The Path of Decisions (9 page)

ESCAPE

K
elln had been moved down to the dungeon again. The days had passed
with no visitors and little food. He tried not to despair. At least he wasn’t
being beaten and tortured this time. He surmised that the Preacher had been too
busy with Darius to think about him.

One morning shortly after being given a few scraps of bread and
overripe fruit, Alessandra entered his cell.
Kelln was lying on a thin blanket in the corner of the stone floor. Upon seeing
her, he turned his face away and closed his eyes against the hurt and pain.

“Kelln,” she whispered, “we have to talk.”

Kelln remained silent as Alessandra opened the cell door and
walked over to him. She tried to turn his head toward her. He tried to ignore
her soft hands and cringed inside when he couldn’t. He opened his eyes and
looked at her. She was inches away. Her mysterious dark eyes were red and
watery and filled with fear. Her arm was bandaged still, and fading bruises
covered part of her face.

He suddenly felt self-conscious and reached his hand up to smooth
down his red curls, only to find himself wincing at his own bruises and cuts.

 “What happened to you?” she whispered.

“Your father’s newest ally, my old friend Darius, seems to now
have a temper.”

“My father is planning on having you executed soon.”

“So I've been told. Does it matter now? I have no friends!” He
spat the words out.

“I will help you escape.”

Kelln shook his head as if trying to make sure he was fully awake.
He couldn’t trust her again. But if there was any hope at all of surviving, he
had to at least listen to her. “How did you survive the river? We looked
everywhere.”

“I hit my head and floated up unconscious next to some logs far
down river. One of the scouts out guarding the city found me and brought me
back.”

“Some trick you pulled to get away.” Kelln turned his body to sit
up. He didn’t like looking up at her and feeling inferior.

“It was no trick, Kelln. Believe me. I almost died,” Alessandra
pled, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Kelln only grunted a reply. He didn’t know what to believe. But he
would do anything to get away from the Preacher. He would take poison himself
before allowing that man to enter his mind again. “Who let you into my cell?”

“I gave the guard some drink... it made him sleepy,” she said with
little emotion. “Did you hear what I said about helping you?”

“You want to help me escape. I’ve heard that before, Alessandra, a
couple of days before you turned me back in. I won’t let your father torture me
more!”

Alessandra looked hurt, but Kelln didn’t really care at the
moment. He hurt inside and out and was on the verge of losing his life.

“It wasn't my fault. It was my... father.” She seemed to hesitate
on the last word. “I realize now what he has done. Being away from the castle
for a few days helped me clear my head and really see what you have seen all
along—he is using everyone for his own gain. Now, he is even influencing your
friend Darius. He has him under some kind of spell or something. You must warn
Anikari. If those two join forces like they are now saying and march against
the King, it will be bloody.” She lowered her head and whispered, “I don’t know
if I believe in his cause anymore.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“You just don’t understand, Kelln.” Alessandra barely held back
the tears. “You didn’t grow up here, around him. He is so powerful. It’s hard
not to listen to him and be filled with pride and righteous anger. But…”

“But what, Alessandra? He might have started out with good ideas,
but now, look around you. Belor is only one city compared to what the King has
at his disposal. Your father is crazy to fight the Realm. He is so hungry for
power he doesn’t care what is right and wrong anymore. Darius, too.”

“He was a good friend, wasn’t he?” Alessandra asked with sympathy.

“Yes, he was.” Kelln hung his head low. “And still is! I must help
him.”

“Then you must get out and warn the King.” Alessandra’s large
brown eyes flashed with excitement. “That’s the only way.”

“You come with me, then.” Kelln wasn’t going to let her turn him
in again. He needed to keep her close.

“I... don't know.”

“Alessandra.” He said her name softly, but with emotion. “Either
you come this time, or I don't go. It’s that simple. You stay, and I stay and
die. If somehow you have a plan to help me escape, you escape with me. Leave his
influence behind. It is the only way.”

Alessandra headed for the door. “Be ready early tomorrow morning.
I will be here before the sun is up.”

Kelln looked hard at her. His heart was in turmoil. He loved the
way her hair fell over her shoulders, and even in redness, her eyes captivated
him. Yet he couldn’t trust her. At least not yet. “So are we leaving together?”

“Do I have a choice?” Alessandra grimaced a small smile. “You are
right. I need to leave.”

“Alessandra, can you find out about my family for me? Just let me
know how they are doing.”

“I will try.” She reached for the door, “Just be ready tomorrow
morning.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, as promised, Alessandra came back to Kelln’s
cell, slipping in between guard shifts. Her hair had changed once again. It was
tucked under a shirt in the back, colored dark brown, and covered with a hat.
She even took on the walk of someone different. She led him out of the room and
down some narrow winding servant stairs into a small storage closet.

