(Private)
Mae Wen
Trapped in a wagon - some years ago
Autumn
As it turned out, the barrels that the man had claimed held food, were actually filled with various other things that were not edible at all. Mae Wen could find no food in the wagon, and she found it difficult not to give in to despair. She tried to meditate to focus her thoughts elsewhere, breathing slowly as she waited for an opportunity to break free.
The wagon rolled to a stop after what felt like ages. Mae wen was dozing, but she snapped awake when the motion stopped. She reached for her belt, only to remember that the man had her fan. And her bow. Great. If she had been the swearing type, she might have uttered some unfavorable words, but she never had been that sort of person. And, helping to raise her adopted family’s children had conditioned her to speak as a lady. Like Amelina.
Tears pricked at her eyes as she thought of her friend. Her sister by choice. Dead. Hal, too. Mae wen could not let them down. She had their last remaining child to care for, and she could not allow herself to be taken captive for whatever purpose this man had in mind. Amelina and Hal had both been so good to her, they had become as close as any biological family members. And Mae Wen loved their children as her own. She couldn’t bear to think of little Blaise left all alone in the world, trying to fend for himself.
Lying still, she waited, listening. Pretending to be asleep. She could hear the man moving around outside, doing things. Setting up camp, perhaps? She continued to wait, heart racing. But he never came in. In fact, after a very long time, she realized she could not hear him anywhere nearby. Where was he? He surely hadn’t abandoned his wagon. He had captured her for a reason, so he wouldn't just go off without it. Right? She took a slow breath in, trying to stay calm. What was he doing?
Blaise
In the shack
Blaise was so hungry. He tried not to eat the last few crackers she'd left him, but eventually, he did. And he was still hungry. Where was Mae Wen? Why wasn’t she back yet? She'd been gone all night, and it was nearly dawn now. He sighed, wrapping his blanket close around himself. The shack was cold, and he wanted Mae Wen to come back and light a fire. He didn’t know how, and he was also not allowed to mess with fire.
The sound of a wagon drew his attention suddenly outside. He hopped up from his spot on the floor, clutching the ‘knight’ close in one hand, its horse in the other. He stood for a moment indecisively, wanting to rush out to meet whoever it was and ask for something to eat. But he remembered Mae Wen’s words. Hide if anyone comes by, and don’t talk to any strangers. He frowned, looking at his toys. “But I’m so hungry,” He muttered, trying to decide if it would be alright. Curiosity got the better of the boy, and he wandered over to the window to peek out past the cloth that she had stretched over the window, to keep out the cold and rain and such. He saw the wagon, parked up on the hill, a way off from the shack. In the dim light of predawn, he could see that there was a man striding through the tall grass, toward the dilapidated structure.
Something about the man gave Blaise a creepy feeling. He got a shiver, and decided to listen to Mae Wen’s warning. Grabbing her sword from where it rested in the corner behind the door, Blaise hurried to climb under the section of the floor that had a little crawlspace beneath it. He pushed the sword in first, then crawled in after, moving it and himself further and further back, until he was huddled up near the wall. He felt sure that he was well hidden in the shadows. He clutched his toys, but also Mae Wen’s sword. Although he didn’t know how to use it, he felt safer somehow, having it. As if it would protect him from the scary-looking man.
Above him, the man’s footsteps sounded on the floorboards, proving that he had entered the shack. He walked around, checking each of the few rooms. Blaise held his breath when he could hear him moving over the part of the floor directly over him, and he closed his eyes tightly. The footsteps moved away, then came back. Judging by the sounds above, things were being tossed around. It sounded like he was searching for something. Blaise wondered what he was looking for. After a while, he heard the man mutter under his breath.
“There ain’t no sword here.” A scoff of annoyance followed. “Nor a child, neither, the lyin’…”
Blaise’s eyes widened a little to hear the profane word the man spoke at the end. His mommy would scold him a lot if he ever said anything like that! So would Mae Wen. He bit his lip and kept very, very quiet. Meanwhile, he began to wonder about the man. Why was he expecting to find a sword here? And a child... Blaise? He felt another shiver, wishing Mae Wen was here to tell him what to do, and tell him that everything would be alright. Then, he wished even more that his mommy or daddy, or even his siblings, were here. Especially Moira. She was fun,
and she could fight off scary people. But Alyssa was good at comforting him, he remembered. He wished they were both here.
