"Life is beautiful not because of the things we do or see. Life is beautiful because of the people we meet." - Simon Sinek

Fun Fact - A group of owls is called a parliament.

She steered awaked, breathing heavily. She sighed when she spotted Alex, "Where the fuck are we?!"

"That doesn't matter. If we can get these people to spare us, then we can wonder where we are." He sounded out, rudely. She knew he was just confused and planning the next move to keep them alive. To get them back to their friends and family.

Carson was seated in the corner. His arms bound as they were. He was the only one gagged. As were his eyes.

"Both your father and I knew the type of man he was when your grandfather sent him away to battle. His whole life, he believed if he had been born just a few seconds before, he would have been treated differently. You never knew your grandparents but they did not meet the ends the way it was laid out. As, you, my dear," he shifted to look at Eleanor, "The cliff accident was not just because of a loose wheel."

Alex looked straight, astonished, "Go on."

"This is jealousy. Wanting to be accepted and acknowledged."

"This isn't as simple as that." Eleanor cut in, "He's killed children, wives, daughters." She knew she hit a chord there.

He looked down, defeated, "You are right. It isn't. On the night they were born, no one knows who came out first. It could well have been him. He seems to believe it was him. They had an argument one night and your grandfather sent him away as I said. Before that, he had been treated as if he didn't exist, as a scapegoat to take the blame even on the rare occasion that your father caused trouble. Your grandfather didn't miss any chance to tell his second son what a useless person he was and that he would never amount to anything. It was harder for him when his ignorant brother tried to tell him otherwise and when he did stay quiet when he should not have."

"What happened when he was sent off?"

"He met a woman. She was from the empire. She loved him. She loved him but she craved adventure more. When the king of another country offered her the chance to be his mistress, she took the offer of marriage to be a princess."

"You knew my mother?"

"Everyone knew her. She was the perfect lady and men offered to be her husband."

Alex looked for the right way to ask what he would next, "What did my grandfather say about this marriage? And why did he come on official visits to Milbourne then?"

"For once, your grandfather praised him for doing the right thing. Choosing the right woman and we both know why he went on those visits. To plan revenge. After that, he came back from the army a changed man. Fell in line. Anything else he wanted, he asked for no more. He slept around, drank and gambled, but he made sure to clean his shit up. It looked well, until he joined protesters to get rid of the royal family. It disgraced your father and your grandparents and even your mother, who he was engaged to at the time. She didn't love him. No. She had loved your father even when she was not with him."

"But he loved her."

Carson did not need to say more. Alex didn't need an explanation or to understand. He needed to open his eyes to what had been right in front of him, what he had shut out and memories, no matter how disturbing, needed light to be sheered on and remembered, "He feels wronged. He was wronged by so many people and it goes far beyond his family and lovers of the past. This is just the start."

"Why me? I have not done or spoken against him or taken from him!" He whispered in a harsh tone.

The old man laughed. The king was young and as naive as the girl next to him, "Don't you get it boy?" He questioned, coughing blood to the ground and shifting in his uncomfortable position.

Eleanor had kept quiet. She had listened and realized Carson was right, the answer was right in front of them, "You have taken it all from him."

"What?"

As Eleanor made her attempt to speak, the guards jumped in, taking her arm and pulling her away. She looked behind, catching a glance of Carson being dragged behind her.

They dragged her far, ceasing shortly. The tan man to her left loosened his grip, opening a similar prison, "Please? Let us go."

She was pushed into the structure, falling face flat and unable to use her bound hands. Her head pounded as a pool rolled down her side.

"Ringon mein ladenge," the guard who pushed her spoke loud enough for her to hear to his comrade. The shorter one she was unfamiliar with spun to face her from his higher standing, directing his eyes and casting them on her.

He looked down, pulling down his leather trousers and his cream tunic. He fisted his manhood and released himself. As Eleanor grasped the situation, it was already too late.

She spit the residue of the man, throwing hideous curses at him. She was glad he couldn't understand as she could not him. If they ever were to leave this place unscathed, she herself would kill this man. With her own bare hands.

"Vijeta kutiya aur usake tang, saphed chhed ko chod sakata hai." The guard smiled, twisting the corners of his mouth to spit. He pulled his learhers back, turning as his friend laughed and nodded.

She saw red. Plain blood red, "Ham dekhenge kaun chodata hai."

The laughing stopped. The laughing one, who had shoved her opened the wooden gate but was pulled back.

"Leave her! The chief will not be pleased to learn the bitch was killed and that his orders were not fulfilled." His attention turned towards Eleanor, who held a smug look. White people did not care to learn their language. For that, she earned what respect she would from him.

Hours, which felts as days passed by in a flash. The sky went from blue to black and rats the size of her hands nibbled on the dirt and attempted what they could at at feet. She'd been through worse in the dungeons back home.

Home.

Yes. Home. The empire was as much her hoke now. There was no denying it. She would fight this war to go home. That home was now her freedom.

"Shall we get the snakes? Or the chief's tiger?" The taller one, handsome as he may be teased. His friend stayed silent. His attention heightened and his attention was redirected elsewhere. Eleanor watched as he gave an nod, using her common sense that one of their own stood in the distance.

They opened her cage and dragged her. finally able to breathe proper air away from the rats, she took in what she needed to. The trees were not the same as the empire nor Milbourne. More tropical. The water as she had remembered was a a deeper blue than the green of the empire or Milbourne. The rats were bigger, darker. The birds at the shore too, they were not native to the empire as she had learned in her lessons or to Milbourne.

