LIROIDS

Captivity & Rescue

Eyela’s POV.

When I woke, the world was wrong. The air smelled of incense, heavy and cloying, and the sheets beneath me were too soft, silk, not the worn linen of home. For a heartbeat, I thought perhaps I was dreaming. But then the memories flooded back, the carriage, my father’s hand, Lord Glen’s smile, and the truth struck harder than any blow.

“You are at Glen Manor, my lady.”

The voice startled me. A maid stood near the bed, her hands trembling as she set down a tray of food. She bowed her head. “I have drawn your bath.”

Glen Manor. The name itself curdled in my stomach. I threw aside the covers, stumbling toward the window. The gardens below were lovely at first glance, but they were crawling with guards. Spears glinted in the sunlight, eyes roved like hunting dogs. There would be no easy escape.

“Please, my lady,” the maid said softly, “eat something.”

“Leave me.” My voice shook, but anger gave it edge. “Leave me!”

She fled, and silence closed around me like a coffin. I pressed my forehead to the glass, tears smearing the reflection of my own pale face. I had never felt so small.

The door burst open hours later, and I didn’t need to look to know who it was. His footsteps announced him confident, deliberate, and cruel.

“You sulk,” Glen said, his smile sharp. “But you will learn in time. I am not unkind, so long as I am obeyed.”

“I will never obey you,” I hissed, backing away until my spine pressed against the wall.

He tilted his head, as though studying a stubborn animal. “You should be grateful. Do you know how many women in this kingdom would sell their souls to be mistress of Glen Manor?”

“I am not them.”

His hand shot out, seizing my wrist, his grip bruising. “What does that boy Seyal have that I do not?”

The answer came like fire from my chest. “Courage. And a heart.”

His face twisted. He shoved me down onto the bed, his shadow swallowing me whole. “You will not speak his name again. You are mine now, and I will have you however I please.”

I clawed at his face, kicking, thrashing, screaming. “Let me go, you beast!”

He only laughed, low and venomous. “Perhaps, when I am done, I shall let my men enjoy what remains.”

Terror ripped through me, raw and choking. My scream echoed off the stone walls.

And somewhere in the distance, Seyal heard me.

Night came, and with it, dread. I huddled in the corner of the chamber, my body aching, my spirit splintered. I prayed Seyal would find me, though I feared he never could. But then the door opened up, not with Glen’s swagger, but with hurried steps.

“Eyela!”

My head snapped up. A familiar voice. Seyal. He dropped to his knees, fumbling with the lock that bound my chains.

“Stay back,” I cried, panic clawing at me. “Please, don’t touch me!”

“It’s me,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “It’s Seyal. I’ve come for you.”

Recognition flooded me like light through darkness. “Seyal?” His name escaped my lips like a prayer.

He found the key and freed me. My knees buckled, and I collapsed into his arms. His embrace was fierce, desperate, full of love.

“I will get you out,” he vowed. “You’re safe now.”

Tears poured from me. “No, Seyal. I can never be safe again. He…he has taken everything from me.”

Seyal’s chest heaved, his own tears wetting my hair. “You are mine, Eyela. Always. Whatever was done to you, it was not your fault. Nothing will change my love.”

“You should not love me,” I sobbed. “I am unclean.”

He cupped my face, his eyes blazing. “You are everything. And I will love you until my last breath.”

“How did you find me?” He looked at me then with what looked like a sorrowful face

“I went in search of you the next morning to pay the marriage dues required of me, but to my surprise, you were nowhere to be seen,” holding me closer.

"When I asked where you had gone, your parents said you were better off without me. Realisation struck me, and I wondered how cruel they could be to sell their own blood for money."

I looked at him with tears in my eyes.

“I know the cook's son at Glen Manor; we are good friends, so I sought out his help…so here I am.”

I looked away and wept as he lifted me and walked out.

With the help of Sam, the cook’s boy, we escaped through a hidden passage. The night air hit my skin like freedom, though dread stalked our heels. Seyal lifted me onto a horse, his arms tight around me as we rode through the forest.

But fate had not finished its cruelty.

An arrow hissed through the dark and struck Seyal deep in his side. His cry tore through me. Crimson spread across his tunic, warm and terrible.

“Run, Eyela,” he rasped, clutching my hand. “Run!”

“No!” I screamed, clutching him as the horse staggered to a halt. “I won’t leave you!”

His gaze locked with mine, dark with pain, bright with love. “I will always love you… But you must live.”

With his last breath, he pushed me onto dry ground and rode away with a faint smile lingering on his lips.

The forest swallowed him as he fell with his horse, and my cry split the night.

Behind me, Glen’s men closed in, torches blazing. Before me loomed the Dark Forest, a place of whispered horrors, where even hunters dared not tread.

Grief burned like fire in my veins. I ran, plunging into the shadows. The trees closed around me, roots tangling at my feet, branches clawing at my skin.

The girl I had been, the farmer’s daughter, the laughing bride-to-be, the beloved of Seyal, was gone.

Only a hollow shell remained, stumbling deeper into the darkness.

And somewhere in the depths of that cursed forest, destiny waited.