Releasing Ella’s hand, I push her away from me, backing up to put distance between us. She could easily lose herself in the crowd, they’re not looking for a child, but someone dressed as a widow.
“Go! Leave me!” I order, trying to ignore the way my heart breaks at her expression of desolation.
“No, I’m not going without you.” Her voice cracks and despite her denial, I can see the truth written in her eyes. She knows her only way out of this is to leave me behind and its killing her. This isn’t a decision anyone should have to make, especially not a child. However, life in Rune is rough for the sullied and nothing good will come of her staying here with me.
“Run!” I bark, my eyes stinging with tears I refuse to shed. “Find Jules, he’ll help you.”
The man might be a solitary bastard but he has a soft spot for Ella. He won’t let her starve. I can’t believe that it’s going to end like this, I’m supposed to be here to protect her. Will she survive without me?
Someone from the side of the road reaches out and pulls Ella against them. Instinctively I lurch forward to pull her back until I realise what’s happening. One of the women running the stalls has taken her out of the line of sight of the guards. I meet her gaze and she slowly dips her head. Not in respect, but in acknowledgement that children don’t deserve to be dragged into all of this.
“Kiara-” The cry in Ella’s voice makes those final fragile parts of my heart shatter. Thankfully whatever she was going to say is cut off but the woman on the stall. The guards would have seenher with me, but they won’t go searching for a lone child unless she starts causing problems. Calling for me is only going to draw attention to her.
The guards have me completely circled now, but all I can focus on is Ella where she watches on, horrified.
“Go!” I roar, the ferocity of it startling even me. However, desperation is making me reckless and if I need to be the bad guy to keep her safe, that is what I shall do.
The sun is blocked out momentarily and I know my time is up as the guards surround me. Rough hands grab my shoulders, pulling my hands behind my back so tightly that I cry out. Raising my head, I stare at the closest guard and narrow my eyes, snarling in a way that makes me sound more animal than human. With only my eyes visible and the growl rumbling through me, I’m not surprised to see a flash of fear in his eyes.
Unfortunately for me, it has no effect on getting me free, if anything, their grip only tightens. Dragging me through the market, I try and take in as much around me as I can, cataloguing everything and putting it away in case I have the opportunity to escape. I do take some pleasure in the fact that the guards are so out of breath. I might have walked straight into their trap, but I made them work for it.
We seem to be moving toward the north side of the market, where the punishment block and stocks stand tall. My mouth goes dry. I might have accepted my upcoming death, but there is a lot that can happen before then that I have not allowed myself to contemplate. Will they torture me? Strap me to the stocks and flog me, leaving my open wounds to fester until I eventually die of an infection? My bowels turn watery and I sweat profusely beneath my headscarf despite suddenly feeling freezing.
I should have considered this, but what would it have changed? I would have only had more doubts and fears when I entered the market this morning, and that’s dangerous. Doubtmakes you second guess your decisions, which leads to mistakes. No, it’s better that I didn’t let this affect me while Ella was with me. Being faced with it now though, is something different altogether.
Do I let them exterminate me like the scourge that they think I am? I have been kept in the shadows for long enough, being treated like a piece of trash because of some unknown sin I committed against the gods. I might be about to face my demise, but I will not let them see me cower despite how my knees tremble as we reach the back of the market. Rolling my shoulders, I lift my head and attempt to walk beside the guards. They see what I’m doing and continue to drag me, roughly knocking me off my feet so I’m skittering to find purchase.
Suddenly, I’m dropped from their hold and fall to the floor. Gasping at the impact, I quickly scrabble to my feet, spinning to watch as the guards step back, creating a barrier between me and the path back into the market.
Slowly, I examine the scene around me. The guards stand in a semi-circle, creating a space between them and the close market door. The stocks are just out of view to the right and hope flares in me that perhaps that won’t be in my future after all. Everyone seems to have gathered to watch, whether that’s because they were forced or their morbid curiosity needed to be stated, I don’t know. The guards drag forward two figures dressed in black like I am. Widows.
They have gathered the widows together. I’m not surprised that there are only three of us here. There aren’t many widows in Rune, and those who do exist try to avoid being out in public, only coming to the market when absolutely necessary. These poor women are already ostracised for something they have no control over, and now I’ve dragged them into this mess. Only their eyes are visible, but they look terrified, their body language showing how uncomfortable they are being stared at by so manypeople. Hunched shoulders and arms clutching their middles, the perfect image of subservience. Compare that to my defiant stance and it becomes clear who the odd one out is. I should adopt the same position, try to blend in, but I can’t bring myself to do it when I know death is approaching.
Someone steps forward and I’m not surprised to see that it’s the guard I noticed earlier with the decorative patch on his uniform, the captain I realise now that I can see it up close. He glares at the three of us like we are something that has crawled from the gutter. We seem so small in the open space, the rest of the marketplace gathered up close behind the guards, pushing and straining to see what’s happening. The captain walks before us, his boots kicking up dust, but it is not us that he’s looking at now, but the crowd.
“There is a witch among us,” he announces, voice ringing loudly.
Everyone gasps as he intended, and he pauses to allow their horrified whispers to spread. He’s doing this on purpose, working up the crowd and spreading fear. After all, we are easier to control if we think they are protecting us from evil. The curious looks change to fear and anger, and I am grateful that I’m wearing a veil, their judgment stinging. After all this time being sullied, it should not bother me any longer, but I have never been able to shake the shame they make me feel.
“Not only is she performing forbidden magic,” his voice rings clear once more, the market falling silent to hear our crimes. “She is one of the sullied! Disguising herself as a widow and selling her poisonous lies to unsuspecting people right here under our noses.” Stalking along the length of the guards, he turns and paces back in the other direction. “We knew she would return; she has a pattern. We have been watching the market for a while now. Today we have rounded up the widows in the market and are going to unmask them to find our witch.”
My stomach sinks. This wasn’t just a random sweep; this was planned based on a pattern I’ve been using. I never realised. I worked so hard to switch up when I come to the market and lose guards on my trail, and it was all for nothing. For so long I have managed to get away with my scheme that I must have let down my guard without realising it. This, over everything else hurts the most. I failed.
“Stop.”
My heart takes flight in my chest, that voice making my hope soar so fast it makes me dizzy. Caleb, he has come to rescue me.
Guards step apart to let a figure clad in blinding white robes step through. His gaze scans over the two widows and stops when it lands on me. We might be dressed the same, our identities hidden, but my friend knows instantly which one is me.
Turning on the captain, his face is like thunder as he glares at the guard. “What is the meaning of this? Removing the veil of a widow is a crime.”
Faced with an angry follower of the gods, the captain has the good sense to look chagrined.
“Chosen one.” Dipping into a bow, the captain slowly returns to standing upright, gesturing toward where I stand with the other widows. He appears apologetic, but not cowed by the presence of one of the gods chosen people. “One of these women has committed a crime and the only way to discover the perpetrator is to remove the veils.”
The two men stand off against each other. Caleb in his gleaming white clothes and white band shining on his arm, and the guard in his full red and silver uniform. They are so different, one looking for peace, and the other for bloodshed. My blood may soon cover the dusty ground beneath us, the colour so similar to the red of the guard’s uniform.
No, I can’t think that way. Caleb has the might of the gods behind him, the captain of the guard wouldn’t dare to go against him. He clearly thinks the same, his shoulders rolling back as he prepares to respond. “This is-”
