“Steady,” I murmur to Ella who is still gasping down the water, out of breath in her desperation to drink. “You’ll make yourself sick if you drink too quickly.”
She glances at me, nods and takes several deep breaths, her face flushed. Returning to the water, she cups her hands and lifts the cool liquid to her mouth.
The container is now full and no one has stopped us… I can’t hold back any longer, leaning forward I plunge my hands into the water and scoop it to my mouth, shifting the veil from my face. Groaning as the sweet water cools my dry throat, I keep drinking, allowing myself to have my fill. It’s hard to follow my own advise and pace myself as I drink. Having unrestrained access to clean water is so rare that it’s difficult not to overindulge.
Someone kneels beside me, and I focus on my surroundings once more. I got carried away and somehow this person got close to us without me noticing. Flicking my gaze to the size, I release a breath as I see the figure is dressed in white.
Caleb.
“Run.”
His voice is full of warning and authority, sounding nothing like the Caleb I know. Twisting, I take in my friend. He won’t look at me, scooping water into his hands but I can see the tension in his movements.
“What?” I realise how stupid I sound as the word leaves my lips, but I’m so surprised by his sudden appearance.
Dropping the pretence, he faces me and I see the fear and urgency shining back at me in his blue eyes.
“This is a trap, Kiara.” He scans the area as though looking for someone but his face pales as his gaze locks on something over my shoulder. “You need to leave. Now.”
Five
It might have taken me a moment to register what he was saying before, but the terror in his voice gets me moving, my instincts kicking in before my mind has even caught up. That fear in his eyes wasn’t for him, but for me. Caleb would not cause a scene like this unless he was sure. He could get in a lot of trouble if he was found to be helping one of the sullied.
Not sticking around to find out if he’s right or not, I grab Ella’s hand and pull her roughly to her feet. She doesn’t complain, responding to my fear and sticking to my side like glue. She knows better than to question me when we’re in the city and trusts me to keep her safe. I just hope that I don’t let her down.
I abandon our basket and the water container, moving away from the fountain as smoothly as possible. Although Caleb told me to run, I know that will only bring attention to us. We need to blend in, look innocent, and get out of the market as soon as we can. Leaving our basket behind will seem suspicious too, but carrying that weight would only slow us down.
The muscles in my legs burn with the need to run and my palms are sweaty. My eyes flit from person to person beneath my veil, looking for signs that we’re being followed. A thumpingnoise pounds in my ears, blocking out the sounds around us, making me feel disconnected and afraid, and as though everyone is looking at us. My normal calm reactions are gone, Ella’s presence making my mind spin, the responsibility to keep her safe wiping away everything I know.
“Sullied.”
The whisper is quiet and I shouldn’t be able to hear it, but the word hits me like a physical blow. They can’t be speaking about us; our bands are covered. However the brand seems to follow us, the whisper on everyone’s lips until it’s all I can hear. Suddenly everyone around us is a threat, no one is spared of my paranoid suspicions. The market stall holder who glances my way? The child sitting by the fountain? Anyone of them could be an informant.
The atmosphere in the market changes drastically, people stopping in their tracks as they realise one of the sullied is in their presence. We need to get out of herenow. I cannot take any risks, not when it feels like everyone is staring at us.
Glancing around, I realise that I’m not just being paranoid. Everyoneislooking our way.
“Your veil.” Ella hisses, reaching up and jerking it back into place.
Horrified, I glance down at the offending fabric which is now safely covering my band. However, the damage is done. There are at least twenty people who just saw my black band.
The veil must have become dislodged when I was drinking and I hadn’t even considered shifting it back into place once Caleb appeared with his warning. Stupid, such a stupid mistake. A decade old habit that’s kept me safe, gone in a second because I got distracted. Now I might have doomed us both.
A loud booming noise fills the market, the sound echoing through the bazaar, seeming to get louder. The frightened cooing of city folk around us raises to replace it, startle them andthey become like chickens, flocking together and making useless noises in their distress. They are right to be distressed though. The gates closest to us that lead out of the market have been closed.
A rush of adrenaline floods my body and my mind finally clears, narrowing down to one priority. Getting us out of here.
Like the nails in my coffin, three more slams sound distantly as the remaining market gates are closed. Dread washes over me in a cold wave, the blood draining from my face. We are trapped. Desperately I look around for a way out, therehasto be a way. If we can get to the wall then we might be able to climb over as lose the guards in the maze of the city streets. It’s going to be difficult with Ella, she lacks the strength in her arms for climbing, but we don’t have an option.
Dragging Ella behind me, we hustle through the market, weaving between people and not caring who we shove past. There’s a commotion behind us and shouts for us to stop, and we ignore each one, using them instead to power us forward.
Glint of sunlight against metal is all the warning I get before a row of guards step out in front of us. Gasp caught in my throat, I jerk Ella to the left and weave through the mess of stalls, but no matter how far we run, the walls don’t get any closer. Lungs burning, I keep going even though it feels like the ground has become like quicksand, each of my steps slow and laborious. More shining silver of the guards armour shines in my peripheral vision and I know they’re closing in on us.
Five guards’ step in front of us. My heels kick up dust as I dig them into the ground, skidding to a halt. I look to my left. Stalls. Looking to my right I see it’s the same, only row after row of stalls with no way of escape. Like a cornered rabbit, I spin so we can run back the way we came, but more guards pour into the market, blocking us off.
“Stop in the name of the King!”
I don’t see which of them speaks, but it’s probably the one with the decorated patch on his shoulder, marking him as a senior guard. Without giving me a chance to respond, they step forward in unison, the thudding of their boots like the frantic beating of my heart.
