by Kim Fedyk
“What is it? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Well, there was a Greken with us mommy. That is why I ran away. I knew that the Greken would kill the man. I didn’t want to get in the middle by mistake and get hurt.” Kiran was quite proud with his lie, and he was so confident that he decided to add for good measure, “I thought that you would be glad that I ran away. I thought that you would be happy I didn’t get hurt.”
Instantly the anger drained from Bella’s face, to be replaced by a smile. She pulled her son to her once more, her anger evaporated, “Oh you are so smart my Kir-Kir. I should have known such a brilliant boy like you would have known what he was doing.”
Kiran smiled into his mother’s chest. He had done it! She had believed him!
“And of course I’m glad that you aren’t hurt. It was very smart of you to run away so that you wouldn’t accidently get injured.”
Meanwhile, King Absalom had been thinking to himself. He had listened to the foolish pair just long enough to discover that Arleth had been left behind. Unlike Bella and Kiran, though Absalom had immediately remembered that he had left a Greken behind to guard Kiran and Arleth. But for the king this wasn’t a relief. From the description that Kiran had given him, as limited as it was, the king had a pretty good idea of who the assailant with the dagger was. If his suspicions were correct he knew that a single Greken would be no match for that man. And if that was the case.....he felt an accustomed surge of panic.... He had to go to where he had left them, and he had to go fast.
“I am finished looking at the lynstones for now,” said King Absalom as calmly as he could. “I would like to find out who this man was that tried to attack your son, Bella. I am going to go back to where we left them.”
Bella thought that this was a completely stupid thing to do. Why did it matter who the man was when her Kiran was safe and the Greken would have already killed him? But she wasn’t about to argue with the King of Oherra.
“Go back into the mine and get the rest of my servants and take them back to your mansion. I will get my answers and bring your servant girl back with me.”
“Of course King...” she broke off in mid-sentence. At that moment, over a mile away from where they stood, Arleth’s grapel had gone off and Bella had just seen the red flare. She stared at it in disbelief, unable to comprehend how Arleth was escaping.
King Absalom looked in the direction Bella was staring, “What is that?”
“It’s my slave’s grapel; since it went off it means that she has reached the edge of my property and she is escaping.” Anger came to Bella’s face, turning it a nasty shade of purple. “We are coming with you. I can’t let that stupid girl escape!”
King Absalom didn’t have time to argue; his servants would find their way back to the mansion. He wasn’t too worried about them. Besides, if the grapel went off it meant that his Greken was dead and he was running out of time. “Alright,” he replied. “Hop on to a Greken, we have to hurry!” Without further instruction, he turned to the nearest Greken who had bowed down to allow the King to scramble on his back. The tentacles on the beast’s back formed a sort of chair, into which Absalom climbed. A few remaining tentacles wove themselves across the king’s lap, strapping him in. Absalom muttered something to the Greken, and without a glance backwards, rode off into the distance.
Bella and Kiran stared in horror at Absalom riding off into the distance and then beside them at the Greken who was bowing down waiting for them to climb on. They were both terrified to be anywhere near the beast, let alone to be riding on it. Bella looked once more at the retreating figure of the king and then at the red flare. Her anger at Arleth outweighed her fear. “Come on!” She growled at Kiran, “Let’s go! She is not going to get away with this.” Clumsily they climbed onto the Greken’s back and clung on for dear life. The Greken sped away after his king. Awkwardly they bounced up and down on the Greken’s back like two very ugly very loud sacks of potatoes, screaming in terror the whole way.
Chapter 7
Absalom dismounted and rushed over to the bloody and very dead body of his Greken. He felt no sadness for the creature; Grekens were magically created. They had no life except what was given to them, no purpose beyond protecting their king. They had no hopes, no ambitions, no thoughts of their own. His sorcerer Rogan could easily make more. No, what was troubling to the king was who had managed to kill the creature. And, if his suspicion was correct, how he had followed him here, indeed how he had even known to come here.
