by James Wisher
Jackson shook his head.
“Good, then we’ll get along fine.”
Jackson relaxed and for the next few days they settled into a tedious routine, the monotony broken by meals and the once a day play break. During one break four days after his fight with his former cellmate Xander sat on the ground, catching his breath after a race with the other kids. He’d come in third, but the best part was he hadn’t fallen to the ground gasping for air when he finished. Sophia came over, bearing the ubiquitous cup of bitter yellow medicine.
“I think I’m getting better.” He took the cup from her and downed it in one go.
Sophia sat beside him. Since the fight she hadn’t said ten words to him. She accepted the cup back. “I thought Master Hess would kill you for what you said the other day.”
Xander lay down on the grass and looked up at the clouds drifting by. “I was pretty sure he wouldn’t. I’ve been watching and what he wants more than our pain is our fear. I showed him I wasn’t afraid of anything he could do. If he’d hurt me he would have thought he was doing what I wanted rather than me doing what he wanted. To him it would have been like losing to a slave. I didn’t think he’d accept that outcome.”
“It was such a terrible risk.” There was a note of genuine concern in her voice that made him smile.
“Some of what I said was the simple truth. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope that I can one day find whoever murdered my family and kill them in the most painful fashion I can think of.”
“Such a dark thought,” Sophia whispered.
“It’s all I have.”
* * *
The next two weeks passed with little to distinguish them until the evening of the twentieth day, the day after his birthday. The wagons stopped before full dark and after a minute an unfamiliar voice said, “What’ll you give for her, Hess?”
A moment of silence passed then Hess said, “Thirty, take it or leave it.”
“Deal,” the new voice said without an instant’s hesitation. “Keep a close watch on this one, she’s slippery.”
“I haven’t lost one yet. Come on and help me load her.” A moment later the tarp pulled back and Hess’s ugly face appeared. “Get back you three.”
Xander and his cellmates slid back from the door. Hess opened it and with the help of someone Xander couldn’t see threw a half conscious girl into the cage with them. The door slammed shut, the lock snapped closed, and the tarp dragged back into place. Outside coins clinked and laughter echoed through the dark.
The girl groaned and Xander inched closer to see where she’d been hurt. She’d landed face down so he nudged her over on her back. A huge bruise covered the right side of her face; the blow no doubt also knocked her cold. Besides that she looked okay. She had medium length, sand colored hair, a short upturned nose, and a small chin. Her thin build suggested no one had overfed her.
Her eyes fluttered open revealing glassy slate gray eyes. “Good evening,” Xander said.
She groaned and sat up. “Where am I?”
“In a cage that is now a bit more crowded than it was a minute ago. You have joined the ranks of the slave caste.”
“Slave?”
“Yeah, whoever brought you here got thirty gold coins for your life. I’m Xander. The boy behind me is Jackson and the girl is Mary. Do you have a name?”
“Of course I have a name.” The girl shot him a scathing glare. “I’m Kaylin. So this is what he meant when he said I’d wish I was dead before he finished with me.”
“The man seemed eager to get rid of you. He didn’t even negotiate. What did you do to make him so angry?”
“I broke into his house and helped myself to a few choice items. How was I supposed to know he was one of the biggest black market smugglers in the city? I’ve been living in a cell for the past week eating nothing but bread and water. This morning some goon comes in, bashes me in the head, and the next thing I know I’m here.”
“And I thought the slop we had to eat was bad.”
Jackson laughed and Xander threw him a grin. It was good to hear the boy laugh. He’d withdrawn more than usual the last few days. The wagons started down the road again, some light remained and Hess didn’t seem inclined to waste it.
“When do we stop?”
“When it’s completely dark. They’ll feed us then it’s back on the road at first light.”
“Same routine every day?”
Xander nodded. “Except for today when we picked you up.”
“Where are we headed?”
“Some slave market in the south. Which city or how far south I have no idea.”
Kaylin leaned back and put her arm over her eyes. “My head’s going to burst. If I fall asleep save me some food.”
“Sure.”
* * *
The cage was pitch black when Kaylin stirred. She shifted around in the dark. Xander reached out and found her arm. She flinched away.
“Relax, I just want to find your hand so I can give you your supper. It’s gotten cold though.”
“I don’t care. At this point my stomach is so empty anything will be an improvement.”
Kaylin’s hand touched his knee. He grasped her wrist and set the bowl in her hand. “It’s full so be careful.”
She slurped at the soup and after a few seconds said, “Why did you save this for me? You could have eaten it yourself and I’d have been out of luck.”
“I said I would. In the time I’ve been a slave I’ve learned the only ones we can count on are each other. Besides, two bowls of that garbage would probably kill me.”
She laughed and he smiled in the dark. “Listen.” She leaned over beside him and he felt her breath on his cheek. In a voice barely a whisper she said, “In about four hours I’m going to break out of here. Why don’t you come with me?”
“You can’t,” Xander spoke just as quiet. “Hess’ll expect it. The man that sold you warned him you’re slippery.”
“I’m not waiting around to be sold. When the moon sets I’m out of here. Come with me or stay, I don’t care, but I’m going.”
