No rescue arrives, and the King starts to worry

The wagon trundled forward as the day wore on, a cold wind whipping through the bars and making Marcus shiver. He was leaning against his Father's side as they both sat near the end of the cage, close to the locked door. Now he huddled a little closer, resting his head there as well on the King's muscled shoulder. His Father gave him a distracted glance, then looked away again, staring at the horizon the way he had for most of this journey. His strong jaw was tense, and it was clear he was getting worried. There'd been no sign of pursuit from Uncle Gaius or anyone and they had to be getting closer to Kapria now. Marcus didn't know anything about strategy or war, but even he realized that an army from his Kingdom would find it even harder to defeat Irena on her home soil.

There'd been other bad news as well. What must have been a couple hours ago now, one of the men being dragged behind the trailing wagon had managed to slip his bonds. He'd tried to run, still naked with rope dangling from his neck, but he'd barely made it a few meters before three huntresses cut him off with whips in hand. With a few vicious lashes they'd brought the poor man to his knees and recaptured him, dragging him back to the wagon with nothing more than a few more angry red welts on his skin for his trouble.

Then, even as the convoy continued on, one of the women kept pace with him, cracking her whip over and over across his back as he screamed and babbled for mercy. No-one had tried to escape since then, and even the other prisoners still looked cowed and afraid while the poor man was barely stumbling along after the wagon dragging him. It had all been a chilling reminder of just how brutally these women handled defiance from their captives, and the young prince didn't doubt Irena would be just as merciless with him and his Father when the time came to punish them.

At least that pair of huntresses who'd been watching their cage for most of the journey today had fallen further behind, so he couldn't hear their horrible conversation anymore. They'd spent most of the journey leering at him and his Father, arguing over who would make the better pet. The short blonde one took a liking to the King, and kept repeating how lucky Irena was and how much she'd love to do to him as her own show pony, insisting he'd look gorgeous with ribbons in his hair and a few good whip-marks on his body. The bigger, tanned one meanwhile, hadn't taken her hungry gaze away from Marcus' naked body for even an instant. She'd give him this awful leering grin whenever he looked at her and the things she said about what she'd like to do him made him want to cower behind his Father, his cheeks burning.

Marcus glanced up at the King again. With those two not watching, was it safe to talk again? He knew it was silly and childish, but with all these awful things happening he just wanted his Father to hug him again and tell him things were going to be okay, even if they weren't. But the King just kept watching the horizon, his dark eyes scanning the ridge for any sign of Gaius and his knights. Marcus bit his lip, his throat feeling tight and sore. No, he had to be brave now! Or at least...as brave as someone like him could manage. He couldn't distract and bother his Father any more with his cowardice.

"We're in Kapria." The King murmured suddenly.

"What?" Marcus whispered, glancing at his Father in shock.

"See that hill over there." The King nodded to a large green mound the convoy of wagons had just rumbled past. "I rode out here once on a hunting trip a few years back. We had a couple peasants as guides and they warned us not to go past it, because beyond was Kapria. I never even thought to ask why they were so afraid of crossing the border. They were probably worried one of these insane women was going to rope them up like cattle if they tried." He let out a hoarse, hollow laugh. "Hell, Irena never even let me visit her Kingdom. She was always coming to us, and I even thought there was something strange about how she only brought women with her. Damn it...how could I have been so blind?"

"So...what can we do?" The young prince asked anxiously.

"I don't know, son." The King sighed. "If Gaius had come as soon as he heard the news, his scouts should have reached us, but I've seen nothing. And these huntresses, they're on guard but they're not worried about an attack. If they were, they wouldn't be strung out along the column like this. They'd stay near the back in a larger group, move the prisoners forward where they couldn't break free. I thought it was just carelessness, but maybe they really think no-one's coming to save us."

"But Gaius is coming, right?" Marcus whimpered, horrified at what he was hearing. Hadn't they decided getting rescued was their only hope? "He has to come!"

"He should be. He swore an oath to defend my family." The King continued, his lips curled into a sour frown even though he was talking about his own brother. "Only...if he wants the throne for himself, this would be his best chance. He'd be able to take the Kingdom without a fight. The Castle's defenseless, and your Mother has no claim to the throne. It'd all be his for the taking."

"No, not Uncle Gaius!" The young prince shook his head. "He wouldn't do that!" His Uncle might be big and kind of scary-looking, but he was a good man! Whenever he came to the Castle, he always had so many funny stories to tell, and he always took the time to talk to the young prince at parties or feasts even when nobody else bothered. Just a couple years ago, he'd even taught Marcus how to ride a pony. The young prince remembered how Gaius had gently lifted his slender body up into the saddle since he couldn't reach himself, then taught him patiently how to stay upright and guide the horse around when he got scared of falling. There was no way such a kind man would leave them as prisoners!

"You're right, Marcus." The King smiled, but there was something strained in it. "Just because we've crossed the border doesn't mean he's not coming. I'm guessing he's just mustering his forces, making sure he has enough men and horses to defeat Irena on the field. Some ragged huntresses with bows and arrows don't stand much chance against a heavy cavalry charge." The young prince nodded vigorously, then nuzzled back into his Father's muscled shoulder. If the King said it, it must be true, right? They just had to wait a little longer, and then Gaius would come with all his knights! They just had to wait...