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Rath wove in and out of the back alleys with practiced ease, his black hair and black clothes hiding him in the shadows, his steps silent. Char followed with the same level of skill.
A skill Iris lacked.
She was too loud. She didn’t blend in as well. Her dark blue dress wasn’t dark enough.
They said nothing to her about it, but she worried she'd give them away at any moment.
Their twisted path led them ever deeper into the city, ever closer to the castle wall, and another persistent worry nagged at her mind. Her heart was pounding, her senses on high alert, waiting for Micah’s searching magic. He knew she was here. He’d let her escape before, but she couldn’t outrun magic. It was only a matter of time before he found her.
“Iris?”
She jumped and spun to face the person who’d called her name, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her now.
And then wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her, too.
“It really is you!”
Wide green eyes. Red curls bouncing as she ran. A tight embrace to prove she was real.
“Ginger!” Iris gasped, and then her eyes landed on another pair of green eyes, another mess of curly red hair framing another freckled face. “And… Fred?”
“We thought you were dead,” Ginger said, squeezing Iris tighter. Her tears soaked Iris’ dress, and Iris’ fell on her hair.
Fred, even taller and ganglier than Iris remembered, stooped to pick up a fallen bucket at his feet. Water dripped from the cuffs of his too-short pants and trickled across the cobblestones.
“How…how are you…?”
“We thought you were dead!” Ginger repeated, choking the words out. “You and…”
“Father John isn’t with you?” Fred asked, frowning as he looked over Iris’ shoulder at Char and Rath.
“No, he…” Iris’ heart sank. “Then he isn’t with you.”
“He didn’t come with us.” Ginger pulled back and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “H-he…”
“He gave us a note and all the money he had, and he sent us here,” Fred explained. “He said he was staying back to wait for you.”
Iris stared at Fred, her mind reeling. “‘Sent you’…?”
“Teleported us. Turns out he was a mage. Who are they?”
Father John was a mage?
Rath stepped forward when a stunned Iris didn’t introduce him and flashed the teenagers a smile. “Roger. And this is my brother, Charlie. Hey, Chuck, I’m gonna go on ahead and check on a few things while they catch up. I’ll be back soon.”
That got Iris’ attention. She spun to face the dragons. “Wait, we don’t have time—”
“We can spare a few minutes,” Char reassured her, grinning.
“You have to see Kayla!” Ginger grabbed Iris’ hand. “She’s inside, and she’ll—oh. Fred, can you…?”
Fred nodded, already hooking the bucket to a pulley system over a well, though he was still surveying Char and Rath with suspicion. “Yeah, I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’ll wait out here,” Char told Iris.
Iris let Ginger lead her to a worn wooden door set within worn gray stones, but she cast one last worried glance at Char before she went inside. As much as she wanted to see Kayla, this was an interruption they couldn’t afford.
“Oh, hello.” A priest stood just inside the door, heavier than Father John and with a head of thinning gray hair, but he wore the same kind smile. “I was coming to check on you, Ginger. Who might this be?”
“This is Iris,” Ginger proclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “She’s alive!”
“That’s wonderful news.” The priest took Iris’ hand in both of his. “I’m so glad to meet you. John talked about you all the time. I’m Peter.”
There were too many surprises hitting Iris at once, and she was struggling to absorb it all. “You knew…?”
“We went to seminary together, and we’ve kept in touch since then. He’s been helping me by taking a few orphans off my hands here and there for years. Truly a wise man who is sorely missed.”
Iris nodded, her eyes misting.
“I’m gonna get Kayla,” Ginger said, running past Father Peter to another door. “She’ll be so surprised!”
“Perhaps you should sit down. You look a bit overwhelmed,” Father Peter said to Iris.
She shook her head. “I really can’t stay for long. I…”
“Yeah, what’s going on with you?” Fred demanded as he entered with a full bucket of water. Char didn’t follow him. “You aren't in trouble with those two guys, are you?”
