-- Lilith POV, Laketown --

  She felt awoken by many strong hands, firmly grabbing her arms and legs. Before she even thought about screaming her head got wrapped up with some cloth, which very effectively muffled her voice once she actually tried to scream for help.

  The hands that held her were out of reach of her claws. She felt lifted in a coordinated effort, then dropped, rolled and wrapped into something. She tried to cut whatever she had been wrapped into, but the only result was that her claws were now trapped in the thing and she couldn't get them out anymore, so her hands were effectively tied in place.

  Someone rearranged the wrapping around her head so she could breath again. At least they didn't try to kill her right away, it seemed.

  Hands put her upright, then she felt wrapped again, this time with ... rope? Rope tied over the stuff that she had been wrapped into just a moment ago. She was pretty sure meanwhile it was a metal mesh in which her claws were stuck.

  Then she felt lifted, carried and dropped onto something wobbly, tied by more rope and then she felt jerked away. She could hear horseshoes hitting the cobblestone of Laketown streets in wild gallop.

  She couldn't see anything with her head wrapped up, and not move at all. Her claws being stuck in that mesh in which hey had wrapped her didn't help either.

  No one had spoken all the time.

  It was a quite uncomfortable ride, bouncy, shaky, it made her nauseous. The only thing that she could tell was that her head was higher up than her feet. Whatever it was that she was transported with, it was not flat, but she didn't slide off.

  Soon the sound of the horseshoes changed, no longer cobblestone, but compacted dirt and gravel and after a while the sound softened even further and the ride got bumpier. They must have had left the road.

  It had felt like hours to her when they stopped. For the first time she heard people speaking, but not in a language that she knew. The voices were calm, factual, at least to her ears.

  A louder voice with a strange accent sounded up, "Demon, nod if you can hear me."

  She tried to nod.

  "Good. Listen. You already experienced that we know how to handle a demon like you. We don't plan to kill you, but we can make your existence very miserable if you do not cooperate. Nod if you understand this." That was the same voice again.

  She nodded once more.

  "Alright. First things first. You work for us now. You have two options. You comply and we can make this easy for you, or you resist and we will make you very miserable. Understood?"

  She nodded but more reluctantly.

  "Good. I want to talk to you. We'll remove the gag. If you scream, you chose to become miserable. Understood?"

  She sighed internally but nodded.

  An order was given in the foreign language and the wrapping around her head was removed for a moment. She could see at least six men in chain mail, but before she could think twice, something was put over her eyes and she was effectively blind again.

  She remained quiet.

  "I want to hear you speak, demon", the voice demanded.

  "I hear you." She had no idea what to say.

  "That is good. You can hear and you can speak. Now we can talk. But first an offer and a test if you are willing to cooperate. I'll remove the blindfold. If you use your evil stare, you chose to become miserable for weeks because we'll keep that blindfold on you all the time in that case." The voice with the strange accent explained to her.

  "Please let me see." She had seen six people. Maybe there were more. She could at best stare down one, and even that made no sense while she was tied up like this.

  The blindfold was removed and she had to blink a few times before her eyes got accustomed to the light. It was day now. They must have been riding all night. From what she could see, she was on some sort of sled behind a horse with greens and trees around. Somewhere nearby she could hear the twitter of birds.

  The men were clad in chain mail over deep red gambesons. They had helmets, spears, shields and swords. Quite certainly soldiers. Bandits didn't have such quality and uniform equipment.

  One of the men stood besides her and looked at her apparently waiting for something. "I won't try stare you down. I'm not that stupid."

  He gave her a satisfied expression and nodded, "Good choice. You probably want to know why we took you. Easy answer. We want you to work for us. Work for us and you'll be better."

  "What happened to John?" She suddenly felt afraid.

  "The smith is dead. No one will come to rescue you. It's just you and us." She was informed.

  "John ..." She whimpered and tried to curl up, but was tied to firmly.

  "Better forget about him. He just used you anyway." The mans voice seemed cold.

  "John was good to me", she tried to protest.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "We can be as good if you behave. You get a first choice to make. We will travel for some weeks. We can keep you wrapped like that, give you water and food as needed, but let you be miserable as you will inevitable be after weeks like that. Other option, you will let us bind you in a more comfortable way and have not quite such a miserable time."

  "I want the more comfortable option." There didn't seem to be any sense in fighting now.

  "Alright. A warning. Do not do anything stupid or we will overwhelm you again, and you will be miserable for weeks. We have practiced fighting and controlling someone like you." His voice was hard.

  "My claws are stuck and it hurts." She really didn't feel like fighting now.

  "So you got a good reason to behave. Alright, do not move unless given an order. Understood?" His tone wasn't quite as hard anymore.

  "Yes." If John was dead, there was nothing to go back to.

  Orders were given once more in that language which she could not understand. They untied the ropes that kept her on the sled, lifted her and put her in a standing position under a tree.

  To her surprise someone climbed the tree and slung something like a rope around one branch first, then another rope around another branch. Then they tied the ropes to her horns and she felt pulled slightly upwards. Even if she tried to turn her head there was a force trying to make her look ahead again.

