The Markings

by Catherine Downen

  I lay my head down on the soft pillow. Before I fall asleep I look at my hand, where Alexander had squeezed it just seconds ago. There is a sort of warmth and comfort that came when he touched my hand. I might not be able to recall the feelings I had for him before, but I do know that I am starting to fall for him now and then I fall into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 14

  “Adaline,” I hear Alexander’s hushed voice in my ear. I slowly open my eyes and look around in confusion until I remember where I am. The idea that my father put this entire camp together is still new to me.

  “Everyone’s asleep. If we’re going to go we need to do it now,” Alexander whispers. I nod silently and struggle to get to my feet. I pull my backpack on and slide our sword through my belt.

  It’s nearly pitch black with the slight exception of the little moonlight coming through the tree branches. Alexander takes my hand in his. I look down at our hands and then up at his eyes. He holds my stare for a moment and then gently nods his head for me to start moving and leading the way. I tighten my grip on his hand and maneuver around everyone sleeping.

  We walk away from the rest of the group and deeper into the forest. We’re completely silent as I lead Alexander toward where I believe the river I saw on the map should be. We inch ourselves forward slowly, careful to make as little noise as possible. With the twisted tree roots growing up out of the ground it’s a challenge, and we have to move a lot slower than I would like. We continue like this for what seems to be hours. Maybe it just feels like time is drawing out because of the heavy awkward air between the two of us. His hand in mine, the butterflies in my stomach, and yet I still don’t know the first thing about him. At first, we walk in silence for the simple fact that we don’t want to be heard, but now we are miles from the campsite and still don’t speak. It’s not that I feel like I need to speak to him because I think he understands me without me having to explain myself, but I also wouldn’t know what to say if I did need to talk to him.

  “Adaline, are you sure you know where you’re going?” Alexander whispers, finally breaking the silence.

  “Shhh,” I hush him. “Listen.” We both become silent again and stop moving. Off in the distance I can barely make out the sound of rushing water. I look back at Alexander and smile. “Yeah, I know where I’m going.” I turn and try to walk forward but Alexander pulls me back.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Alexander breaks out.

  “What?” I question back to him.

  “What are we doing Adaline? Do you really think we can show up with some magic key and free Zavy and Toby? You know better than I do that it’s not going to be that easy, and we don’t have anything but gifts that Paylon is immune to,” Alexander pushes. I’m silent for a while, knowing that he’s right. I take the sword out of my belt that I had taken from Chadian and give it to Alexander.

  “We’ll figure it out when we get there,” I argue and rip my hand free of his as I walk toward the sound of rushing water.

  Eventually, I hear Alexander following me. With the sword in his hands it leaves me completely defenseless and as much as he may want to turn back he knows he can’t let me walk into face Paylon with no weapons. After a while longer of walking, the sound of water has grown to a roar and we’ve come through the edge of the forest into a clearing. The cool mist being blown off the rushing water settles on my face, and I’m reminded how extremely hot it’s been these past days.

  “There,” I say to Alexander and point just a bit north of where we are to where the bridge is crossing over the water.

  “Looks safe,” Alexander mutters as he walks around me toward the bridge. I roll my eyes and continue after him.

  “What do you think?” I ask when we make it to the bridge. On the tops of the two side posts is the Dather emblem. The tree of freedom that is on my gold coin sits deep in the wood. It’s a reminder that this is all forbidden land to anyone besides the King and his men. No one is ever supposed to be out of the city limits, but I also wasn’t supposed to leave my cell. Clearly, I don’t care where I am or am not supposed to go. I look to Alexander when he doesn’t respond and nudge him with my arm. Alexander still doesn’t say anything but instead just starts to walk across the bridge and I follow him, knowing he’s just mad that my crazy on a whim plan is working.

