CHAPTER 282: A WORSE FATE

Rose crunched even lower as she heard footsteps approach where she was hiding. There had been a bigger rock not far from where she had been sitting, but it didn’t do much for a good hiding spot, and she knew she had to move soon. As soon as anyone was close enough, she would be spotted.

Rose hoped they would take the horse and leave, but that was clearly never part of the plan. She heard the horse protest, and someone swore.

"Stay still, you useless—"

Rose couldn’t see, but it was clear someone was trying to take the horse. It neighed loudly, and a struggle could be heard.

"Hey," Ryder cut in. "Careful with the horse!"

Something about his voice made it hard to ignore. It made her skin crawl. She knew without a doubt he was not to be messed with. How could she possibly escape this mess?

She clutched the map to herself as she looked around. The trees weren’t very good for climbing. They stretched out tall, and the branches were high up. However, it wasn’t like climbing was a good option—they could throw stones or worse to try to get her to come down.

Rose considered running, but she doubted she could outrun them. The path was also pretty rocky and uneven. She could sprain her ankle or worse—but Rose knew she would easily sacrifice her ankle to escape. If only the horse were close, she could use that to escape them.

She was also not sure about their numbers. She had heard three voices already, but something told her there were more than that. Five, perhaps? Rose couldn’t dare lift her head to take a peek.

"I said look for the rider and stop messing with the horse!" Ryder yelled at the men, then smiled deviously.

"Hey!" Ryder yelled. "I know you can hear me. It would do you good to come out on your own." He took a step forward with each word while his eyes scanned around.

Rose felt the dagger in her stomach twist even harder. Someone was close to the rock—she could hear their footsteps on the grass. All the rock did was hide her back; as soon as they came around the corner, they were bound to see her.

Footsteps rounded the corner of the rock, and then a head poked out. Rose didn’t even think about it—she bolted. She ran as quickly as she could, jumping over rocks and cornering trees.

"A woman," the man who had moved to the rock said as she started to run.

"Don’t just stand there!" Ryder yelled. "After her! Don’t you lot dare let her escape!"

Her dress was a little restrictive to run in, but Rose didn’t care. She silently ran through the woods as fast as she could, knowing the bandits catching her was a worse fate.

Rose didn’t see it in time—a branch sticking out of the ground—and her right toes hit it with enough force to break them. Rose was sent flying, her face contorting from the pain emanating from her toes.

She fell to the ground, her hands barely protecting her face, but it was the pain in her stomach that made her gasp for air. Rose had landed on a stone, her stomach slamming right into it.

Rose’s eyes watered, but there wasn’t any time. She had to get on her feet now and resume running. However, she couldn’t move. All she could do was roll to her side and grab her stomach in pain.

She tried to push to her feet in this position, but her body didn’t listen, and through blurry eyes, she could see the men approaching her. Rose bit the corner of her lip.

She must have committed some grave sin in her past life to have ever met the crown prince. Things just wouldn’t go right for her since he came into her life.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and lifted her off the ground. Rose cried out in pain. It hurt, but she didn’t think it was just his grip. Had she also hit her shoulder?

"Shut up!" the man said and struck her across the face.

The force ripped the corner of her lip, and blood poured out of her nostrils. Rose felt her eyes roll to the back of her head. The force of the slap made her dizzy—it felt like her brain bounced in her skull. She fought the urge to go under, concentrating on the pain. She had never been hit with so much force in her life.

Rose’s eyes opened, and surprisingly, her vision got clearer. She was surrounded, and the one called Ryder was grabbing onto her. She knew it was him because she could never forget his voice. It was raspy and unnecessarily loud. She doubted he knew how to speak in whispers.

"Who are you?" Ryder asked, and Rose turned around to look at him.

A fatal mistake.

Her reaction was normal—anyone who laid eyes on Ryder for the first time would have the same startled reaction. But Ryder didn’t like this. His expression darkened, and Rose’s heart dropped to her stomach.

Ryder dropped her to the ground and kicked her on the side. The force lifted her off the ground and a few inches away from him. Rose screamed as his leg hit her stomach—the exact spot she’d hit on the stone. He kicked her again and was about to kick her a third time when someone spoke.

"Ryder! If you kill her, you won’t find out anything."

"Oh, relax," he said, and kicked her a third time. "A little kicking won’t kill her."

Rose’s voice came out in a whimper. She didn’t know how she was still awake. She was in so much pain, she could faint—but she knew it would be a terrible thing to be unconscious.

"Her screaming—someone might hear."

This seemed to stop Ryder, and he pulled back his leg, avoiding kicking her again. He lifted Rose, this time by the front of her dress. She winced as he pulled her up—she could barely stand on her feet.

"I’ll ask you again," he said, putting his face right in front of her as though expecting her to react as she had before. "Who are you?"