Bellamy had been the farm boy for as long as she could remember, yet it had taken her years to realise that every time he said "as you wish" he was really confessing his love for her. In hindsight, it was obvious. How could she not have seen it sooner? His every action, glance and word was a testament to his love for her. She wiped a tear from her eye as she thought of those wasted years spent ordering him around instead of by his side. No matter, she told herself as she adjusted her jewels, looking herself in the eye. You can do this. You will marry Prince Wells and live in comfort as his wife. What more could you want? She almost broke down as she told herself the answer. "Love."

Despite living in a kind of luxury few knew, and almost in spite Prince Wells' objections, she found that there was no greater joy than that of the wind rushing through her hair as she rode her horse beyond the city walls and through the woods. For those brief moments she could forget the last five years spent without the only man she could ever love, and the loveless marriage that awaited her. Florin was a relatively peaceful place, and it was rare that she ever came across anybody at all, let alone anyone with bad intentions, which is perhaps why she stopped her horse when she came across three men, one of whom appeared to be a giant of sorts.
The first man to speak seemed to be their leader. He was a short, balding man, but his clothing was much finer than that of his companions and he seemed the least brutish. "A word my lady? We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?"

"There is nothing nearby, not for miles." As the words came out of her mouth the giant started to approach her, and the leader smirked.
"Then there will be no one to hear you scream." The giant was upon her now, leaving her no time to do anything except open her mouth and scream in terror as his huge hand reached for her throat, and her scream died as a mere yelp.

She woke up on a boat, hands bound, but surprisingly unharmed. The third man carried a thin sword at his hip, and he was making Baldie nervous by looking over his shoulder every two seconds. "Would you stop doing that?"

"You are sure nobody is following us?" His accent sounded strange to her ear, no one she'd ever met spoke quite like him. Undoubtedly Prince Wells would know where he was from, she thought. Just another failing of her common upbringing of course. Despite his assurances, she often wondered how she'd ever be his wife, how she'd ever manage to do the job justice.
"I already told you, for anyone to be following us would be absolutely and totally inconceivable! No one in Gilder knows we are coming, and no one in Florin could have caught up so quickly." He paused for a moment, leaning back against the wall separating him from the water. Sitting back up again he asked, "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"It's only, I looked behind us, and something was there." With a certain degree of alarm Baldie jumped up to look where the foreigner was. She did a quick survey of the situation and realised there would be no better chance of escape. All three of her kidnappers were looking in the other direction, and chances were she was a better swimmer than the three of those louts. Slipping her hands from the poorly-tied rope around her hands, she made as graceful a dive she could manage in her dress, and swam away as fast as possible.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing. The stupid girl had jumped out of the boat and into eel infested waters. What was she thinking? Couldn't she see his ship coming to her rescue? He was busy trying to find someway to make his cursed ship move faster when he heard the first shriek and saw a ripple in the water next to her. He said her name with a shocked whisper. After all this time could she really die just out of reach from him? "Damn you!" He yelled at his ship. "Can't you move any faster?!"

Over the noise of her own swimming she could hear the distressed and annoyed shouts of her would-be-killers behind her. One arm in front of the other she swam, until another noise stopped her in her tracks. They sounded like the muffled cries of a child, and behind her the leader of those ruffians called. "You hear that your highness? Those are the shrieking eels! And they feed on human flesh." As he spoke something longer than she was slithered past her, giving her a fright and causing her to rethink this method of escape.
"If you swim back now, I promise no harm will come to you…" the rest of his sentence was lost to her as an eel cried out in front of her, its teeth gleaming white in the moonlight as its mouth opened. For a horrible moment she thought this would be the end, and in that moment, she considered it. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it before, when she was feeling particularly lonely and missed Bellamy with every fibre of her being, but like every other time, she knew that wasn't what he'd want for her. She'd just reached this conclusion when another eel appeared and started to charge her, its mouth wide open, just as hers was. "I'm sorry Bell-" was her last thought before she was rescued from the water by the same large hand that had incapacitated her early this day.

He'd almost died when he saw the eels surround her, but thankfully her kidnapper's ship seemed to be faster than his own as he saw them pull up to her and a surprisingly large man pull her back onto their deck. He breathed a sigh of relief and set about finding something to eat and a comfy seat; it was going to be a long night.

The ship in pursuit of them had been slowly gaining on them all night, but Baldy seemed to think it was of little importance due to their imminent arrival at the so-called Cliffs of Insanity. She didn't know how they'd gotten their name, but they certainly looked foreboding. The ruins of some grand old castle stood atop a cliff face that appeared to stretch as far as the eye could see in either direction, and she wasn't sure she'd ever seen anything quite so high in her life. Surely they couldn't mean to go up there? It seemed she was wrong, and the Giant, whose name she now knew to be Fezzik, was going to pull them all up. Clearly they'd planned this, as there was a small platform for them to adjust the harness that had been made for three people to attach themselves to him, and as he grabbed the rope with both hands and began the ascent, she could only close her eyes and think happy thoughts as they all hung precariously from Fezzik's body. She could hear them arguing over one thing or another, but she didn't care so long as they made it to the top alive.
She was a lot more resigned to her captive status now. She didn't know where she was or from whom she could possibly find help, so the best option was to stay with them, not that she was being given many choices. As the giant lead her away she realised the foreign swordsman wasn't coming with them. "Fezzik, why is he staying?"
"He has to kill the masked man."
"But why?"
"He saw you." He said it with such simplicity that she almost forgot to be outraged that someone would be killed her name. Almost.
"What?! You can't be serious. He doesn't need to die, he hasn't done anything, for all you know he's on his way to help you."
"Princess, he can't be trusted. And he has seen you, he can't tell others the plan if he's dead."
She tried to cross her arms with a bit of a huff, only to remember the restraints and increase her own frustration. "Urgh!" She let out a cry that earned her a soft hit across the back of the head from Baldy. Getting the hint, she let herself be lead on.

He seen them begin to climb the rope, and heard their surprise when he did the same; sound travelled well down this cliff face. Then after they'd reached the top, he'd felt the rope start to slacken. Just slightly, but he knew what it meant, and he knew he'd never survive a fall from this height. Just as one of his feet and hands had found purchase, the rope slid away from him and he pressed his body as close as possible to the cliff that could be his doom. "One hand at a time Blake," he told himself. The cliff was almost perfectly vertical, and the ledges he found himself clinging to were like thin slates that didn't leave much room for error.
"Hello there!" A spaniard called down to him, "Slow going?"
"Look, I don't know if you've ever scaled a cliff before, but," he said with a grunt, "it's not as easy as it looks, so if you wouldn't mind giving me a moment, that would be much appreciated."

"Okay, sorry." And yet, a moment later, he was back. "I don't suppose you could hurry up a bit?"
"Well if you're in such a hurry, why don't you lower a rope or something?"
"I do have a rope, but I don't think you'd accept my help, seeing as I'm only waiting around to kill you." He had to laugh at that, the man was nothing if not honest.
"That does put a damper on our relationship."
"What if I promise not to kill you until you reach the top?"
"Tempting, but you'll just have to wait." He continued his climb, and as he was struggling to reach what looked like a good handhold, the man interrupted him again.
"What if I give you my word as a Spaniard?"
He had to laugh at that, "I've known too many Spaniards." He was almost sorry he was going to kill the man.
"Is there anyway I can convince you? I really do have places to be."
"Well given that you've already professed a desire to kill me, nothing comes to mind."

As he looked up at the Spaniard, something in the man's gaze made it hard to look away. "I swear on the soul of my father, you will make it to the top alive."
That, and the aching in his arms, made the decision for him. "Throw me the rope."