A Journey Of Lost Souls {Tom Holland}

Part 8

The princess tried not to panic.

Sold? To who? To what? Why?

If James said that these people were worse than him...then she was freaking out. The only thing keeping her spiraling in her mind was the boy gripping her hand.

"Tom, what are we going to do?" she asked when James walked away for a moment.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out, alright?"

The princess was not dumb. The words coming out of Tom's mouth were comforting and confident, but she could see the worry etched in the lines of his face.

They were both silent as the men came over and covered their faces in the cloth bags again. They pulled them up, tied their hands behind their backs and continued forward.

The princess was so over this routine. It would have been alright if she had shoes and pants on. But her legs and feet were caked with scrapes, scratches, and blisters.

She just wanted to sit down and cry and let Tom hold her because she knew that he would. She really couldn't get over how great of a guy he was.

The sun beat down on them relentlessly, never hiding behind a cloud for one moment. The princess was drenched in sweat and her lips were dry. She knew she was dehydrated and she knew that Tom was too.

They didn't stop for hours. At one point, the princess almost fainted from the heat and exhaustion. But as she began to sway, she was pushed forward. She fell to the ground, unable to think clearly. Finally, someone gave her a few sips of water which rejuvenated her enough to keep going.

It wasn't until hours later that they reached their destination. The princess didn't know where they were due to the bag over her head, but she had heard someone call it a town.

When the bag was finally lifted over her head, she and Tom were tied to chairs next to each other.

The princess cringed at his appearance. He was coated in sweat, he had bags under his eyes, and he looked completely and utterly defeated. But, when his eyes met hers, he smiled.

"Hello, Y/N," he managed out. His voice was hoarse from the lack of moisture.

"Hi," she replied simply.

The two didn't have much energy to talk. So they sat in silence as the men in James' company milled around them.

Nearly an hour later, or what felt like an hour anyway (Y/N was too exhausted to keep track of the time), James led a group of three men over to her and Tom.

"Hello, hello, dear princess," she heard him say mockingly. "Enjoy your walk today?"

She didn't respond. She couldn't decide who was glaring harder at him: her or Tom.

"I'll take that as a yes then. These are a couple of friends of mine and they are so very excited to meet you," James continued and then stepped out of the way as the three men stepped forward.

The princess was intimidated. These were big, muscly men. They looked very serious and demanding. No one would want to start trouble with them.

They began to circle her chair. Her head fell forward so that she was looking into her lap, attempting to avoid the gazes of the men.

"So this is our lovely princess?" One of them asked, obviously amused by her discomfort.

One of them ran their fingers through her hair, causing her to jump.

"Get your hands off of her!" Tom seethed.

The men all perked their eyebrows and smirked. They looked at James and one of them asked, "And who is this?"