Ellyn did growl into her gag as the man argued back at her. She desperately wanted to knee this man in the crotch. Watching them treat Kaura cruelly was harder for her to watch than to face being groped and bound herself, though she couldn't help one small moment of being impressed at the elf's gorgeous legs.
One of the larger men pushed the others aside and grabbed Kaura as if claiming her for himself. "Hello pretty," he said in the most common of accents and pressed his lips to hers through the gag. There were cat calls and the man grabbed at each of her breasts to draw more and louder cries. "I think I'll carry this one myself," he said, swinging her up over his shoulder, much like Viktor had the previous evening, though far far less gently.
"Just make sure you save enough of her for the rest of us, Grog," answered another, and Ellyn shrieked in anger. She considered the man's words and hoped desperately that he was wrong, though she knew well enough that he probably wasn't. It would take Lord Viktor and his knight's hours to reach them, and these men seemed to have enough wits to make it harder than necessary for him to come to their aid. She felt herself being shoved along after the group of men as they started to travel. She stumbled forward, looking apologetically into Kaura's eyes as she observed that 'Grog' seemed to be having some fun by stroking (and occasionally swatting) the elven woman's ass as he carried her like a stack of potatoes.
* * *
Miles away... and about an hour later... Beth crashed her way into the courtyard. Viktor, who happened to be crossing by to arrange something else for tonight's ball, saw the riderless horse and looked up with a raised eyebrow. When Beth came trotting right up to him, though, he was astonished. She nuzzled him on the shoulder, of all things, and it suddenly hit him. They were in trouble... real trouble. Kaura had sent Beth back and told her to find him, and it was urgent enough that he horse was trusting him. Panic hit him in a sharp wave that, even over the distance between them, was all too evident to Kaura. His immediate reaction was to want to scale the walls and start running, but he... couldn't... there were too many people. "Alright, what then?" he asked Beth, who, amazingly, turned and tossed her head as if to answer. "Ah," he said, understanding (though he himself couldn't speak with horses).
"Get Shade saddled immediately!," he shouted to the stable attendant. Sir Rowan, standing behind him with another knight, overheard him and walked over. He asked Viktor what was wrong, and, unable to think of anything better, Viktor quickly explained. It must have been a momentary loss of judgement, because he hadn't anticipated Rowan's immediate insistence on being of assistance. After trying to argue for a moment, in which Shade had been brought to Viktor's side, Viktor finally relented and said, "Very well, but I can't wait on you, Sir Rowan. Saddle your mount, and send your squire to warn the other knights about where we're off to, then catch up with me." It was the best he could come up with in a panic, and he simply hoped that the younger knight wouldn't manage to find him once he got out of the walls.
Viktor hopped quickly up on Shade, who knew his rider well and reared back to indicate he was ready to go, and then leaned over to Beth, whispering, "Spare no swiftness," and hoping the horse understood the urgency.