"I am no spy." Ugegbe refuted as firmly as was conceivable with a blade threatening to tear into her throat. Her eyes were upward to the sky to keep from not nicking herself by mistake on the cutlass before the guard poured out unjustifiable punishment on her. Was it not a shame that a day with so sparkling and azure a sky would bestow upon her undue quandary?

A scoff wafted her way from the man, who was now her captor, and she thought the blade dug deeper into her skin. Her only hope was that the blunt side of the weapon was what she was in contact with and not the sharper one, for her blood could have been drawn in the present, and she'd be in no danger of knowing.

"That is what spies would say. You know what I say?"

"No." She trimmed her replies to the shortest they could be to not betray the tongue of hers that was not yet fully trained in the twists and twiddling of the Zoronian verbiage.

"I say you are a liar. You are here to infiltrate the king's palace, so you can relay information to a master of yours, who must have evil intents for His Majesty."

"How are you so convinced of who I am?" Ugegbe asked slowly, taking care with the 'r's in her sentence. Zoro's people substituted their r letters for l and the former for the latter, requiring that she be mindful of her pronunciations.

"As sentry, I know every living soul in this village. We are not so many, you see. Of more consequence is that I know our features. Your beauty is foreign in this place, proving you are a complete stranger. The reality that you were on the path leading to the palace is a confirmation of my suspicions that you are a spy."

"As I have said before, I am no spy. I have no master." That wasn't entirely the truth. She did have a master back in Osisi, one she was enslaved to. However, that was not a tidbit she was interested in sharing with anyone, especially not a man who was bent on forcing her to admit to being what she was not.

A slave was shackled to their master and was expected to reverence and obey them. What better premises would a spy be found in? Moreover, not a single one of the acquaintances she had made so far was au courant with this piece of her life, talk less of a stranger she hoped to never have ties with.

If Ugegbe had her way, her history as a slave would be erased forever. No one could ever know. No matter how much she came to trust them.

"I believe none of the lies your pretty mouth has expelled." The blade was retracted. "Lower your head, let me see you."

Ugegbe did not wish to. She did not consider the man worthy for her to heed his order for the attributes that were solely hers. She did not want him gazing upon her face in the slightest. So she kept her neck stiff, refusing to bend to his will—to meet his eye or lend her beauty to his study.

"You wench!" A sound slap was dealt to her face, rocking the bases of her world, tilting her perception upside down. For a thrice, Ugegbe was not sure she would ever hear again. But then the ringing in her eardrums stopped, and eventually, she could listen on the cheery singing of birds and the lyrical thrums of nature. It took long for her to grasp the sayings of the cruel watch and even longer for her eyes to stop watering, so her vision was not in duplicates.

"What do you want with me?" She asked when she finally had a crisp view of her captor. He was slender and of average height, though still taller than her by all standards. A bushy beard shrouded his jaw and trailed up so high that Ugegbe was almost confident it veiled half of his face. She found it most unbecoming. It was so unlike the carpet of hairs she was attracted to on the man she privately, and only in secret, let herself admire. Onochie's was barely past a stubble as fine strands crept over a strong jawline, a distant cry from concealing it.

"I want you..." he gave her a crooked smile, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood alert. Her heart trembled as her terror grew. She could not do this again. No, no, no...

She swallowed hard before making another inquiry. "Where will you take me?"

"My house. It has been a while since I last enjoyed a woman." His rock-like hand reached out, and its fingers prised her mouth open. Much to her horror, it seemed like he was going to kiss her. By the heavens, she would not let a repeat of that day happen again.

She scratched his arm with her hands and stepped on his foot with her sensible one. But it was to no avail. He was immovable like a hill and was annoyed by her affront since he delivered another solid strike to her face. Ugegbe might have well collapsed to her knees if not for the iron hold keeping her upright.

"If you move or struggle again, I will beat you up and mark your face so no man will ever look upon you with desire."

"Please, no. Do not bring harm to me." She sputtered, both sides of her face smarting frightfully. There was a swelling on both her cheeks, she was sure. Everything hurt, and she just wanted a quiet place to shed her tears. She wouldn't show weakness in front of a brute, one who she prayed will know pain tantamount to hers for what he'd done.

"Do you know that I could take you on this road, and no one would bat an eyelash?" Disgust roiled like a storm through her.

Ah, so there was not much difference between the men in Osisi and those in Zoro. Though, she supposed now that the latter had viler creatures since no man would dare speak such evil words into existence without shame in her homeland.

The assaulters in Osisi were private evildoers who knew that if ever evidence was found against them, their lives would be over. From her lately gained experience, those in Zoro were exceedingly more liberal with their abhorrent ideas. And to think he was so confident that no one would reproach him for so great a sin. It meant his practices had been overlooked for a considerable time. Acts for which he should have lost his fortune and place in the kingdom.

Ugegbe could not hide how appalled she was. It gurgled in her bosom and soon had her features and body language in arrest. Fortunately, her captor did not seem to notice. It made sense to her. He probably did not care enough or have an ounce of respect in his bones to want to consult her feelings or reactions. Those were of no consequences to him when his own desires were involved.

"What will you do with me?" She bit out, defiance hanging in the tone she enlisted up. Her accent had reverted back to what she was accustomed to as one born in Osisi. For she found no purpose pretending to be who she was, not when her audience was about as despicable as a man could be. He was the most ominous of evils, undeserving of her efforts to be as one of Zoro. She had no doubt that no matter what she did, his evil nature would not change, and he'd still view her as an outsider he had a right to torture.

"Why, I will take delight in you. It has been counts since I was administered to by a wench. You"—his fingers caressed the tender skin on her neck—"will suit my needs."