“Here, change into these,” she said.

Kelln lifted the clothes up out of a bag and almost laughed.
“These are women’s clothes! I'm not going to—”

“Do you want to escape?” Alessandra said as she put some other
clothes over her shirt and pants. After they changed, she brought out some kind
of powder, mixed it with water, and spread it over Kelln's arms, neck, and
face.

“What’s this for? It smells disgusting.” Kelln's nostrils flared.

“As it dries, it will wrinkle and make you look diseased,” smiled
Alessandra. Kelln hoped they wouldn't pass a mirror. He didn't think he could
bear to look.

They cracked open the door to the closet to check their escape
route. All seemed to be clear. The two escapees walked into another corridor
and out through a garden exit into the early morning air. The stars were
beginning to fade as a slight yellow light grew out of the eastern sky. It
would be a clear day. The warmth of spring was in the air. They snuck up around
a tall stone column and up behind a lone guard. Alessandra whispered for Kelln
to stay, and she walked with careful steps toward the guard. She drew out a
sword from her baggy clothes and hit him over the head with the hilt. Kelln
gasped for a moment as Alessandra motioned him forward.

“He'll be all right,” she whispered to him in answer to his
questioning eyes. Sometimes he wondered if he was safe with her. He wasn’t made
for all this fighting.

They spotted a few other people. Kelln figured it was the bakers
and those who worked the markets. One of the city cleanup patrols was just
leaving through a small gate to dump the prior day’s waste. Swiftly the two
“women” moved toward the north gate. As they neared, they met up with other
women who were dressed as they were and were preparing to bring the morning
meal to the soldiers outside the gate. Alessandra and Kelln followed two of
them toward the gate, but before they got far, Alessandra came up and told them
they would take the food instead. They began to argue.

“This woman’s son is out on the battle field,” Alessandra began,
pointing to Kelln. “As you can see, she has a horrible disease and wants to
talk to her son before she dies.”

The other women looked at Kelln, grimaced, and backed away as if
afraid of the disease. Kelln just smiled back at them without opening his
mouth. He couldn't believe they thought he was a woman. He hoped no one he knew
ever found out about this. He had a covering on his head along with a baggy
shirt and long skirt. His small height added to the effect that he was an old
diseased woman. The other women gave Kelln and Alessandra their food and walked
away.

Alessandra turned and whispered to Kelln that all they had to do
was get past the guards now. The gate stood under heavy guard. As they
approached, they were stopped and looked at with suspicion.

“Aren't you a little old for a server?” one of them asked Kelln.

“She is sick and wants to see her son,” repeated Alessandra.

“What kind of disease do you have?” Another guard asked Kelln as
he continued staring at the ground.

“She can't hear you. The disease has made her deaf,” said
Alessandra. The guards remained suspicious, but after looking at Kelln’s skin
they let the two through the gates. What harm could two ugly women do? The
guards continued to watch the pair until they were out of sight. Kelln and
Alessandra spotted some soldiers a distance from the gate and started moving in
their direction. The guards soon lost interest and went back to their posts.

“Now how do we get out of here without being noticed?” Kelln asked
Alessandra.

“When we get close to the soldiers, start to cough and act like
you are sick. I will leave the food with them and walk you over to the edge of
the road. We will have to make it up from there.”

Kelln did as he was told, still doubting the results. The soldiers
took one look at Kelln and wanted nothing to do with him. He couldn’t resist a
little wave of his fingers to them. He almost laughed at their stunned
reaction.

When he started coughing and wheezing they almost fell over
themselves backing away. Alessandra came to Kelln’s rescue, and they walked off
together. Off the road a little way, they watched the soldiers devouring their
food. They were not interested in two unattractive serving women.

“Why don't you sit down?” motioned Alessandra to Kelln.

“What?” his eyes narrowed, as he whispered, “The ground is cold.”

“Just do it!” she barked softly, looking back toward the soldiers.
A new group seemed to be coming their way up the road. “We must hurry.”

Kelln nodded. He saw a soldier glance over at them, but when Kelln
starting coughing again, the soldier turned away. Alessandra bent over to help
him, and they moved, disappearing from the soldiers’ view behind some bushes.
As fast as they could they crawled away from the road, their clothes dragging
on the hard ground. Kelln’s hands began to feel raw and sore as they crawled
over bushes, rocks and sticks. The spring grass was just starting to fill in.
The sun warmed their backs as it rose into the day.