Absalom inspected the Greken’s body. He noted the severed hand and the sliced tentacles. He walked over to the creature’s head and saw where the death blow had struck. He saw the gaping hole at the base of the beast’s neck and the river of blood that was still oozing from it. It was Val Odane. He was certain. None of the others killed that way, none except for maybe Val’s father. But that man was short and broad; he didn’t fit the description given by Kiran. Besides, Val was practically Aedan’s brother, it made sense that he would have been sent.
A speck of blue in the sand caught Absalom’s attention. Curious, he bent down to get a closer look. Partly buried in the sand was a small blue object. That looks just like a ... Absalom thought, as he brushed the sand away ... yes it was! A concealing spell. Val must have dropped it during the fight. With a look of disgust, Absalom threw it back on the ground and stepped on it, crushing it under his boot. How he hated these irritating pills. Aedan never seemed to have a shortage of them. Rogan was right, Aedan’s sorceress Selene must have figured out how to make them. This time though, seeing such a pill was satisfying for Absalom. It meant that Aedan had not been able to find an artefact that could open a portal to Tocarra. Val must have snuck through his own portal by using a concealing spell. This was good news because it meant that this was the only way Val could go back to Oherra. Even if Val found the girl before him, he couldn’t bring her back to Oherra by himself. Absalom chuckled to himself, there was no way that he could lose. Even if Val managed to find Arleth first, they would have to wait for him to open the portal and he would be waiting for them. He still wanted to find her first though, who knows what Val would say to her in the meantime.
Absalom was surprised, Aedan was usually better prepared than this. The king guessed that Aedan must have been in a rush. Absalom mulled this over in his head. If Aedan had independently discovered that the girl was here on Tocarra, he would have made every effort to create a better plan. Indeed Aedan wouldn’t have even known that he had learned the same thing. Aedan must have planted another spy in Iridian castle. Nothing else made sense. There was no other way that Aedan could have found out that he knew Arleth was on Tocarra and the exact time when he would be opening the portal so Val could sneak through. Absalom silently cursed himself he should have been more careful when he and Rogan had discussed the discovery. He should have taken more precautions while planning his trip. He had grown cocky and if Aedan had happened to have a Toccaran artefact, the consequences would have been disastrous. But the king wasn’t a man to be made a fool of twice. In the future he would take the necessary safeguards and as soon as he got back to his castle he would root out each and every one of Aedan’s spies. Now though, he had to concentrate on finding the girl.
He looked over at Bella and Kiran. The ridiculous pair were still strapped to the Greken’s back, still clinging on as if they would fall down at any moment. They had arrived a few minutes after he did and had not stopped bickering ever since. Bella was yelling at Kiran for allowing Arleth to escape and Kiran was yelling back at his mother for not caring about him and for making him ride a Greken. Although Absalom found their snivelling drivel tiring, he smiled. It was quite fortunate that Arleth had ended up here. The two had never once questioned why a man had run at Kiran and Arleth, how he had beaten the Greken or where he was now. They were too preoccupied in their own petty interests. Once he found Arleth it would be a simple matter to take her back to Oherra with him. He could tell these two almost anything an
d he could be sure they would believe him. Thinking about it, these two were so dumb that he probably hadn’t even needed such an elaborate cover story involving the lynstones. Oh well, he thought, it was better to be prepared. He took a deep breath; he would need to yell loudly to be heard over their incessant racket.
* * *
While King Absalom was yelling at mother and son to be quiet, a mile away in the town of Sonohan, Arleth crouched behind a fruit stand. The owner of which was a small balding man who was staring at her in surprise. His gaze travelled from the girl crouched down behind his merchandise up to the red flare and the words “Runaway” written in the sky. Arleth followed his glance and pleadingly put her fingers to her lips in an effort to keep him silent.
“RUNAWAY!” The man screamed at the top of his lungs. “I found her, she is right here!” He waved his arms in the air and pointed at where Arleth was hiding.
