Forty three

Forty three
“What’s wrong? I said we need to leave here now!” There was fear in his eyes and his chide was shaky.

Kyra turned back to the man, “I know that we need to leave, it’s just that I…” she paused as she observed the man’s face. He looked young and around mid-twenties. He might not be dressed in royal clothes, but his clothes were neat, and his hair was well arranged. “How did you save me?”

“Pardon?” The man looked stupefied and at a loss because of her question.

Kyra quickly recognized that she had not asked the question in the right way, “What I meant to ask was how were you able to pull me out of harm’s way at the last minute? Were you standing behind me?”

Now, it was the stranger’s turn to look confused, “You are supposed to be rushing to safety, not asking how I was able to save you.”

“I need to know how you did it because I was standing with a friend of mine and some guards. They were unable to save me, but you did.” She had not noticed the man before the rogue’s incident happened. She wanted to know how he helped her when neither Tanya nor the palace guards could do so.

“You were with the royal carriage?” The man took two steps back as he asked this to take in her dressing, “I didn't even know that you were with them because of how they rushed away without you.”

“They rushed away?” 

“They surely did. A woman was yanked into the carriage, and they drove off quickly in the other direction,” he pointed at the road opposite where they were standing. “Why did they not take you with them if you all came together?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Different scenarios of what must have happened were playing in Kyra’s head, but she did not know which one to believe.

“My lady, we need to leave here now.” As the stranger spoke, there was urgency in his voice, his ears were perked up and his eyes were darting around.

Kyra did not need to ask him what’s gotten him so worked up because she began to hear the sounds of horse hooves hitting the ground and knew that the rogues were returning in their direction again.

This time, it was Kyra who grabbed the stranger's hand and began to run. She held her gown up with the other hand. As they ran, the sounds of the approaching horses became louder. They got to a two-way road and Kyra halted as she looked at the road on her left and then the one at her right hand side in confusion, not knowing which one was safer to take.

She did not have the opportunity to decide because she was tugged to the left, “This way is safer!”

Kyra followed him and they both raced down the street. By now she was breathing fast, and she was tired but she refused to stop or slow him down. They rounded a corner and entered an alley then they stopped, seeing that they were out of the road and a little far from the market.

They stood opposite each other, panting for breath, before they released each other’s hand. When they finally got their breathing under control, Kyra asked the man, “What is your name?”

“Gerald, my lady,”

“Gerald, I’m Kyra. Thanks again for saving my life.”

This time, Gerald’s cheeks tinted a light shade of pink, “You have already thanked me before.”

Kyra was surprised to see him blush. He was all manly a few minutes ago while trying to save her, but he actually looked way younger now with his pink cheeks and ruffled hair.

“I know, but I need to thank you again. You’ve saved me twice in just a few minutes.” 

Gerald brought up his hand to scratch the back of his neck as he looked down at his feet, “I just happened to be there.”

“Just accept my thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Gerald finally said under his breath.

Silence settled between them, and Kyra observed their environment while Gerald shuffled his feet awkwardly.

“Those rogues, where did they come from?” Kyra asked him, breaking the silence.

From the little she saw of the reaction of the pack members, Kyra knew that this was not the first time the rogues were coming to the market. The way they all ran off and locked their shops was enough proof for her.

“I don’t know. They’ve been terrorizing us for the past two weeks. The alpha king is doing his best to send them away all to no avail. It’s unknown how they got access into our pack. Alpha Anton was going to impose a lockdown and ask everyone to sit at home, but the people protested.” Gerald paused for a second before he continued, “We cannot sit at home until the problem has been solved because we do not know how long it would take. We need to feed.”

“So they come to the market every day?” Kyra asked with a frown. 

She knew that rogues in a pack were going to bring disaster. Alpha Anton’s pack was big, she wondered how they got inside in the first place. If alpha Anton was not quick in getting rid of them, they may grow strong and challenge his authority and position as alpha king.

“Not only the market. They are everywhere and no one knows the time they will pop out, so we are always ready. The market is usually more crowded than it is today, but many people now prefer to stay at home because of this problem.”

“Have…” Kyra swallowed thickly. She did not want to know the answer to the question she was about to ask, but she was too curious for her own good. Rogues were wild wolves, and some were actually mad. They would have killed her just now and left without so much as a backward glance. “Have they killed anyone?”

Gerald’s face immediately fell, and his eyes turned glassy, causing Kyra to regret asking the question, but she was still curious.

“Many people have died because of these rogues and many people will fall before Alpha Anton will be able to solve this problem and send them away.”