The Silver Lining

The four children were all huddled close together in the cart as they rolled along the old path that had been worn into the earth by the hundreds of other travellers and wagons that had been there prior to them. The cold weather signalled the end of their warmer days and the birth of another frozen winter. Rags barely covered the children and they were trying their best to keep warm as they watched the forests of their home pass by.

Days had passed since their tears and cries had stopped and they had become almost mute to their captors who rode ahead and alongside of the cart.

The territory they were in now, they had never seen before. The forests of their village were gone. Hills with only a few trees were all that they had surrounding them. The wagon jerked to a stop suddenly, throwing the group of children off balance. The eldest of the children peered out through the fur that was covering one side of the wagon where most of the raiders were. She was around the age of twelve summers and had bright brown eyes, skin as white as the full moon and hair that looked like some Pagan god had picked up dirt from the Earth and sprinkled it over her head when she was newly born.

Those wide eyes searched the faces of the men and wondered as to why they had stopped. An order was shouted out in Latin and she jumped in fright when one slammed his shield into the bars of the cage, right near where her fingers were curled round the bars. She pulled her fingers back in when he growled at her, moving back from the bars.
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Outside, Rankor looked at his men and barked at them to make camp for the night, that they'd continue on in the morning. He got off his horse and let one of the others take it, moving towards the caged children and looking in at them. "Give them something to eat. We wouldn't want them to look poor when we get to markets," he said to one of the men who nodded.

He adjusted the leather jerkin round his wide middle which was the result of too much food and ale over his years and the slow decrease in his actions to prevent such growth. Almost walking with a small waddle in his step the man moved towards the fire the men were building up to warm themselves in the coming night. Ten men, Woad prisoners and a journey to the slave markets was a very long and tedious thing for him nowadays. Back in the days when his body had been strong and fit, he had been the one to capture the prisoners and walk on foot. After some years though, his health had begun to diminish and he had taken the place as leader and slave trader and not one of the dogs that followed the orders. Now he gave them.

As he made to sit down, Ilus rushed over to him and said that he found something that he might be interested in. Rankor told him to lead the way and four of the men joined them as they headed to where Ilus had come from. The small sea of trees that were just within sight and Ilus lead them only a few metres into it, before pointing to a boulder. Rankor looked at his generally clumsy and buffoon like goon with a raised eyebrow. "It is a rock, Ilus," he said and the others chuckled.

Ilus shook his head. "No, no, no behind it," he replied and pulled Rankor closer to it.

Glancing at his man, he stepped over to the boulder. Looking over it, a large cunning smile grew on his face. "Men, it seems Ilus has discovered a siren amongst the rocks."

The joke fell short on his men before he moved and grabbed hold of the woman's feet that lay unconscious on the ground, a gash on her forehead. They all stared at the body as Rankor dragged her into view and let go of her feet. He instructed his men to get her back to camp. Her clothing was strange and not familiar to him however it was not her clothing that would gain him a lot of coin from selling her at the markets. She was striking in appearance and he did not doubt that one or two of the higher payers at the Voreen markets would find enjoy the woman's beauty for their house as whatever they saw fit to do with her once she was theirs.

Never one to not notice a profit when he saw one, Rankor reminded his men to be careful and not damage such a rare find for them. They nodded and the largest of the men who stood clear of the others by two and a half heads lifted the woman from the ground and up over one shoulder, carrying her as though she was nothing more than just some sack of potatoes.
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Sophia groaned as she began to come round, her head ached terribly and she struggled to remember what had happened for a few moments as she began to open her eyes. Feeling something poke her side, she glanced round. Four pairs of wide brown eyes were staring at her and she sat up, causing them all to move back. Looking round she found herself in a small cage like contraption it was cramped with the other inhabitants and Sophia wondered what had happened when she'd fallen unconscious.

Glancing at the owners of the four pairs of eyes, Sophia found four children watching her warily, huddled together and in nothing more than rags. Her heart broke seeing one looked barely older than three and was shaking. Putting her hands up in a peaceful gesture, Sophia asked them if they knew where she was, what had happened. The eldest of the group, or judging by her appearance she was, shook her head and started speaking in a language that was foreign to her.

Sophia's eyebrows knitted together as she tried to understand what the child was saying, however she couldn't and looked at the four children who all seemed a little more settled round her. Two of them were twin boys who aside from the difference in their hair lengths looked identical. Sophia decided to at least give communication another try and pointed to herself, saying her name slow and clear to the children. The eldest nodded after Sophia repeated herself a few times.

Sophia held her hand out to the girl, asking for her name. "Merwyn." She smiled at the child.