  While my knowledge on Alexander is limited I believe Alexander and I have been through a lot of the same stuff, but sometimes we couldn't be any more different. Alexander is a planner, and he needs to know exactly what he’s getting himself into. I'm different. I just jump into whatever I want and work my way through it. Sometimes I think it's because I had everything ripped away from me at such a young age. I don't feel like there's anything to lose. I mean for the past seven years I didn't even feel like I had a life left.

  Once we are on the other side of the bridge Alexander suddenly stops and points to something above the trees. I follow his finger and realize it’s a trail of smoke from what can only be coming from Paylon’s camp.

  I try to steady my breathing as I feel the fear creep inside of me. Slowly, Alexander and I make our way back into the forest, closing in on where the smoke is coming from. I can barely make out what looks like a fire up ahead through the trees. Slowly we inch forward until the entire clearing comes into view.

  I feel my heart drop as my plan crumbles away. Codian and Chadian are here, and now Alexander and I are in trouble. Not only have the two marksmen returned to Paylon’s aid, but one white horse has also found his way back to his owner which means they’ve gotten some weapons back. Paylon is sitting down holding my mother’s journal in his hands. The sight of him with a piece of her makes my stomach turn upside down. He is facing me and I can see the glowing green rock around his neck, making him invincible against my gift. The twins are sitting with their backs to me and I watch as one twin sits sharpening the end of his sword by striking it with a stone while the other is carefully using a small pocket knife to cut away at a piece of wood. All three are wide awake, clearly keeping watch over the camp together.

  Zavy and Toby are both sitting in a similar cage to mine and Alexander’s. Toby is lying on his side, probably fast asleep, with his head in Zavy’s lap. She is stroking his hair while she sits wide-awake, staring off into the woods and scanning around the clearing. When her eyes land on mine, they widen. I put a finger to my lips to keep her quiet.

  My eyes scan the rest of the clearing and I see the Hounds are chained together at the edge of the area. All of them are as spread out as they can be, trying to sleep. I hold my breath at the thought that they could surely smell that Alexander and I are near, but I don’t see any realization stir in the group.

  Alexander presses his lips against my ear and whispers almost inaudibly, “Now what?”

  “I’ll just freeze them, right? I don’t remember Codian and Chadian having the necklaces with them, and maybe they don’t have them on right now,” I pause and think back to the two clearings we were kept prisoners at, but can’t recall clearly if they had the rock necklaces or not. I swallow and continue making my plan. “And then we’ll just have to move fast from there because Paylon will notice them frozen and know it’s us. I’ll get their swords and you’ll take care of Paylon while I get this necklace to Zavy and Toby.”

  Alexander nods his head and we both look back out to the clearing. “Wait,” I start to say.

  “What is it?” Alexander cuts me off, his nerves showing.

  “Look. On the other side of the clearing. In the woods.” We both stare across the clearing. Slowly the form of a person's face comes into view, their caramel colored eyes staring back at us.

  “Cooper,” I say. What is he doing here? He looks from me to the twins and I know he understands where Alexander and I are at in our plan.

  Out of a subconscious instinct, I reach down and grab Alexander’s hand. “Ready?” I whisper. He nods his head and I turn back to the twins. I picture them freezing, and just when I’m about to run out into the clear
ing I hear the ringing sound of rock against metal. Chadian is still sharpening his sword, not frozen like I’m trying to force onto him.

  “It’s not working,” I whisper through gritted teeth as panic surges through me. I look over to Cooper and he can tell by the fear in my eyes that something isn’t right.

  “What?” Alexander asks, his eyes widening.

  “My gift. It isn’t working,” I say, fumbling on my words.

  Suddenly I hear Codian say, “I think your sword is sharp enough.” He turns toward Chadian and I hear Alexander take in a sharp breath. I turn to Alexander and give him a questioning look.

  “The necklace,” Alexander whispers. I turn back and can barely get a glimpse of a glowing green rock around his neck. “That’s what’s keeping them immune to your gift now.” Alexander and I are quiet for a moment, trying to figure something out. We need to get to Zavy and Toby so they can use this necklace to get out of the cage. Paylon has his back to them, but Chadian and Codian will see us for sure. It’s three against three, but we only have one sword. I take count of their weapons and see one hanging on Paylon’s side, and the one I was given from the castle the night I fled is being hammered by Chadian. We’ll need to even the playing field somehow. Just as the thought of needing a distraction crosses my mind Alexander leans in to whisper in my ear.

