Their voices were muffled, but she clearly heard them. Of course, they wouldn't be far, they wanted to keep an eye on their most valued procession. She didn't believe the man with his cloudy gray eyes, not even when he would swear upon his sword. Something soldiers, and apparently rogues like to do. She had never understood that one, it was not that they would take their own lives when they break their vow. Maybe it was something that dates back to times they did just that. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that there was some kind of fabric on poles above her. The fabric seemed very damp, maybe it had rained while she was fast asleep. So the man really wanted for her to get better, the question was only why? Would she fetch a higher price, or was he genarly concerned for her well-being?

"Your highness?" A soft voice whispered. "O thank the heavens, you are awake." She had never seen Armana so glad. Maybe it was just an act, only Zeudi wasn't sure about that. ... wasn't a good actor, the girl couldn't lie. Not even when her life depend on it. Something Zeudi always kept in mind if she was op to something. "We need to find a way to escape, now that you are awake." So that was why she was glad., it was so that she could find a way out of this mess. Which wouldn't be that easy, these men were criminals by trade. Most likely they have thought about every escape plan in the book. Every form of distraction, or manipulation. This all was useless, and besides that her wound wasn't fully healed. Yes she was awake, but her whole head was throbbing. She pushed herself up, just to see how far she could go before everything becomes foggy again.

"For heaven’s sake, what are you stubborn." A male voice said.

"You have no idea." Armana whispered under her breath. This was nothing new from her, a hand landed on her shoulder pushed her back on the ground.

"I start to get an understanding." He replied, indicating that he had heard Armana. He sighed and shook his head. "And you do not tell me that you are fine. You are clearly not."

"And whose fault is that?" She asked, knowing full well that she was playing with fire. She didn't know any of these men. All she knew was that they attacked them.

"I never denied that it wasn't our fault, but for the love of the heavens, stay down." He replied. She wanted to snap at him, did he know who she was. No he did not know, because she didn't tell him. And to be fair he didn't tell her his name either. How could she trust a man that she did not know by name? "I am Idris Gedlear. If you want to know. I am the new leader of this crew, and right now responsible for your stubborn ass." Idris, why did those that sound so familiar? She was sure she had not met him before, still the sound of his name was so familiar to her.

"You are not playing fair, now that I know your name." She said. He started to chuckle.

"Miss, I am a thief. I never play fair." He replied. This was good to know. Armana looked at them, and it was clearly that she didn't understand them.

"Now that I know his name, it would only be fair for him to know mine as well." She explained. Armana shook her head.

"I will advise you against this. But you never listen to me, so why do I waste my breath." Armana said. This was indeed true, she never listened to her. But her advice was normally useless.

"But it would be rude if I didn't. And we do not want to be rude, or do we." Zeudi said, why did it sound so broken? And why was it so difficult to keep her eyes open.

"You see, mister Gedlear. Stubborn as a donkey. She is fighting against sleep." Armana sighed. The man nodded, as if he understood Armana's pain. Maybe he did, or maybe he was just like her and loved to make people believe that he agreed with them.

"Miss, it is now not the time to fight it. Your body is clearly telling you that you need more sleep." Idris said. She rolled with her eyes, but he was right. It wouldn't be wise to fight it. She needed to be healed if they wanted to escape.

*****

Zeudi sat close by the campfire, she was finally allowed to sit. Instead of laying on the sleeping cot all day. Still, she wasn't allowed to walk far or, anything else except sitting still or sleeping.

"Boss, we have found a little abandoned temple half an hour from here." One of the men said. She looked at Idris Gedlear, the leader of this gang, his men have being hunting the area for food, firewood and water for the last... She didn't know how long they have being here, and she didn't know where here was. But that was before the man said anything about the temple. The abandoned temple was believed the home of the God of the stars, who was in love with the Goddess of the Moon. He was the one who imprisoned her into the night sky, where she was surrounded by him. Only one day of the year she was able to be with her one true love, the God of the Sun. This was during the festival of the Sun and the Moon. She smiled, remembering her one words. She said that she wanted a man who wanted to give her the moon and stars if he could. But the moon and stars were in legend, not even lovers.

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"Is there something funny?" Idris asked her, she quickly looked up and saw that all the men, including Armana were staring at her.

"There is nothing, just an inside joke." She said quickly, picking up her wooden cup. But noticed that it was empty.

"Please do enlighten us." Idris said, and Zeudi sighed.

"It is just that my father has being nagging me a lot lately. He wants me to find a husband." She said, and some men nodded. Some even said that if she was their daughter, which was impossible because they were all around the same age, that they would have nagged her too. "But I told my father, that I wasn't interested in the line of peacocks. I want a man that, if he could, would give me the moon and stars." Again some men nodded. Saying that a woman should expect nothing less.

