Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 7

They rode in silence for a time and the sky began to grow darker.  Ildri did not want to talk to Ty.  He was altogether too frustrating and she could not wait until they reached the capital so that she could be rid of him for good.

"How long until we reach the capital?" she asked.

"A couple of days."  His answer was short, and she wondered if he might be angry with her.  It was not as if she cared, she assured herself.

"Good," she muttered, thinking about how he deserved to be miserable.  She hoped she was a thorn in his side.  It would serve him right after everything that he had done.

"I thought you were unhappy about going to the capital," he commented.  Ildri was confused for a few seconds and then she pieced it together.

"I am, I was thinking that it was good that you were in a bad mood," she corrected in a rather snotty tone, not really caring if it made him even angrier.  "But it's good that we'll be at the capital soon, because then I'll never have to see your face again."

Ildri almost regretted her choice of words, but any guilt over his appearance was removed by his response.  "The feeling is more than mutual," he said in a very even tone.  "The thought of never hearing your voice again is music to my ears.

Ildri could not believe that he had dismissed her so easily.  She felt a nasty twinge at his words.  It was most definitely her pride that he had nicked.  It was not as if she cared what he thought.  After all, look at all the horrible things he had done.  His regard meant nothing, no, less than nothing, to her.  He was the one who had ruined all her future plans of a happy life with Saul.  He should be prostrate with guilt, not casually dismissing her.  She cast dark looks at the fading landscape as they moved on.

* * * * *

After a while, Ildri's pique gradually wore off.  The swaying of the horse and the boredom of the scenery brought her an overwhelming sense of tedium that was only occasionally broken by jolts of anxiety or pain in her muscles.  She was really sore, not accustomed to being dragged through the forest and unused to riding long distances.

Saul had taught her how to ride nearly a year before, but the gentle lessons had little prepared her for this ordeal.  The horse continued swaying and Ildri's muscles continued feeling more and more poorly used.  Even though she did not want to go to the capital, she hoped that they would get there quickly since the whole thing seemed inevitable.  She could happily go without seeing another tree or rock for as long as she lived, not to mention that there was probably still two hard day's journey ahead of them.   It would be nice if something would break the monotony, like buildings or people.

"Will we reach any towns before the capital?" she wondered out loud.

"Yes."

Ildri felt annoyance rise up at his unhelpful response, but she tried again.  "How soon?"

"Soon enough."

Ildri gritted her teeth.  The man was insufferable.  Was he deliberately trying to aggravate her?

"We'll reach Valence in the morning," he added as an afterthought.

"Valence?" she protested.  "I thought we were heading to the capital!"

He sighed as if she were somehow the tiresome one.  "Yes, we are going to the capital.  We're taking a different route.  They'll expect us to take the most direct way."

Ildri swallowed and felt a nervous sickness in her stomach.  She had told them they were heading to Valence.  Ty could hardly know that.  He was leading them right into danger unknowingly.  Ildri took a deep breath.  "But, wait!  I told them that was where we had been heading.  They'll find us there," she protested, even though she did not really want to admit it.