Angela and Rose eventually rode towards the forest to enjoy the nice day on their own, the way Angela used to before having married the king. As for Rose, it was something new to her as before Angela married Daniel, she used to spend most of her time indoors, in the small dank room at the orphanage. Rose was a bit nervous about the trip out but Angela was there to protect her, right? Or was she there to protect Angela? Ugh, if she thought about it, she should protect the queen, but she was no fighter, Angela was the warrior queen, right? Then again, maybe she was overreacting and there was really nothing to worry about besides Angel’s temper in case she didn’t catch any game. But knowing her, that shouldn’t be a problem, either.
It was a nice sunny day and the fragrance of flowers imbued their senses, the smell of flowers was everywhere even before they reached the forest. As soon as they got nearer, the flowery scent was overwhelming, almost drowning them in a sweet surrender, making them drowsy with delight. Angela had to shake off the sweet smell to focus on why they were there in the first place. To hunt. She hushed Rose so she could concentrate on every sound, no matter how faint or distant it was.
Rose was still a bit sulky about the fact that they were hunting alone in the woods, nobody there to protect them but Angela. No matter how good and skilled she was since she got the ring, Rose felt that they still needed further protection. I mean she could deal with a few bandits or wild beasts, but what if they were attacked by more? What then? Would Angela be enough? Would her skills be enough to get them both out of trouble or not? She surely hoped it would be enough.
For the time being, everything was quiet and Rose thought that she had better enjoy the beautiful day instead of being troubled. As long as they were there, they'd better make the best of it, right?
A light breeze blew the leaves bringing a smell of pine trees, too, that only added to the already overwhelming smell of flowers. A twig creaked nearby and Angela was already searching for the prey, her eyes and ears focusing even more not to miss any sound or sight of deer. Rose on the other hand, was relaxing, basking in the sun.
They tied their horses to some nearby trees and went on hunting in silence.
“I missed this… the feel of freedom, the hunt,everything…”, said Angela wistfully.
“Well, I was good enough doing nothing special in the castle but I guess this is good, too.”, answered Rose.
“Oh come on, you can't say you're not glad we're here and not in the castle, spending another boring day indoors. This is way better, there's no comparison between the two.” And Angela searched her friend's face to see if her face betrayed her real feelings and if she too was enjoying the day out. But Rose's face was a poker face, Angela wasn’t sure what she felt.
A deer sprinted from behind some berry bushes and crossed their path in a hurry. Angela lifted her bow swiftly and took an arrow from her quiver. She placed the arrow in the string with lightning speed and released it towards her prey. The arrow swished through the air and missed the deer's head by an inch. Angela cursed between her teeth and put another arrow in the string. She unleashed her strength and skill and….another miss, she couldn’t believe it! Sweat was running down her forehead and she was all tensed, her face cringed in awe. Then Rose burst into laughter.
“You should see your face, Ange, so serious, so focused!”, Rose could hardly utter as she was really laughing by now.
“So pissed off! I missed! Twice! What in the name…?”
“Whoa, slow down, so what if you missed? It happens” said Rose trying to comfort her.
“Not to me…. At least not twice in a row!”, added Angela clearly upset at herself for having missed her target. It bothered her. Made her feel weak so she checked the ring on her finger. It was there, shining like always. So what went wrong? Or maybe there was nothing wrong with her or the ring, it probably didn’t make her invincible, just a lot above average. A whole lot.
She decided to follow the deer in dead silence through the bushes, Rose high on her heels. She didn’t need to tell her to be quiet, Rose knew she had better be quiet or Ange would probably blame her for not catching the deer. So they were both crawling through the bushes, Angela ahead of Rose, when something creaked beneath her and she fell down a long tunnel of some sort. Before she could compose herself after the fall, Rose landed on top of her, squeezing her.
It took them a few minutes till they were able to get up.
“What happened, Ange? Where are we?” Rose whispered in a fearful voice.
“I don’t know…. We fell. We need a light because it's pitch dark in here.”
Rose grabbed the back of her shirt to make sure she was there and held tight to it.
“I’m afraid of the dark, Ange. Are you ok, are you hurt?” Rose asked afterwards.
“Nothing’s broken I hope, just a few scratches on my arms and, well, my legs hurt a bit from the landing. How about you Rose? Are you hurt?” Angela asked her almost holding her breath in anticipation while praying silently that her friend wasn’t hurt or she would never forgive herself. She blamed herself for everything as she was the one who insisted and almost forced Rose to come along. If anything happened to them, she was the only one to blame and that hurt more than her legs.
“I think I am ok, nothing hurts as I landed on you” came the answer followed by a sweet chuckle.