"Peacocks?" Idris asked. She nodded.

"It is a slur, for men that are pretending to be soldiers. But never served in the army, most of them are sons of high noblemen." She said, with a huge smile. She grabbed a stick off the ground, and stood up. Pumping herself up, to appear big and pompous. "Look at me I am the son of this nobleman, look at my shiny new armor. But I will faint, by the first sight of blood." By the last part, she placed a hand on her forehead. Most of the men started to laugh, some even applaud. Idris on the other hand stood up and threw her over his shoulder. "What are you... Whoa... Idris... Put me down... Put me down." She started to kick and slam him, but he didn't let go of her. Instead, he kept on walking, into the woods. Where in heaven's name were they going. She looked over his shoulder, and his men quickly rushed behind them, with their luggage in hand. Armana was not carried like she was, but she was pulled. "Idris Gedlear, can you please put me down?" She started to get dizzy and she didn't want to vomit all over him. He clearly heard something in her voice, because he stopped and put her down on the ground. She started to sway on her feet, did he carry her because she went against his orders? Well, it was at least effect on her.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She took a few big gulps of air, before nodding. "I do not believe you." He bowed down and picked her up again. This time, she was not hanging over his shoulder. This time, she was in his arms, just like a mother who was carrying her infant. She was only not an infant, she was a full-grown woman. And the next queen of Cidor, but he didn't know that. He didn't even know her name, or that from Armana. She wondered for a brief moment how long they could keep it a secret, one of them, most likely she herself, will run her mouth. She looked at the man that carried her, his dark blond hair was bound back. He had a small stubble on his chin, when she first saw him he had a clean-shaven chin. She wanted to lay her hand on it, and feel the rough skin. But that wouldn't be proper, and besides that. He was still one of the men who killed her personal guard, it didn't matter if he didn't know why they attacked her. Her men were still dead, some of them had wives and small children. Others elderly parents who were waiting for their sons' homecoming, and their waiting would be in vain. The forest became much thicker, some small yellow birds flew over their heads. Waimbaji-wa that was the name of the small creature, with its beautiful signing voice. She looked at them for a brief moment, before her eyelids started to get heavy.

*****

"Is she a sleep?" A voice said loudly. "Boss, I knew you were boring, but this is ridicules." More laughter joined.

"She's still recovering from a head wound, and her body needs all the energy that it can muster." Idris sounded stern, and the laughter died down. "And because you all have some energy in you, you all my go and set up the camp. The two women, will stay inside the temple." She wanted to open her eyes, and see the temple for herself. But maybe it was wise to act, as if she was still fast a sleep. Maybe Idris would let his guard down, if he thought she was. She was maybe not in the state to escape the camp, because he was right about her still being in recovery. Still, Hifadhi was pretty close by, and the road that lead to the capitol. It would take her a whole day to walk there without a horse, still she had no doubt in her mind that she was able to do it. When she was recovered. And then there was the other factor that would the journey even harder, Armana. Idris started moving, she could hear wood crack. The smell of something rotting crept inside her noise, to the point that it was chocking her. Quickly, she opened her eyes, and started to gasp for breath. He quickly turned around and walked out of the building. "Maybe it would be better to stay here for a while." He said. "But good, you are finally done with pretending." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, he knew? She pointed towards the entrance of the building made out black stone.

"Did you just do that on purpose?" She asked, he shrugged and smiled.

"Maybe, or maybe not." He said, with a large grin on his face. He was playing with her right now. "You and your maid can hide in their, once it is aired out. It is better for you, now that we have landed in the rain season." She nodded, it made sence.

"Wait rain season?" She asked, he nodded. That would mean that the attack happed rougly two weeks ago. So where was the rescue party, her father's personal guard? Or at least talk about her being missing, something that would indicate that the two men inside the capital were looking for her? Captain Hayat and she had send word to her father, the day before they left the village. So it wasn't a secret for him that she would travel back home. So why...? Maybe her father didn't want to raise an alarm in fear of her safety, yes that would be it. After all her father was a milatary man, practical and calculated. She wanted to role with her eyes, or that was his own believe. She looked up towards the small bits of sky, she couldn't see much because of the thickness of the Wanaoanza trees. But the bits that she was able to see, where dark gray. "I think it would be better if you all stayed inside the temple tonight." She said. "I believe that there is a thunderstorm coming." He also looked up and nodded.

"You are right about that, prince... I mean, miss." He said. She looked at him in shock, he knew who she was.