  “All right here’s the plan,” Alexander starts explaining. “I’m going to go around the clearing and deeper into the woods. I’ll start making a lot of noise. I’ll start a fire and I’ll cut down trees, I’ll just get their attention, okay? And then at least one of them will have to come after me, right? So then it’ll be two on two and I think you can handle that.”

  “Are you crazy? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” I push my words out, trying to keep quiet.

  “Adaline, we don’t have any other choice,” he says sternly.

  “Just a couple of hours ago you didn’t want to come here at all,” I say, confused by the fact that Alexander is willing to risk his life for Zavy and her brother when she really isn’t the best friend he thought she was. Alexander looks at me, but doesn’t respond. “What is it?” I ask, knowing there is some reasoning behind this heroic act he feels he needs to perform.

  Alexander drops his eyes from mine and says, “They are important to you so they are important to me.” I lift his chin and force him to look me in the eye and I know there is more he isn’t telling me, but before I can push him further he says, “I’ll make sure to get out of there as soon as I can, but you can’t wait for me, okay? You get Zavy and Toby and get back to the camp and get everyone out of here. I’ll meet up with you, okay? I promise.” He stops and we both look at each other for a long time. Something flashes in his eyes and suddenly I feel as though I have known him all my life and this is the moment I have to lose him. Maybe it’s a glimpse as to how I felt toward him before my memories were restored, but as quickly as the feeling comes it fades twice as fast. I throw my arms around his neck and he pulls me into a tight hug. I hold on to that quick spark of love for Alexander; a man I know nothing about but can love with my whole heart.

  “Get out of there alive okay?” I mumble into his shoulder, feeling my throat tighten up.

  “I promise,” he says again. “Take this.” Alexander pulls the sword from his side and hands it to me.

  “You take it,” I push it back to him. “You need to protect yourself.”

  “I’m not leaving you here without a weapon,” Alexander starts to say defensively, but I stop him.

  “I’ll take one of theirs,” I tilt my head to their camp.

  Alexander considers this for a moment before nodding in agreement. “I’m going to stop and tell Cooper the plan when I get to the other side, and then you just need to wait for one of these guys to leave.” He turns and walks deeper into the woods, fading out of sight.

  I pace back in forth, not being able to keep myself still. I look out over the clearing again and see that Cooper has sunk deeper into the woods, probably because Alexander made it over to him. I turn my focus back to the clearing. Paylon is still flipping through the journal and Codian and Chadian are still bickering.

  “Give me that rock,” Codian says to his brother who refuses to quit striking it against his sword. My sword.

  “No I’m using it,” Chadian responds as Codian launches forward trying to rip the rock from his hands. The two start wrestling the other to the ground over the rock.

  “Enough!” Paylon shouts over at the twins. Chadian freezes with his fist targeted for Codian. Instead of striking his brother he grins, taking victory in the wrestling match. They both fall silent and sit back down. Paylon continues to complain, “I’m trying to decipher this journal and I can’t do it with you two acting like children.” He huffs and turns back to my mother’s journal. What does he mean by decipher?

  “What’s it say? Does it say if Alexander and Adaline are coming?” Chadian asks as he drops the rock and walks over to Paylon. I start to feel a bit uneasy with his statement. Are we coming? Is this supposed to be a trap? They’re expecting us?

  “Not in those exact words,” Paylon says as Chadian takes a seat next to him. “It looks like the diary is written in some sort of code. It just has random letters all down the pages.”

  Paylon hands the journal to Chadian. I see him look at it for a second and then hand it back. My mother must have it set so only certain people can read the journal. I lean back against a tree and wait for Alexander to get his plan started, hoping we truly aren’t walking into a trap. Through the forest night sounds, I listen as Chadian and Paylon try to decipher what two letters here and two dashes there could mean. I’m thankful that my mother was so clever.