“Thank God” Angela said relieved. “Ok, let me search my pockets, I may have some matches if we are lucky.” As she said that she was already searching the insides of her pockets hoping the matches weren’t broken from the fall. She found the match box, opened it and felt for the matches. She could count four. So she had to use them carefully.
“Rose, don’t panic, but we only have four matches, ok? So when I strike the first one, I’ll need you to pay attention to our surroundings, look for anything that we could use as a torch. Otherwise, we are screwed. We have to make these matches last as long as possible, do you understand?”
“Ugh, yeah, let there be light!”, she mumbled. If she thought about it, four matches were better than none at all, so there was no point in panicking just yet, right?
Angela struck the first match against the box. It didn’t work so she tried again. Luckily, this time the match lit, giving a frail yellow light. She too took a quick glimpse around for anything that could come in handy. She saw that they were in a narrow tunnel, roots on either sides of it, mixed in the soil. She looked up only to see more tree roots coming out of the ceiling of the tunnel. Must have been from some really old trees above the ground. But besides that, she didn’t get the chance to observe anything else.
“I think I saw something a few paces in front of us, Ange…”, came Rose's trembling voice, but just as she said that the match went out and they were in the dark again.
“Darn! I'm going to light another one, Rose. You'll have to drag me fast in that direction as you are the one who spotted it, I only saw roots everywhere….”
“Follow me, Ange! Let's be fast before this one goes out too. Then we'll only have two more matches left and that thought is kind of scary you know…”
“Ok, lead the way, I'm counting on you” Angela said as she let herself led by Rose towards the depth of the tunnel while hoping there was indeed something there that they could use as a torch. The match was already burning her fingers but she didn’t blow it out yet as they hadn’t found that one thing that Rose had seen and which might save them at least from the darkness.
“There, look!” and Rose pointed towards something that lay on the ground. But before she could catch a glimpse, the match was out on its own. Then she blew her fingers to chill her burnt fingertips.
Angela struck another match. Its light lit the tunnel and
Rose quickly took something from the ground. It was a sturdy branch. Angela ripped a piece of her sleeve and wrapped it around one end of the branch. Then she set it on fire.
“Rose, you are an angel!” Angela said as she kissed Rose's cheeks.
“Nah… but you know… “ but Rose couldn’t finish the whole sentence as Angela interrupted her, guilt in her voice.
“Rose, just please don’t tell me < I told you so >, because I already know. You did tell me and I’m sorry. It's all my fault. But I promise I’ll fix this. I'll find a way out. Hopefully we'll be home before dinner and we'll have a laugh about it while we eat.”
“You know what worries me even more, Ange?” Rose's voice was whispered as if she was afraid someone could overhear them.
“What else is there!?” asked Angela who was already worried.
“That nobody even knows where we are. We haven’t told anyone when we left the castle, nobody even knows we're gone. And nobody will be looking for us before dinner when they'll realize that we are not in the castle. And who knows what else can go wrong by that time.”
“ Ha-ha, Rose, I must admit I like your optimism. What else can go wrong? We fell in this tunnel, we can't climb back to the surface as it’s too high so we'll just have to find another way out, that's all.”
“What if there’s no other way out, Ange?” said Rose as she started to sob softly. “I don’t want this to be our grave, we are too young to die…. “
“Yeah and let's not forget we are too beautiful to die, too!” said Angela laughing and poking Rose in a jest, trying to put a smile on her face, too. Angela wasn’t worried at all, she was sure they'd find a way out. She was convinced they were not meant to die there. She just had to keep her wits together and find a way out while at the same time try tocalm Rose a bit. That part could be more difficult than finding a way out.
“Ok, let's go! There's no use in crying over spilled milk, what's done is done, now let's fix this! Stay close and make as little noise as possible” ordered Angela in a calm but authorative voice.
Rose was glad that at least she was not alone in there, at least she had Angela by her side. But on the other hand, if it hadn’t been for Angela, they wouldn’t even be there.
The tunnel seemed endless, always winding and sometimes becoming narrower and at other times large enough to fit a horse. But still no way out. The tunnel was like a maze, they couldn’t find a way out although they had been walking for hours on end. As the hours flew by, Rose became more panicked and nervous and hungry. At least they had a flask of water with them, but no food as they hadn’t planned on staying hunting too long. They were supposed to be back before dinner. They were sure dinner time had already passed and
they had missed it. But on the other hand it meant something more: the servants knew by now that they were missing so they must have sent a search party looking for them. Rose hoped that they would find them before it was too late.
They had gone miles in this tunnel, they were sure of it. But at least a few times they were just as sure they had gone in circles. So Angela decided to scratch the walls and leave a mark with her hunting dagger to know if they had been there before or not. A few times they found the markings on the walls, which only brought more disappointment but they both decided to keep quiet instead of saying things they might regret later.
