Gregory was modestly relieved the next morning when it became clear that his new captors were actually intending for him to be treated as a guest, though one lacking total freedom. They didn’t force him to travel with them, but they also didn’t offer him a chance to leave.
They didn’t seem to care much about him at all; they had the Prince of Comer, and that was all that mattered. Gregory was just extra baggage. Not that freedom would have mattered either way to Gregory at this point. Within a day of marching through the forest he was totally lost, unsure even which direction led back to the road where they had been attacked. As far as he could tell, they seemed to meander, with no clear destination, but he knew better.
Even the fanfare that they had captured a Prince died almost as soon as it built up. At first, everyone was watching Bryce in mixed awe and disbelief, but when they saw that this mythical enemy was a tired and scared boy who seemed resigned, they paid him no more mind.
Even his guards were disinterested, forcing him to walk behind them and dragging him by a rope. The Prince, too, soon became no more than extra baggage for the soldiers.
Gregory knew who their captors were; he had been confident in his guess when they were taken, but now that he could see them in full daylight, his guess was confirmed. A rival nation to the East called Otagin. Years earlier, this land had belonged to them, but the Comerians had forced their way into the territory. The Comerians had won a bloody war years earlier and signed a peace accord.
It looked like peace had just ended.
They camped in a wooded clearing for the night. They light a few fires, but too few for everyone to be warm, so he was left out in the cold. He considered leaving at one point, but the posted guards gave him a few glances and he decided it was a bad idea. It looked like Mahkinson didn’t quite trust him yet.
They started early the next morning and set a quick pace. Gregory was growing more and more disparaged by the fact that they were heading east, in the opposite direction from where he wanted to go. There was nothing he could do to change course.
He thought of searching out Mahkinson to try to converse with him, but the leader disappeared early that morning with no explanation. They offered Gregory food and water, but no one would converse with him in the common language.
As the day dragged on, he wondered what would happen if he just turned and walked the other direction. Would they stop him? Would they kill him? He didn’t know and wasn’t willing to risk it yet. By the third day of hiking, he broke down and decided to try to find someone to talk to. He made his way up the line of marching soldiers and occasionally asked someone if they spoke his language.
Few of them made eye contact, and of those none offered any response. The most frequent expression he saw was annoyance, with anger at a close second. He was an outsider, not worth their time.
When he reached the front of the line, he saw Bryce. The prince’s uniform was bloody and ripped from the hike. Two soldiers flanked him, and he looked miserable and uncomfortable, but more dignified now.
Bryce was the only person Gregory might be able to talk to, but he might jeopardize himself if he tried to communicate with a prisoner. After all, he had allied himself, in word alone, to the Otagin.
Then again, it was Mahkinson who Gregory had spoken with. Maybe the guards wouldn’t care if Gregory spoke to Bryce. At the very least, he had no way of knowing without trying, and trying to communicate with someone seemed less likely to cause problems than trying to escape.
Gregory thought about it and decided, for better or worse, to talk to the Prince. He didn’t want to wait around for the Otagin to decide his fate, and worst case scenario they would force him away from the prisoner. He closed the last twenty feet between him and the Prince slowly, lest he look suspicious.