They reached a group of short trees with new green leaves, stood
behind one and peeled the outer layers of their clothes off. They stuffed them
into a hole in the trunk of an old maple tree, then began running in a
northwesterly direction toward Anikari.

Kelln hoped they didn’t meet up with anyone until he could find a
stream to wash in.  He could hardly stand the smell that he carried. And he
didn’t make a very pretty old woman either. 

“This is just fantastic,” he whispered with sarcasm dripping from
his lips.

CAPTURE

“H
ey, get back here!” shouted the aged farmer as the three city
boys ran off. “That’s my family’s food for the winter.”

“Well, here is some of it back then, outsider.” One of the boys
turned around and, with a laugh, sent two potatoes hurling through the air,
barely missing the man.

“Again?” asked the man’s wife as she came out to see what all the
yelling was about.

“Yes. The second time this week. But they only found a little food
from the barn this time. They didn’t go into the cellar.”

“Things are desperate for everyone, it seems.”

The weary old man dropped his tired frame to the ground. Wet from
the recent rainstorm, the ground soaked through his sturdy work pants. But the
old man didn’t care.

“Come on, Grandpa,” his wife said with a small smile. “Get up.
We’ve been through this before. “

“I know we can make it; it’s been like this our whole lives. But
the younger generation of farmers doesn’t seem to want to stand for it anymore.
Can’t say I blame them. It’s been five generations since the wizard rebellion.
The farmers took pity on their families and took them in, and it has been
trouble for us ever since. The power of those wizards is now long gone.
Something’s going to happen soon. Something dangerous, if this keeps up. There
will be all-out war, and the farmers won’t have a chance.”

He reached up and grabbed his wife’s hand and walked into their
small warm cottage, looking back once as he shut the door. As he did, he
watched three horses racing from the farmlands toward the boys who had tried to
steal their food. The old man knew they would head to the city gates to once
again fight against those delivering food. As always they were led by a
beautiful, large white horse.

Fighting had erupted all around the outskirts of Anikari. People
needed food, and the fear of not surviving drove people to do things they
wouldn’t have ordinarily done. Many on both sides of the turmoil had been
wounded, though no one had been killed yet. Always on the scene was Christine
on her pure white Cremelino horse.

Christine, hidden under a mask and cloak, hung back with other
raiders until food wagons from other Realm cities came into view. Now they
stopped all wagons from entering or leaving the city gates. Some of the city
men had hired private guards to surround their wagon trains and keep the
thieves away. Sometimes they succeeded; other times they didn't.

Everyone in the farmlands knew of Christine and her vigilante war.
Convincing a few other farmers to help from time to time, she and her followers
stayed masked so as to not be caught and turned in by the city guard.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next day Christine sat on her white Cremelino and watched one
such wagon filled with food come around a corner. Its gray colors signified the
food was from Sur, a large city to the northwest of Anikari. A lot of the
wheat, oats, and other grains were grown and stored in that city. Workers there
were now shipping the end of last year’s harvest. The covered cart seemed to be
alone, without an armed escort. This one would be easy. The wagon was an old
one, the sides nailed together numerous times to keep it together on the road.
The canopy was faded and full of colorful patched-up holes. A lone man sat in
front, driving the scrawny horses.

“Now!” Christine yelled, and she and the other raiders drove their
horses full speed toward the rickety wagon. One rider jumped onto the back to
pull its wares out. Instead, a fist from under the canvas struck him in the jaw
and a couple of pairs of hands pulled him down.

Another raider jumped on top of the canvas, falling into the apparently
empty wagon. He, too, was restrained from getting up as the wagon continued
moving.

Christine had seen this enough times in the past few weeks. Some
of the city people sent decoys out to attract their attention, while other
wagons rode on by without being touched. She looked around but saw no other
wagons. In fact, the air grew oddly quiet.

Riding up alongside of the wagon, Christine decided that if things
had to be done right she would have to do them herself. She jumped off her
white horse onto the seat next to the driver. She went to grab the reins and
drive the horses away, but she gasped at the man beside her. It was someone she
knew. It was Karel, her cousin.

Someone else grabbed her from behind. She struggled against being
held, her feet knocking the reins out of the driver’s hands.

Help!
she
sent the message out to her horse in her mind. She heard her horse bump into
the wagon. The horses pulling the wagon veered off the side of the road, making
the wagon tilt. Christine fell onto the driver, and the rickety wagon rolled to
a stop. She scrambled to get up, but hands from behind had secured her. She
couldn't move. All she could do was yell.

