I heard Jay cry out my name. I heard Alardia too but that didn’t stop me. I had no idea where I was running to. All I knew, was that I did not want to be delivered into the hands of that Blademaster.
When the time came that I could see Higher Wall straight ahead, looming above the roof tops in front of me, I was completely out of breath and trembling profusely. I considered finding respite amidst the Karnaea grounds, but only for a moment before it occurred to me that the gate would be shut at this hour and that most definitely, the grounds would be swarming with patrolling sentinels.
I kept running. I heard quicks steps behind me. Tears began to swell in my eyes as my mind conjured up images of the Destroyer hot on my heels. Closer and closer those steps came. The Destroyer was gaining ground and the more that realization dawned, the slower my pace became, my fear rendering me exhausted, until at last, I was betrayed by my feet, a floundering step leaving me to fall onto the cobbles.
“Stasanda!”
I frowned, the voice was Jay’s and when I looked behind me, there he was, flushed and worried. He wasted no time. Jay scooped me up, surprising me with his strength and when he got me off the road, he put me back on my feet once deep in the shadow of a dark alley. I wrapped my arms around him, weeping.
Jay held me tight, his one hand coursing down the length of my back. “You’re alright, Stase,” he whispered.
I let him go in that instant. “No, I am not!” I said, looking now towards the end of the alley and beyond where the road beamed with torch light.
I couldn’t stop trembling. The fear of what would come to pass should the Destroyer find me, was making me hysterical. But Jay remained. He came close and reached out a hand to me, but I defected away from him. I didn’t want to look at him. I wanted him to be gone.
“Stase, calm down,” he said.
Frustrated, resenting his efforts to console me, I shut my eyes and cried, “I can’t!”
Jay pulled me into his arms roughly. “Well try!” he said firmly. “For you are safe! You are safe, Stase!”
I broke free from his hold. I wrapped my arms about my shoulders in defiance of the cold night and to create distance between Jay and I, thinking; Alepion’s blademaster, perhaps the most powerful and most terrifying blademaster in Moon history, is hunting me. He wants to kill me.
I turned my head and my eyes considered the other end of the alley. I tried to make for it but Jay reached for my arm.
“Do not go, Stase!” he urged strongly, “Don’t run! Don’t run from me!”
I faced him and considered his eyes as they shined with the First Sign of Adonai; I noticed the hurt building behind their sternness. His fierce expression had failed to hide his internal struggle that I now saw was undeniable. I wish it hadn’t; for now that I was able to detect Jay’s foreboding awareness that he would soon lose me, I suddenly became aware of how greatly and vividly he loved me.
It was that love that made me want to leave. It was that love that made me want to get away. It was that love that would hold me prisoner should I give into it.
“I run from the Blademaster,” I lied, partially. I was indeed afraid of the Blademaster. But now I had a way and reason to get away from Jay too, who just like the Destroyer, I sensed would never stop pursuing me.
I jerked away from Jay, wanting to leave but he would not relent. Jay forced me back around and locked my gaze to his firm and intense stare.
“You don’t need to run!” he said, frustrated.“I will not let anyone hurt you. I am safe, Stase. I am safe!” He drew me closer and let out a heavy sigh, his gaze and voice now dropping in discouragement. “Dead God follower or not, I am yours.” He looked up at me. His voice soft as a whisper, “I am yours.”
I could feel tears form in my eyes. I saw that he noticed and then I felt the tight grip of his left hand was suddenly loosened, his right hand releasing me all together as it rose to cup the side of my face.
Gently, Jay brought his mouth down to mine. The sensuality of his kiss, as well as its unexpectedness, caused my entire body to relax. In that moment, all fear was gone, all restraint and I found that I was completely giving in to him.
Chapter 10
I sat at our table. Tegerian sat there too, the both of us looking at Lardian who leaned back against the kitchen counter; his attention fixed upon me, his expression resolute.
“She is of the Old Way, Jay!” he insisted. “She was denied entrance into the city because those guards saw her for who she was. Last night, she ran. She ----
“We all ran,” added Tegerian, nonchalantly.
Lardian looked at him. “Yes. We all ran.!” He raised a didactic finger in the air, declaring, “But, we would not have run if Stasanda hadn’t!”
Lardian was right about that, I thought now, recalling how scared I had been last night. But it was not so much the Destroyer coming towards me that had made me turn to escape him, but my desire to reach Stase and keep her safe.
Lardian turned on me. “The point is, Jay. Why did Stasanda run if she hadn’t realized that she would be doomed? That she was found out? You heard what the Destroyer said. He was looking right at her and said, “I have been looking for you.” And if you recall, that was when she ran.”
I glanced down at the table, my thoughts plaguing me. Last night had been an ordeal. Both for me and for Stasanda. I didn’t know what was going on in her head. I didn’t know why she held such reservations towards me. And then there was Lardian’s logic.
Why did you run, Stase?
Lardian came to the table and he hunched over the surface. “Liberation Day is soon, Jay. You need to be as far away from that elvess as you can when that day comes.” He looked at Tegerian. I glanced his way too and found it queer the look he gave Lardian; near scepticism. His eyes were narrowed, seemingly in deep thought.
