The Prophetess *COMPLETED*

Chapter 13

I was feeding my little girl in the living space when some villagers entered the house without knocking and came toward me in great urgency.

"Lady, lady you have to run. There are some men coming to get you."

"What? Where? Where is Throst?" I shook in fear.

". Someone called out saying there was a great fire, he went to check with the other men for help." Oh Gods....

"Hide Annie." I ordered, putting my bodice in place and looking around me for weapons.

"But lady, they might kill you."

"It does not matter. All that matters is that you keep Throst's daughter and his heir in safety. Take them, protect them with your lives. It does not matter what happens to me as long as they're safe." From the four people that entered the room, two took the children and left, leaving two big men with me. I'm glad Thora went out with Brye and her son.

"We will stay with you, lady." I nodded my thanks and soon after, 20 men entered the house. I brandished the knife I had taken, but they were too many. The two men who were by my side were quickly disposed of, their throats cut, their blood staining the furs and the wooden boards.

"Search the whole house, if you find someone, and please do find someone, kill them. Specially the newborns." My whole world spun around me, horrifying. If they catch my children? My siblings? My nephew? Thora?  My eyes burned and it seemed I couldn't even breath properly anymore. The men dragged me outside while they ransacked the house and I stumbled on the stairs, crumpling on the floor. The man holding my arm backhanded me and stars erupted behind my eyes. The mighty blow made me fall and bang my head against the wall, everything went dark.

"Wake up." A bucked of cold water made me jerk awake and I looked around me in confusion. I was in a dark and cold place, with only a fire pit bringing some light. The wind howled fiercely and I could taste salt in the air. Probably a storage place near the sea. There were people around me, I knew that, felt it, but I couldn't see them in the shadows. I heard fabric whispering and as my eyes got used to the darkness and the blindness scared me terribly. I saw shadows coming towards me but I could not see if they were men or women, young or old.

"Look the tasty morsel for our party, friends." A male voice sounded behind me. I tried moving, twist to see what was behind me, but I was securely tied to a beam, the ropes coarse against my delicate skin. There was a rope binding me in my ankles, thighs, waist, below my breasts and above my breasts, as well as in my wrists. Desperate, I looked around my carefully, trying to find ways to escape. 

The people around me hooted and laughed as they described in coarse language how they would violate me, make Throst pay for being better than them. My gods they are mad, how can  they hate a man simply because he is well off in life? It is not even that he is unkind or a tyrant, it is just that he is richer... My heart thumped so loudly in my ears that I stopped hearing everything else.  I twisted in the bonds, trying to escape, but soon a wetness flowed from my wrists and the skin in my neck was hurting.

"You can try all you want bitch, but the ropes are secure, you will not escape." A man whispered in my ear outside my field of vision.

"Why are you doing this?" I stalled, trying to win more time for the rescue.

"Why? Because Throst is a moron and his lands should have been mine." The words chilled me as I recognized the man behind me.

"Yngvarr?!"

"Who else, my pretty slave? I will kill Throst, claim his lands, and then take from you what I should have taken before. Why do you think I left you a virgin? You were a ploy, a pawn, I played you and now I am reclaiming you. You played your part so perfectly, I could not have hoped for better."