Chapter 3: Complications

Chapter 3: Complications

Somebody is yelling something incomprehensible outside. I gently remove Elizabeth’s head from my shoulder and open the front door. The town crier is at it again.

‘Hear ye, hear ye!’ he shouts.

Silence covers the street. Everyone’s looking at the man with the bell.

‘The king has passed, the king has passed!’ he shouts.

Gasps and surprised murmuring indicates they heard every word he said.

‘What happened?’ someone in the crowd asks.

‘The king’s been felled by a monster!’ the crier continues.

I run up to the man, ‘What kind of monster?’.

‘I don’t know, sir’ he says, seemingly scared of me.

I want to run back inside and tell Elizabeth, but as I turn to face the house I notice she’s standing in the doorway.

She looks at me as I get back inside, her faces shows both anger, fear, and sadness.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask, gently grabbing her arm.

‘Don’t you realize what this means?’ she asks.

‘They’ll have to elect a new king, some things may change, but it’ll be fine’.

She pushes my hand away from her arm, ‘Yes! They’ll elect a new king! That’s the problem. Don’t you remember that man from yesterday?!’.

It takes me a moment to realize what she means, but then I start to panic as well. If that man becomes king, he’ll probably punish me for disobeying his previous request.

I turn to Elizabeth, ‘You have to leave town’ I say.

‘I’m not going to leave you!’.

‘If you don’t, you’ll end up dead. I’ll have to stay behind, if he has me he won’t go looking for you’.

‘We’re both going’ she says. It’s clear she’s not planning on changing her mind.

I look back at the stack we made of our belongings. It’s too much to carry on our own, and Toric can only handle so much. I walk outside to think about the best escape. On the other side of the street there’s a poster, a wanted poster, and it has my face on it. I sprint back inside and close the door. Elizabeth is standing in the middle of the room, looking at me like I’m insane.

‘What’s gotten into you?’ she asks.

‘I’m wanted’ I say, my voice surprisingly calm.

I grab a nearby map and try to find a way to escape. It seems hopeless. Every path that leads out of the town is guarded, all day long. Traveling through the woods with a pregnant woman isn’t exactly a piece of cake either. Our best bet is for Elizabeth to hide while I try to fight my way out. I look back and see Elizabeth looking outside through the ajar door. She signals me with her hand that there’s danger. After a while she quietly closes the door and turns to face me.

‘Two guards’ she whispers, ‘carrying halberds’.

‘Open this door in the name of the law!’ the man knocking on my door yells. I reluctantly open the door to see two men carrying halberds.

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, pretending not to notice the wanted poster behind them.

‘We’re here to arrest you’ the one on the left says, he seems to be the one in charge, I think I’ll kill him first. Before I can answer, a man walks runs up to the guards. He hands them a scroll, which the leader then reads.

‘Never mind’ he  says, ‘We’re here to execute you’.

I use my hand to signal Elizabeth to hide. There’s a short pause, but then I hear her walk away. Next to the door is a small basket. It’s mostly filled with random things, but one of those things is a sword. I use it to knock away their halberds, then sprint to the back of the house. I run into a closet and swiftly lock the door behind me. A hidden trapdoor leading to the roof opens up as I pull on the hidden lever. I jump onto the street where I hide by my front door. One of the guards runs out of my house, only to be met by my fist in his face. He falls down onto the floor, quietly whimpering. I grab his halberd and prepare myself to face the other guard. The leader runs onto the street, jabbing his halberd at me. I almost get stabbed multiple times before I manage to knock his away. He draws his sword and swings at me wildly. My halberd blocks his attacks, but breaks in the process. We both stand with our sword in hand, ready to kill the other at a moment’s notice.

I grab a small throwing knife from my belt and throw it at his head. When he realizes what happened it’s already too late. He drops his sword and collapses onto his knees. The scroll in his pocket confirms my suspicions. The man who wanted me to kill the king now wants me dead.