“What are you doing? Let—” They gagged her mouth and then turned
her around.
Thomas!
Her head screamed.
And Jain! And Karel!
She
couldn't believe this. What was happening? Was her own brother kidnapping her?

Lightning reached out to her.
There are too many of them. I
will follow you, and then we will find a way out. They cannot catch me.

Christine felt a sense of frantic worry from her Cremelino.
Lightning seemed to reach out to someone else for help. Someone farther away.

The horses were set loose and the wagon was left on the side of
the road. The kidnappers removed Christine’s mask but placed a covering over
her eyes so she couldn’t see where she was going. Her long riding skirt was
ripped, her face dirty, and her long blonde hair mixed with dust and sweat. She
was so angry that thinking became difficult for her.

After stopping momentarily, the kidnappers lifted her up onto
another horse. She rode for a short time and then, by the smell of her
surroundings, guessed they had entered one of the local barns. Her nose
twitched at the stench as someone helped her dismount. They had her sit down in
silence for what seemed like hours, her hands still tied. Her mind thought
frantically of ways to escape.

Eventually she heard footsteps, and someone removed her eye wrap.
She blinked a few times in the musty light. All she could see was a small
corner of the barn and... Thomas. She wished they would ungag her. She hated
the feeling of not being able to move her mouth.

Thomas brought some food over.

“Christine, I am going to take the gag off and untie your hands so
you can eat. But if you start screaming, we will put it back on.”

She felt like lashing out and hitting him, but her hunger kept her
emotions under control, so she nodded yes, and Thomas took the gag off and
untied her hands. Just because she wasn't supposed to yell, didn't mean she
couldn't give him dirty looks… and she did.

“I'm sorry, Christine.” Thomas hung his head down. “We didn't know
what else to do.”

The food, a vegetable stew, smelled wonderful. She tried to eat,
but her stomach felt nauseated, and the food wasn't helping. Christine had
never felt anger like this before, except for maybe when her father had died.

“Too many people are being hurt by your raids. We have to think of
another way.” Thomas continued, “The King is sending out more patrols, and soon
you are going to get yourself killed.”

Christine finally spoke. “You, Karel, Jain... Who else?”

“Many of the farmers want you to stop. They backed you at first,
but now you won’t listen to reason.”

“And where is Jain now? Can't he face me?” She was bitter and
furious.

“He’s talking to your mother. Karel and Anya are outside keeping
watch. Do you feel all right... I mean we didn't hurt you did we?”

Thomas, poor Thomas, Christine thought. Then she laughed inside.
It
serves him right!
He deserved to worry. Maybe she wouldn't answer him. Make
him suffer some more. Thomas heard a sound and turned around. Christine kicked
the plate of food up at the back of him and started to get up. She forgot that
one of her feet was tied down. She tripped and fell hard onto an old wooden
crate, sprawling all over the sharp edges. She felt a sliver slide deeply into
the palm of one of her hands. Karel, who had heard the noise from outside, came
rushing over and picked her up. He wouldn’t look her in the eyes though.

“Tied down like an animal!” she hissed, “What comes next?”

“Please, Christine—” started Karel.

“Don't ‘please’ me, Karel. My own cousin.”

“I... we... just give us some time, Christine. Things are getting
complicated. Rumors are the King is dying and will name a new king soon. The
city is in a panic since Edward has no heirs. Unless someone strong takes the
throne, civil war will erupt, with many of the councilors vying for the
position of King. We have been approached separately by multiple factions
asking for our help... in trade for protection.”

“You trust them?” asked Christine. “They are all the same. They’ll
use us to get their own king elected, then they will turn against us.”

“I admit it may be a small chance, but this is better than no
chance at all, Christine. You just can't go around raiding forever. We need our
money. And everyone needs food,” continued Karel. “You don’t understand how
your actions are hurting all of us. We are worse now than before.”

“Money... that's all they think about; and now is it all we think
about too?”

Anya had just walked in. Her jaw was tight and her eyes watery.
“No, we think about lives also, Christine. You don’t care who gets hurt or
killed, farmer or city dweller.”

Christine felt the sting of the statement. Had she become so
callused she hadn't noticed? But there had been no other way. Had there? She
looked at the splinter in her palm and tried to dig the piece of wood out,
giving her something to do while they spoke.

Anya continued speaking, turning to Thomas and Karel. “Thomas, you
stand guard for the next three hours; then Jain is supposed to be back. I am
going to get some more food for us. It may be a long night.”

Karel turned to go with Anya, then turned back to Christine.
“Things will be all right.”

“For whom?” Christine was still frustrated, but some of her anger
had been taken away by Anya’s statement.

“For all of us, I hope, Christine.”