“You tripped over a rock earlier,” he said. “You’re about as graceful as a newborn boar.”
“Rude.”
So much for my escape plan. Because he was right. I’d most definitely trip and fall flat on my face. Probably twist my ankle in the process. And if I somehow managed not to fall, I had no idea where we were. I’d end up roaming all over the unfamiliar terrain and become some monster’s dinner.
Dinner.
My throat squeezed as it fully sank in that I wouldn’t be returning home that night. My men must’ve realized I was gone by now. They wouldn’t think twice before setting out to look for me. But with the bandit situation, that would be dangerous.
“Tears won’t work on me, so save them.”
“Huh?” I glanced down at him. Noticing my cheeks were wet, I wiped at them.
Although subtle, his expression changed. Softened a little. “I said I wouldn’t hurt you unless you gave me reason to. So relax. You’re more useful to me in one piece anyway.”
He thought I was crying because I was scared. And instead of mocking me for it, he’d tried to reassure me. How many coldhearted kidnappers would be like that?
“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” I said, voice frail. “I wanna go home.”
“It’s nothing against you, kid.” He led the horse from the narrow dirt path and over to the grass. “This is just a job.”
“What type of job?”
“One that can change my entire life for the better if I play my cards right.” The man approached me and held out a hand. “Come on. I’ll help you down. We continue on foot from here.”
“On foot? Why?”
“Faster to travel through the forest that way,” he answered, helping me from the horse. “Easier to go unnoticed too.”
Back on my feet, I wobbled. I had been sitting for too long, and my legs were stiff. He grabbed my arm to steady me before quickly letting go. He then removed the two satchels fastened to the saddle before swatting the horse on the rear. It whinnied and trotted down the path.
“Not even a kiss goodbye?” I asked.
He snorted. “It wasn’t my horse. I stole it before leaving the capital. You weigh basically nothing, but carrying you over my shoulder with you drooling and unconscious would’ve drawn unwanted attention.”
“I don’t drool.”
Several things registered in my head at once. He freaking stole a horse, the auburn-haired criminal. A horse he just released, leaving us stranded god knows where. And lastly…
“We left the capital?” I asked, heart sinking. “So that answers my earlier question. We’re not in Bremloc anymore.”
It was the first time I’d left the kingdom since being sent to that world. The thought of traveling had excited me once, but I’d imagined doing so with those I loved. Not with a cocky, probably sadistic stranger who still hadn’t told me what the hell was going on.
“Don’t look so sad about leaving,” he said dismissively. “Once you visit one kingdom, you’ve visited them all. There’s nothing special about yours. Come on. We still have a ways to go before we can make camp for the night.”
My legs were fairly back to normal now, no longer stiff, and my butt wasn’t numb. Running wasn’t impossible—accident prone tendencies aside. But I stood a better chance with him than on my own, especially with darkness encroaching on the land. So when he walked toward the trees, I followed.
“Wait.” I slowed in step as an unsettling feeling seeped into my bones. “Why are we going through the forest?”
“To reach our destination.”
“Which is… where?”
“You know very little, don’t you?” He tossed me a baffled eyebrow raise. “Spent too much time with that silver spoon in your mouth and not enough time familiarizing yourself with the land around you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The tip of my shoe caught on a raised tree root, and I stumbled.
He stared at me as I dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. “What were you saying earlier about being graceful?”