Momentarily forgetting about the strike that had almost brought her crumbling to her knees and the ache that had seeped into her gums, Ugegbe spat in his face. There was no escaping it. No escaping the fate she had carved for herself by letting him have a taste of her contempt firsthand. She closed her eyes to receive the blow however it would come.

"Do not strike her!" A voice she recognised in an instant tore into the elms of the dissent playing out. Ugegbe rejoiced at the sight of the man headed to her, a sturdy pillar on which she was confident she could lean on and take a rest.

Whirling back to the patrol who had first found her, she leased a mocking smile. That must have enraged him, as he rushed for her, hand out-raised. Ugegbe cringed into herself, setting out her arms as a shield behind which she buried her head.

"Ifediaso! Stand back!" That command was final. Ugegbe felt the follicles on her arms and nape ridge at the slight trepidation that had been evoked. It was a first for her to hear power in its rawest form, so defined, from any man. Especially not this one. He was so mellow and gentle. She would never have known he had this side to him from the kindness he'd showed her from their meet.

"What will you do, oh great chief guard? Call the king? I forget that you are his hound, wagging your tail to his call every second. You shame the rest of us who are under you, Kamalu. You are an embarrassment."

"Step away from the maiden." Kamalu's voice was cold, his emotions fended off from his exterior.

"Or what?"

"Or you will face the wrath of the queen mother."

The former blanched, turning to a less hale version of himself. "What has Her Majesty to do with this?"

"This is her territory, as it is before the main palace. You cannot take the girl away without bringing her before the dowager."

"You must not worry your mighty head about the goose, Kamalu. She is a pretty thing, but she does not worth much. I swear it that she is hailed from a distinct kingdom to Zoro. Heed her accent when she speaks." His attention snapped to Ugegbe, and the ugly emotion of hate swirling in his shrewd eyes seared into her, a torment she could not bear. If this Ifediaso took her away, the day would be her last. And oh, how she grieved for it.

Ifediaso's next words were encased in a growl, and Ugegbe stiffened at the disdain that curled his lips. "Let him hear you talk, wench!"

"That is enough!" Kamalu's anger was palpable. It caused the air to crackle with fearful energy, thickening the tension that had cloaked then.

"You get worked up over the simple female. Is there a reason, Kamalu? Have you met her before?" Ifediaso's eyes lobbed from one of his audience to the other.

Ugegbe could imagine his thoughts as if they were splayed on his forehead. He likely had made the conclusion that his chief guard was being consciously overprotective of the strange girl. It begged a second and third take at them.

Without a doubt, he would wonder if there was a relationship fruiting between the two of them. Ugegbe mused that there sort of was, though it was nothing of the thwarted nature Ifediaso probably reasoned of it.

"I must take her to the queen dowager."

"But Her Majesty does not need to know of such an insignificant creature. Leave her to me. I will see to it that she is well taken care of." What lies. Ugegbe shuddered as she instinctively concealed herself behind whatever boulder was in her view. It so happened that Kamalu's body was thickset and mountainous and readily available.

The man who had come to her help dashed her a small smile that only she was privy to—Ifediaso was the outsider intentionally left clueless—as he'd noticed her employing his broad shoulders as a screen of defence. A sheepish grin spoke of her bashfulness as she refused to meet his piercing gaze.

"I am afraid that will not work, Ifediaso. Her Majesty specifically asks for this one."

The patrol's scowl was ardent, and when coupled with his befuddlement, his face was the most hideous thing Ugegbe had ever glimpsed. "Why? Why does the queen mother request for the wench?"

"Perhaps, you should ask her yourself when she invites you into her palace." Kamalu gritted out, glowering at his underling. It warmed Ugegbe's heart that he was standing up for her, gaining anger on her behalf. For the first time since that fateful day, she felt less lonely.

On her inspection, something akin to sorrow or anguish had darkened Ifediaso's cast. Yet, Ugegbe felt nothing for him. There was no compassion welling in her. It was how she confirmed her loathing for him. "You are well aware that will never happen."

"Ah, yes. I forgot so." Kamalu's expression of fake remorse was Ugegbe's newest favourite thing. It was as apparent as day that he did not forget anything but was reminding the other guard of his standing. "Then we shall take our leave now."

Slowly she trailed behind him. As if he was aware of the state of her legs, which were short stubs compared to his, he kept the pace of a snail. She was sincerely grateful to him, as she was still slightly shaken up from the course of things. Her heart yet thudded in her throat, its beats discomposing her, swallowing up her voice so she couldn't utter a word of her appreciation.

Over the hilly road, she trudged with him. While he knew where they were going, she wasn't so certain. It did offer her solace that they were generally headed in the direction of the palace, due North, as Bundo had instructed her.

Was Kamalu truly taking her to the queen? She'd assumed he'd bluffed only to free her out of the brute's grasp. Presently, she was confused. She needed to get her wits back, and her first notion was to gain insight into where they were headed.

Forcing the lump out of her throat in a harsh cough, she regarded the stoic guard. "Where do we go?"

"Somewhere safer for you." She noted that he did not describe the place as safe but rather safer than where they'd been. If she were honest, any location without Ifediaso breathing the same air in the same expanse of land that she did would be more secure than the opposite, but it did not mean she'd not come to any other harm. Consequently, Kamalu's words were not so comforting.

"I thank you for coming to my aid."

He halted abruptly, and his sharp gaze quivered on the settings around them, then came to rest on her. His countenance was granite, a cold, unpleasant change Ugegbe could not fathom its cause, as he admitted. "I did not do it for you."

"For whose sake then did you save me?"

"My master's."
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