"Why did you kill the man?"
Dessa asked when the carriage had already gone a far distance. She had been gathering the courage to ask the question since the journey started.
"He tried to poison you." Was all Zamien said.
How? Dessa wanted to ask. She hadn't eaten any food in the inn nor had she drank anything, so how could the innkeeper poison her. Dessa decided to give up as Zamien had already closed eyes, showing his unwillingness to continue the conversation.
At night, they stopped again in the middle of the forest and made a camp and Dessa was finally served food to eat. It turns out that not only was her husband an unreasonable murderer, he also enjoyed starving people to death.
The journey continued like that for the next two days and Dessa wondered if Rhodes was really this far off or if her husband was just knowingly stalling them for some reason. Throughout the journey he had been anything but attentive to her, in fact, whenever they stopped to rest, he disappeared and came back when it was time to leave.
"Are we not near Rhodes yet? It's been 3 days already." Dessa asked, finally having enough.
"We are almost there." Zamien replied without looking at her.
As Dessa turned to question him, the carriage stopped suddenly. Without informing her, Zamien sprinted out of the carriage, leaving her tensed self behind. A few seconds later he returned, opening the carriage door aggressively.
"Do not leave the carriage for any reason." There was a twisted smile on his face which did nothing to ease Dessa's tension.
"But what is going…"
At that moment, a merciless chill was suddenly emitted from Zamien's intense eyes, intimidating and locking her down on the spot. The look only lasted for a second, but it chilled her so much that the hairs on her arms stood up. Dessa flinched and just froze in her position.
Zamien stood majestically before her as he cupped her face. "I'll tell you later. Stay here." He said. With that he left the carriage, locking the door behind him.
Dessa sat motionless, wondering what she had just gotten herself into. How could her own husband order her to stay here in such an emotionless tone without even giving her a reason. She heard no noises outside and wondered what was happening. Unable to think properly, she opened the carriage window and poked her head out. What she saw made her pause. She was all alone in the middle of the forest. Zamien and his soldiers had left her behind to go somewhere. But she wondered where the noises she heard were coming from if no one was there. Dessa craned her neck to get a better view but she still saw nothing. Then it clicked. Zamien hadn't left, nor had any of his soldiers. They were probably behind a kind of protective shield. She couldn't see but they could probably see her. With this thought she relaxed back in her seat, acting like she had never moved.
She sat like that for many more minutes before Zamien came back. As he sat the carriage started moving even faster than before.
"I see you had visitors." Dessa uttered the moment she found her voice.
"Unwanted visitors." He stressed and Dessa gulped at the displeasure in his voice. She had wanted to ask more, earlier but she found that she just wasn't curious anymore. The journey went smoother and faster without any more interruptions.