*Princess P.O.V*
We all have a first for everything and it can be quite scary; yet it is exciting, important and significant the first time we do many things. Your first toy, your first dress, your first friend. Your first crush, your first kiss, your first love. Well how envious of you I am. My firsts currently consist of my first tea party, my first teacher and guard being murdered in front of me and my first kidnapping. I expect to be adding my first torture and interrogation to that list some time soon. *1
Luckily, like any slightly diligent royal, I had trained and studied for contingencies like this many times. The first step was to stay calm and attempt to understand the immediate surroundings and situation. Especially your location- x,y,z and time coordinates, or the equivalent of spatial magic's mana spatial co-ordinates.
I opened my eyes. Or so I thought. The world was a blanket of darkness and only the signals from eyelids told me that they were open. My body was bumping up and down, jolting my head. I could feel a liquid rolling down my forehead, most likely my own blood or Mathew's. From the bumps, I was probably lying horizontally across on a horse, and few quiet neighs and panting confirmed it. My abdomen was starting to hurt.
A rough arm was holding onto my hands so I refrained from any sudden movements. It would probably be better if they didn't know I was awake. I subtly tried shifting my arms, but they were properly tied behind my back, and so were my legs. I felt around my mana pool, but it seemed like it was nearly dry and something was clearly inhibiting my natural absorption of mana. I wouldn't be able use any magic of significance without the absorbing from the air. I was still a beginner arc mage, and although I knew quite a few strong offensive spells, they would require my constant absorption of mana during the chant. I had only been doing practical magic for a little under a year or so and my internal mana pool was still minute. There wouldn't be much of a benefit in being a dual light and space-time arc mage in my current predicament when I could only cast some harmless flashes of light. Space time magic was similar to a specialisation of light magic, and therefore required extra precision and mana compared to light magic so there wouldn't be anyway I could cast any space magic.
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I felt myself suddenly roll forward bumping into the horse’s mane before a rough and callous hand grabbed my arms. The downhill journey ended quickly as we came to a stop on what I assumed should be level ground. The sound of trickling water tickled my ears. I see, the bandits must of been using this crossing as a base. It was a popular camping spot and that where was even a cave on this side of the river.
Suddenly I was unceremoniously thrown on the ground and before I could react, pulled along by the scruff of my neck. I let out a gasp of pain before I quickly stifled it. Too late. The rat was out of the bag.
"Playing dead? Get up. Walk!" I was forcefully jerked to my feet as I marched and stumbled along, getting shoved from behind. Walking while blind was unexpectedly scary. *2 Suddenly another voice nearby called out "Be careful with the goods, don't be too rough." It sounded like the foreign voice who called out from before. I was thrown to the ground again.
"I don't give a shit about you White Crow, so f#%! off. I have way more at stake then you, and this little shit's playing tricks on me. She's pretending to be unconscious and she must of hidden the artefact somewhere. If the king or duke find out that I've betrayed them, I'll be hunted till the ends of earth."
"Oi John-"
"The dukes out of the picture, or will soon be. My men should of started the revolt, and don't worry, it will be orchestrated flawlessly unlike you guys. And if we don't find the artefact, you guys will only get half-"
It seems my captors were beginning to in-fight as they started to dissolve into a rabble of children. I was feeling quite elated now that I hadn't found the artefact and brought it back with me. The missing artefact seemed to be sowing dissension among them, which would only aid me in any possible escape attempts I may conduct. It also seems like my gut feelings were spot on, there were spies among the duke's men and they were currently conducting a coup d'état. Clearly something big was moving behind the scenes. I needed to warn father.
"What the f*%¥. You cheating-"
A loud slap sounded, and I felt someone land next to me.
"Everyone shut the hell up!!! We can discuss these matters later, first let's tie the princess up properly and set up camp."
...Dam it. Whoever it was at the end with an authoritative voice must have noticed that I was fiddling with my tied hands behind my back. Still, I had gained quite a bit of information during their little squabble that I was just beginning to digest properly. I couldn't keep up with the conversation, so I tried to remember as much as I could.
"Walk." I felt someone pull me up and drag me along, albeit less forcefully. Too busy thinking, I decided to just comply.