"We will be stopping here for today. We'll continue the journey tomorrow." Came Zamien voice, walking out of the carriage and stretching his hand out for Dessa to hold. "Come with me." He said.
Dessa wondered if she even had a choice to not follow him to wherever he wanted to take her to. But deciding that she had to get to Rhodes no matter what, she bravely stood up and held his hand as he helped her out of the carriage.
As they walked towards a small inn Dessa noticed the moment she got out of the carriage, Dessa was surprised to note that the number of soldiers that had come with Zamien hadn't followed behind them like she felt they should. The inn she walked into looked anything but liveable, but granted that it was either this or spending a night in the carriage she walked ahead without complaining.
"Show me to your best room." Zamien said, tossing a bag of coins to a young man that walked up to them. Along the compressed hallway of the little inn, Dessa wondered why Zamien had not let go of her hand yet. She had tried pulling it out unsuccessfully a few times and had decided that he was just absentmindedly holding onto it.
The young innkeeper finally stopped at a room at the back of the inn and opened the door to it.
"This is our best room, it is cleaned everyday and is nearest to the mountains." He said.
Without replying, Zamien pulled Dessa into the room and closed the door, leaving the innkeeper standing there by himself.
Inside the room, Dessa quickly pulled her hand from Zamien's and started inspecting the place. The room was in good condition, nothing too fancy or unique but it was neat. She was sure that the innkeeper hadn't lied when he said that this was his best room. As for the view of mountains, Dessa was sure she couldn't possibly see anything more boring than that in her entire life. It looked like a very bland painting, only the soft breeze once in a while made it seem real.
It was already late, so Dessa took the initiative to lay on the bed, without bothering to discuss with Zamien who stays where.
When Dessa woke up the next morning, Zamien was standing directly in front of the bed and staring directly at her.
"Get ready, we leave in five minutes." With that he walked away, leaving Dessa alone by herself.
Not that she cared, she got ready as quickly as possible, not wanting to delay the trip to Rhodes any longer. As she walked out of the room, she saw Zamien at the end of the corridor, talking to the innkeeper. She watched as the innkeeper whispered something to Zamien and without any notice, Zamien grabbed the young man by the neck, smiling as he ripped his head from his neck.
Dessa stood petrified watching this. Feeling her gaze, Zamien turned to look at her, smiling a different kind of smile.
"Come on, wife. We have to leave now."
Dessa didn't know how fast he'd catch her if she decided to run now. But even if she wanted to run, she couldn't because there was no door behind her and the window was too small for even a mouse to pass through. Deciding that he must have had a good reason for killing the man, she followed him to the carriage and sat clumsily on the seats. Zamien got in as well and the carriage started moving.