Coalesce: The Escape

I barely noticed how low the sun was in the sky when we emerged from the cave. I pulled out the letter of the contract I was supposed to fulfill, it was dangerous and risky, but well worth it.

“Your last contract,” Kylon observes looking over my shoulder at the parchment.

“Yes, it must be done. No matter what,” I roll the contract up and neatly stow it in my bag again. I had a long few months ahead of me. Once the contract was done, I’d at least be free. More free than I ever had been before.

Kylon makes a strange grunting noise and grabs my arm. “Come on,” He takes off pulling me along with him. Luciack follows, annoyed by the familiarity of it. I had no idea what was happening to me. Lost in thought and fear of the unknown, I was unaware of the sounds around me. I was lost in myself for far too long.

After a few more days of traveling we made it to a small village at the foot of the mountains. New Leaf was the name of the village. It was small, quiet, and a perfect place to do some planning. We stayed at the small village’s Inn, in the middle of everything.

“First, to Shadow Mountain,” I say to Kylon as I point to the province labeled in deep gold lettering on the map of Cyrillica that lay in front of us. There were five provinces in all. Valley Forge, the only Province that is separated into more than one Kingdom, and the only one that has a need for a High King because of that. Shadow Mountain, the center of the Empire where the White City is located, and the home of the Emperor. Scholar’s Keep, the heavily wooded, well-kept, but violent province in the right hand corner of the map. Widow’s Moor, the least mountainous of the five, and least involved in the war. The last province is Merchant’s Crest, the trade center for the Empire located just below Widow’s Moor.

“After that we can go to Widow’s Moor then down to Merchant’s Crest.” I glance at him for either approval or denial. I would much rather not go to Scholar’s Keep after what happened in Dallek. I wanted to explore all the provinces eventually, if I could. As a princess, I could barely ever leave Galeiseth on my own unless I snuck out, which I did often. I most of all wanted to see the White City. Thinking of leaving, of going so far away, made me more homesick. Truthfully, I missed everyone. Mara, Xavier, Allistor, Edward... I missed them all.

Kylon runs the blade of his fine silver dagger along his jawline as he considers what I proposed. Slowly, he nods in approval.

“Seems good to me. I think we can set out soon. Dusk will prove useful in providing transportation,” He looks at me with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“Okay, now will you put that thing down before you stab yourself?” I ask irritably. Lately he’s seemed to be trying to impress me. It hasn’t worked. He shrugs and tosses the dagger onto the desk. The weapon clatters as it hits the surface and then falls silent as I glare at him with a sigh.

The rooms in the Inn were small but had a bed, desk, dresser, and small chest. Fortunately for us, we got a bigger room with two beds and a map tacked to the wall. Kylon has gotten better about what he says though. That’s been the nice part. A week and he’s already gotten better. Luciack still seems to think of Kylon as a threat, though. Ridiculous, these men.

Muffled shouting rings through the Inn’s rooms. Cautious, but curious, I poke my head out of the door. Scholar’s Keep soldiers stand in the doorway shouting at the sleeping Innkeeper. One of the three soldiers nails a piece of parchment to a beam of wood that supports the Inn’s structure. The parchment states that there is now a bounty, quite a high bounty, for the capture of the heirs to Galeiseth’s throne. Also known as Luciack and I. Worst part is, we don’t have to be delivered to the soldiers alive...

Great, now I’m wanted throughout the kingdom, or the province even.

I withdraw back into the room and gather my things and Luciack’s things into our bags.

“We need to find Luciack and leave, now.” I hiss through gritted teeth, the urgency in my eyes enough, he doesn’t ask any questions.

He nods and reaches for his dagger and his things and we slip out into the foyer. Making it seem as though we aren’t trying to go unnoticed by the soldiers, we walk casually to the door. After that we push it open and break into a run towards the stables. All the stable hands had left by now and no one was around, except Luciack, or so we hoped. Thankfully, he was.

“Soldiers,” I jerk my head towards the Inn and Luciack nods in understanding.

We each jump onto a horse and take off at a gallop down the road, heading west now. The distant cries of soldiers are lost to the wind. Now I was not only wanted by soldiers just for being the heir of Galeiseth, I was also wanted for stealing a horse. I glance at Kylon and smile, then we all laugh. There was a reason for all this, for the sake of our adventure, and my escape, I was beginning to sink into thievery. It still somehow felt wrong, unjustified.

“I can’t believe that in just a week I’m starting to become a thief,” I say as we slow our horses to a trot.

“I have quite the influence, don’t I?” He smiles and I roll my eyes, neither of us noticing Luciack’s look of hatred toward Kylon.

“If you think so.” A distant howl breaks through the dull fog that had accumulated. We draw our swords and the horses rear back as they toss their heads in discomfort at the sound. I knew that wolves were common here, I just hoped we could get by without meeting them. Seems we weren’t going to be so lucky.