Chapter 119

Trigger Warning: There are intense scenes with attempted sexual abuse

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Hydrangea kept her grip tight on the reins as she led Tree down the slope. To their right was a village, the Sovereign had said that they would stop at it, for food and other such things.

All throughout the days that the Sovereign had been recuperating her thoughts had ran amuck. Hadok had told her to save him, not Cadarama, but the Sovereign.

She'd failed at that, she hadn't known that that was what was asked of her. Her mind drifted through that dream as she and the Sovereign walked down the steep, narrow path.

As they rode into the village she slowed so that they only walked at a snail's pace. The cold air gripped her as she watched the inhabitants warily. The Sovereign did keep her warm, but it wasn't entirely the atmosphere, but a nervousness that chilled her.

The mountain had taken them two days to cross, and now that they'd reached the base of it that day, it was dark. The clouds covered any light and it seemed as thought the sun had decided to set. A chilling wind gusted through the streets and scattered a few, long dead leaves about.

"You will stay by Tree, you'll be safer that way." The Sovereign said. He tightened the reins to a wooden post that had been driven into the ground in an alley between two buildings.

They had stopped a few buildings away from a tavern, the rowdy drunken sounds carried through the cedar planked walls. He'd said that he needed to find a safer route to the Tzar, the one that was marked out on the map from Ariston was too dangerous. So, he was going to go into the tavern and see if he could find a safer route.

"How will I be safer here?" Hydrangea asked, her hands clutching the saddle horn as her thoughts danced with worry.

"You will be safer here, than in there." He pointed back at the tavern then turned back to her, "Viskogornies are dangerous drunks, you'll do best to stay right here." He avoided meeting her eyes.

She narrowed her gaze, "What is wrong?"

He looked up, hesitancy behind those brown eyes, "Nothing is wrong," He faked a smile, "I would simply prefer it if you stayed here, and I spoke to the bartender."

She bit her lip, but nodded. Besides, she didn't even speak Viskogorny.

He smiled and she could see it had shreds of genuineness, but there was a lingering fear in his eyes that made her uneasy.

To her surprise he raised her hand and kissed her knuckles. He chuckled when he saw her expression of shock and then walked away, towards the tavern.

She rubbed her hand. 'He's got to stop doing that.' She told herself. It made her stomach erupt with butterflies and her cheeks warm. A small smile framed her lips and she shook her head, 'Why did he do that?'

She sat atop Tree for an hour; the clouds covered the sky heavily and it was hard to mark the passage of time. After awhile of staring at the tavern door she stepped off the horse to stretch her tired limbs.

She heard footsteps falling on the wooden walks that edged the muddy roads. She peeked out from behind her horse and watched as a man staggered past her and down the street. He belched loudly as he took another swig of his drink.

Her fingers clenched around Tree's reins. This was most likely what the Sovereign had been worried about.

She raised her head in confidence, 'I took on a snow jaguar, I'll be fine.' She reassured herself as the man disappeared behind a building.

She sighed in relief and her shoulders relaxed. But, just to be safe she tucked one of the daggers strapped to Tree's saddle into her belt, just to be safe.

After waiting for what felt like another hour she began to feel impatient. The last time he'd gone into a bar he'd gotten drunk and she'd had to haul him out of there.

She clenched her fists in anxiety, what if he had gotten drunk again and… and was doing something in there? She didn't want to think of what, but her thoughts eventually admitted themselves; what if he'd found a whore and was… going to bed with her at that very moment?

Her brows furrowed and her heart squeezed. She felt a little angry but shook it off. 'He's done that all his adult life, why wouldn't he do it now? And why should it bother me?' She asked herself as she straightened her skirt absentmindedly. Although it still made her stomach churn and tempted her to roll her shoulders, in disgust and loathing. She was positive it was loathing.

After what felt like another hour she was pacing. Taking a drink of water from the skin she squeezed the sack. What could possibly be taking him so long?

She was so tempted to walk out from behind Tree and into the building.

'There's no one around' She pointed out. 'There's no harm in going to see what he was doing.' She argued.

She pulled her gloves on tighter and took a deep breath. "Just a little jaunt to the tavern." She muttered, "No problem."

She pulled her soft, fur lined hood over her head and then stepped out of the alley. Darting her eyes around she assessed that the mud covered street was clear. Although the dirt was filled with trampled grass that sprouted from beneath the wooden boards and buildings.

She stepped along the wooden boards with level shoulders and a blank expression. Her mind was whirring with what the Sovereign could be doing and where.

Just as she passed by an alley and was about to step in front of the tavern, she heard a dark laughter.

Before she even had time to turn on her heel, something hard connected with the back of her head and her eyes darkened.

A groan escaped Hydrangea's lips as she turned her head. Her hair was stuck in mud. Her healing ankle hurt and burned painfully as though it had been newly cut.

Her blurred eyes scanned her dark surroundings aimlessly. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten here. A sharp pain on her skull reminded her of how she'd been hit, but other than that…

She all of a sudden felt a rush of cold air on her thighs. She glimpsed a shadow between her legs.

"Wha…?" She muttered. She tried to raise her head but it felt tremendously heavy and fell back to the mud.

She tried to move her hands to push herself up. Her body was suddenly pushed down with a heavy weight. She couldn't breathe.

She felt a cold, rough hand on her hip and another on her thigh. She opened her mouth to try and scream but a fist flew to her temple and everything went dark.