Young Writers Society

Rana didn’t want to go meet the boys. She stiffly watched Jayk walk out the tent but refused to obey his order to follow. Drayan looked at her and growled. She tensed and stepped away from him, but still didn’t exit the tent. Jayk stuck his head back inside. “Well, come on, then.”

“I’m, ah…”

“I wasn’t asking,” Jayk said, giving her a harsh look.

“I’m not going,” Rana said, crossing her arms.

“Wanna bet?” Jayk asked, stepping back into the tent fully. She didn’t. Rana stepped back fearfully, trying to get out of his reach. She started as she bumped into Drayan’s hard chest, taking another step to the side to avoid them both.

“I… no,” Rana said, helpless. “Of course not.”

“Then come on,” Jayk said. “Before I have Drayan find a way to persuade you.”

Rana eyed Drayan warily. She didn’t want to imagine what his methods of persuasion might be. She swallowed hard, wondering which option would be worse for her. She almost thought that a beating from Drayan would be less painful than a night of fun with the boys.

“Last chance.”

She whimpered, frustrated. Jayk shrugged, looking towards his brother. “Go ahead—”

“Fine,” Rana said, stepping forward hastily. Her heart was racing, wishing she was anywhere but there. There was no way to win. She hated situations with no good way out. “Coming.”

“There’s a good girl,” Jayk said mockingly. He stepped backward and held the flap of the tent open. Rana gritted her teeth, forcing herself to walk through it.

There was a slight breeze, bringing a chill to the evening. It was completely dark now, the moon providing little light. She could see the light from a fire up ahead and heard the laughter and jesting of the men. She swallowed hard, trying to steel her nerve.

She forced herself to square her shoulders and lift her chin as she strode down the path that led towards the merriment. Jayk walked closely to her left, Drayan on her right. She took a deep breath, trying to stop thinking. Her mind was flooded with thoughts of what was about to happen to her. It was terrifying.

Her arms began trembling. She clenched her fists, trying to still the shaking. Her breathing was shallow, making her feel lightheaded. Her stomach felt sick. She blinked rapidly, trying to ground herself. It didn’t work. She stopped suddenly, backing away from them.

“What is wrong with you, girl?” Jayk asked, turning towards her.

“You didn’t give me a choice!” she said desperately.

“What?” Jayk asked, looking at her, perplexed.

“You put the choice out there, but then let Father decide,” Rana protested, rubbing her face. “I didn’t say I wanted this. I don’t want… you didn’t let me… I…”

She couldn’t breathe. She gasped for air, wiping her face angrily as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her body was visibly trembling, making her look small and terrified as she stood next to them. Jayk and Drayan exchanged a look, wondering what happened. Moments before she was cocky and defiant, and now she was in tears. It didn’t make sense.

Suddenly a look of understanding crossed Jayk’s face. “Oh, is that what you’re worried about?”

Rana sniffed, desperately trying to calm herself as she looked at him suspiciously.

“I know you didn’t choose,” Jayk said, voice growing gentle. “That’s not what I meant by going to meet the boys. I meant meet as in meet. Nothing more. All clothes stay in place.”

Rana took a deep breath, scrubbing at her face again. She didn’t trust him. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Jayk said. “I mean, that always remains an option if you disobey. But it’s not happening now. Calm down. Get yourself under control.”

Rana nodded, swallowing hard. She had to look foolish. And weak. She didn’t care at this point. All she wanted was to feel safe again. What she wouldn’t give, to be back in Algnes, in her nice, warm bed. With a nice, full stomach. She’d not eaten all day, and it made her feel weak. The outlaws kidnapped her prior to lunch, and the aroma of roasting meat made her mouth water.

“There, now, that’s better,” Jayk said as Rana’s breathing returned to normal. He put his hand on her shoulder, urging her forward. “Come on, now. Let’s go.”

She nodded weakly and walked with them to the end of the path. A clearing opened ahead of them. Rana saw a large bonfire surrounded by even more men than had attacked her carriage. There seemed to be at least fifty of the ruffians.

It surprised her. She’d always thought outlaws ran in smaller bands.

She put her head down and followed Jayk to the far side of the band, subdued. The men nearest her stopped talking and watched as she passed, but she didn’t look at them. She kept her eyes on the ground and followed Jayk until he found a gap in the ring of men.

Jayk dropped gracelessly to the ground and patted the dirt to his left, silently ordering her to take a seat next to him. Rana sat down stiffly, trying to regain some of the dignity she’d lost during the walk. A man off to her right picked up a stringed instrument and began plucking a folk tune.

“So, Rana, tell me,” Jayk said, drawing her attention back to himself. “How is it that you came to be so far from home?”

“I rode in a carriage,” she answered coldly, not wanting to provide the information she knew he was digging for. She didn’t know anything about this group of men, other than they seemed to enjoy robbing rich men, but she’d had ample time to eavesdrop during their march this afternoon. And judging from their crass comments about Prince Synakrein, she didn’t figure they’d appreciate why she was in Gnamrey.

“Well, it’s good to hear you didn’t spend the entire trip on top of it,” Jayk answered dryly. He took the flask someone offered him and held it out to Darrana.

