A Servant Lost (Alys Book #1)

Chapter 4

The sun was up by the time Alys found herself being led into what smelled like some kind of barn and her gag and blindfold were removed. She squinted at the sudden bright light coming in through the open door and tried to look around.

They had indeed brought her to a barn, but it had been enhanced. Instead of stalls made to contain animals, the stalls in this barn were modified with wooden cross bars, making them look like jails. One of the men escorting her opened one of the stalls and Alys was shoved inside. The barred up gate was closed behind her.

The floor in the stall was covered in old, musty straw. Alys moved to the center and curled her legs up into her chest. It was freezing. At least the men hadn't taken away her shawls as well as her blanket.

There were at least seven different voices that she had detected on the ride. Greg was definitely the one in charge. They talked a lot on the way there, mostly about the gold and trinkets they had found in the second wagon. Every now and then they had said something to her, trying to antagonize her by the fact that she could never reply. But Alys did not try to. She remained silent even after they had removed her gag and locked her up.

They left her there for most of the day without bothering her. She stood and paced the straw cover floor, looking out between the bars of wood and trying to see things that could benefit her. There was nothing. There were four stalls of the same build as hers across from her, and as far as she could tell, there were four on her side. Most of them were filled with crates or sacs, but at least two of them seemed empty. She was the only person being held in the barn right then.

Quite awhile after midday, a man she did not recognize brought her a bucket full of water.

"You should drink," he said matter-of-factly to her, "You should keep your strength up."

Alys accepted the bucket without any words of gratitude. The man locked the gate again and left.

The water was frigid, but Alys drank almost all of it. She had not realized how thirsty she had been until the man had set the bucket down in front of her.

She had the mind to save a bit for later, as she had no idea when she would be getting another chance to drink.

After another few hours, the same man who had brought her the water returned with some worn quilted blankets. He shoved them into her cell through the wooden bars. Alys watched them drop onto the straw and did not say a word.

"Are you mute?" The man finally asked, "Or just as dumb as a nail?"

"Neither Sir." Alys replied, still staring at the blankets. The man just shrugged and left.

Once he had gone, Alys stood and retrieved the blankets. She pushed most of the straw into a pile in the center of the small stall, placed one blanket down, lay on top, and pulled the remaining blanket over herself. She thanked God that there was straw on the floor. If there had not been, she would surely freeze to death in no time with the cold packed earth up against her.

Once the sun had set again, two men came into the barn that Alys recognized as having been part of the raiding party.

"Time to come talk to the master, my Lady," one of them laughed hatefully, "I'm sure you're in for a treat."

Alys stood. She had no intension of being dragged out of her cell by these two piggly men. The one who had spoken to her took her by the arm and guided her out of the barn, across a few strides of snow, and into the largest of the four other building besides the barn that Alys could pick out in the dark.

A warm blast of air greeted them as they entered the building, and the aroma of seasoned meat filled the air. The room had a large table with six crude chairs around it, and a large open fireplace at one end of the house. Three men sat before it in great chairs, laughing and drinking.