Jerk! Arleth thought. This was the third time in as many hiding spots that this had happened. Did no one in this town have any empathy towards escaped slaves? She got up and looked around her. Instantly she noticed her assailant at the other end of the alley. He had been alerted by the balding man’s cries and was now running directly at her. Cursing she bolted through the street in the other direction. The last time he had found her, she had thought she had heard him yell something. She wasn’t sure what - it sounded like her name, but she knew that was impossible. She had ignored him and kept on running. It was probably someone else’s yelling she had heard. As though to confirm her conclusion, this time the man remained silent in his pursuit.
She raced down the street, weaving in and out of the crowd. Most of the townspeople just stared in interest at the slave girl and the man chasing her. However, some of the people she passed reached out to grab her. Undoubtedly they thought that the man chasing her was her owner and if they helped him, they would be given a reward. Luckily, she managed to avoid them all and turning a corner, found herself in a deserted side street. How long was it going to take Bella and Kiran to find her? She didn’t know how long she could keep this up for.
Running down the street she noticed with horror that the street she had turned into was a dead end. She stopped and turned around, maybe she would have time to run back out before the man reached her. She took a few steps forward before she saw the man turn the corner into the alley. Heart hammering, she turned back around and ran deeper into the alley. She looked desperately for a way out. A small alley she had missed, a ladder, an open window into a home. But there was nothing. The man was only a few paces away from her; she could hear his footsteps on the ground behind her getting ever closer. She could feel the tears start to form in her eyes. She had run all the way to Sonohan, she had evaded the man for this long all to die here, alone, in a deserted alley. She didn’t want it to end like this, but she was running out of options.
Suddenly, at the very end of the alley lying in the corner she noticed a long log. She had no idea what it was doing there but it gave her an idea. She had no delusions that she could beat this man in a fight, but she might be able to at least stun him long enough so that she could run around him and back out of the alley. She knew it was a long shot, but it was the best and really only option she had. With a deep breath to steady her heartbeat, she went over to the log and bent down to pick it up. It was then that she noticed that there was a small gap. The last house on the right side of the alley did not match up completely with the back of the house at the end of alley. It left a small crevice that wasn’t visible from the street. Arleth thought that she was probably small enough to fit inside. If she wedged herself in far enough, the man wouldn’t be able to reach her. With no further thought, she thrust herself inside and squeezed in as far as she could. It was a very tight fit and she could feel the bricks grazing against her skin. The bricks were uneven and she could feel her shins and cheek get cut by some of the bricks that stuck out. Although it hurt, she gave her pain very little thought. She could put up with it if it kept her alive.
Suddenly a hand reached for her and narrowly missed her dress. The man was right outside! She wedged herself a bit farther in. He grabbed for her again, but he couldn’t reach her. She could hear the man cursing outside. Slowly, Arleth’s breathing slowed; for the moment she was safe. But her problem was hardly solved. She couldn’t stay here forever and she certainly couldn’t go back out the way she had come. The man would be waiting for her. That left her one option: to keep squeezing her way forward and hope that it would have another exit. To that aim, she continued to push forward. The bricks continued to graze against her body and she was certain now that some had cut into her skin. But she realized that the passageway wasn’t getting any narrower which meant that she could still go forward. She didn’t hear the man’s curses anymore. He must have given up yelling and had decided to wait silently for her to come out.
The crevice was still too narrow for her to turn her head around. And so she had to feel her way forward with her right hand. After a few minutes she realized that the bricks were no longer grazing her cheek; the passageway was getting wider! She cautiously turned her head to face forward. With delight she discovered that she now had room to do this and also that there was light ahead of her. If she kept going, within a few minutes she would be out of here and with any luck the man would still be waiting for her on the other side. Spurred on by hope, she pushed her way faster through the tunnel.