  Listening in on their hushed voices reminds me of when I was little and I could hear my mother and father out in the main part of the house talking one night. A night I had lost in my previous memory, but it returns to me suddenly. It was late at night when I was supposed to be asleep, and I had woken to hear their muffled voices through the wooden beams of the walls.

  “You shouldn’t eavesdrop,” Cooper had said in the dark of our room. I glanced over to the far corner against the window and made out his caramel eyes with the moonlight.

  “I can’t hear them anyway,” I had lied. I had heard them. They were talking about how they were going to take us to Libertas one day.

  This was before my father had been caught transporting a family the night he had fled with Cooper. Before this crazy plan ever existed. It was simple then, my father would keep working for the current ruler of Libertas to bring them more gifted from Dather, and when my brothers and I were old enough to survive the journey we’d join them. Because of my father’s services, we’d be set for life. He wouldn’t have to be away from her or us anymore. We could grow up and live together safely and never have to worry. How nice that would have been.

  Back then little me didn’t understand what he could mean, and I had thought he was talking about us taking a trip to see the ocean. I had been begging my mother and father to take me to the island’s edge. Hardly anyone ever gets to leave Garth unless they are sending or collecting goods and supplies from the neighboring islands. I remember having a girl in my class that got to go to the edge of the island with her father because he worked for the King. She talked about how blue the water was. Of course, my mother and father had always told me no, that they couldn’t take me outside of the safe ten foot radius of woods I was allowed to play in.

  But that night I had really thought I had heard my father say we’d get to go to the edge of the island, and I would get to see the blue water. I remember waking up the next morning shaking with excitement but trying my hardest to hold it in so I could act surprised when they told us about the trip. My father left with Cooper three days later and my memories were wiped. I never got to see the blue water. Not yet, I remind myself. We’re going there now. My mother, father, and Titus may not be there with me like I had envisioned in my head, but I will see the
island’s edge. I will see just how blue the water is.

  Chapter 15

  I’m not sure how much time has passed when I hear a tree crash to the forest floor. My eyelids had fallen shut, but they jolt open at the sound of the destruction. Alexander. Toby has risen from Zavy’s lap, flipping his head in confusion.

  I look at Paylon and see that he has dropped my mother’s journal to the ground and jumped to his feet, drawing his sword. He turns his back to me so he’s facing the direction the sound came from.

  “It’s got to be them,” I hear Codian say.

  “I’m not waiting around here anymore for them to show up,” Paylon growls. “I’m going out there and getting them myself.” Paylon starts to walk toward the other end of the clearing and turns to Zavy and says, “Guess you weren’t good enough bait. Shows how little they care about you. They were just going to leave you. Chadian, come with me.”

  Chadian stands and walks to his brother. “You can keep this piece of junk to protect you.” I watch as he drops my sword at Codian’s feet and draws a much more deadly looking blade from the supply bag on the horse. Paylon mounts the horse and Chadian follows on foot. Paylon takes two of the Hounds with him, leaving three still chained here with Codian. I watch as they sink deeper into the woods, waiting as long as I dare before moving.

  I hold my breath, anticipating my next move. Alexander’s plan is working. Now it’s two against one. The Hounds aren’t here for fighting so they won’t get in our way. We have the odds in our favor now. Get the necklace to Zavy and Toby and get out, I repeat in my head, and I pull off the necklace off. Once I feel like Paylon and Chadian have walked a good distance from us, I see Cooper resurface at the edge of the clearing and know this is our cue.

  Cooper reaches for a sword he must have brought with him. Smart. I hadn’t thought to take any from the tents around his camp. I was too worried about getting away undetected to think they would have weapons. Of course they would. They’ve been hunting and protecting themselves for seven years. So, two against one, and we have a sword and my gift. Confidence builds in me as I weigh the scenario in my head. This is going to work.