2. Unexpected Freedom
Luke
The water pushed us away from the Slavery, into a part of Saffron I had never been before. It roared ferociously around us like a lion, a hard and fast-moving river. Then the rush of water stopped dead. I collapsed on the ground wheezing as its support vanished and watched as it drained toward the lake, leaving us in a dazed heap.
I sat up and looked around. We were in a dark and dreary alley, far from the prying eyes on the street. Although who knows what someone would be doing out at this time of night. Garbage was strewn everywhere, along with mud and debris from the flood that brought us here. Beside me, about ten feet to my right the girl that had rescued us lay unconscious. The other boy leaned over her. He was whispering something in her ear urgently. After a long moment, I saw her stir restlessly.
My friends were slowly getting to their feet and looking around cautiously. I saw a slight smile flit across Chandra’s face from where I sat, but fear quickly replaced it when she saw our two rescuers. An uneasy knot formed in my gut as I too wondered what motives they had for freeing us. I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and turned my head to see Susan standing at my shoulder. Her pale gold hair was streaked with mud but cleaner than I had ever seen it before.
“We need to talk,” she murmured, “away from them.” She jerked her head in the direction of our two saviours. I nodded and slowly dragged myself to my feet. I leaned against Susan for support and we weaved our way over to the others. Each step seemed to be agony. Every muscle hurt, and I sagged from exhaustion.
Chandra glanced at me as we approached and I saw understanding behind the veil of her eyes. I wondered for an instant why, before she opened her mouth to ask the question none of us knew the answer to. “Can we trust them?” I leaned against the wall gasping slightly with pain. There was a sharp pain in my side from something hitting me, or hitting something, and I thought a rib might be bruised or possibly broken.
Without speaking all five of them looked at me, as they always did. And, abruptly I realized I did know – or at least suspected I knew – that the girl and the boy who had come and taken us from the Slavery could be trusted. I nodded once.
“So we go with them,” Susan said, her nose wrinkled in distaste. I understood her reluctance. It came from years of abuse and distrust, and even here, it was not displaced. We didn’t know these people – and yet somehow I did, or at least the girl.
“We won’t get far on our own,” I said, barely able to speak above a whisper from the pain in my side. I grimaced.
The others were nodding and after a long look, Susan nodded as well. “So we go with them for now,” she said. The voice of the boy who had rescued us broke through the murmur of agreement from everyone gathered in our corner of the alley. We all turned to see the girl on her feet now but leaning heavily on the boy.
“Come on!” he called, “They’ll be here soon - searching for us!”
We moved forward, not toward the alley front but toward its dead end. The boy stopped and the girl lifted her hand to tap the wall three times: once at face-level, on her left side and on her right side. Slowly an arch formed just in front of her and she stumbled through, us following. As I passed through the arch, I looked up and was surprised to see that we were in a spacious passageway with pale grey walls. It was dim, but enough soft light seemed to emanate from the walls that we could see. Too much was happening too fast. A couple hundred metres down the shaft we passed into a small room where the girl stopped.
“We’ll stay here tonight and move on tomorrow,” she announced weakly. None of us was in any state to travel after the events of the evening.
I sat down, my body protested and ached from being banged around in the water, and helping her in the Slavery. I looked up at her. She was leaning against the wall. Her face was pale from what seemed to be over-exertion. She was pretty, I decided, though it was hard to tell right now with her dark-brown hair hanging in wet tangles down her back and mud smeared across her face and exposed skin.
She had beautiful eyes, bright green ones that seemed to see everything around her at once and an angular face, almost like a pixie’s. She was small and slight but tall, a princess. But from what I had seen of her tonight, I knew she was no princess. Anything but... perhaps a warrior princess. Yes, that worked better, it fit more. The ferociousness I had seen on her face earlier had faded and now she looked fragile, unprotected… scared, even. And, despite my earlier opinion, I could tell she was not much older than I. A girl.
As I watched, she slid to the ground and the boy appeared at her side, slipping an arm over her shoulders. He leaned toward her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and I saw some of the weariness work itself off her face as she relaxed against him and drifted off to sleep. In her sleep, she looked younger, more childish, like she had, had to grow up quickly in a short amount of time. The boy examined me from over her head.
“My name’s Rowan,” he said. He gestured at the girl and she stirred, opening her eyes to look at me, “This is Rory.”
Rory smiled at me thinly. “Thank you for your help,” she whispered, “We wouldn’t have made it out without it.” I nodded and turned my head away from the two of them to look at my cell companions sleeping huddled together a short distance away.
As my eyes closed, I heard Rory murmur, “I’m so sorry everything went wrong.”
“It’s ok,” Rowan whispered back, “We got out and that’s what counts.”
I sighed, as I realized now wasn’t the right time to ask questions. We were too tired but I also knew I wouldn’t sleep for a long while. Too many questions were spinning around in my mind to drift off quickly. Tomorrow was a different day though and I would get answers, no matter what it took. I lay back and drifted off, thinking about how my life could be different from what it was.
A low murmuring woke me in the middle of the night. Rory was kneeling next to Rowan in front of a small flickering light. I leaned closer to see what it was. A man stood within the orb of light speaking quietly. He had black hair with silver streaks in it. His mouth moved, saying words I couldn’t quite hear. When he finished speaking Rory’s hand swept out and brushed through the image in frustration. “I want to come back to headquarters.” she protested quietly, “I’m sick of spying on that Magician! I want to do something worthwhile instead of being a bystander!”
