"Boss..." One of his men said. He felt slightly uncomfortable when they call him that. But there was truth in that name, he was Russom's second in command. But even he didn't know why Russom was so set on attacking the group. What his plan was afterward, and was he really planning on killing the now unconscious woman with the hair that was black at the root, but the rest of it was a silver gray. It was rare for Russom not to tell him anything, but it was not that uncommon either. Curtain jobs were simply too dangerous for everyone else then the leader to know. Which apparently was the case here, although the men were not wearing any specific type of armor or any emblem of a noble- or royal house. He knew for sure that they were members of a personal guard, most likely one of the women's. If they had failed, and one of the men had survived the attack they could swear upon their swords that they knew nothing. Which could spear their lives, of course they will end up in prison for a few years. But they would be alive and be released after a couple of years. But now they didn't know what to do with these women. He wasn't the type of criminal that would ask for rand some, by their families. He again looked at the woman with the strange hair color, she had a very deep head wound and it wouldn't surprise him if she would be asleep for a couple of days. The other woman with just black hair, was already awake. But she was telling them nothing. Not even her name, or the name of the other woman. He even went so far to swear on his sword that they meant no harm, but she wouldn't believe him. Which wasn't that surprising.
"Boss, what are we going to do with them?" Simret asked, pointing at the women. Idris shook his head.
"I do not know, I really don't." He said, in his mind it would be better to be honest with his men. "All I know is that Russom was really nerves before the attack and that he during the attack was running towards the woman with the head wound. Blade drawn, that is what got him killed." Simret and some other men looked at him with their eyebrows raised, and he thought the same thing. Why in heaven's name would he want to kill that woman? That was not the man they all knew and respected. "I think that it is wise to lie low and to lick our wounds. Also keep your ears open, maybe we will get more information about their identities." All of them nodded, and Idris stood up. He wanted to check the woman's bandages, and he was still figuring out where he had seen her before. He knelt down and whipped her hair out of her face.
"Do not though her." An angrily female voice said, it came from the other woman. The one with normal raven black hair and amber eyes. She looked at him with such anger. "Do you know how she is?"
"No, I do not. Because you are not willing to tell me." He snapped at her. He looked at the bandage. "Lady, I am going to be very honest with you. If we wanted to hurt you, we would have done that already." The woman started to look confused. "And I wouldn't have cared about your friends' injury."
"She is not my friend, she is my boss." The woman said. She flowed her arms and walked away. So the men were part of a personal guard, he looked at the woman next to him. Her personal guard. He sighed, and shook his head. Maybe he should look into that rand some business, these two might catch a handsome reward. She started to move her arm, which meant that her sleeve slipped a little. Revealing a simple bracelet made from colored string, he grabbed her arm and his eyes grew wider. This couldn't be, she couldn't be princess Zeudi? Only this bracelet, it looks so much similar to the one he made all those years ago. But that one was in his pouch, his hand went towards it. But why else would she have the same bracelet as the one he had given to the princess.
"Hey man, what happened to you?" Simret asked, while petting him on the shoulder. "You are whiter then freshly fallen snow." Idris looked at him, and sighed.
"Do you remember the fire that destroyed our village?" Idris asked, Simret was three years younger than him. And he back then was only 12 years of age. But Simret nodded, heavily.
"Of course I remember that. Queen Hewan and princess Zeudi came to our village to help with the rebuild. The princess even played with use." A big smile appeared on Simret's face. "I can remember that you were always a step behind her, almost like her personal shadow." Idris narrowed his eyes, that is not what he remembered. In his memory it was the other way around. "But why are you asking this to me now?" He grabbed the bracelet he made out of his pouch and then grabbed the woman's arm. Showing them to Simret side by side.
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"I gave the princess this bracelet." He said while holding the one in his hand up. "On her last day in our village. I found it two days later at the village gate. She probably lost it." Simret nodded again, and then pointed at the one around the woman's wrist.