Father Peter frowned. “What’s this about two men?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. It’s… a long story, but they’ve been looking out for me. I just… I can’t believe you’re all okay.”
“In here,” Iris heard Ginger say as the inner door opened again. The red-headed teenager led a blonde little girl into the foyer, a girl Iris would have recognized anywhere, although she’d never seen her so despondent before.
“Kayla,” she called.
Big blue eyes grew in size. An even bigger smile broke out on Kayla’s face. “Iris!”
She ran to Iris, and Iris scooped her up and hugged her, the tears she’d been fighting to keep in check escaping her eyes once again. “I missed you so much.”
“Fred, better get that downstairs so everybody can wash up," Father Peter said. "As for the rest of us, what are we all standing around for?” Father Peter asked. “Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
“Oh, no,” Iris said, shaking her head. “I can’t stay for dinner.”
“What?” Kayla pulled back, pursing her lips into that stubborn expression Iris knew so well. “You’re leaving again?”
“I’m sorry, Kayla, but I have something I have to do.”
“But that guy said you could spare a few minutes,” Ginger said. “Charlie, right? I’ll ask him.”
“No—”
Ginger was already out the door before Iris could say another word, and Kayla was hugging Iris’ neck again, squeezing tighter than before.
“You’re not leaving,” she declared.
Iris sighed and stroked Kayla’s blonde hair. “I’ll try to come back as soon as I can, Kayla, but—”
“You can stay!” Ginger exclaimed, bursting through the door again, this time with Char in tow.
They all looked so happy. Father Peter was shaking Char’s hand and exchanging pleasantries with him, and Kayla and Ginger were beaming from ear to ear, and Iris wanted nothing more than to stay there with them, to catch up over a hot meal, to sleep in a real bed with Kayla and Ginger, as if nothing had changed.
But things had changed. Everything had changed. And Micah was looking for her.
“I need to talk to Char-lie for a minute,” Iris said, her tongue tripping over Char’s human name. She squatted and set Kayla on the ground. “I’ll be along in a minute.”
“Are you in love with him?” Kayla asked.
Iris’ eyes flew wide open. “Wh-what? I—”
“You are in love with him!” Kayla crowed. “Iris loves Charlie. Iris loves Charlie,” she sang, skipping after Ginger as Father Peter ushered the two girls through the inner door, leaving Iris alone with her blush and Char.
“She’s still a brat,” he said, pulling Iris into an embrace. “Hey, don’t worry. Rath and I have things under control. Go have dinner and unwind.”
Iris shook her head. “No, we don’t have time for this. Micah—”
Char stopped her with a finger over her lips. “Micah will arrive soon with the army, and since he’s the man in charge, he’ll be at the head of the procession to the castle. If I don’t miss my guess, Rath is already scouting things out, and he’s also planning on making a couple of soldiers disappear in all the hustle and bustle. Then you'll have two armed escorts sneaking you into the castle, or maybe even walking you through the front door and saying we’re taking you to Micah. We’ll figure out the details. Go have fun.”
Char removed his finger and kissed her. She sighed and gave him a reluctant smile.
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“I am.” He kissed her again. “You know you have a great smile?”
She pulled away from him, blushing. “Come get me if anything happens, okay?”
“It won’t, but sure.”
The inner door led to the church vestry, and past that, stairs descended into the basement. It was much bigger than the church basement in Little Rest, and it needed to be to hold all the children. They were everywhere, all shapes, ages, and sizes. A group of older girls were setting a series of long tables along the left side of the room while older boys broke up younger children at play and directed them to wash their hands, and then more girls emerged from a door at the other end of the basement with steaming pots and plates of food.
Iris felt like she’d come home.
She joined the fray, keeping the children from stampeding to the tables and helping wherever needed, just like she used to do in Little Rest. She sat between Kayla and Ginger and bowed her head with them while Father Peter prayed, and she listened to Kayla chattering about everything that had happened over the past month. Fred stuffed his face with hot, fresh bread slathered in butter; Ginger slurped her soup; and Iris reminded Kayla to take a breath and a bite of food every so often.
