It had been over one month since he, his men, and a small group of elves and mountain dwarves who had been kind enough to offer supplies to aid Norsewood had been captured, and despite their dire circumstances, Juan wasn't going to give up hope.

Hope. That was the only thing he had.

He shifted his gaze from the pile of dirt before him to his hands holding the pickaxe, noting the raw and bleeding of his skin. His fingers felt numb. The freezing cold was penetrating his bones, and it wouldn't be long until the digits became too stiff to move properly.

This—the mining work—they had forced on him. No, not just him, but everyone, men, women, and even children, citizens of Norsewood as well as those from other towns and cities, and even other countries and species, the dwarves, elves, and the one-horned demons.

Who were they? he wondered yet again. Were they Athol's citizens? From their speech, it certainly indicated so. The other question that plagued Juan's mind was... Where exactly was this place? That, he didn't know simply because he, as well as his men and the elves and dwarves, had been knocked unconscious at the time of their capture.

Escape! He needed to get out of this place and return to Norsewood. Aldric, his dearest brother, would have returned home by now. If he could just get to Aldric and the Norsewood warriors, then these people would be saved.

The sound of a bell ringing reverberated across the space, the loud noise piercing his eardrums. Everyone around him moved, heading toward the exit. Juan turned on his heel and started in that direction, too. After dropping off his pickaxe, he joined the line of hundreds of others heading back toward their imprisonment of a dungeon that was their shelter from the snowstorm at night.

It was freezing cold outside, and he raised his gaze to the sky, which was, as expected, dark and gloomy.

Ah, he'd do anything to have a warm bowl of hot soup, he thought. He wouldn't even mind that it'd be bland and tasteless. He'd do anything to have a warm bed to sleep in, but alas, it'd be the cold stone floor tonight.

"Get moving, kid!" a man shouted.

Juan lifted his gaze and saw a watchman swinging his whip at a little girl, who cried out as she fell to the ground.

Briming with rage, Juan rushed forward and stood in front of the girl. He said, "Leave her be!"

"Move, rat!" the watchman shouted, raising the whip once more.

As the whip came toward him, Juan caught it in midair. He had the urge to tug it forward and haul the man along with it, but he knew he shouldn't cause any scene and draw unnecessary attention to himself. Hence, he tossed the whip aside and said, "Leave the child be."

The watchman got up and growled, "You!"

"Hey, stop it!" another shouted. "Stop whipping the captured. If they're dead and can't work, it'll be on us. You want your head to roll?"

The watchman grumbled, and after giving Juan a glare, he finally turned away. Now that they were left alone, Juan turned his attention to the little girl and got down on his knees. It was only then that he saw she was a one-horned demon.

He gently touched her head and said, "Are you all right?"

The little girl looked up at him, her large eyes brimming with tears.

"Can you walk, do you think?" he asked.

She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes and then struggled to her feet. He watched as she collapsed again to the ground.

There was no helping it, he thought, and picked her up in his arms.

Inside the dungeon prison, there were throngs of the enslaved, huddling close to one another, working on keeping themselves warm. Food would be distributed soon, and it'd be nothing but hard rye bread like usual.

Juan laid the girl on the ground and then sat down next to her, resting his back against the cold stone wall. Suddenly, there was a frenzy of noise, and he knew it was mealtime. He did not scramble like the others to get his share, for he knew Gael would do that for him. He simply sat there, his mind racing, wondering how he'd escape.

Where? Was there a place here where he could make a move? A place where the watchmen overlooked or were lax in keeping guard? He had done his best at investigating for the past weeks, but so far, he had found none.

"My lord." It was Gael, one of his men who had been with him through thick and thin. There were nine others, and they took their place around him now, eating their hard bread with solemn looks in their eyes.

Gael handed him a roll of bread, and Juan broke it into two.

Gael asked, "Who's the girl?"

Juan shrugged his shoulders. "She was whipped."

"Poor little mite," one of the men said. "They won't last. I see at least two to three fall a day, dead. Monsters, those lot."

"Do we know what they're looking for?" another asked.

"Using hundreds of people to mine so much dirt like that," another said. "Must be some sort of rare minerals for sure."

Whatever they were mining for, Juan didn't care. What he cared about was to save these people and destroy this place completely. But how?

It was a while later when the one-horned demon girl woke, and the moment she did, she started whimpering. Juan stroked her head to soothe her since she reminded him so much of his nieces Abi, Ruby, and Claire.