Finally, when they were too tired to keep walking, they decided to sleep as they were sure it must have been close to midnight. They both agreed that on the following morning, after a good night's rest and with a clear head, they would have more chances of finding a way out.
They sat on the cold ground next to each other to keep warm. They put out the so-called torch to save the remaining match for the next day. They fell asleep after a long while of just staring at the blackness that surrounded them, lots of thoughts racing in their minds, keeping them awake. Then Angela heard Rose's regular breathing and realized she had fallen asleep. Now it was time for her to get some rest, too. She needed it just as much.
On the next morning, when Angela woke up, she found Rose already sitting next to her in the darkness, wide awake. But she hadn’t lit the torch as she wanted to let Angela rest until she would wake up on her own. Then they lit the torch, drank a bit of water each, as they had to save it as they didn’t know how much longer it would take until they found a way out, and then they went on in silence.
After a few more hours of walking, Angela grabbed Rose by her blouse and told her to stand still. There was something or someone behind the bend of the tunnel. Angela was sure she had heard something besides their own noise coming from just a few paces ahead of them. But what could have been lurking down there? Then, there it was again, a faint murmur, as if there were some low and distant voices. This time, Rose had also heard them, to her utmost dismay.
“Who could be down here, Ange? Maybe there are ghosts, do you think we are going to be ambushed by some phantoms? I'm scared…. “
“Oh, come on, get real! If we are going to be attacked, it won’t be by ghosts! I'm pretty sure that the faint voices come from flesh and blood humans, just like you and me. But we can sneak up on them and see what they are up to. And we can't kill them even if they attack, not before we find the way out of this maze of a tunnel. Stay behind me Rose and be silent. Trust me, I won’t let anything bad happen to you! “
“You mean besides the fact that we are in this place which is practically your fault?” said Rose without thinking. As soon as she said it, she felt ashamed and sorry, but it was too late. She wished she hadn’t opened her mouth. Then she tried to say something else but Angela put her finger on her lips to silence her. Then she heard her whispering in her ear and the sorrow in Angela's voice was enough to tear her heart.
“Shh…. You know I’m sorry and that I didn’t mean anything like this to happen. But let's look at it like an adventure and I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
Then they were both quiet. With the distant voices also came a faint light. They peeked around the corner and they could hardly distinguish two silhouettes sitting by a small fire. One was standing and the other was sitting and didn’t move much. Angela decided to get a bit closer and see what was going on. At least there were only two persons there so she wasn’t worried at all that she couldn’t take them down. But she had to find the way out first. She thought they might be dangerous or they wouldn’t be hiding down there, in that tunnel. They were clearly up to no good or maybe they had already done something bad and now were hiding there until it was safe to get back from wherever they came. So she decided to approach them carefully, to get as close to them as possible without being noticed.
As she got closer, she realized that the man sitting was in fact tied, his hands were tied to his back. He also had a hood covering his face. So he was the other man's prisoner. Things had just got more interesting. First of all, as things were, she only had to fight one of them, as the other was already tied up.
And then she wanted to free the prisoner and find out who he was and whyhe was kidnapped. Obviously he was important to someone or he would be dead instead of being a prisoner.
She studied the other man. He was tall and slim. He didn’t seem very strong but appearances could be deceiving. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to capture the other man, who by the looks of it, seemed pretty well built. So she decided to study him a bit longer before doing anything. She had to be victorious as it wasn’t only about her, Rose was also counting on her. She could almost feel her burning eyes looking through the darkness, observing her every move. And then there was this stranger too…. She didn’t know what to make of him yet, he was probably some unfortunate spoilt rich guy whom the other had kidnapped for ransom or something. Anyway she was determined to find out.
The capturer was obviously nervous about something. He was pacing the floor of the tunnel with heavy steps, stopping from time to time and listening as if he was waiting for someone. If more were coming, then that could be problematic, Angela figured. So she had better act before the capturer's friends arrived. She felt for her hunting knife. Its edge was a bit blunt now as she had used it to scribble on the walls of the tunnel. But it was sharp enough to hurt the guy if she handled it correctly. She didn’t want to slay him, just to immobilize him and make him talk. She needed answers and a dead man couldn’t give her that, so she needed him alive. As she was certain the prisoner didn’t know the way out as he had a hood covering his entire head. So she approached a bit more, her dagger in her hand, ready to strike. The capturer was with his back to the prisoner and she was behind the prisoner. As she got close to him, she thought she smelt a familiar fragrance, but it only lasted a second then the smell vanished. The prisoner was alive as he had been talking to his capturer earlier, but he was not moving right now, maybe he was listening for any sounds he could pick up as he couldn’t see through the hood. Maybe he felt her presence behind him. But he didn’t make a sound. He was as silent as herself.