“You are doing something worthwhile,” the figure’s voice was slightly louder now and I could just make out what he said, “You are gathering information we will need to destroy the Magicians.”
“What about Luke?” she asked, “How can I keep the promises I made if I can’t be there to teach him?”
“If he is as powerful as you say then someone else will carry out your promise,” the man replied. “Besides, I’m sure you will be back within a few days. You say you are close to getting the information you require.”
“I will not come back if you are planning to send me out as a spy again,” Rory spat angrily.
“This is the last one,” the man soothed, “I promise.” With that the light died and I drifted back to sleep wondering what the exchange I had just witnessed might mean.
When I woke up, Rory wasn’t anywhere in sight. Rowan was standing beside one of the other exits. I walked over to him, suddenly suspicious.
“Where’s Rory?” I demanded.
“She went to work,” Rowan replied, “She can’t break her cover or she could put us all in danger.”
“Who’s going to take us to the headquarters then?” I asked.
“Who?” Rowan laughed, “Me, obviously!”
“What if I don’t trust you?” My fists clenched at my sides – an action the Rowan didn’t miss. The distrust had flared unexpectedly… last night I had been so sure but now I wasn’t. It had something to do with Rory’s absence but I couldn’t figure out what. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the four girls staring at me in shock and confusion. Susan started toward us – she’d always been the peacemaker in our group.
Rowan stiffened and narrowed his eyes at me slightly, daring me to continue, “Then you’ll be free to head your own way. That is if you can even get out of here,” he mocked.
“Boys!” Susan shouted, “Stop that! Rowan, you’re taking him whether you like it or not and Luke, you should know better!” I gazed at her, amazed at the transformation a single night of freedom had wrought in my former cellmate. It was like she had blossomed overnight.
I turned away. I was ashamed I had lost my temper and for letting him get on my nerves in the first place. But I didn’t like him. I couldn’t read his face like I could read Rory’s. He could lead us into a trap and not betray a single emotion or thought. I sighed. Right now, I couldn’t afford not to follow him, but later … later, I could doubt him all I wanted.
Rowan had gathered the girls together and was now herding them through the entrance of the corridor. He looked back at me and smirked. He didn’t like me any more than I liked him. “Take the rear, please,” he requested. I fumed but I wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing that he was aggravating me.
As we marched along, I tried to order my thoughts. I had so many questions that I wanted answered. But they couldn’t be answered now, not without Rory – I felt it in my gut.
We left the catacombs at the edge of the city, with the sun just beginning to rise over the horizon. Pink and orange sunbeams streamed down, casting long shadows around us as we made our way into the vast countryside surrounding Saffron. The five of us gasped at the sight of so many wide spaces devoid of human life. We walked for several hours through fields and small woods. The sound of twigs cracking underfoot or birds rustling tree branches made us jump initially but we gradually adjusted to the strange new sounds. Finally, just before lunch we stepped out of a last woodland to see a mirage of tents that swam before our eyes, seemingly an illusion. I rubbed my tired eyes, trying to clear my vision.
“We’re here” Rowan announced. He clapped his hands and the sea of tents swam into focus. He headed towards the centre of the field.
An abundance of smells, sights, and sounds overpowered me as we entered the city between the first tents. I had never experienced anything like it before in my life, being a slave for most of it. The aromas of fresh bread, clean laundry, clean bodies, and good food filled my nose. All good smells, all nothing like anything I had ever smelled before. The tents, which had appeared chaotic at first glance, were ordered into intricate streets and avenues that bustled with late morning activity. People going here and there. Talking to one another, enjoying themselves, doing chores like laundry, baking, feeding livestock. It was a good place, I could feel it in my bones, and I knew the girls did too for they were chatting together, laughing, wondering over the marvels they saw. And Rowan was pointing the littlest things out, boasting and telling them about everything there.
He stopped in front of a tent near the centre of the city and said, “This is where you girls will be staying. There’s a tub with fresh water for washing there and I’ll send clothes in a while for you to dress in.” The girls filed in and I started to follow but his arm barred my way. “So you think you’re a girl, huh?” he taunted, “Thought you might stay with them?”
“No,” I said, “I thought I’d make sure they were okay first.”
“Later,” he said, “You’re tent is just down here, if you could just follow me…”
I started to protest but he held up a hand and cut through my words icily. “You have nothing to worry about. They’re in good hands and you’ll only be a few tents away.” I realized protesting would be futile and followed him meekly to a tent just down the makeshift road. I ducked through the flap after Rowan. He pointed, “There's the tub with clean water so you can wash.” He wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air pointedly as he spoke. “There's a bed and clothes to change into after you bathe. When you've changed put your clothes outside so they can be burned." I bit back a snide retort, nodded, and said a reluctant “Thanks” as he left.
After he left I turned fuming at his comments and took in the rest of the tent. It was small and simple – a typical tent I supposed. It was obviously lived in – at least in one-half. There were three beds in the room. Two had clothes draped over them so I supposed I would have roommates. There was a tub in one corner and I walked towards it. I dipped one hand in the water and, upon finding it warm, I sank beneath the water and bathed properly for the first time in my life.
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