"Shh... It's all right, little one. Here." He handed her the other half of his bread. "Eat this."

The girl glanced from the bread to him and then hesitantly took it. As she started eating, she sobbed. When she was finished a while later, she said, "Thank you, sir."

Juan said, "You're very welcome."

It was late into the night, and Juan was jerked awake with a start. He blinked and then focused his gaze before him, seeing the little demon girl looming over him.

"Sir, could you come with me?"

Confused as to what she wanted, Juan sat up and then asked, "What for?"

She simply stared at him and said, "Will you... bring my papa and mama if you could escape from here?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She said, "My pets dug a hole, but I can't go because... it's dark and scary."

"A hole?" he asked. "Your pets dug a hole?"

She nodded. "Squirrels," she said. "There are many of them. They listen to me."

Squirrels? They listened to her? Was this girl a monster tamer?

"Where?" he asked, feeling his heart thumping hard.

"I'll show you, sir," she said.

He was just standing up when Gael rose from his sleep. Upon seeing him, the young man asked, "My lord?"

Juan put a finger to his lips and then motioned for Gael to come with him.

The little girl took them to a secluded area in the cell where no one, not even the watchmen, cared to look. She said, "It's through there."

Juan kneeled on the ground and examined the hole, noticing that it was big enough to fit him, with room to spare. He turned and said, "Will this lead outside?"

"Outside?" Gael asked. "You mean..."

The girl nodded. "Will you go to get my papa and mama?"

"Tell me their names."

"Papa is Papa and Mama is Mama," she said, and Juan simply stared at her. Now, he thought, how old was she again? Perhaps around five?

"What about your name, sweetie?" he asked.

"Lilly, sir," she said.

"Lilly, do you have a last name?"

She tilted her head to one side. "What's a last name?"

Juan sighed. It looked like there was no helping it. His priority was to get back to Norsewood and bring Aldric and the warriors here to save everyone. Then he'd find this little girl's parents for her.

He gently patted her head and said, "You've done a very good job, Lilly."

She brightened up at the compliment.

"I'll bring in people to help everyone," he said. "Can you keep this a secret between us and not tell anyone?"

She nodded. "We don't want to get caught," she said.

He chuckled. She was pretty smart, after all. No, not just smart. She was a genius, especially for a five-year-old to come up with a way of escape. A hole indeed, and he, a twenty-three-year-old warrior with experience in battles, didn't even think to come up with such a simple idea. But, of course, he was no monster tamer who could communicate with tiny animals and command them about.

He said, "That's right. You're a smart one."

Again, she grinned, her eyes twinkling.

"I'll be back soon," he said.

"Be careful, sir," Lilly said.

"Juan," he said. "My name is Juan, Lilly."

She smiled. "Juan, sir," she said. "Please come back with my papa and mama soon."

He nodded. Turning to Gael, he said, "Look after her."

"My lord," Gael said. "Are you really... escaping?"

"Mm-hmm." To Lilly, he said, "Lilly, Gael will look after you, all right? Stick close to him."

She turned to look at Gael for a moment and then nodded. She said, "Come out."

A small furry animal popped out from the corner and then hopped on Lilly's shoulder.

Lilly said, "Red is very smart. I've asked him to guide you outside." To the red squirrel, she said, "You must listen to Juan, all right? You must guide him to find people to help us. Got it?"

Red tilted his head to one side and nodded, or what was the equivalent of a nod by a squirrel.

Lilly chuckled. "Good boy," she said as she stroked his head.

Red hopped off Lilly's shoulder and then scurried into the hole. Juan, after giving Lilly and Gael one last glance, headed in as well.

*****

THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride Book 1 – A Girl in Another World.

Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride is available and FREE to download on major ebook stores such as Amazon (kindle), Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes and Noble (Nook), Kobo, and Smashwords.

I hope you've enjoyed Quinn and Aldric's fun, magical adventure so far as I've enjoyed writing it.

Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride continues in Book 2: My Lord Saves the Citizens.

Helping the Norsewood's refugees and building a lodge (super modern and luxurious) is only the first little step Quinn and Aldric take toward building their very own kingdom. Continue the story in My Lord Saves the Citizens. There are more sweet scenes between Aldric and Quinn as their relationship gets that bit deeper, a budding lgbt-mm romance with a secondary couple (because I'm an lgbt-friendly writer) and more magic and kingdom building, and of course, food that'd sure to blow the mind of the Norsewood people, and elves and dwarves.

*****

Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride continues in the next chapter...