Page 13 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)
Chapter thirteen
Astraea
The streets are no longer hard-packed but instead boggy.
Each step I take is difficult, and soon after stepping foot out of the tavern, the bottom of my dress is once again weighed down with moisture.
Maybe I should have left the warrior's clothing on from Zinya.
They would be looking for me in a dress, not pants and a leather holster.
But with a sojourn edict, I guess it wouldn't matter either way.
Silence fills the air around me, apart from the sand as it squeaks under my weight.
The water pools with each step around my booted feet.
I do the best I can to stick to the dry areas that line the structures and under awnings that have stayed through the storm, but no matter how hard I try, I can't keep my lower half from absorbing too much water. The weight of it causes my trek to be that much harder. By the time I reach only a few blocks, I’m not only covered in the rain muck but also have a layer of sweat causing my hair to stick to my neck and face.
I don’t know where I’m going, or if I’m even heading in the right direction.
I curse myself for not knowing more about my own kingdom outside of the palace walls, but I can't be faulted entirely.
My father has made doing so nearly impossible, and by only seeing what I have, I understand why.
He would have known my reaction. He would have sensed the headache I would have given him over the state our people were living in, damn the consequences.
It is unjust and inhumane to allow people to suffer as they are.
There are plenty of jobs that could be given and voyages that could be made in order to allow the land to flourish.
It wouldn’t be like this if he would allow magick once again.
Before magick was the fruit of the realms. People traveled to and from all sorts of lands, and the monsters that dwell in the crevasses of disrepair didn’t seek out the souls of the innocent.
The magick fed the land, and the land fed the people and its creatures.
Firelight flashes out of the corner of my eye, and I stop dead in my tracks.
I am the only one out on the streets right now, save the soldiers who have been tasked to hunt me.
If they catch me now, there will be no leaving the castle ever again.
I will be kept prisoner even more than I was before.
Trying with everything I have in me to be stealthy, I pray to whatever divine entity that will listen.
Please let me get away. Let me be unseen .
I run as fast as the sodden sand will allow to the closest shadowy alcove.
A pair of brown eyes look out at me from one of the shuttered windows.
The boy is small, likely less than ten years old.
With slow movements I lift my finger to my lips.
A plea for him to keep quiet, and I suck in ragged breaths as I try to think of where to go next.
My only option for leaving was with a convoy through the Dead Sea, but now I’m not sure that is an option.
The port is probably as abandoned as the streets of Eathian right now.
“Movement!” A man calls out. “Eastern flank, sweep!” Shit.
Shit. Shit. My mind scrambles as I try to think of what to do next.
There is nothing. You are an animal. Caught prey—the hunter is just waiting for you to come out of the shadows to make the killing blow.
I see guards coming from both directions in the narrow alleyway I'm hiding in. There is a blocked path hidden by a cart where goods are sold right in the center. I’m close to it.
If I can be quick, I can get past them and into the next alley, but if there is another guard that way…
I grind my teeth and shake my head. No questioning this.
I sprint. The movement catches the attention of the guard behind me.
“Stop! There is a sojourn edict, and you are in direct violation!” The guard bellows.
Each one of their heavy armor-clad stomps squelch in the wet sand, but they are not quick.
Their armor only serves to slow them down.
Our movements are not the same, despite me being held back by this soggy dress.
I am faster and more capable of maneuvering in tight places.
My eyes snag on the small opening under the cart that I can slip through and into the back alleyway without them being able to easily catch up.
They will have to move the cart to get to me.
This is my only chance. I slide to my knees, landing heavily on the palms of my hands.
The sand cuts into the soft flesh like tiny shards of glass on my delicate skin, and I wince, but I cannot afford to slow.
I shuffle under the cart, all the while pulling at my heavy dress, now leaden with sand and water.
A wide smile spreads across my face as I make it to the other side.
I can't help but feel a little pride as I pull myself upright with a satisfied laugh. The triumphant celebration is cut short, though, as I’m met with the cold bite of metal gauntlets wrapping around my upper arms. I guess the gods are not on my side today.
A choked gasp comes from my mouth as the guard spins me in his arms and my eyes round.
“Kellan?” My voice trembles with my lip. Maybe he will let me go. He knows the terrors that my father puts me through. He knows…
“Princess Astraea,” His eyes bore into me, pleading—sorry even.
I realize why when they flick over my head.
We are not alone. No matter if he wanted to help me get away, his hands are tied now.
He will obey my father’s rule. My body sags as the reality of my situation weighs me down, but Kellan holds me steady.
“Princess, are you hurt?” Two guards come from behind me, and all I can do is shake my head where it hangs as I abandon all hope of ever escaping my father.
“Get her back to the palace at once!” The other guard bellows as a horse comes plodding up.
He takes the reins, and Kellan guides me to where it waits.
The giant bronze horse whinnies and huffs as I am pulled into the saddle by another set of gloves.
The riding guard does not wear the metal armor that Kellan does.
His attire is much more ready for combat in the desert, a multi-hued fulvous linen and iron breastplate with the same unmistakable crest that mocks me.
“Was there anyone found with her?” One of the guards barks out at Kellan, and he lifts his chin.
“No sir, she was alone.” The guard with sun-weathered skin narrows his yellowing eyes on me where I am held atop the horse.
I recognize him as his ruddy brown eyes meet mine.
