Chapter 2

Amidala's P.O.V

Walking behind him, I could not help but stare at his back.

His broad shoulders obstructed my front view, but I could still admire those thick muscles that had threatened to rip his shirt.

It’s been two days since I was rescued and was to be taken to the village and kept there to be taken care of. My wounds have made progress in healing, all thanks to the daily dose of the medicine.

I was sweating profusely, as the harshness of the sun, shone on me. My throat was parched and my legs ached as hell. Staring at him, I observed that he never for once, got tired of walking and he wasn’t sweating, despite all the clothes he wore.

“How are you doing this?” I blurted out, as I felt like I was going to collapse at any moment.

“Doing what?” he asked while still walking and did not spare a glance at me.

“We have been walking for forty minutes and…we’ve been…we’ve…” I struggled to say before my legs finally gave in and I fell.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I don’t know how he was able to do it, but I know I couldn’t.

“I can’t bear this torture.” I said to him, while sitting on a rock and freeing my legs from their leather bondages.

My legs were tomato red and hurting. The shoes, which he had given to me were too tight and had hurt my legs.

He stopped in his tracks but I didn’t pay attention to know what he was thinking or what he was doing. All my attention were diverted to my hurting feet.

“What are you doing?” he asked and I looked up to notice his brows crease slightly.

“What am I doing?” I asked him, almost annoyed. Why would he ask such a question? Doesn’t he know that I’m a lady? Though I barely knew him, I was already annoyed with him and did not care to know what he was going to do.

“At least try to be a gentleman. I’m a lady you know?” I pointed out to him, with furrowed brows. My finger was pointed towards him, as I berated him.

He just stood there, with his eyes staring at my fingers. His brows creased even more and in the next minute, he walked towards me and crouched to my level.

“Don’t worry… I will teach you how to respect, soon enough.” He said with a smirk while staring into my eyes.

My hearts jumped and pounded against my chest, as I wondered if he meant what he was saying. Looking into his eyes, I felt like he actually meant his threat and I felt goosebumps on my skin.

“Now be a good girl and get on my back.” He said to me and turned around, while crouching.

“Hell no!” I refused, while shaking my head stubbornly. “I can walk on my own, I’m not a baby.” I told him.

“I’m not asking you to marry me… Get on my back, woman!”

For the first time, he yelled at me and I felt hurt by it. I stood up and picked up the leather shoes on the ground. “Actually, I think I’m ok now.” I informed him.

Who does he think he is? Because he saved my life doesn’t mean he had to command me and make me do things against my wishes.

I stood there and stared at him, as he stood from his crouching position and stared back at me.

“Better.” He simply said and once again, he began to walk and I followed right behind him.

….

We finally arrived at the village, after walking some extra hours. Now, I was being carried on his back like a baby.

Walking on those killer shoes was hell. I had almost thrown the fucking shoes away, as they had caused my feet to swell. And this time, I didn’t protest when he offered to piggy back me again.

There were buildings everywhere and people were roaming the street. I could see children playing around with smiles on their faces.

I could see some elders as they conversed and some women doing the same and laughing. Suddenly, all eyes turned towards us simultaneously.

I noticed something as I observed them.

I could point out that they all had the look of both respect, fear and surprise. They all had this confused look, as they stared at me and I wondered why.

I did not feel comfortable as they stared at me. One thing was certain, I did not like it. Some of them, stood up and the children stopped playing, as they stared at us.

One of the children, a young little girl, ran towards us.

“Uncle Zane…” she called out lovingly, as she embraced him with her tiny hands.

So Zane was his name? Now that I thought of it, I never asked of his name before, so this was new to me.

Zane stopped and looked down on the little girl. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, so my eyes diverted towards the elderlies instead. Their eyes were still locked on me, and it felt a little embarrassing.

“Lisa.” Zane voice rang in my ears, pulling my attention towards him. I stared at the young girl with a smile on my face and then, suddenly, her eyes stared at mine.

“Uncle Zane… Is she your pet?” The young girl asked and my ears almost bled.

What? I’m not an animal, why would she refer to me as a pet? I kept staring at the young girl.

“No, Lisa… She is not Uncle Zane's pet.” He simply replied her, while still staring at her.

“She is definitely a human.” The young girl said and I felt my heart jump.

What did she just say? Why did she refer to me as a human? Isn’t she human as well? What if…. My eyes widened in shock and my heart began to pound even faster. What if these people are carnivorous?

“Lisa, Uncle Zane has to go now.” He said to the young girl and walked past her. As he walked past the young girl, I noticed her staring at me and smiling.

Now I no longer found those smiles to be cute but scary. Even as fear enveloped me, I still did not try to leap from his back and run.

We walked past several other buildings and just like before, we caught the attention of the villagers as we passed by. Now, I was walking close to him, while clutching his hand.

I had no idea who the people were and if I was going to trust anyone, it had to be only him. Throughout our walk, he maintained his indifferent look as we walked towards our destination.

Soon, we arrived our destination.

The building we got to, looked poorly maintained and unlike the others, those in these building looked malnourished.

They all had bags under their eyes like they haven’t slept for days. There were children here as well and in comparison with the others, these children looked poorly fed and afraid.

I noticed that they all stared at me with greed and extreme hunger in their eyes. I was afraid and luckily, none of them dared to approach us.

We walked past them and into the fenced gate. We were now standing in a courtyard and I followed as Zane walked towards a building.

This building, was the only building around here, that seemed to be in the best conditions. There were four people standing right outside the building.

Each of them, had indifferent looks on their faces, just like Zane. Their hands hid behind their backs, as they stared at us. As soon as we approached them, they got on a knee.

“Master…” They all said, with their eyes staring at the ground.

I was shocked as I witnessed it. Was Zane their master? Wasn’t Zane supposed to be a fisherman as he had claimed?

“I need to talk to you, Vanessa.” He said and one of them, a woman nodded.

“Meanwhile, take good care of her…Her name, is Liz.” He said and stared back at them.

“Amidala you mean?” I corrected him, with fear lingering in my heart.

“What was that?” he asked and turned to stare back at me.

“You said Liz…” I reminded him. “My name is Amidala not Liz.” I informed while counting my fingers, nervously.

“Thank you for reminding me on how forgetful I am…” he said with a frown and turned towards the group. “Shall we?” he asked and walked away, while the woman followed.

“Come with us.” The remaining two, a man and a woman said to me and I hesitantly nodded and followed, as they led me into the building.