She looked at him suspiciously, making no move to take it. The sight of the flask reminded her how thirsty she was, and the sharp pang of hunger returned to her stomach now that she smelled their dinner roasting over the fire. But she wasn’t stupid enough to take anything he offered. It could be drugged, or worse.

“Don’t flatter yourself. If I wanted you dead, I’d just kill you,” Jayk said. He took a long drink from the flask to prove his point, before handing it to her. “You gotta be just as thirsty as the rest of us.”

Rana took the flask and looked down into the darkened opening for a long moment, before she finally took a drink. The wine was cool and felt nice on her parched throat. She took a second drink, then reluctantly handed it back to Jayk. He waved it away, silently telling her to keep it.

“Tell me about yourself, Rana,” Jayk said casually. “Big family?”

“No,” she answered, taking another drink. “Just Father, Mama, my baby sister, and me.”

“Land owners, I presume?”

“Well, kind of,” she answered. “It’s complicated.”

“We’ve got time.”

Rana took a deep breath and sighed, then took another long drink from the flask. The wine was good. It was making her throat feel better and better with each drink, lifting her spirits in the process. It was easier to pretend she wasn’t in such a terrible situation, when her body didn’t act like it was dying.

“Well… my father is the younger son of a Lord in the southern part of Algnes. He apparently spent time in the city when he was young… for… something, I’m not sure. And met the current king, before he was the king. So, when he took the throne, he gave Father the manor adjoining his property.”

“I see,” Jayk said thoughtfully. “And as a Lord by birth, that means you’re a Lady by birth.”

“Eventually, I suppose,” she said with a shrug. She paused to take another drink. “Right now, I’m generally considered the resident pest. I imagine Father would disown me, if he could.”

“I’d say that’s true, judging from what I saw.”

“Yeah…” Darrana stared at her hands. She’d been forcing herself not to dwell on the utter betrayal she felt at her father turning her over to this band of outlaws without a second thought. But it was hard not to feel hurt by it. He wouldn’t believe her when she said Synakrein attacked her, and then he wouldn’t protect her from the bandits.

“So, what were you doing in Gnamrey?”

“It was, ah…” Rana trailed off. Jayk raised his eyebrows. She sighed and took another drink. “Apparently the next best thing to disowning me is marrying me off to the highest bidder… and Synakrein decided to throw his hat in that lot.”

“I see. So, you’re considering a marriage proposal to that monster.”

“I am not,” Rana said. “But I can’t exactly help it if Father decides to sell me to him.”

“I don’t know that that’s a fair way to put it,” Jayk said. “I imagine those who are actually slaves would object to it being likened to marriage.”

“I dunno,” Rana answered. “He’s planning to give my father money, in order to force me to move in with a man I don’t like and do as he says.”

That was a bad thing to say, she thought. She had a vague feeling that she should have stopped talking a long while ago. She wasn’t sure why she’d suddenly gotten so talkative. It wasn’t like her to offer extra information.

She looked up at Jayk, only to see him smirking. She looked back down at the flask in her hand, suddenly realizing why she’d opened up so much. “Oh, you jerk.”

She tried to think back to how long it’d been since she’d last eaten, but it was pointless. It’d been plenty of hours to render her stomach completely empty, making the un-watered wine that much more potent. She noticed the headache she’d had most of the day was gradually fading away.

“All I did was give you a drink,” Jayk answered. “You’re the one who kept drinking.”

“You knew what you were doing,” Rana muttered, turning a glare on him. Even with the faint, pleasant humming that filled her head, it was obvious that Jayk’s move was calculated. Get some wine in her, so she’d be more willing to talk.

“But you didn’t, somehow,” Jayk answered, taking the flask from her. “Which surprised me, honestly, given your initial suspicion.”

A man walking past with a handful of meat stopped just in front of them and offered some to Jayk. He took a drumstick and placed it in Rana’s hand before taking another for himself and thanking the man. Rana looked at the food in her hand greedily.

“Oh, sure, now I get food,” she grumbled.

“Sure. You’re liquored up enough to talk to me, but I don’t want you getting too drunk,” Jayk said. He shrugged and motioned for her to eat. “You’re going to need your strength. Eat up. Don’t worry about being all proper and polite.”

Rana sighed. She needed to eat. The damage had already been done, but she hoped adding food would help slow the uptake of the rest of the alcohol. And she felt like she was starving. She started to tear a small piece of meat from the drumstick but looked around and saw all of the men were eating directly from the bone. They didn’t bother tearing the meat off first.

If they can do it, so can I, she thought. That was exactly the type of thinking that got her in trouble with Father so often. She neglected to take into account double-standards. Just because a man could do something didn’t mean she was allowed to. She decided to risk it. She ripped large mouthfuls of the meat free of the bone, barely chewing it before she swallowed.

It didn’t take long before she’d cleaned all the meat from the bone. Her stomach still grumbled for more. She wiped her hands on the borrowed trousers, liked she’d seen the other men doing when they finished. Jayk looked at her with a smirk. “Done? Good. Time to get started.”

She watched in bewilderment as Jayk stood. She stood a moment later, dropping the bone next to where Jayk left his. “Get started with what?”

“Our fight.”