As she passed by him, shehad a strange feeling. Most of all, she felt she had to save the hooded stranger. As she approached the capturer with her dagger held strongly and firmly in her right hand, he must have felt her as he turned around with a really swift move and ducked just as she was about to put the dagger to his neck. There was surprise in his eyes as he turned towards her, but not a trace of fear. Just surprise at seeing someone there besides him and his prisoner. It was evident he hadn’t expected anyone else to be there but he soon recovered from the initial shock. Angela took a defensive posture as she was sure he was going to attack her now. He drew two sharp blades from under his long coat, their edges shining in the light of the small fire, casting sparkles all over that part of the tunnel.
“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” He asked still puzzled. “Idon’t want to kill you, I have no quarrel with you. And besides, I don’t want to kill you for free….” the man went on very calm and sure of himself. He didn’t betray the slightest shadow of fear. But he didn’t know who he was up against, thought Angela, but to him she said: “Who are you and what are you doing with this guy? Who is he?” She asked while pointing her hunting knife at him, a thing which didn’t seem to have any impact on him. He was too snug, too confident which made Angela think that he was either very good at what he did or he was plain stupid. And he didn’t have the look of a moron, so…. Yeah, she had to be careful.
“I asked first. As I said, I might just let you go. Who are you?” he insisted.
“Oh my Gosh!”. But this time it was the prisoner who spoke in a low desperate voice.
Now Angela understood why earlier when she was close to him she thought for a brief moment she had felt a familiar fragrance….
Her face was pale but in the dim light, the capturer couldn’t realize that. She attacked him furiously without another word spoken. He fenced her off and she took a deep breath and attacked again. But he was very agile, his moves were as fast as lightning. But so was she. He seemed to be toying with her while she was already sweating. He was definitely the best (or worse) opponent she had ever fought so far. But this was a fight she had to win, there was too much at stake.
She focused on her training and on the snake-shaped ring she was wearing on her finger, trying to feel its power, to summon it. She needed everything against this man. As she focused on the ring, she could feel it burning her skin and then she saw the two embers that stood for the eyes coming to life, gleaming in the dark. She let out a war cry which baffled her opponent for a moment and then attacked him. If he had been swift and agile till then, now Angela was twice as swift and strong. She unarmed him with a few powerful blows and kicked him flying to the ground. She heard him moaning in pain. And there was something more in his eyes. She couldn’t quite describe it. It was a mixture of awe, a bit of fear and maybe admiration. She put the edge of her dagger against the soft skin of his throbbing throat and spoke in a clear voice.
“Why did you kidnap the King? Who paid you? Who is coming here? Before you answer, you should know that I will realize if you are lying so you'd better not even try!”
There was fire in her eyes as she spoke. Meanwhile she saw with the corner of her eye that Rose had also come as soon as she saw the capturer down. She was standing beside the prisoner when she heard Angela ask about the King….
“Wait, what!? Daniel!!??” and as Rose said that, she went to the prisoner and took off his hood. She fainted when she saw Daniel there.
“Uh, I didn’t know I had that effect upon women!” he said laughing. “What in the Lord's name are you two doing down here?”
“I could ask you the same thing”, chuckled Angela. “But we can leave all that to when we are safe and out of the woods.”
“What about him?” asked Rose who had come back to her senses meanwhile.
“ My name is Devon. Lord Stein paid me. He should be here any minute now. I don’t know if he will be accompanied or alone. That is all I know.”
“That rascal! How dares he!? And what are you two doing in here??” asked Daniel still in shock with everything.
“We fell while we were hunting and then wandered in this tunnel until we heard some voices and you know the rest. Be quiet now, I hear something!” whispered Angela as she was already putting a gag in Devon's mouth so he wouldn’t be able to scream for help. She could have just killed him, but she wasn’t a murderer. After it would all be over, Daniel would probably let both Stein and Devon rot in one of his dungeon cells, as they deserved.
Angela sneaked behind a corner of the tunnel and waited for Stein to enter. He was carrying a torch and he was alone. Which was all the better. As soon as he stepped in the small area, she put the cold blade of her knife against his throat and pushed it a bit. It drew a drop of blood, enough to make his blood freeze with fear.
“Devon!? Is it you? I've got your money…” he said trembling.
“No, Devon is unavailable at the moment I'm afraid. So you must be Stein, your King would like to have a word with you.” Said Angela as she pushed him towards Daniel. He tripped and fell close to the camp fire and his clothes almost caught fire. But Daniel pulled him fast out of it.
“Thank you, your Highness….”
“You’re welcome!” said Daniel winking at Angela. Then he punched Stein straight in his face, sending him tumbling down again, but at least opposite the fire this time.
“If you don't want to spend the rest of your days in here, which would be few, you'd better show us the way out. We're going to Zeno's” said Daniel. “Oh, and Devon is also coming with us!”