Sienna watched Sir Durand leave the house with Inigo over his shoulder. He walked off the path to the right, where two horses were tied to a tree.
He threw Inigo onto the one horse's saddle and then began to untie the reins from the tree. He climbed onto his own horse and tied the other horse's reins to his own.
Both horses started to slowly trot away, in the direction of the village. Sienna watched as the two went down the pathway and were out of sight before closing the door.
Sienna collapsed to the floor and almost began to cry. She had tried her best to escape her father and his bastard son for years and she had thought she was finally successful.
She couldn't believe that they had found her in such a remote part of the kingdom, especially because Zaya had just started living with her.
She didn't want the little girl, who had just been saved from the suffering she had been enduring, to go back into more suffering.
She started to rack her brain on what to do but was drawing a blank. She couldn't just abandon the child she had brought into her home, and she didn't want to run away from the place she had started to call home.
Sienna got up, wiped the tears from her face, and went to check on Zaya. She opened the door to see her fast asleep and oblivious to what had transpired outside the room.
As she looked at Zaya, sleeping in such peace, she decided what she was going to do. She wasn't going to leave and try and run.
She had been running for so long now that she had become tired. She decided that it was time to hold her ground and fight back.
She didn't want the life that she had just created for Zaya to disappear, so she would face her father head on and resist until the very end.
As she watched Zaya lying peacefully in bed, a wave of fatigue came over her body. She tried to muster some strength to get up but couldn't and fell asleep, while sitting on the floor next to Zaya.
In the morning, Zaya woke up to the sun's rays shining directly onto her face. She didn't resist this time and decided to get up right away.
She twisted and stretched her body awake and felt refreshed after her deep and peaceful sleep.
She looked to her left to see Sienna lying against the wall fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her up, Zaya grabbed a blanket and covered Sienna with it.
Zaya decided to go outside and see all the things, in the garden, she wasn't able to see the day before.
An hour later Sienna woke up, to find herself still in Sienna's room and with a blanket on her. She looked at the bed in front of her, but Zaya wasn't there.
In a panic, Sienna jumped to her feet and looked in the bathroom for Zaya, but she wasn't there.
After the encounter with her father's son and Sir Durand, she couldn't get rid of this sick feeling in her stomach that something was wrong.
She ran towards the door and saw it slightly open. She yanked the door open with force to see if anyone was there.
She saw no one ahead on the path. She looked to her left and just saw the trees and bushes.
When she looked to her left, she saw Zaya, crouched down and looking at the flowers on the ground. A wave of relief rushed over her body.
She let out a sigh and almost started to cry because she was worried sick. Zaya turned around when she heard noise and saw Sienna bending over.
She got up and walked over to Sienna. She tapped her on her shoulder. Sienna looked up at Zaya.
"Here you go", Zaya said. She pulled a few flowers from behind her back and presented them to Sienna. There were two red flowers, a blue flower and a yellow flower that were growing outside Sienna's house.
Sienna looked at the flowers and smiled, "Thank you Zaya, they're beautiful." A hug grin appeared across Zaya's face.
She came closer to Sienna and then gave her a hug. Sienna hugged her back but squeezed her tight, as if to say, 'I won't let you go'.
Sienna got up and took Zaya's hand, "What do you say we go have some breakfast." Zaya looked at Sienna and then her stomach rumbled.
"I guess that's a yes then", Sienna said while laughing. Zaya also started to laugh and the two of them went inside, the mood much lighter and happier.
-----
In a guest room in the village, Inigo lay in a bed. Sir Durand sat on a chair by the door waiting for him to wake.
As he sat, he heard a groan coming from the bed. He got up and saw Inigo beginning to sit up, while grabbing his head.
"What the hell happened to me", Inigo said. He rubbed his head, as it was aching and Sir Durand grabbed some water for him to drink.
As he drank the water, Sir Durand looked at him, "You were knocked unconscious by the young lady last night after you spoke of the child that is staying with her."
As Inigo heard Sir Durand's words, memories of the night before flowed in. As he remembered the events, his anger rose.
"That bitch. She dares to attack me. I'm the heir to a county. Does she not know the power that we wield", Inigo said.
Sir Durand lowered his head, "Young master, she is still your older sister and also a mage, we have to show some form of resp..."
Before Sir Durand could finish his sentence, Inigo threw his cup of water at him. "Respect, why do I have to show a traitor respect."
"Traitor is a strong word, young master. I would advise you exercise caution with your words", Sir Durand said, trying to keep Inigo calm.
Unfortunately for Sir Durand it had the opposite effect. "I will say whatever I want to say and call her whatever I want to call her. I don't need a knight that should only follow his master's words speak back to me. Do you understand!"
Sir Durand remained calm under the disrespect of himself and other loyal knights, "I'm sorry for offending you, young master."
"That's better", Inigo said. He had become so accustomed to power and rank that he was forgetting the full strength of a fully fledged knight, like Sir Durand.
"We should leave tomorrow young master and return home." Sir Durand just wanted to leave and return this spoiled brat back to his room and return to his lord's command.
"Leave. Why would we leave when we have unfinished business with that bitch." Inigo didn't want to leave with a loss, as he always had to be on top.
"I don't think that's wise young master. Neither you nor I are strong enough to face the young lady. She didn't even use any spells against us and looked what state we are in. I recommend we go back to the estate and speak to the lord."
"Fine. We'll do as you say." Inigo didn't want to let it go but he couldn't deny the fact that he was strong enough to face Sienna.
"I'll get the horses ready then." Sir Durand fetched the horses from the stables and the two left the village and returned to their county.