It was times like these I wished I had a sudden awakening, or a level up, and my new powers unlocked. Materialize a weapon out of thin air or summon a creature to maul these bastards down. Set someone on fire while electrocuting another.
But my magic sucked, and my hands were bound, so weapons were useless to me anyway. Was this it for me? Wait for someone to rescue me?
Said magic thrummed within me when a hand caressed my cheek, before sliding down my neck, fingering my collarbone, clutching one of my tits.
“Boss, you said no touching,” a third man complained.
“I won’t leave a mark,” he growled, squeezing me. “Guard the door.”
After footsteps, grunting, the creak and the latching of the door, the hand on my boob resumed fondling me, a thumb brushing my nipple. I tried my best to resist shuddering with disgust.
“I know you’re awake, my lady,” he crooned, the last part mocking. “Open those pretty eyes for me.”
There wasn’t any use pretending, so I opened them with a glare. I didn’t recognize this leader of the kidnappers, but judging from their brief conversation, they were following orders from somelord.
“Feisty,” he hummed, before he pulled me up by the shoulders, sitting me up on the floor while he crouched in front of me. He untied the rag in my mouth. “I wonder what you did to piss off our Lord so much.”
“Something less bad than what I’m about to do to you,” I growled. He chuckled, clearly not believing me, so he didn’t react in time when I head-butted him right on the nose. Blood immediately spurted out of the injury. Before he could make a pained sound, he fell unconscious on the floor.
The ruckus caught the attention of the two hooligans, and they burst inside. “Boss?” One of them asked while the other glanced between their boss and me.
“What the hell did you do?” One grabbed me by the neck. I choked at the tight grip, but in the next second, he was on the floor next to his boss, unconscious.
Witnessing this, the last man didn’t take any chances and pulled out a knife. “What the fuck are you?”
“Just a noble lady,” I answered honestly.
He stepped warily closer; knife pointed at me. “What did you do to them?”
“They passed out,” I explained. It was the truth.
“Wake them up,” he ordered, waving his knife.
I looked from him to the two sleeping bodies on the floor. “I can’t. My hands are tied.” Also the truth.
He nudged them with his foot, but there was no reaction — the two men were decisively knocked out. “You’re staying right the fuck here till our Lord gets here,” he screamed at me, and I really couldn’t let that happen. What if he brought more people with him? It would be impossible for me to escape.
“Can you at least pull up my dress so my tits aren’t hanging out?” I pleaded, and with how their Lord wanted me untouched must have motivated him to do as I asked. He crouched closer, placing the knife near my throat, and reached for the neckline of my dress. As he slid it up over my breasts, his hands loosened their grips before he, too, fell on the floor. The knife fell onto my lap.
I got to work.
After a lot of maneuvering and scooting, the knife from my lap went to my hands behind my back. I gripped it and sawed through the binds on my wrists with great effort. I didn’t know how long it took, but every second felt like an eternity since I didn’t know when their lord would appear.
Once my hands were free, I freed my ankles next. I stood up on shaky legs and supported myself on the wall. What the hell was I supposed to do now?
I stared at the kidnappers’ leader. If this were his profession, I couldn’t let him continue. It was terrifying to know that a manlike himhad a joblike this. I got lucky, but who was to say he didn’t do anything worse to previous victims? And I had to figure out who ordered him to kidnap me.
Gulping down my nerves, I slid the knife into my dress pocket. I had to get away from here first. Get my bearings, find my way back to the academy. Easier said than done.
I exited the room, closing the door with a quiet click. From a different empty room, I pulled out a chair and latched it under the knob. It might not fully stop them from leaving, but at least it might cause annoyance.
The stairs down lead to a full brothel, with several women working, delivering ale andotherservices. I tried to stay hidden as much as I could, because I should expect more people from the kidnapper’s group. If one of them saw me, they’d know something went wrong.
Staying close to the walls, I snuck out of the building through the front door because escapees were expected to exit through the back. By now, the sun had set, and the streetlamps were slowly turning on, fueled with magic. I wasn’t safe yet; what if there were more of them out here?
Memorizing the brothel’s name from the sign, I headed out to the street, hoping I could find my way back.
I was too far from the academy, it seemed, because the people I asked directions from weren’t always very helpful.
