations, however, was that the ruler's quarters weren't set up in the middle of camp. On the contrary, the emperor himself occupied the third point of the triangle as a first line of defense.

Anna shuddered at the thought of the Serin emperor.

He was rumored to have midnight-black hair and terrifying red eyes. After leading a horrific rebellion in the empire, he'd usurped the emperor's position at only nineteen years old. Most of his life before claiming the throne was shrouded in mystery, but due to his cruelty and incredible fighting skills, whispers of him being the son of a terrible monster circulated throughout the continent.

Not long after his ascension to the throne, people began calling him the Dragon Emperor.

If her captors truly believed she was the princess of Mevani, then that same Dragon Emperor's tent was nearby. Because Serin never put hostages near each other, Barclay must be at either of the other two ends of the camp.

Anna gulped.

Avoiding the Dragon Emperor would be difficult enough, but finding Barclay was going to be nearly impossible. For now, she should focus on getting herself out and getting word back to Mevani. If she was successful, then she could go back for her comrade.

You'd do the same, right, Barclay?

Anna imagined the burly man nodding his approval. She bit her lip, remembering the arrow sticking out of his back. Hopefully, he wasn't in too much pain.

Don't think about it, Anna lectured herself.

The only thing she could do now was find a way to get out of the tent. She grimaced at the ropes digging into her wrists.

They needed to go.