When the man's hand wrapped around her tiny arm, the little girl could feel her blood run cold. She instinctively tried to pull away, but it was to no avail. His fingers dug into her soft skin enough to make her want to cry. She mustered up the courage to kick at his legs but was met with a harsh slap to the face. She raised her free arm to her cheek. It stung when her fingers drifted over the reddened spot which was sure to bruise.
"Let go of me!" She cried.
The man's grin had long since vanished and was now replaced with a sinister scowl. "I don't think so little lady. You're in no position to give orders here." Without another word, he began dragging her away.
She dug her heels into the ground in a futile attempt at resistance. She glanced behind her. They were quite far from the crowded streets but close enough that someone could hear her if she screamed. Unfortunately, the man seemed to predict what she was thinking and as she sucked in a breath and opened her mouth, his hand slapped over it. She recoiled in disgust against the man's touch. As much as she struggled and kicked, she could not break free. Panic flooded her veins and before she knew it, her vision began to blur.
"...BEL..."
"ISABELLE!"
She could hear a voice calling out to her. It was presumably one of Illya's guards but she couldn't quite make it out. Within seconds she was out cold.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
The icy concrete pressed against Isabelle's cheek and the faint sound of people speaking rang in her ears like white noise. It took her a minute to shake herself from her stupor.
"I'm telling you, she's the Dragon Queen's granddaughter. She should be enough to pay off the remaining debt!"
Isabelle recognized the voice to be that of the man that kidnapped her. She sat up and looked around. She was greeted with uninviting grey walls and a dirty sheet in the corner of the room. The windowless room was complete with a tall iron door with bars. Isabelle looked over at the sheet that was clearly meant to be some kind of bed...except...without the actual bed. All kinds of insects crawled along the sheet. Isabelle cringed and kicked it away from her. She stood up and quietly walked over to the front of the cell. Kneeling at the door, Isabelle leaned in close so she could hear the conversation that drifted past the bars and into the cell.
"Your son wasn't worth that much. You think this kid will be worth any more than he is?"
"I'm telling you, she's the real deal. If you don't believe me all you have to do is go out to the borders. All the guards are talking about it and looking for her by now."
The other man sighed. "You've given us good business Andras, but if what you say is true then how can I be sure no one followed you here? They're going to trace her back here eventually. You know how meticulous the Dragon Queen is and the Princess seems to have inherited her mother's...intense personality when it comes to her children."
The kidnapper, which Isabelle could now place as "Andras," scoffed. "If you're that worried about it then sell her quickly. Get rid of any evidence she was here. Boom. Problem solved."
The other man sighed again and spoke with an audible frown. "...Alright then. We have a deal. Your son was worth 9,900 silver lunair and since we can use him for labour the price has been bumped up to 100,000 gold lunair. Since the girl is from that family, I'd say she's worth around 16 million gold luniar as she is now. "
Andras fell silent. "...I figured she'd be worth more than that."
"Well, she's not. Even with both of them combined, that still leaves you 84 million lunair in debt. Lucky for you, if I loan her to one of the whore houses in the South I can charge interest and once she gets older and starts bringing in customers I'll be sure to get my money's worth. For someone of her pedigree, it should be fairly easy. Within a few years, you'll have paid off your debt with this."
"Good, good. I'll get in touch with one of the brothels. I'll be back in a day or two to take her there once I get word from them."
"Sounds good."
Isabelle listened as footsteps that she assumed belonged to Andras faded further into the distance until they were finally gone. A million thoughts flooded her head as panic began to fill her gut once again. She didn't know where she was, how far from home she was, or what was going to happen to her. Isabelle shuffled back to the corner of the room when she heard the other man's footsteps get closer to the door. For the time being, she felt it best to not resist and so she laid back down and pretended to sleep. The unmistakable scraping of metal alerted her of his entrance and less than a second later she felt a hand grab the back of her neck and yank her to her feet.
"Up and adams brat. You're a lucky one. You get to stay with us for a few days."
He shoved her forward, causing her to stumble out of the cell. "Move it. I'm taking you to where you'll be staying."
She did as she was told. It was a long and silent walk down the dreary hallway. It was a stuffy corridor with depressing concrete walls and cells lining it. The stench coming from the cells was enough to make her eyes water.
"...what are you gonna do to me?" She asked, trying to muster as much bravery as she could. She spoke loudly, trying her best to seem unfazed but the way her lips quivered and her legs threatened to give way beneath her, betrayed her.
"Not something you need to worry about. It ain't like you have a choice in the matter."
He dragged her along to a small, secluded area where a lone cell was located. Its only separation from the hallway were the tall intimidating bars. The man pulled out a key and tossed her in there. This time, she didn't stumble and instead turned to look at him.
"Who are you?"
"That's also none of ya business." He huffed, locking the cell door.
She watched as he marched down the hall again and disappeared down the corner. Now that she was alone again, she could hear the soft clanging of metal. It wasn't very far, maybe a few cells down from her. Curious, and desperate to find a way out she looked around her cell for anything she could use. She noticed that a corner of the cell wall had broken away over time and some of the ruble was still on the ground. She crawled over to it and picked it up. Bright teal markings began to form on the back of her palms as she pressed and moulded the ruble together.
When the glowing marks faded and she no longer felt the jaded edges of the broken concrete in her hands, she slowly opened them. In her palms was a small humanoid figure with a small wiry tail and tiny horns protruding from its head. It was a little trick she had learned from her father. He had taught her how to use her magic to create gargoyles and being that she was half gargoyle herself, it made the process that much easier. The little gargoyle was no bigger than the length of her palm and his horns were a bit disfigured. Not her best work but it would do for now. He opened his eyes slowly.
134Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTzGAx2Zic
"Hi, there! My name's Isabelle. I know you were just born but I need your help," she whispered.
"What can I do for you, Miss Isabelle?" He sang.
"I need you to steal the key to this cell. A tall scruffy man with brownish hair has it. He's wearing a black cloak with a weird insignia on it. He went that way." She pointed in the direction he had walked in. "I need to get out of here."
"Alrighty!" The little gargoyle saluted before hoping of her hand and flying down the hall after the man.
When he rounded the corner, he could see the man at the very end of the long hall. The little gargoyle flew over to him. The man walked into an office of some sort and slumped down in his chair. He ran his fingers through his greasy hair.
"What a long day..." He mumbled to himself as he pulled out a bottle of alcohol from beneath his desk.
The gargoyle waited patiently for an opening. However, the more he waited, the more cracks and crevices began to form on his body. Luckily it wasn't long until the man was so drunk that he couldn't even stand to leave his chair. Instead, he fell into a drunken slumber right at his desk. When he did, the gargoyle fluttered over to him and quickly snatched the keys to Isabelle's cell. He returned to free her just in time. When she held her hands out to thank him, his body crumbled into dust and slipped through her fingers.
"...looks like my magic still isn't strong enough to keep them alive..." Isabelle whispered with a frown.
She looked at the mysterious cell. She could still hear the clanging. Isabelle pulled the keys from the lock on her cell and approached with caution. The closer she got, the louder the clanging became and the harder her heart pounded in her chest.
"Hope it's not a hungry hound." She pushed the key into the lock and pulled the cell doors opened.
The metal door creaked open and she released the breath she was holding as she gazed into the dark room. A gasp filled the crisp air as her eyes adjusted.
"A kid?"
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