“You can sleep with me and Ginger, just like we used to!” Kayla exclaimed.
Iris’ smile faltered. She shook her head. “No, Kayla, I can’t.”
Kayla’s face fell. “But why not?”
Iris smoothed Kayla’s hair back. “Because I have something I need to do. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“Is it because of those guys?” Fred asked, frowning.
Suddenly, Kayla’s smile was back and bigger than ever. “Are you getting married?”
“No! Of course not! Not—not yet…” Iris put her burning face in her hands. Why had she said that?
“You’re getting married?” Kayla squealed, loud enough for the entire basement to hear.
Sudden silence.
And then an eruption of chaos.
“E-excuse me,” Iris mumbled, her voice inaudible under the excited questions flying at her. She pushed her chair back and bolted into the kitchen, leaning back against the door to keep it closed. Somebody was already trying the handle.
“Iris, let me in!”
Iris sighed and opened the door. Kayla bounced into the room, hugging Iris’ legs so tight she almost fell.
“You’re getting married!”
“Not anytime soon!”
“Do you love him?” Kayla asked, drawing out the word ‘love’ far longer than was necessary.
“I wouldn’t marry him if I didn’t!”
“Do you think he’s handsome?”
A smile tugged at Iris’ lips unbidden. She sighed, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yes, I do.” She smoothed Kayla’s hair. “It won’t be for a while, though. We have to do something very important first. Something that has nothing to do with getting married or being in love,” she was quick to add when she saw the sparkle in Kayla's blue eyes.
Kayla’s smile faded. “Is that why you have to go?”
Iris nodded. “I’m sorry, Kayla.”
Kayla opened her mouth, but the door burst open before she got a word out. Char grabbed Iris’ hand, urgency and tension written in every muscle of his body. “We have to go.”
“Wait. What’s—”
“He’s coming. We have to leave. Now.”
Iris’ stomach lurched. She pulled free from Char, shaking her head and taking a step back. “No. If he’s coming here—”
“You are not sacrificing yourself,” Char insisted.
“What’s going on?” Kayla asked.
“You know what he’ll do to these children,” Iris countered.
“You know what he’ll do to you.”
“Iris? What’s going on?” Kayla tugged at Iris’ skirt.
Iris had only to look into those big blue eyes to cement her resolve. She smoothed Kayla’s hair back and took a deep breath before she met Char’s eyes again. “Go. Find Rath, and find a way into the castle. I’ll… I’ll manage.”
She saw Char’s green eyes wavering. He clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides.
“Iris…”
“Kayla.” Iris squatted in front of the confused little girl and hugged her. “I love you.”
“No!” Tears spilled from those blue eyes. Kayla clutched Iris’ dress. “You’re not leaving!”
“Where’s the main entrance?” Iris asked, stroking Kayla’s hair.
Kayla raised a shaking finger to point at a door in the corner.
“Char, please. Go out the way we came.” Iris pried Kayla’s hands from her and stood. “Please.”
He groaned in frustration, and then he grabbed her, kissing her with wild, impassioned abandon. She felt the strength of his arms around her, tasted his desperation in every kiss, and she wanted to go with him. She wanted to run away with him, never even think about Micah again, leave it all behind.
But then the false images he’d planted in her mind would come true. Then he’d kill Kayla, Ginger, Fred, and all the other children, and he wouldn’t stop there. He’d hunt and kill until he found her. There was no escape for her.
“I love you, Char.”
She pushed him away and turned her back on him. She wiped the tears from her face and opened the door in the corner, hoping Char would exit into the alley and escape, trusting him to at least keep Kayla from following her. She climbed the stairs, crossed the church foyer, and took a deep breath.
Then she opened the door.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiE2sHJV5zi