The pieces were finally clicking. Timothy had shortly given information of being in the High Seas. Richmond had seemed to be the place of destination.

They couldn't be far from there. The only place that seemed plausible was native Islands off Richmond. That was one but two options. Keswick.

She was dropped onto her knees. On their own, her eyes shut adjusting to the fire that lit the grounds. She was surrounded but the guard and their people. To her side, she could tell was Carson. The man was bagged over the head. Whatever he had said must have truly insulted these people.

The cheering and chants began as he was dragged into then. She tried to stand and make a grab as his body passed by but her guards held her down, her face pressed to the the dirt.

"Welcome my people," A voice singled out and the noice ceased to exist. No one spoke. Women, tan and brownish pressed their children to their breasts, most of them almost naked and the others clothed to the brim. Guards stood in every hidden corner available. Others shaped a line leading to the front.

At the centre of attention seated the man that had spoken. Had managed to calm the storm of chatter. Silence sat among the crowed and the two hostages. They were prisoners and foreigners in the eyes of this village tribe. To these people, most importantly, they were white. White men brought trouble.

The ground rumbled. In the distance, the sand shifted. Eleanor could hear something was coming. Someone was coming. He appeared soon. The sight she could not bear to look at.

He was beaten. They left no corner if his skin white. It was a sea, an ocean of purple bruises and cuts, still bloody. His face although was left untouched. That was a good sign.

It meant they needed him to speak. Speaking and conversation meant living longer, even for a few skewed seconds.

With his arms twisted in the grips of the two men at his sides, Eleanor could only watch as Alex was dragged, as she had been not long ago, closer to the feet of the man she could only guess was their ticket out if this whole ordeal.

"As your chief, my one and foremost duty is for the survival of our people and for our everlasting connection with Creator," he rose from his wooden pike throne, anger brewing as his appearance slide of assurance and authority, to rage and disgust. His eye landed on the girl.

With his bare chest, the chief stepped towards the girl who dared to hold his gaze, "Our safety has been threatened and trembled upon by these aliens. If they cannot provide proof that their presence not a risk to that survival," he stood still at Eleanor. His hand was quick to her neck, holding her up despite the appearance that he was weak, "They shall die."

Thunder pounded. It poured and pounded again. Such a force became louder and louder, cracking with each step it took. It was huge. Three time the size of the man at his feet. The guards released Alex.

He searched for Eleanor, watching as she struggled for air, "Beat this man in combat, and my people shall give you the chance to explain yourself. If sufficient," he paused and chuckled darkly, "Let us not jump the gun. That won't happen."

The huge weapon of fat and muscle clamped his fists together, swinging them down at Alex. Eleanor shut her eyes. This was barbaric. Savage. More savagely savage than that of what the Empire believe was the savagery of Milbourne was.

The crowd exhaled a gasp. Eleanor opened an eye slowly to see the beaten man ok the ground holding his own. Alex held both fists, using his forced to keep the death weapons away from him.  He began kicking, doing nothing to the man.

Alex stopped, just swerving in time to miss another fist. This wasn't how he was going to win this fight. He dodged fist after fist, his stamina diminishing. At this rate, he would lose.

He couldn't kill the man. He stood for a moment, his own weapon seated beside the empty throne. This was his own mistake as the big man landed a hit on him. Hit after hit, a spout of blood after blood, Alex was driven into the ground. Another hit came, but it was intercepted.

With one arm, he held one fist of the man, kicking into his shin. It was a good move. Alex raced to the woman who had been watching them from the seat the chief had left.

To her head, he pulled out a gun, breathing blood, "I don't wish to kill you," he whispered. The old wrinkled woman chuckled as if a joke had been told, "While that might seem a lie with this weapon of death to your scalp, the way the chief is looking at me as if he wants to murder me  himself says that he will do anything if you are unharmed."

"And you hold a gun to my head because?"

He took in a breath, taking a moment that he did not have, "I do not care how your people kill me. I don't care if I die right this second. It would be a victory for me today. I also do not care for the death of the man with a bag around his face. In fact I will kill him for you if I must. All I ask is that you beg your chief to let her go. She has done nothing but exist and somehow, just existing and breathing poses a threat. If that is how you people think, then the world is fucked."

The woman looked at Eleanor, whose air flow seemed to be regaining. She looked to her husband. He let her go.

Alex withdrew his gun, taking the granade he had been able to retrieve from the ship along with the gun from the armoury.

The guards were quick to check him, embarrassed in how he was able to take back what they were sure they took off his person, "Leave the boy."

Alex watched as both men left him go, "Is this the part I get to explain myself?"

The chief sat back down, holding his wife's hand. He was silent. One guard on his side stepped forward, swinging his arm to meet Alex. The backhand was swift. Alex spat out blood. He had expected it. The test had been worth it.

These people honoured respect. The chief would not be spoken to informally.

"I did not say you would explain." They both watched as another guard took the bag over Carson's head, "Speak girl!"

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Who are these people? What is this village? How will Alex and Eleanor survive this? You know the drill. Swipe up to find out. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. You did?! Show your support. Comment your thoughts, like this chapter and add this book to your reading lists.

Translations

"Ringon mein ladenge." ~ "We will fight in the ring."

"Vijeta kutiya aur usake tang, saphed chhed ko chod sakata hai." ~ "The winner can fuck the girl and her leggy, white pussy."

"Ham dekhenge kaun chodata hai." ~ "We will see who does the fucking."

Song - Expresso, Sabrina Carpenter