Since they were not, and he was all alone, Blaise hugged his toys and the sword close to his chest, waiting anxiously until at last, the man gave up and went outside. He remained very still, and very hidden, for a long, long while after that. In fact, it wasn’t until he heard the wagon rolling away that he finally, cautiously, emerged from hiding. Peeking out the window, he saw the wagon growing smaller on the dusky horizon, traveling across the prairie and toward where Mae Wen said there was a road.
Blaise let out a slow breath of relief, and then shivered again, although it might have also been from the cold. He was really glad he’d listened to Mae Wen, now. Hopefully, she would come back soon so he could tell her all about it and make her proud of him!
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At last, the man had returned, and the wagon started going again. Mae Wen wished she knew where they were going, at least. Then, that might give her a better idea of what his plans were. But he ignored any attempt she made at calling out to him, and she eventually sat down again. After a while longer, she tried to get a little rest, hoping to preserve her energy.
The bolt was slowly, quietly, drawn back. Mae Wen started out of a light doze and listened, tensing subtly. She was going to be ready the moment he opened the door. Last time she'd been captured, she had been outnumbered by a whole group of savage warriors. This time, she was facing one solitary man. She could handle him. If only she hadn’t left all of her weapons out there with him, she would be far better off. If only she wasn't half-starved, either. But she did have her arrows, at least. She wished she’d had a chance to look around in the wagon before she got trapped in here. Maybe there were some weapons, but it was too dark to see them, and she’d been unable to find anything useful, going by touch alone.
She felt his presence enter the wagon, along with the slight dip in the wagon, as his weight stepped up into it. He approached her. Now, he was standing over her. She forced herself to keep breathing slowly and steadily, as if asleep. His hand shook her shoulder as he spoke, “Time for a break.” His voice broke the silence.
Mae Wen’s hand lashed out without warning, grabbing hold of his arm. Before he knew what happened, she was twisting it into a very awkward position for him. He yelped, then lurched himself forward so that his weight ended up pinning her, preventing her from completing her maneuver. Mae Wen had hoped to catch him off guard, but alas, he seemed to know more about fighting than she had anticipated.
She struggled to push him off of her, wrapping an arm around his throat. Instead, he grabbed her arm and flung her over his back so that she crashed against some of the contents of the wagon. But she was behind him now. The way out of the wagon was open!
Though briefly stunned, she wasted no time in racing for the exit, stumbling against things on the way. The man was in close pursuit as soon as he realized his mistake. Out on the ground, Maewen found that they were in an isolated field in the middle of nowhere, and it was about the same time of the evening as when they had encountered one another, which must mean she'd been trapped in there for a whole day. And wherever they were, it was obvious they were alone. No one was around to help her.
The man was close behind her, and in a second, he was going to tackle her to the ground or something of the sort. Instead, Mae Wen abruptly turned to face him and ducked just past him, so that his hands grasped nothing as he reached for her. She followed this up with a sweeping leg kick, which tripped him, then she tried to make a run for his horse, which was picketed a short distance from the wagon.
He caught himself on his hands and knees, then sprang back and caught her by the ankle so that she also fell down. They struggled for a few minutes, all the while Maewen feeling her strength fading. She had not eaten properly in a good long while, and she was currently running on adrenaline, while the man was stronger, well-fed, and clearly know how to subdue others. He pinned her several times, only to find her wriggling free seconds after. Until, at last, he managed to catch her wrist and twist it sharply behind her back, pressing her face-first against the ground while gripping her arm tightly.
She was out of breath, and felt a quite faint from hunger by this point. She lay still at last, breathing hard. “What.. are you going to do with me?” She asked, dreading the answer, but she asked anyway.
He was also catching his breath after running and then struggling with her. He had pressed a knee into the small of her back. “That depends on you, missy.” He retorted with a bit of a sneer in his tone as he emphasized the ‘miss’. He leaned in closer, moving her hair back from her face. “I’ve got a few ideas in mind, but you might be able to change my mind about some of those.”
“Take your hands off of me.” She retorted, understanding his intention quite clearly. “If you think I will lay with you by my own choice, you are very mistaken.”
He scoffed. “Fine. I won’t force you.” He started to work on tying a rope around her wrist. “But I
am going to get something from you." He smiled. "Ought to be able to make quite a profit with you, at least. Don't worry, I’ll feed you.” He smirked. “But I’ll be reimbursed for every morsel.”
Next, he tied her ankles together while still sitting on her back. Then, sitting her up, he brought the excess rope through the spokes of the wagon wheel and then tied the other end to her other wrist, with just enough slack that, if she pulled one hand all the way against the wheel, she could just reach her mouth. To eat with. But she could not reach one hand to the other.