"Merwyn. That's pretty," she commented and saw the girl blush as if she knew what Sophia had said.

"Celcie," Merwyn pointed to the tiniest child of the group. Sophia's first instinct was to hug the petite child who looked as terrified beyond words.

"Vannic and Avinar." The two boys looked like they were plotting to attack something or someone at any moment and just as she made to try and speak to them again, a rustling and jangle of keys made her turn sharply and she crawled back away from what she now found was the door to their prison. It opened and she found men in strange clothing peering in at them all. Sophia didn't like this and as such lifted herself up slightly and place a well aimed kicked to the front man's face, knocking him back into the others and causing them all to fall down. Grabbing hold of Celcie, she climbed from the cart as the other three did, only to be grabbed suddenly. She struggled to get free of the man's vice like hold as the children were all caught and Celcie was ripped out of her arms.

One of the men, who was pudgy and round stepped forward and backhanded Sophia. He started speaking in yet another language that Sophia did not understand. Where was she? These languages were not common near her home. How far had she been taken while unconscious?

She screamed at the man to let her go and stomped on his foot and brought her elbow back up into his nose. He let her go and she made to grab her sword, only to find it- missing! Looking around as though it would be in plain sight, Sophia glowered at the man before her as he chuckled. She heard one of the children scream and turned to find them being thrown back into the cage. Something slammed into the back of her skull and Sophia's vision blurred and darkened as she fell to the ground.
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When she came round again, she found the children all sitting against her back talking to each other quietly. Putting a hand to the back of her head, she found it was swollen and hurt to touch even with the utmost gentleness. The children all crowded over her when they noticed she was awake and Sophia decided that she much be somewhere north, for the children and men were not dressed at all like any person she had seen before. Their clothing looked like it dated back from the pages of her father's numerous history books.

Celcie climbed into her lap and Sophia felt her heart tighten as she wrapped her arms around the small child. Protecting the innocent and those who could not protect themselves was something that she lived by and now, now she was all but one of them. Whatever fate was to befall them Sophia was going to make sure that it was not whatever these men had planned, she would fight with bare hands if need be to protect these children, it was in her nature.
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Sophia and the children were kept in their cage without food and water for what seemed like eternity. It was only four days, but Sophia was weak from the lack of it and the children were fairing worse than she was. A scrawny member of the group holding them prisoner had her sword. How did she know this? Because she had seen him fiddling with it two nights ago, inspecting it as though he had never seen a blade like it before in his life and then had given her a look or curiosity, as though he was attempting to work out who she was.

Her lips were cracked, dry and split. They stung whenever she wet them with her tongue and so now she had reduced herself to not doing that even. On the fifth day of their imprisonment Sophia was barely conscious, she couldn't think properly and as much as she tried to find strength to move, she couldn't. The corset that hugged her middle tightly was now loose on her and Sophia didn't think she could stay conscious much longer. They were holding them prisoner but if they intended to do something with them, like sell them then why would they starve them. She had gathered it was because of what she did but they had surely expected a woman to fight back when she was being held captive.

Sophia looked out of the cage and at the lush green forest they had entered not long ago. Its trees were tall and twisted, old and strong. When she shut her eyes, she heard a cry of pain suddenly and they snapped open, searching for what had happened. With what very little strength she had left, Sophia moved from near the bars of the cage as one of the men fell to the ground, an arrow lodged in his throat.

The children held onto her tightly and Sophia whispered an old Latin prayer she knew and heard fighting outside. Without her weapons and energy, Sophia felt defenseless and terrified of what was happening ahead of the wagon on which their cage had been built. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she heard an order be shouted out. She understood it. It was Latin. She could not help but wonder as to what language the children had been speaking to her then and the language of their captors for neither were Latin.

The sound of the keys in the door to their cage and the children all started whimpering or crying, afraid of what was about to happen to them, and Sophia tried to console them but it seemed like their captors had spread fear into the children easily by nearly killing them of starvation. When the cage door was pulled open, Sophia pulled the children to her as a man looked in at them. A second man joined him after he said something to Latin. They were not from the group of men who had been holding them prisoner.

They spoke again and Sophia tried to remember some of the Latin teachings that the friar had taught her as a child when they were deciphering ancient books and she had wanted to help him. Her mind was scrambled and light so trying to recall words at this moment proved to be quite difficult. She picked up some of what they were saying as she started to feel her body begin to give into the exhaustion, despite her struggle to remain conscious.

"Woad... her clothing... Lance we can't leave them to die..." Sophia's eyes rolled back in her head and the last thing she remembered was a pair of dark figure leaning over her.