A sense of unease

The intruder's intent was unclear and left the men perplexed.

Since the unwanted stranger somehow successfully managed to walk unencumbered boldly onto their property without a weapon.

Yet his breath did not smell of rum, nor did he have stolen goods or the affinity to spy.

So they could find no plausible reason for him to be there; perhaps he was just a richly garbed lunatic.

While they were eyeing him and trying to decipher his actions Maxixe was drawing some conclusions of his own.

At first Maxixe thought the men surrounding him meant to kill him but judging by their whispers and confusing actions they had some other unpleasant use for him.

Even though they surrounded him, he knew better than to show not even a smidgen of fear. 

Instead he kept his head held high and his eyes devoid of emotion as he ignored the onlookers.

Although he was dressed in full black, everything he wore was expensive and of the finest quality and the greedy humans recognized that.

The leader, a tall, brawny and strapping giant they referred to as Captain Herbert, gave the order for Maxixe to be stripped naked. 

Some of the men blushed and averted their eyes at the sight of the nude warrior, even naked he was still a beautiful sight to behold. 

He had the body of a Norse Barbarian and stood like an aristocratic young noble, with that signature look of boredom that could not be feigned.

Despite being muscular and swarthy, someone that could never go unnoticed, none of the Hellshire men could place his face from any of the neighboring fiefdoms. 

He did not resemble any of their fellow countrymen, perhaps he really was a neighboring spy from a distant foreign land who was sent to ferret out their secrets.

What stood out about him the most was not his hawk-like piercing jade eyes but his sun kissed bronzed skin reaffirming their belief that he was not from the area. 

His black hair was unbound and in dire need of a trim, it was no longer fashionable to wear the hair to that length in high society.

They had managed to strip the man of all his material belongings but he was not cowed before them it was the opposite he seemed even more arrogant than before.

Even after laughing at him and slashing him continuously with a knife, it made them feel relieved to see that his blood ran red for some strange reason.

This man showed no fear as they cursed him, yelled obscenities or spat in his face. 

Only the sound of the wind howling through the trees could be heard as the young man remained impassive like the cold arctic breeze.

Speaking of which made the soldiers shiver like the sniveling cowards they were as their captive did not act like a man that was about to die anytime soon.

He was almost as tall as Horrible Herbert but even in the buff next to him Maxixe still managed to emanate power and elegance.

Now they eagerly removed the remainder of his belongings.

Which would be up for grabs later after the Captain claimed what he wanted. 

The first to go was his pair of thick black leather studded hiking boots.

Then his pants, shirt, inner tights to ward off the cold and protect the family jewels.

Also his black metallic vest with matching chain mail, black cotton shirt and his favorite thick black fur lined winter coat which the Captain kept for himself.

When Horrible Herbert knelt down to pick up the boots from the feet of the stranger on straightening his spine his eyes made contact with Maxixe.

They stared at each other for a good while neither willing to look away for it felt as if to do so first was to lose face.

Despite being a battle hardened warrior himself Herbert felt a sense of unease, which infuriated him that he felt weakness in front of his men. 

What Herbert saw in those eyes made him turn away quickly because of an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

Maxixe vowed to himself to make the ugly bastard Captain regret the day he stole his winter coat if nothing else.

He knew that even though his cousin would be angry that he wasn't leading the wild hunt his cousin Aiden would waste no time looking for him if only to punish him.

Maxixe knew he just had to hold out through the pain and torture until Aiden could rescue him.

Right now, his skin felt like it was on fire, after the brutal beating the Hellshire soldiers had dealt him. 

At first Maxixe thought they meant to leave him to freeze to death on the icy cold ground.

He winced after briefly imagining his balls stuck to the ground because the snow had started to fall heavier while he was stark naked.

Instead they brought him below to the castle's dungeon and flung him down.

When he puked on himself they decided to chain him to a filthy bed under the premise of him still having some fight left in him.

"Did Horrible Herbert say what the hell we are to do with him?" inquired one of the soldiers.

"Other than to watch him the captain gave no other orders," his companion answered.

"Well, I don't mind taking the first watch because no way I'm going to be stuck on guard duty on the day of the wedding."

"He's been beaten so badly, the poor thing is in and out of consciousness, he won't be lucid for hours."

"You have a point, as long as we keep him like this we can leave him unattended over the course of the festivities and no one else would even notice."

"That's right. Let's not even waste food on him since no one will know whether we stayed down in the dungeon to guard him or not."

He heard footsteps grow distant and the sound of muffled voices as the guards moved away while talking preoccupied with their private conversation.

Not long after Maxixe finally succumbed to the gnawing pain and passed out.