All of a sudden the light ahead disappeared and she felt a heavy hand grab her arm. With a scream, Arleth tried to free herself from the grasp, but wedged in as she was, she had no leverage with which to do so. The hand started pulling her towards its owner. The man must have realized that she could get through the crevice and had gone to find where she would end up. Desperately, ignoring the pain against her face, she pushed her face towards her right hand and with all her might bit down on the hand that was grabbing her. A woman’s voice cried out in pain and the hand quickly retreated.
A woman’s voice? Arleth thought to herself. Was it Bella? It could be, but it could also be a townsperson. The man, upon seeing her enter the gap could have easily enlisted the help of some of the town’s people. They would undoubtedly know where she would exit from. Children especially might use this crevice as a hiding place and they with their parents encouraging them would be more than happy to help the man they thought was a slave owner. Arleth stopped moving forward. She didn’t know which direction she should go. The man could be behind her waiting for her or he could be ahead of her. She didn’t know any longer. She froze where she was and put her hands at her sides. At least it would be harder to grab her now.
At least that was what she thought, and continued to think as she was roughly pulled out of the crevice and deposited on the ground outside.
Chapter 8
Arleth closed her eyes against the onslaught of sunlight that met her as she was pulled out. She could feel strong hands holding on to her as she fought, kicking and screaming against her captor.
“Calm down Arleth,” a deep voice said, “You are safe now.” Surprised, Arleth went silent and stopped kicking. Slowly she opened her eyes, bracing against the sun and looked into the handsome face of King Absalom. He was staring at her bemusedly, his hands still clasped tightly around her wrists. They remained frozen like this for a few more seconds and then the king, satisfied that he was indeed holding a girl rather than a wild animal, released her. A smile came to his lips as he put his arms back at his sides and he backed away from her a few paces.
Arleth, was now able to see her surroundings and when she looked around she immediately noticed two things. First, she was standing in the middle of a large open area that might have been the central marketplace of the town. It was crammed with people who had all stopped what they were doing and were staring at her with interest. And second, the purplish blotchy colour of Bella’s face indicated that Bella was very far from pleased with the whole situation. In fact, the woman was positively fuming with anger. If it was poss
ible for steam to actually blow out of a person’s ears, Arleth felt certain that now would be the time for it to happen. But since it wasn’t, Bella’s anger had instead decided to display itself in a disgustingly contorted face, and a bulging vein at the side of her head. She was trying to say something, but as angry as she was, she couldn’t get the words out. She could only manage to open and close her mouth violently like a fish gasping for air. Arleth also noticed that Bella was cradling her right hand which was starting to turn the colour of her face. So it was Bella that she had bitten! It was comforting to know that she had least managed to inflict some small injury on her.
Arleth felt her lips begin to curl up into a smile. She tried to control it, but the distortions and soundless mouth opening of the violet-coloured beach ball in front of her proved too much for her to handle. She smiled broadly and then not able to control herself burst out laughing. What the heck, she thought. Bella was already furious at her and despite the unpleasant situation Arleth knew she was in, she couldn’t help feeling a bit elated. A few minutes ago in the alley she had felt certain she was going to die. And now, even though she knew that punishment was imminent and no end to her slavery was in sight, at least she would be alive to talk about it. But what was “it?” She still had no idea why the man had been running after her or who he was. Ever curious, she wanted to find out, but Bella, even more infuriated by Arleth’s laughing had regained her voice and interrupted Arleth’s musings with a loud shriek.
“ARLETH!” She yelled coming towards her menacingly. “How dare you try and run away from me! You stupid, good-for-nothing brat! I paid good money for you and on top of that I am generous enough to give you a roof over your head and food every day. I shouldn’t have been so kind to you. You are nothing! Worse than the sand I kick under my feet and yet I keep you in my house. And you dare to try and run away from?!?” During this tirade, Bella had crossed the distance between them and was now standing toe to toe with her. Bella raised her meaty hand to slap Arleth in the face. Arleth closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact.
