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"This is going to sting for the next several days." He clicked his tongue. "So clumsy."

Kel ignored his scoldings as she studied his emerald green eyes and light brown hair.

Dash.

So many questions flooded her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to ask any of them. All she could do was stand and stare..

A sharp pain in her wrist broke her trance. Dash had moved on from inspecting her finger and was now investigating the burns on her wrists.

"This.." he stopped, releasing her hand. "Don't run away again, please."

"Dash…" Kel trailed off, unsure what to say.

"You have to stay, Kel," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

Kel swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "Can you at least tell me about the others?"

"They're safe," Dash answered immediately. "Just worry about yourself now."

Kel opened her mouth to ask another question, but a loud voice cut her off.

"Well, well what's going on here?"

It was the unpleasant soldier who had escorted her from the tent.

She hung her head in silence, knowing anything she said would only make the situation worse. Dash's face instantly turned dark, and he aggressively grabbed Kel's wrist.

"Is it your orders to let important hostages wander around the woods as they please?" he spat.

The guard glared in response.

"Good thing you just happened to be here, Sir Dashien," he bowed mockingly before approaching them. "I'll bring her back now."

Dash snorted, handing Kel's arm over to the soldier, who wasted no time dragging her back toward camp. Dash followed behind with his arms crossed as if ensuring the guard's diligence. They seemed like they really were on the same side. But why was Dash acting like this?

Kel didn't have long to ponder before they reached the tent and the unpleasant man shoved her inside.

"According to Sir Dashien here, it seems you were out of line," he smirked.

The other guard, who had been observing the events lazily, suddenly became interested and drew closer.

"That means you'll need to be punished," the second guard grinned, licking his cracked lips. "Well not you exactly."

He pulled a long leather strip out from where it hung at his side. A small crowd of soldiers had now gathered. They were all elated at the development.

Sadistic pigs, Kel thought to herself. The great Serin military was nothing but a bunch of filthy animals.

The man with the strap stepped toward the door, but the other guard stopped him.

"Let's allow Sir Dashien to deal out the punishment," he chuckled. "He is the one who caught Princess in the first place."

The first man's face fell a little, but he obediently handed the strap over to Dash. As the leather was placed in his palms, Dash shifted his gaze to Barclay, lying in his usual wheezing heap in the tent.

No, Kel thought. Dash wouldn't. Not to one of his own.

"I'm sure you already know, but since we aren't allowed to damage the princess, that man will receive her punishment," the unpleasant guard remarked.

Dash continued to glower at Barclay, stepping into the doorway of the tent. He hesitated, gripping the leather tightly in his hand before slowly raising it above his head. Had Kel been wrong about him after all?

"Don't!!" Kel screamed, diving over the top of Barclay. The crowd that had hushed in anticipation burst into shouting as Dash slowly lowered his arm.

"Just whip them both!"

"Somebody get her out of there!"

"Lock her in and drag the man out!"

After a few moments, Kel hesitantly opened her scrunched eyes. The first thing she saw was Dash's back as he turned toward the soldiers outside.

"I knew we couldn't count on a Mevani!" The cracked-lipped guard jeered. The rest of the crowd joined in the taunting.

CRACK!

With a swift flick of the strap in front of him, Dash silenced everyone.

"Last time I checked," he sneered, "I don't take orders from foot soldiers like you." He scowled at the cracked-lipped guard before throwing the strap to the ground. Without another word, he stomped off.

The group muttered amongst themselves as Dash left but eventually dispersed back to their original posts. Kel remained frozen in place until she was sure everyone had gone. She saw one of the guards reattaching the leather strap to his belt as the other pushed the flaps of the tent closed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Was that Dashien?" Barclay croaked. Kel slumped down next to him, gently patting his matted hair.

"D-don't hate him too much," the man rasped.

Hate him?

Anger, confusion and sadness filled her mind at the thought of Dash. But hate? She couldn't say for sure she did hate him. But at the same time, she couldn't be certain she didn't.

As she sat brooding, she noticed Barclay slowly moving one of his arms away from his side.