"They look the same, only yours has that special moon and sun bead." Simret said, pointing out the bead. That was indeed the only divergence between the two pieces. "But do you really think..." Simret pointed toward the woman. "That she is princess Zeudi?" Idris shrugged his shoulders, other than the bracelet he didn't had any other clue. But this woman look so much different than the girl that he knew as the princess. Of course the princess wouldn't be a little girl forever, he was no longer that little boy of twelve. He was now a grown man of twenty-six, that would make her a young woman of twenty-four. But still he wasn't sure if she was the princess. He looked at Simret, and if she was the princess well they were in big trouble.
********
An entire day passed them by, the sun started to sink behind the Bila Theluji. A mountain range that separated Cidor and their eastern neighbors, Mashariki. But the woman with the head wound has not woken up yet. Idris hadn't thought that she would, but he was gladly proven wrong. He wanted to know if she was indeed the princess, and if so what they could do to set this straight. Without going to prison, they had attacked and murdered her men. Still they didn't know who she was, and what Russom's plan was. He was again sitting next to her, she was breathing slowly which was a good sign. Or he believed that it was a good sign, he had redressed her wound twice. He sighed dark clouds were starting to gather above the camp, and the air smelled like it might rain. Which wasn't good, they didn't have any shelter for her. Normally they would seek shelter in a village, strangely enough there was always someone who was willing to let a large group of men, stay inside their barns or even inside their own homes. But the only village nearby was Hifadhi, and it was maybe still too far away to reach them before it starts to rain. What a mess, this wouldn't have happened if Russom had discussed this with him beforehand. But wishing that things would have happened was a waste of time, now all of this was his problem and he needed to deal with it. He looked at her, straight in those blue eyes. She was awake, she was really awake.
"Miss, please do not move. The wound on your head..." He started, but instead of listing to him. She tried to push herself up, he in turn pushed her back. "Miss, I am not saying this for me." Although there was a change that she might vomit all over him, something he rather avoided. She shook her head and murmured something about her being fine. But he still held his hand on her shoulder. "Please, stop." She narrowed her eyes.
"I said that I am fine." She snapped at him, pushing away his hand. She pushed herself up, but he could see on her face that it pained her to do so.
"Miss, I do not want to be rude. But please lie down." He snapped at her. Really he couldn't believe how stubborn she was. Was the princess he knew also that stubborn, or was this something that had happened over the years? Maybe it was the thing about her that he had forgotten, but it was so long ago. And people change over time, he himself was the prime example of that fact. But this wasn't a pissing contest, this was about her wellbeing. She nodded and lied down again, which was a relief. Slowly she moved back on her back.
"Thank you for taking care of me." She said, he produced a half smile.
"I only wished that it was not necessary, I am sorry to say that I didn't know why we attacked your men and you. I feel that I need to inform you that all of your men are in the heavens now. Your friend, or female employee rather is here in the camp. Safe and sound, like I promised." He said, meaning every word. She, too, produced a painful smile. And he sighed. "I rather bring you as quick as possible back to your family, but it would help if I knew your name." She produced a muffled sound and he sighed. "Miss, I am not the one that tricks people. Again I do not know why my former leader ordered the attack on you and yours. But it happened and we can't turn back time. There is no magic in the world that can do that." She nodded. "And I never so much value in asking money for the safe return of a family member. It is simply not worth the time and trouble." She nodded again.
"I have trouble trusting you for now, so who I am is something I'm going to keep to myself and my friend." She said. "Until I am able to defend myself against you and your men." He sighed, again why was she so stubborn? This wasn't a game that they were playing, but then on the other hand. Maybe that was why she acted this way, her identity was the one thing she could hold on too. The one thing she could keep hidden and safe from them. This is something he slightly understood, slightly.
"Alright." He replied. "Get some more rest. I would feel better, when you are fully recovered." She smiled, this time it was an honest smile. And slowly closed her eyes.