Fugitives: Chapter 13

Later, I was sitting on a small bed, talking with Lark. I was dressed in new clothes, ones that had weird patterns that seemed to blend in with the leaves and bushes, similar to what everyone else wore. Lark said it was 'camouflage'. I had eaten already, and taken a small nap, and woke feeling refreshed. I was sharing this room with Lark, Ember, and a girl called Echo. There used to be another girl called Alyssum, or Alyss, but she had been killed by the soldiers of Dermen. She had been Echo's sister, and Lark warned me never to bring her up.

    I was telling Lark about Jineya, when Asher stepped into the room. He stood at the end of the bed.

    “Feel better?” he asked calmly.

    “Yes, thank you,” I replied.

    “Good. Now, I would like to ask you some questions, with your permission,” Asher said.

    I raised an eyebrow. “Why ask my permission when you're just going to do it anyway?” Lark giggled behind her hands, and there was a wisp of a smile on Asher's face.

    “What happened? How did you get mixed up with the likes of Prince Esryn?” Asher asked.

    So I told him. I told him about the slave market, and losing my mother. The memory brought tears to my eyes, but I brushed them away impatiently. I told about the intervention of Prince Esryn, and moving into Taraketh's household. I told about that dinner, about Esryn wanting to buy me, and my escape. About staying in Cadalyn's house, about fleeing with Zeric, and Razel. When I told about them, Asher let out a ghost of a smile. “Ah, Zeric and Razel. They're good people.” He listened intently while I told him about Mister Lemuel's horse farm, about Naya's birth, about fleeing there. I finished explaining about me staying behind to head Esryn off, about my recapture.

    Something flickered in his gaze when I said that I had stayed behind. “Why?” he asked. “Why did you stay behind?”

    I met his gaze steadily. “Because if I stayed, then Esryn would stop hunting, and those fugitives would be safe. If I had stayed with the rest of the fugitives, we all would be caught, and Kielle would be put to death.”

    Puzzlement flashed in his eyes. “Who's Kielle?”

    I explained about her and this fire came into his eyes, and he started pacing the room, deep in thought. “So King Dreveis's line is not meant to be on the throne,” he murmured. He turned to me. “You said something about a Histories of the Land?”

    I nodded, and told him all that I could remember from the book, and he paced some more, deep in thought. Finally he said, “You will not be going out of this cave for a while. Prince Esryn and the slavecatchers are searching high and low for you.”

    I nodded and said, “Okay.”

    He gave a nod. “Thank you for telling me this, Kya,” he said softly, then left.