"Wha-" her voice caught in her throat as she followed the direction he was gesturing. There was a decent sized bag neatly laid in the corner of the tent.

"How did I not notice?" she mumbled, scooting over to investigate.

"Dashien."

"Did Dash do this?"

She pulled at the strings, thinking the bag did bear semblance the duffles they had all taken with them when they left the palace.

She put a hand over her mouth to keep from shouting in surprise as she discovered the contents of the bag. It was filled with bread, fruits and salted meat. On top of all the food, there were fresh bandages as well.

"Did Dash do this?" Kel repeated, feeling even more perplexed than before.

Her cheek suddenly began to tingle, and she reached up to rub it. To her surprise, her fingers became wet as they made contact with her skin.

Why am I crying? She wondered.

Were these tears of relief? Of gratitude? Or tears of pain? She had no idea which emotion was consuming her.

After taking a few minutes to get her mental state under control, Kel broke up some bread and meat to give to Barclay. He munched on the food fervently while Kel prepared to replace the blanket strips with proper bandages.

Her heart sank as she peeled the cloth off the man's back. Even in the tent's poor lighting, she could easily see the beginnings of infection around several of his wounds.

How did it get this bad so fast? Kel wondered, feeling defeated.

Barclay needed treatment immediately. She earnestly dug through the remaining contents of the bag, hoping to find something useful. Aside from the food and bandages, however, there was nothing else.

Kel studied the contents of the bag closely, desperately racking her brain for a solution. The chunks of salted meat caught her attention, and she recalled the soldiers arguing about meat as they rode earlier. If she used the meat to negotiate, she might be able to get some herbs from the stream.

"Excuse me!" Kel called, sticking her head out of the tent.

"What do you want?" Luckily, the guards had already switched stations, and there were two new soldiers at the tent. They seemed slightly less unpleasant than the two men from before.

"Well, I received this with my rations earlier today," Kel remarked casually, holding out two pieces of the meat.

The soldiers gazed at the meat hungrily. Kel smirked, moving her hand from side to side. The guards' eyes followed obediently.

Perfect.

"I'd be happy to share," she continued, "but I have just a little favor to ask."

"What's the favor?" One of the soldiers asked absentmindedly, still focused on the meat.

"I need to make a quick trip to the stream," Kel replied.

"The stream, huh?" The other soldier echoed.

"So if you take me to the stream real quick, this is yours."

The soldiers looked up at each other, swallowing the saliva rapidly accumulating in their mouths.

Finally, one of them spoke. "I guess that's alright."

The other nodded eagerly in agreement, diving for the meat. Kel jerked her hand back, causing the man to land on the ground.

"Let's see," she said, "how about half now and half when you actually take me there?"

The guard on the ground scuttled back to his feet, and the men deliberated briefly before agreeing to the terms.

"Then it's settled!" Kel chimed, tearing one of the pieces of meat in half. She tossed a part to each of them.

"This," she remarked, tucking the remaining piece into her belt, "is for when I get back."

After safely securing their provisions with Barclay, Kel followed one of the guards out of camp toward the north trees.

"Try to keep quiet," the man instructed as they reached the tree line, already gnawing on the meat.

"Of course," Kel grinned, skipping into the forest.

She followed the sound of bubbling water until the trees broke and she finally found herself on the banks of the stream.

"Wah!" Kel cried in delight. The sun had already set, and the stars' reflections danced dazzlingly on the water's surface. The 'stream' was big enough to be called a river, and moved slowly as it wound its way through the forest.

Enough of that, she reminded herself, stepping away from the water's edge. This was no time to be admiring the scenery. She crouched down in the bushes, keeping her eyes peeled for orange and purple blooms.

As she rummaged through the brush, she heard a splashing sound nearby. It sounded like a large animal playing in the water. Curious and a little afraid, Kel slowly peeked out of the bushes.

It wasn't an animal after all, but a fair-skinned, dark-haired man only a few feet away from where Kel was hiding. And he wasn't playing in the water.

If the naked torso protruding from the river's surface was any indication, she'd just stumbled upon the Dragon Emperor's bath time.