Kaylin pulled away, but he reached out to stop her. Xander tried to put as much urgency as possible into his voice. “It’s not only you that will suffer when you fail. Hess will choose another child to be punished along with you.”
“Do you want to remain a slave?” Kaylin asked. “You can’t accomplish anything without taking a few risks.”
“I know that,” Xander said. “I’ve thought of little besides escape since I woke up in this cage, but I’ll only get one chance. When the time’s right I’ll act and not before and I’m telling you the time is not right.”
“I appreciate your concern but I’m going and that’s it.”
“Good luck then. If you should manage to escape I beg you to tell someone about Hess. I understand the penalty for slave trading is quite severe and he deserves whatever he gets.”
“You have my word.” Kaylin leaned back and resumed her meal.
Xander lay awake long into the night straining to hear any sign that Kaylin might be trying to make her escape. Part of him wanted to shout an alarm in the hope that the rest of the kids might be spared any punishment when she got caught. Unless she had a way of dealing with those mastiffs he knew she’d get caught. He couldn’t do it, not if he wanted to look at himself in the mirror again without getting sick. Kaylin deserved a chance, slim as it seemed.
He had no idea what time it was when he felt the wagon shift a fraction. A moment later the faint sound of metal on metal came and he knew she’d started picking the lock. The lock clicked and the door squeaked. Her feet hit the ground and she ran into the night. Go, go, go. A few seconds later the mastiffs barked and snarled. Kaylin’s luck had run out.
Xander shook his head at the futility of her effort. Now Hess would be doubly on guard when his turn came to try.
* * *
Loud clanging woke Xander from a fitful sleep. “Everybody out!”
X
ander’s body obeyed Hess’s command before his brain came fully awake. He slid out the still open cage door and lined up beside Jackson and Mary. The boy Xander half blinded stood beside Jackson and another boy from the second cage Xander didn’t know stood beside him. Sophia stood a little ways apart. All their eyes focused on Kaylin who laid on the ground, hands and feet bound with heavy cord. The dogs’ fangs had torn her cloths and she had several bloody gashes on her arms.
Hess stepped in front of the slaves, scowling, arms crossed. “This slave.” He turned around and kicked Kaylin the ribs. “Tried to escape last night. As you can see she failed. Now one of you will share her punishment.”
The slaver strutted up and down the line of kids, making a show of deciding who to punish, enjoying the fear in his young prisoners. Hess stopped in front of the boy Xander didn’t know. “Last night she left the cage door unlocked but none of you who shared her cell tried to escape. For that bit of wisdom.” He grabbed the boy from the other cell and flung him down on the grass beside Kaylin. “You’ll be spared.”
Hess rolled Kaylin over on her stomach with his foot then repeated the procedure with the boy. His helper brought a ten foot bull whip and handed it to him. He brought the whip up then cracked it down on their backs. For the next five minutes Xander watched with clenched teeth as Hess flayed first the cloth then the skin of their backs. When he finished sweat poured off him and both Kaylin and the boy bore bloody lines from their shoulders to their waists.
Sophia caught Hess’s eye and he nodded. She hurried over with her satchel. Xander hesitated then went over to help, when Hess said nothing he knelt beside her. The boy whimpered but his cuts looked shallow. Kaylin had fallen unconscious and she bled from the cuts on her back and from the gashes the dogs gave her. Sophia mixed a paste of herbs and water and spread it on the boy’s back. His whimpering stopped at once.
“What was she thinking?” Sophia whispered.
“I tried to warn her,” Xander said, just a quiet. “She wouldn’t listen.”
“I’m tempted to let her suffer for what she did to John.”
“Blame the slaver, not her. Those dog bites could get infected.”
“I can’t look after her and the two boys.”
“I know basic first aid,” Xander wanted to do something to ease her burden since it was in part his fault all three got hurt. “Tell me what to do and I’ll look after her.”
Sophia mixed a cup of paste with different herbs and handed it to him. “You need to apply this to the bites three times a day. I can fix you more during meal time and exercise breaks.”
“Load those two up,” Hess said. “It’s time to move.”
Sophia helped John to his feet and led him back to the cage they shared. Xander handed the cup of paste to Mary, lifted Kaylin, and carried her back to their cage. He was glad she didn’t weigh much as the short walk to the wagon felt like a mile He slid her in as gently as he could then climbed in beside her. Xander took the cup from Mary then offered her a hand up. Once Jackson had joined them Hess slammed the door in his face and pulled the tarp back in place.
Soon they started moving. Xander cleaned Kaylin’s wounds the best he could then smeared Sophia’s paste over them. At once the redness receded. He couldn’t do anything else so Xander held her head in his lap and leaned back to rest
The heat grew oppressive under the tarp so Xander knew it had to be close to noon. Kaylin groaned and moved around. Her eyes opened and Xander smiled down at her. “Hello. How bad does it hurt?”
“Bad,” She said between groans.
“I warned you he’d expect you to try something last night.”
“You were right. Feel better now?”
“No, I hoped you’d make it. You made no friends last night I can tell you, especially that boy you got whipped this morning. That might have been any of us.”