  "What do you do?" She felt compelled to ask.

  "Making sure you stay there. Do not try anything with your claws, or you'll get wrapped like this again." The answer came from the man who had been talking to her all the time so far.

  "I understand." She felt defeated.

  They removed the ropes that held the mesh rolled up around her and then the mesh as well. It took them a while to get it off her claws. They were obviously scared of her claws and she tried to do nothing that could scare them more. Eventually she was almost free, except for the ropes on her horns and dressed in the nightshirt that she had been wearing in bed.

  "Do not try to cut the ropes on your horns. That is steel rope. You cannot cut that quickly." She almost had expected something like that.

  She just stood still.

  "Lift your arms, hold them out left and right", the man ordered her. "You need better clothing."

  She held her arms as instructed. At least her claws were free now and the pain faded.

  They cut the nightshirt from her and then put a sheet of sturdy but not unpleasant linen cloth over her left shoulder, which was then spread around her and secured with a simple belt around her waist. Nothing fancy, but she was covered and it was easy to replace. A bit like a toga and certainly better suited for travel than a nightshirt, she considered.

  "Hold the arms down along your sides", another order reached her.

  That seemed strange, but she did so, "Alright."

  She was still held by her horns so she couldn't move her head much but her looks fell on something in the one mans hands that quite certainly seemed to be like a rope made from metal. Was that the steel rope they had been talking about?

  "Loosen the arms a little. Keep your claws away from the men." Another instruction.

  "Sure", she tried to reduce their worries.

  The so called steel rope was surprisingly stiff when it got slung around her waist. They worked with two men and started at her back then forward between her body and arms, the rope got coiled around her arms once just above the elbows and then crossed at front to be coiled around her arms once more and around her back and yet another time around her arms amd front, until the ends of the steel rope got fixed together with a steel clamp, tightened with nuts and bolts. There was no way to open this without tools.

  "Demon, if you feel your arms go to sleep, tell us right away. We want to keep you in good health, so tell us if something is wrong. Got it?" The leading soldier reminded her.

  She tried to nod, just to be reminded that she was also tied by her horns, "Yes. To call it pleasant would be a lie, but I won't die from it."

  "Anyways and also for the next days. We want you to stay healthy, so tell us early if something is wrong and we'll try to make it better." The leader told her, "But now, we need to restrain your hands too. Cross them in front of your belly. You should have enough freedom of movement for that."

  Well, not exactly in front of her belly but somewhere near, she could do it. Then she watched with surprise that they bandaged her wrists with a white cloth that seemed to be the same which her toga was made of as well.

  "Steel rope is a bastard to the skin. This is for your protection. Again, tell us early if you get hurt by the stuff. We don't want to hurt you, but we cannot risk to lose you."

  After they had taped her wrists they tied that steel rope in a figure eight way around them. The pose was not all to uncomfortable, yet again the ends were fixed in a metal clamp, tightened with nuts and bolts. She'd definitely need someones help to get out of this.

  She began to seriously dislike steel. Even before she had considered steel to be a demon-unfriendly metal. Now she was sure it had been invented just for that purpose.

  They released her horns from the rope and she could watch the ties on her wrists. There was a little freedom of movement, but clearly too little to try and fight.

  "Listen demon. We will ride. You will ride. We have a very calm horse for you. All you have to do is to not fall from the horse", the soldier in lead tole her.

  She looked in surprise at the man, "I don't know if I can ride a horse. I never rode a horse before."

  "We'll find that out. If it doesn't work, you'll be put on the sled again, and that will be less comfortable and also it takes more time. We've got a long way to go. Riding will be quicker, and you'll want to see a roof over you head again soon. So do your best."

  With help of a step ladder they had gotten her successfully on horseback despite the ties, and there was a sort of loop fixed to the saddle that she could hold onto even with her tied hands to help keep balance. The horse was indeed a very calm and patient one, and riding went better than she had had expected.

  They had been riding all day, it was almost night when orders were given in that foreign language and their caravan came to a stop.

  "Demon, let the men help you off the horse. We camp here for the night. You'll be fed and watered, and then tied up further to sleep. We can't risk having you run away. Tomorrow we'll ride again. If you're good today, you'll sleep more comfortable next night."

  "You are aware that I would not even know where to run to, and that no one gives a demon shelter in this land?" She tried to negotiate.

  "You've been cooperative, but I have orders. Tomorrow and the following days we can make it easier for you", he didn't relent.

  They had travel rations, dried and smoked meat, dried fruits, which they shared with her and they had made a herbal infusion from water and some leaves, which they had collected nearby. The smoked meat was actually quite good to her taste, the infusion was warm, soothing and definitely better than just water.

  To her surprise she was given a somewhat comfortable sleeping bag even that they insisted of tying her legs with that steel rope as well to keep her from fleeing in the night and she eventually managed to find some sleep despite the circumstances.

  How long had the man said they would travel?