“I say we leave this Inn and seek accommodation elsewhere! For all we know, Alardia and that Nune-elvess are in league with Stasanda too!” Lardian set his gaze on me again. “What do you say?”
Even if I had had the words, which I admittedly didn’t, for I was completely torn, I hadn’t the chance to respond…
The door to our room crashed open and before we could react, armed sentinels burst inside, their clanking chainmail and heavy boots upon the hardwood floor drowning out every other sound. I was on my feet and recoiling with Lardian against the kitchen counter. It was only Tegerian who remained seated. He looked mildly surprised at the intrusion but besides that, appeared perfectly at ease.
By now, half a dozen sentinels stood before us. They then parted and made room for a seventh, who removed his sentinel helm to reveal a hard face and a brown beard with long thick brown hair falling at length past his shoulders. He made a hard study of Lardian and I. Then he glanced at Tegerian who I saw maintained his nonchalant pose beneath the sentinel’s scrutinising glare.
“Search this place,” the sentinel commanded.
Five of the six sentinels obeyed whilst the sixth kept close behind the one in charge, who at present, continued in his study of myself and Lardian.
“It has been reported that there is an Old Way member at large and that she might be hiding out here?” The sentinel took a belligerent step towards myself and Lardian, adding, “Is that true?”
Lardian was on the verge of responding but I cut him off. “No!” I said, letting the sentinel know by my expression that I didn’t appreciate his intrusion, nor his insinuation that my friends and I were harbouring an Old Way member.
What I did find odd about the sentinel’s statement, was that last night, I had taken Stasanda home. I had kissed her good night and returned with hope soaring through my heart.
The sentinel stood glaring at me when one of his sentinels suddenly returned. I glanced at that sentinel and my eyes went wide at what he held. Presenting to the one in charge, my greatfather’s longblade, he said formally, “I found this.”
The leading sentinel took my greatfather’s longblade and made a quick examination
of it before his eyes rose to Lardian and I again.
“Whose is this?” he asked.
I drew myself up. “It was my greatfather’s.” I stretched out my hand, “hand it over!”
The sentinel smiled. “Your greatfather was a crescent?” clearly recognising the colours on the hilt of the longblade; the green of the crescents, who were the official warriors that served in the Alepion army.
“Was. Yes.”
The sentinel considered me at length. He then turned to his associate and ordered him to return to the search of the fugitive. When he looked at me again, his expression was inquisitive.
“Did your greatfather serve during the reign of the Betrayed?”
“Yes,” I seethed. I didn’t like talking about my greatfather. Especially with one who served the Elder.
“He died during the wars?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. My silence was the answer the sentinel looked for.
“Ah,” he said. He handed me back the longblade and then made a long study of Lardian.
When his sentinels returned to report that the elvess they sought was not inside our room, the sentinel in charge broke eye contact with Lardian and told one of his sentinels to bring in the elvesses.
A shadow crossed over my expression when I saw Alardia and the other elvess enter our room. I noticed how Alardia’s expression was downcast, almost as if she were ashamed to have been summoned, whilst the Nune-elvess appeared exalting.
“Your friend is not here,” the sentinel said to them.
“I have no friend who keeps faith with dead gods,” spat the Nune-elvess. She then regarded me, glowering.
I looked at Alardia. “You reported her?” I asked, disbelieving. Stasanda loved Alardia. I refused to believe Alardia would turn on her.
“I did!” said the other. “She ran from the Blademaster. She is of the Old Way.”
“You ran too,” chuckled Tegerian, still sitting at the table, now leaning back casually against the chair as he watched the interactions unravel before him.
The Nune-elvess regarded him with utter disdain, “As did you.” She looked at me. “We all did. We were frightened. But it was Stasanda who ran first.” She looked then at the sentinel “The Destroyer said he had been looking for her.”
“You said she was here in this room,” reproached the sentinel, sounding very impatient.
“I said I believed she was here. She didn’t come home last night. He,” pointing at me, “had gone after her.”
The sentinel turned on me. “Is this true?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Did you find her?”
“No,” I lied, without hesitation, hoping no one had seen me bring her home last night, thinking then; She must have left once I returned to my room? Why, Stase?
“Well then, I see no reason to linger here,” the sentinel declared.
His sentinels were the first to leave but when their leader got to the threshold of our door, he paused to regard us all.
“To be found assisting an elf or elvess implicated with the Old Way, is to draw implications down upon yourself. You have all been warned.”
When the sentinel left, the Nune-elvess scoffed at my direction then turned to leave as well. Alardia lingered, appearing deeply dismayed but eventually she followed her traitorous friend and once she closed the door, I searched for my cloak, intending to brave the gloomy world outside. Once I found it, I donned it, my greatfather’s longblade tight in my grasp. I strode towards the door.
“Jay!” called Tegerian.
I paused at the door, suddenly anxious. My hands at the knob of the door, trembled. I needed to find Stase before the sentinels did. I needed to find her before the Destroyer. Yet what would I do when I did?
“Where are you going?”
“To look for Stasanda,” I answered.