One of the few guards my father favors, Pravin.
His ruthless brutality has marked him as high-ranking among the royal guard.
My father’s right hand . Of course my father would send Pravin.
Who better in place of the devil himself but his highest ranking demon?
“Were you alone all three days that you were gone, Little Princess?” He taunts me with a predatory narrowing of his gaze.
Even though my defeat is evident, I hold his stare with a blank face.
I won’t allow him to know how much my failure is wrecking me.
“We will tell the king we took care of whoever was aiding her. Burn this block down.”
“No! No, Pravin. These people didn’t aid me.
I hid under the awnings and found an empty covered cart to hide in.
No one knew I was here. I heard the guards coming and tried to run.
You can’t burn this block. All the people here will die.
Please, Pravin.” I beg for him to walk away from this.
“You’ve claimed your prize in finding me.
Please leave these people to live their lives. ”
“You’re right Princess, but I don’t think your father will just let the people get away with keeping the princess…
You see, if they do n’t know that there is just a simple minded girl hiding among their goods, what's to say that they aren’t foolishly unaware of magick users, lawbreakers, usurpers in their ranks…
You see, they need to be taught a lesson.
” His voice is vile, like a snake slithering in my ear. Even at the distance we are apart.
“They didn’t do anything!” I shout back at him, and the man I sit with on the horse holds onto me tighter.
“Exactly.” He growls. “That one. Choose a male. Bring me his head.” He spins on his heel and strides away on a quick gait.
“No.” The single word is everything: a demand, a prayer, and an unbelievable declaration.
My eyes track to the door that Pravin pointed to and the guards who are making their way to it.
The man at my back tightens his grip, as though he can sense where my mind is going.
I have to stop this. I can’t let anyone die for my selfishness.
My need to get away can't come at the cost of an innocent life.
“It's too late, Princess. Let them do what they were ordered. If you fight it, you know that more will come.” The man growls in my ear.
My nostrils flare as I grind my teeth together, and he steers the horse to begin the trek back to the palace.
Tears blur my vision as I see a young man, not much older than myself, pulled from the quaint home.
His clothes are ratty and patched in places.
He is shoved to his knees, but my eyes are glued to his face as he looks back toward the door with strength.
His chin is raised, his chest puffed out, but I see the glimmer of a single tear roll out of the corner of his eye and down his cheek.
“Look away, Astraea. There is no need to watch.” My keeper says .
“May the gods guide you in a way that men have not. May you burn in the divine fire and be reborn in the ashes of Runerth.” I hoarsely whisper the prayer of the Neer.
It's treasonous, but I don't care. These people didn't do anything to deserve this.
I can't watch it happen. I close my eyes as the largest of the guards swings the broadsword to end another life on my account.
The thump of his head hitting the ground reverberates through my soul like the echoing knell of death bells.
I roll my lips to trap the sob that threatens to burst from my throat, and my eyes squeeze together even tighter as I hear the screams of his family coming from the door they pulled him from.
By the time we near the last corner toward the inner gates of the kingdom, I am numb.
The iron gates barricading the palace in another ring of protection reach out like the metal claws of the monsters within.
My body feels heavy, and though I don't feel the heat, sweat builds on my brow.
Not from the temperature of the evening air, but from the despair that has wrapped itself around my bones.
“Hide your eyes once more, Princess. There is no need to suffer more.” The man holding me says, but I’ve already seen what he was trying to warn me of.
I can’t look away. A series of newly formed gallows hangs from the wall on either side of the gate.
Each one illuminated with a torch of firelight on either side and a body hanging from a rope.
Their faces are hidden by a canvas sack, but their bodies are already blistering from the Eathian sun, which had barely shown back up today after the monsoon.
There is no holding back the sobs that rack through me .
There is no holding me in place either. I lunge from the horse, falling hard on my hands and knees.
My wrist instantly burns with searing pain, but I can’t care.
I only slightly hear that the man that was holding me is yelling at me to stop.
He dismounts the horse behind me and takes chase.
I can’t hear past the rushing blood in my ears as I shuffle through the drying sand and force my body to move toward the bodies.
My thoughts are spiraling in wicked grief.
Please, don’t let her be gone. Please don't let Colette be one of them.
The two bodies on the right are women, wearing plain dresses that the staff wear; the other two are soldiers.
My legs stop working as I fall to my knees beneath the two women.
“Leave her.” The command comes, and slowly I lift my puffy gaze toward the sound of his voice.
“After all, they were gifts for her.” My eyes meet my father’s as he stops just on the other side of the gates.
He shakes his head. His disappointment in my running away, my reaction to the meaningless lives that hang above me.
Killed for no other reason than to show me what happens when I disobey.
It has been the same my entire life. When my lessons are not harsh enough to wring fear into me, he knows my compassionate heart will wither and die with the people he takes from this world in my name.
I say nothing as I stand, keeping eye contact with the man who sired me.
My father has always wanted me to be a strong flame of perseverance, to stand behind the heir of his choosing as an illuminating light, burning bright in the shadow of a man.
A union bringing more than just a strong heir but an unbreakable force of power to our name.
If he wishes for me to be a strong woman behind the man, he better hope that whoever he chooses is strong enough to contain the raging fire that he has stoked, because he has ensured one thing with the torment he has put me through— I will not be tamed.