I did end up tied to the saddle. It had been a short but intense tussle that resulted in me being in restrained, but I had deemed it worth the risk. I had three options. One was to remain silent and steady, to sit pretty and do as I was told until I could find another way out. But now that I was on a better horse -- one that probably would respond to a cue if I were able to give it -- I had a chance at getting away.

I fought hard. I swung my body around suddenly in an effort to unseat the man behind me. I twisted in his arms and shoved against his chest with all the strength that I could muster and kicked my heels hard into the horse's side. Normally, I was a gentle rider, striving to be lighter than a feather and sweeter than honey to the animals that took care of me. I told myself that I would take care of this horse until it's last breath if it was able to get me out of here.

And the horse did as I asked. It sprung forwards as I shoved my captor back. Most of the boys in my village would have tumbled off then, left in the mud. But, unfortunately for me, this man was no slump in the saddle. He knew how to alter his body to move with his steed, even while fighting me.

So, after the horse was settled and the man had recovered, my wrists were tied in front of me and one of my feet was tied to a stirrup.

A small price to pay for option three really. During the altercation, when I realized I could not win, I changed targets. I fought with nails and curled fingers, moving like I was trying to shred the vampire. So, he didn't even blink when I clawed at his waistband, assuming that I was foolish and uncoordinated. But the little dagger he kept strapped to his pants with a thin leather cord didn't stand a chance. The scrap of material snapped and the dagger and its sheath dropped right down into my boot.

I didn't know what was coming any more than I knew the shape of these woods, but I felt at least a little more prepared now. I was no longer a defenseless woman out of her element. I was a woman with a knife and enough fear and anger in her veins to use it.

We walked through narrow openings between trees, like the branches were angry to let us go. We scaled steep hills that neared the title of mountains and crossed streams that were up to the horses' hocks. And with each step, tightness strangled my chest.

I used to want to get away. I used to think about taking up my dad on his offers to get me far away from my village. There were cities out there, places that had more than just a bakery and a stable and an inn. There were places with cobblers and accountants and chimney sweeps, nurses, maids, and seamstresses. The most excitement my village got was the traveling merchants. Then, it seemed like a wonderful world, one I would never escape to out of duty to my family.

But now, it didn't feel like that. The unknown world was not wonderful and warm. It was dark with grim surprises around every corner. Was that shadow a bear or a wolf, or perhaps something even worse? I had hardly been gone a day and was already surrounded by three beings who wanted to suck my blood, who could probably break my spine with the snap of their fingers.

I never wanted so badly to return to my home and stay there forever. With each step, I lost even more faith in myself to find my way home when I got out of this. Because I would get out of this. We had walked and trotted and loped for hours, but I would get out and eventually, even if it took the rest of my days, I would find my way home.

My body was starting to feel the exhaustion though. A night spent on my feet, a morning on horseback, restless days before. I wanted to stay awake. I wanted to stay alert. But my body was starting to droop forward. No food for energy, no water to wake me up, no rest to recover. I was so tired that when I saw it, I thought my mind was giving out on me.

One moment it was nothing but forest, the next, there was a castle before me. The path turned from dirt to cobblestones, the sound of the metal horseshoes filling the air.

I was in the vampire kingdom. I had to be.

And it was nothing like I expected. When I envisioned where these fierce predators would live, I thought of isolated homes balancing on the top of frigid mountains, of small cabins in shambles, of buildings that looked like prisons. I did not think of intricate handrails that kept citizens safe from a babbling brook that ran through the town or ivy crawling up the stones of shops and inns. This place looked like a page out of a children's storybook.

But the horses were steered in another direction, away from the town's center. Around the palace, which also defied my expectations. Not this ugly soaring creature that ate the sky or this dark dilapidated structure. It was like the town that it overlooked, almost warm looking and covered in foliage.

Or maybe I was just really, really tired and my mind could not grasp what it was seeing.

When I envisioned palaces and kingdoms of lands far away from my father's stories, I imagined bustling streets and loud markets. And maybe this place held some of that, but the area that we ended up in was quiet aside from a few men, some in armor. some in matching raven black uniforms.

The men who captured me said nothing as they untied me, letting me groan and teeter forward onto the horse's neck for a moment before gruff hands pulled me out of the saddle. I wanted to be the strong woman who spat in the face of men, but it was hard to embody that when my legs refused to hold my own weight.

I didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse that one of the men caught me. But his arms did feel nice and they certainly felt strong. Maybe I would let him support me, just for a little while.

Then his fingers from his free hand dragged down my chest. "Do we really have to return her? How would he know? There's so much going in the palace right now, I doubt he would notice if one single person was not returned," he whispered.

A curse then. I wanted to fight and to thrash and swear, but my body had gone a little limp. I had lost blood last night, gotten no sleep, and had been shivering and frigid in a saddle until now.

"You want to cross the king?" another of the men hissed.

"Please, he's been king for barely any time--"

A man, this one wearing a uniform made of the darkest black material formed beside the man holding me. One second empty space, the next and entire human. Or...something relatively close.

"I know that I did not just hear treasonous words," the guard snarled. "I would hate to have to behead a group of local huntsmen so early in the game. Maybe you missed all of the bodies of the slaughtered just weeks ago. It really wouldn't be a shame to add another three bodies to our total."

The men I could see instantly paled.

"It was in jest."

"I didn't find it very funny. Now, do whatever it is that you came here for and leave. If I see you loitering about, I might just have you tossed in beside her," the guard ordered, turning on a polished boot and strutting off.

"Pompous bastard," the man holding me hissed, but it was far too quiet for anyone else to hear.

But he must have been complying with orders when he hoisted me up into his arms. The other people in his group followed. I thought about fighting, about using the last of my strength to claw my nails into one of them or to hurl curses. But I remembered the dagger in my boot and felt the tiredness in my bones. Soon. But not yet.

I let them lead me into the walls of the castle. It should have been an incredible once-in-a-generation experience for a peasant like myself to even see something of this degree. But knowing that bloodsuckers lurked removed any wonder from me. Fear crept up my throat as we moved down the stairs, well below ground level. Only things meant to be forgotten and destroyed went down this low and were as heavily guarded as this.

"Are you sure he wants her here?" someone asked.

"No, but I'm not staying here long enough to find out his details. He asked us to bring her to him. We did. We will collect our bounty and be on our way."

"She's here to be prisoner?" a guard asked, his uniform matching the ones I had seen outside, but covered in dust. His blue eyes were skeptical as they raked over me in my now filthy white dress.

"Yes."

"She doesn't look like much of a prisoner," the guard pressed.

"If you feel so inclined, you may take our orders and question your uppers," the man holding me said hotly. Keeping one arm around me, he retrieved a paper from a jacket pocket and thrust it at the guard.

Whatever that little slip of wrinkled and worn paper said was enough to damn me.

And a rusty key was retrieved and I was tossed in a small cell, barely big enough for me to lie down in. But there was straw that smelled clean and a small bowl of crystal-clear water. I tried not to think too hard about the reasons they wouldn't want me to die right away.

"You'll be dealt with in the morning, so make yourself comfortable," the guard said, his voice haunting. I was certain it was something he had said a thousand times to intimidate. There were few things more frightening than one's own thoughts and a slowly encroaching demise. He turned to the men who had captured me. "I'll give you your reward in the office. Please follow me."

And so, I was left alone in a prison cell beneath a palace filled with vampires. I felt the comforting intrusion of the dagger in my boot. I drank the water, hoping it would help my body recover, and I curled up into a small ball on the straw.

Oh, to have only bore the burden of becoming Sampson's wife.

~~~Question of the Day~~~

Are you allergic to any animals?