by Jaleta Clegg
Chapter 23
"You, wake up." Irina poked me, touching me as little as possible.
"I'm awake," I whispered.
She held a key. "It's an hour to dawn. The guards outside the wagon are drugged. I slipped it into their wine last night." She wiggled the key in my cuffs until they opened. She muffled the chains in her skirt. "You'll have to be careful of the other guards." She unlocked the chains from my ankles, moving carefully to keep them from rattling.
The youngest girl in the wagon stirred.
"Take her with you," Irina said as she pulled the chains free.
"I can't." I didn't need someone else to slow me down.
Irina held up one cuff. "Then I'll lock you back up. You said you'd help. Aberius is going to give her to his guards when we get to the market. She isn't worth much on the auction block."
She faced an awful fate, but I couldn't run with her tagging along. "I can travel faster by myself. I'll bring help. I promise."
"Her family sold her. Too many mouths to feed, her father said. He sold her without a second thought." Irina's face twisted bitterly. "She has nothing to live for, not here. You take her with you." She left no room to argue.
"All right." With or without her, my chances of escaping were next to nothing anyway. "What about them?" I waved my hand at the twins. They slept wrapped around each other in the straw.
"They'll be fine. They'll fetch a good price and be well cared for."
I didn't understand how she could be so concerned for the one girl and then so callous towards the others.
She handed me a dark bundle. "It's all I could take. Head west. I've heard there are people in the forests who will help."
I nodded and took the bundle. Irina lifted the canvas flap. I peered out. The nearest guards sprawled on the ground, snoring. I stealthily lowered myself to the ground. The girl followed. Irina stuck her head out, watching to be sure I took the girl.
I shook out the bundled blanket, then wrapped it around us both. The girl clung to me as we picked our way through the unconscious guards.
Two stood watch just beyond the camp. They yawned, relaxing, as dawn colored the sky. We slipped past them unnoticed.
The rough stones of the road bruised my feet. The girl didn't complain. She didn't even whimper. We hurried across the open ground near the road. The trees on the other side hindered us, their dark shadows slowing us to a crawl.
We hadn't gone far when the girl stopped.
"We have to return. They'll know Irina helped us. They'll beat her." Her voice was thin and childish.
"She knows that."
"They'll know she unlocked you and let us out. They'll beat her." The girl tugged insistently at my shift.
"She did it so we could get free. Irina knew the risk."
The girl shook her head. "They'll hurt her. We have to return. They can't know."
"They'll hurt us worse."
She turned, picking her way through the night-shadowed forest to the lights of the camp.
I hesitated. I could leave, go for help. I'd get lost and never return in time. Irina made me responsible for the girl. It was a new feeling, a very uncomfortable one. I swore silently as I caught up with her.
"You do know what they're going to do to you." I caught her arm.
"They'll beat her. It will be my fault." She wasn't listening, in a world all her own.
She was taller, not by much, but enough that I'd have to hurt her to stop her. I raised my hand. I couldn't do it. I couldn't hit her. She pulled free, running to the wagon.
I followed right behind her as she lifted the flap and crawled inside.
"Irina!" The shout came from outside, loud and angry.
Irina flinched.
I fumbled through the straw for my chains.
"Why didn't you run?" Irina glared.
"The girl insisted we come back. She didn't want you to be beaten." I couldn't make myself lock the chains around my wrists and ankles.
"Too late for hiding now," Irina said.
The canvas covering ripped open. Aberius scowled ferociously. The girl flung herself into the straw, burrowing under it.
"What treachery is this, Irina? Where are my keys?"
"Aberius, I don't know what you're talking about." Irina smiled nervously. Even I could tell she lied.
Aberius climbed into the wagon, towering over us. His guards stood behind. Aberius kicked the unlocked chains out of the wagon. He threw me towards the guards. I landed halfway out the back of the wagon. The guards grabbed me, dragging me the rest of the way. They dumped me on the dusty road.
I rolled to my feet, ready to fight. I was outmatched. I faced four of them and they beat people for a living. I got in one hit before they had me pinned. They locked the cuffs on my wrists and ankles.
Aberius screamed profanities at Irina as he dragged her out of the wagon by her hair. The slaves watched with dull eyes. The guards made bets over how badly Aberius would beat her. The girl whimpered, a mindless, hopeless noise.
A guard shoved me onto my knees. The chains on my wrists clanked. He twisted his hand into my shift, holding me in place.
"Aberius, please," Irina begged.
"I'd expect her to try to escape," Aberius said, pointing to me. "Why help her, Irina? What spell did she cast on you?"
Irina's eyes were cold and angry in the dawn light. She straightened in Aberius' hold. "She told me she could kill the Sorceress, and the other demons."
Aberius laughed, letting her go. Irina's face flushed red, her mouth pinched tight.
"You believed her?" Aberius kicked me. He grabbed an ear, jerking my head up. "You really thought she could defeat the Sorceress?" He shoved my head away as the guards laughed again. "You will have to be punished. Both of you."
He signaled a guard to tie her to a fence post. Aberius hefted a thick length of knotted rope. He swung it around before hitting Irina.
She flinched. "Aberius, haven't I made you happy?"
"Not enough to overlook betrayal. You have to pay the price." Aberius toyed with Irina, hitting her just enough to ensure bruises but not enough to damage her.
My guard held me in the dirt. Rocks dug into my bare knees. I shifted my weight. The guard shoved me in warning. The sun rose, bright and golden and uncaring. The girl whimpered in the wagon. I knelt in the sunlight and wished I had run. Barefoot and lost in the woods would have been better than this, but I couldn't have deserted the girl. Having a conscience hurt.