Mae Wen glared at him the whole time, despising the feeling of being so helpless. Again. This brought back her worst memories, very sharply. “You will pay for this, merchant.” She warned him.
“You can call me Déorred.” He sat back after checking how secure the ropes were, and looked at her. “What is your name?”
She frowned sullenly at him. “I told you I have a small child depending on me to bring back food.” She told him quietly. She also felt somewhat puzzled by his name. That was a very Rohirric sounding name, and yet he did not look or sound the least bit Rohirric.
“So?” He asked, unbothered.
She frowned. “So, he will starve if I do not return.”
He smirked. “No, he won't."
Mae Wen frowned, unsure what that smile was for.
“I see you look puzzled.” Deorred sat back. “I’ll explain. Remember when we stopped a few hours ago? See.. I went to that shack you mentioned.”
Mae Wen caught her breath. She wanted to ask, ‘and?’ but she didn’t dare.
“Sorry to break it to you, but that kid you were so worried about? He’s dead already. You shouldn’t’a left him so long. I guess he got too cold, or hungry, or something.” He shrugged.
Mae Wen stared at him with a sinking heart. “No…” It couldn’t be true! She wanted to deny it, to refuse to believe it. But what if it
was true? She had not left him with any firewood because she had none to leave. She'd only had a few scarce bits of waybread left to leave him with. She stared in dismay at the ground in front of her. “He was the last of our family.” She whispered mournfully. “If you had helped me, instead of..
this, he might have lived!” She felt tears stinging her eyes, but glared accusingly at him anyway.
“And that’s supposed to matter to me?” Deorred scoffed. “Missy, I hate kids. I couldn’t care less if another little brat dies.”
She looked at him with narrowed eyes, briefly tempted to tell him that this child was not her own, that he had been the child of a family of nobility in Gondor, but then decided it might be best if she did not correct him. Though it hardly mattered now, if he was dead. Her throat tightened, but she forced words out anyway. “You are evil.” She declared, her voice thick with emotion. “A servant of the Shadow, you are.”
He let out a laugh at that, and stood up. “Believe what you like,
miss. I’m only out to make a profit.” He shrugged, then went to the campfire to start cooking. He did give her some food, but only a few mouthfuls.
“Are you sure about that statement you made earlier?” He asked, glancing at her where she sat against the wagon wheel.
“What statement? That you are evil? Yes.”
He rolled his eyes. “That you won’t lay with me.” He smirked. “I’d accept that as payment for the food… nights get kinda chilly out here, you know?”
Maewen stared at him with loathing, wishing looks could kill. “You will never find success in that bargain.” She promised him.
“Alright. You had a chance.” He sighed, then got started cleaning up from supper. “If you should change your mind..”
“I
won’t.” She made sure her tone was ‘final’.
The night passed with much discomfort for her. She was left sitting on the ground, bound and unable to move. She was far enough from the campfire that she could see it, but not feel its warmth. Watching while her captor slept by the fire, she tried in vain to get loose, but she couldn’t get the ropes loose. The longer the night went on, the colder she felt. And the more difficult it was for her to try and use her fingers, to work the knots loose. She was shivering by morning, and her fingers were numb, and her legs felt like they'd gone to sleep.
In the morning, he gave her a couple of mouthfuls of breakfast before making her go back into the wagon.
“Please…” She tried once more. “Let me go, so I may at least lay the boy’s body to rest.”
“Not a chance.” He grabbed her chin, turning her head upward to look at him, and look a long look at her. “If you were a bit more.. receptive to my ideas, then maybe I’d consider it?” He shrugged, making his ‘proposition’ clear enough.
Maewen said nothing, but she frowned deeply at him. She knew what men like this were like. He would not release her. Most likely, he would only keep coercing her into more and more, always dangling the promise of release just out of reach. No, she would not sink to that level. And it was useless now, if Blaise was dead. It grieved her, not only to learn that she had failed to keep him alive, but that she could not even give him the proper burial that he deserved. But there was nothing she could do about it.
Once Deorred had locked her back into the wagon, and they began moving again, she wept for Blaise, and prayed for forgiveness for her failure in keeping the last heir alive. Whatever her fate was to be, now, she was on her own now, at least. Hopefully, the boy had not suffered, and she consoled herself with the thought that at least this despicable man had not managed to capture him, too.
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