I pulled open the door and took a single step when Lardian called out, “You’re not her saviour, Jay!”
I left the two of them inside, closing the door behind me.
Chapter 11
To be homeless in a city such as this was momentously dreadful. It was always cold, even when the sun was out. Due to the constant spit-falls of rain, the grounds had become churned mud, and the winds were the worst of all, for they were relentlessly pestering and haunting gusts, moaning loudly.
I was now following the scent of baked bread that drifted along the road, luring me towards its ovens and when I arrived at its source, I hid behind the edge of an alley corner, staring hopelessly at the establishment.
I had coin left in my pocket from two nights ago, but fear of being found out, prohibited me from entering the bakery. At that, my head lifted, my eyes narrowing.
Perched upon roof tops and flag poles, I noticed many different types of birds and I believed that at least a few of them were possessed by the powers of the Mindfinders. I didn’t know what lengths the Destroyer would take to find me, but I wasn’t about to disregard the likely possibility that the Mindfinders were on the alert - for Liberation Day was close at hand and Evennal was apprehensive.
Admittedly, I was surprised to not have seen posters of my face plastered on the walls of the city. Yet I imagined that if I didn’t see that happening later today, I would tomorrow.
My stomach was in knots. If posters of my face were plastered on the walls, it was only because the Destroyer had found where I had been staying and that Alardia and Nendia had offered descriptions of my face.
Alardia…
I shook my head, trying to hold back the tears that formed at the thought of my dear friend, who I missed the most and who I imagined now thought the worst of me.
I kept staring at the bakery, my stomach pleading for attention. But the warning in my heart endured, the fear of being caught so incredibly strong. That fear enticed the memory of the Blademaster; tall and swathed in black and stepping out from the establishment to first approach the body that I assumed, he had thrown from the top floor. My memory recalled him then stepping out onto the street to look at me and my friends.
“I have been looking for you!” he had declared.
He comes for me.
My heart began to race, and I told myself desperately that I needed to get out of the city, knowing, however, that until the Karnaea was over, my departure was nigh impossible, for I would be noticed by the sentries at the gate.
I needed to wait until everyone was leaving. I needed to wait and slip past the sentries amidst the crowds.
The streets were busy. I watched an elf drag a two-wheeled cart. Its load, I saw, was protected from the rain by a thick sheet. There were couples huddled together, trying to stay warm and then there were the patrons of the bakery.
Just now, the bakery had a relatively long line, which encouraged me to wait where I stood just awhile longer as I tried to make up my mind on whether to step out and risk being caught or stay hungry but safe. While that process was underway, I saw patrolling sentinels headed up the road in my direction and so, I shrunk back into shadow.
When the sentinels passed by, their clanking mail eventually fading from hearing, I snuck forward again and stared longingly at the bakery with conflicted emotions…I decided to risk it. Taking in a deep breath, I summoned all my courage and invoked a casual advance onto the road towards the other side where the bakery was based.
There I waited at the back of the three-elf line, emitting a deep breath as I focused on calming my nerves. While I stood there, my thoughts very wantonly drifted to Jaydan.
He had been reassuring, charming and compassionate towards me on our way back to the Landa Inn. I had savoured every minute of the journey back, for I had made up my mind that it was not to last. Despite how charming I found him, I wanted more to be free of any obligation to him. I wanted to see the Realm. I wanted to journey north to the Trails, to visit that coastal city of Tannis Ban with Alardia, who I suspected would not want to do so with me anymore. No
t unless I could find her before Liberation Day and try to explain myself. Explain to her why I had run.
But if I go back to the Landa Inn, I would possibly run into Jay.
The memory of his smile when kissng me goodnight at the door of my room, broke my heart. His eyes had gleamed with absolute hope. He cared so deeply for me.
I had entered my room but waited by the door and when I felt Jay was hidden inside his own room, I opened the door and made my escape with tears spilling down my face. I had longed to wake Alardia up and explain, yet I feared what would happen if did.
She had put a lot of faith and trust in me when she allowed me to stay with her and Nendia. Seeing me run that night, I imagined that she would not extend the same trust again. And then there was Nendia… Even if Alardia didn’t betray me and call the authorities if I had decided to stay at the Inn, that Nune-elvess would have done so the next morning.
I sighed. My situation was delicate, my heart heavy and I could feel tears wallowing in my eyes once more. It was a difficult thing to keep them at bay, but I managed by the time it was my turn to place an order.
The elf behind the counter of the shop looked a grizzly fellow, appearing testy with his scowling expression. I quickly deduced that he wouldn’t appreciate any form of indecisiveness on my part and so, I looked at the display trays to articulate my choice of purchase.
Whilst I did that, I fiddled in the pocket of my cloak, feeling around for two copper stars when very suddenly, I was shoved against the counter. I saw a quick hand grab the coins that were in my hand. The thief pushed me as he ran and given my already unstable state of emotions and the fear of being caught circulating within me, I couldn’t help but react in utter disbelief and complete despair.
“No! No! No!” tears had spilled down my cheeks while I heard the cries of “Thief! Thief!” from those who had witnessed the incident.
The Broken Rose Page 7