“They won’t try to get back at me will they?” She sounded nervous.
“No, if anyone tried anything they’d get a beating for their trouble. The worst you have to worry about is no one talking to you.”
“You don’t seem to care.”
“I reserve my hatred for our captor,” Xander brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Besides, you’re the first person I’ve seen show any spirit. When I make my break it’d be nice to have one person with the nerve to help.”
“Once I’m back on my feet say the word. I’m with you all the way.”
“Good.”
* * *
Xander spent the next month looking after Kaylin who regained her strength in slow, steady increments. Early each morning she gave him lessons on how to pick the lock on their cage. He found he had a knack for it and after two weeks could lock and unlock it at will. He also found he could breathe without trouble and no longer needed Sophia’s nasty herbal drinks. His voice, however, still amount to little more than whisper, if he strained he could make a little more noise, but nothing close to normal.
One day during an exercise break Xander spotted Sophia sitting by herself watching the other kids play. Xander finished helping Kaylin make a few rounds of the clearing where they’d stopped. She was getting stronger all the time and hardly needed his help anymore. When she’d had enough he went to talk to Sophia.
“Want some company?”
She gestured to the grass beside her and he sat. “How are your patients doing?”
“Gregor will be permanently blind in one eye. John is fine, his wounds were shallow. How’s yours?”
Xander grinned. “Kaylin should be good as new in a couple weeks.”
Sophia bit her lip.
“What?”
“How can you look after her like she did nothing wrong? It might have been you that got whipped because of her. As it was an innocent boy suffered because of her actions. Aren’t you angry at all?”
“I’m angry, furious, but not with Kaylin. She didn’t swing that whip or lock any of us in cages. I find fault with her timing not her actions. If she’d waited a few weeks or a month she’d have caught him off guard. One of the lessons my father used to teach is that it’s hard for a guard to stay alert all the time when nothing ever happens. After a month of monotony even the most alert guard gets bored. Once he gets bored he’ll be slow to react when something happens. That might have been all the edge she needed.”
Sophia looked at him, a little frown creasing her forehead. “You have an odd way about you. You sit here and show me kindness and respect; you tend the girl’s wounds and help her with whatever she needs. All that says one thing about you and yet I saw what you did to Gregor. How can that be?”
Xander sighed and stretched out of the grass. How could it be? He wasn’t sure he knew the answer. “Maybe if I told you about my family. Father was a knight. For as long as I can remember he taught my brother, Gabriel, and I about honor and what it meant to be a knight. Perhaps that explains the kindness and respect. As to the other, I’ve always been small for my age and the only thing fighting fair does for people like me is get us beaten up. I have to rely on speed, which is useless in a cage or I fight dirty. My style drove Father crazy. I think he’d have rather seen me lose the right way than win my way.”
“Is it such a terrible thing to do things the right way?”
“Not at all. I’ve thought a lot about what Father taught us. I’ve had a lot of spare time. Look at it this way: say there are two knights. One fights honorably and dies in battle rather than compromise his beliefs. The other fights to win and survives with his honor tarnished. Who’s the hero? The dead man or the one that’s still alive to protect his people when the next threat appears.”
“You have given this a lot of thought,” she said.
Xander nodded. “Perhaps too much. Honor will do me no good as a slave. I will do what it takes to survive. Whoever killed my family will wish I never crawled out of that fire.”
Sophia shrank back from him. He smiled to take the darkness from his words.
“I didn’t mean to scare
you. How long until we get where we’re going?”
“Three more weeks,” she said. “Maybe a little more depending on the roads.”
Three more weeks. Xander felt strong enough to make a run for it, but he had no idea where they were and Kaylin was still too weak. He’d have to wait a little longer.
CHAPTER 2
“I’ve got a plan,” Xander whispered in Kaylin’s ear. It was late afternoon and they snuggled together in the back on the wagon. He’d gotten the idea for them to play at being a couple so they could whisper and no one would think twice about it. If Sophia was right they had two weeks before they got to the slave market. “When Hess brings dinner tonight I’ll have a coughing fit. When everyone’s looking at me I need you to steal a bottle from Sophia’s satchel. It’ll be marked with three zs and contain a gray powder.”
“No problem. What are we going to do with it?”
“Nothing, right now. When we get dinner save the biggest piece of meat from your soup.”
A few minutes before sunset the wagons rattled to a stop. A little while later Hess threw the tarp back. Hess’s helper got a fire stared and put the soup pot on it. Half an hour later he filled the bowls and Sophia brought them to the back of the cage. Hess unlocked it. Xander moved toward the door to collect his bowl. When he reached the edge of the wagon he started coughing and fell out onto the ground. He rolled around hacking like he couldn’t breathe.
Kaylin jumped out. “You have to do something.” She sounded every bit the worried girlfriend.
Hess shoved her aside and Sophia ran for her satchel. She set it down, collected the yellow powder, and started mixing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kaylin ease over to the satchel.
Xander took the cup and swallowed the contents, nodded, and stopped coughing. When Sophia swung around Kaylin was back on the ground where she’d started. They collected their food and got back in the cage.
Later that night when everyone was asleep Xander whispered, “You got it?”