Aberius finally tired of Irina's sobbing. She hung from the post, pleading with him and pledging her undying love and devotion. He ignored her as he stood over me, frowning. He swung his knotted rope. I tensed in anticipation. He tossed the rope to one side and turned away.
"Tie her to the back," he ordered. "Move out."
The guards shoved Irina into the wagon before jerking me to my feet and tying me to the rear. My chains dangled and clanked between the ropes as the wagon lurched into motion. I shuffled awkwardly, stumbling over the short chain between my ankles.
The guard behind me laughed and hit me with his stick. I stumbled again, stubbing my bare toes on a rock. The other guard laughed. They took turns tormenting me as the caravan moved slowly higher into the hills.
I tripped over the chain, falling to my knees. The wagon kept going, dragging me until I finally managed to get to my feet. Blood trickled down my legs. My knees stung. The rough rope and the metal cuffs gouged my wrists, adding another level of pain. I stumbled again.
Arrows suddenly filled the air, zipping around me. The caravan ground to a halt. The guard screamed, blood spurting around an arrow stuck through his arm. The other guard yanked out his sword, running away from the wagon.
The slaves shouted. Men darted out of the forest, attacking the guards and unlocking the slaves. The guards fought back, but they didn't stand a chance against the newly freed slaves.
I chewed on the rope between my wrists, trying to untie the knots with my teeth. More arrows rained dow
n on the caravan. One stuck in the ground by my foot. I bit frantically at the knot.
A group of slaves ran past, a guard caught in their midst. They beat him with their chains. I ducked out of the way
The canvas flap lifted. The girl crawled out, huddling against my side. More gangs of fighting slaves and guards charged past. Smoke filled the air as the wagon caught fire. The horses screamed and kicked. The wagon shook. I yanked at the rope.
The girl patted my hands, stopping my frenzied pulling. She quickly untied the knots. I scrambled to my feet, pulling the girl with me. I grabbed the dead guard's dagger, then ran for the woods, the girl at my heels. My ankle chains slowed us only a little.
The whole caravan was in chaos. Flames licked around the wagon. The horses bolted for the woods, dragging smoking bits of wood. The guards ran from the slaves.
We paused near the trees to catch our breath. I glanced at the girl.
"You don't want to return now, do you?"
She shook her head. Her hair, long strands of limp gold, hung lankly around her face. "We have to run now, before they find us."
I didn't know if she meant the guards or the mysterious attackers shooting arrows.
I lifted my wrists. The chains clanked. "I'm not going to get far with these."
"Irina has the key." The girl stood, starting uncertainly towards the destroyed wagons. Smoke trailed into the sky.
I grabbed her skirt. "We aren't going back for it."
"But it's the only way. We must."
"Maybe not." I studied the narrow tip of the dagger I'd stolen. It might work. I wiggled the tip into the lock on my right ankle, trying to pop the lock.
The girl crouched, shivering nervously.
The dagger was the wrong shape. I twisted it, forcing it deeper. The sounds of fighting escalated. The girl clutched my arm, her fingers digging in.
Feet crunched through the bushes next to us. I yanked the dagger out of the lock, ready to fight even if it was hopeless.
Two men in green pushed the bushes aside. I lowered the dagger. They whispered to each other. One of them ran off through the bushes.
"We mean you no harm." The man knelt down. He glanced at my chains before turning his attention to the girl. "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, her glance flickering across his face.
He brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. He didn't ask me how I felt, his attention focused on the girl.
I shoved the dagger into the lock, snapping the tip. I muttered swear words under my breath. Blood trickled from around the cuffs. They'd scraped my skin raw. I wanted the chains off.
The man in green pulled the girl to her feet. She wrapped her fist into my shift, twisting it tightly, refusing to leave.
"I'll take care of them both." Will Scarlet knelt next to me, gently pushing my hand away from the dagger stuck in the lock. He frowned at it. "This may be a bit tricky."
"It isn't safe here," the man protested.
"Then stand watch." Will wriggled a piece of stiff wire from one sleeve. He poked it into the lock on my wrist. "I'm not sure I want to know how you got here."
The girl hid her face against my shoulder.
"We can see that she gets home safely." Will nodded at the girl as he pulled the cuff free.
"She doesn't have a home to go to." I thought Tivor was bad, this girl had it much worse. "Her parents sold her."
"What's your name?" Will asked her while he worked on my other wrist.
The girl buried her face deeper into my shoulder.
The chains dropped into my lap. He moved to my left ankle, working on the locked cuff.
I examined my scraped wrists. Deep gouges seeped blood. I fingered the cuts. They looked worse than they were. I flung the wrist cuffs into a bush.
Will worked on the last cuff, the one with the jammed dagger. He twisted and pried until the dagger popped free. I bit my lip to keep from swearing; after all, he was trying to help.
"You were trying to pick the lock with this?" He held up the dagger.
"I didn't have the key. Just get it off. Please." My voice came out strained. I was afraid if I stopped to think, I'd start screaming and wouldn't be able to stop. I'd been beaten and sold as a slave. I'd been drugged and tortured. I'd almost been burned alive. I wanted off Tivor, before I went mad.
Will jiggled his wire in the cuff, twisting and prying, until it finally opened. I kicked my foot free, then stood. The girl rose with me. Will straightened, eying me as if I were a dangerous and unpredictable animal.
"I need a horse!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Unless you'd rather walk?" He grinned, a wary edge to his smile.
"I'd rather have my ship back," I answered.
