Chapter 44: The Fall

Year of the Roses, Floral Season Village of Bynin, Altsas Mavli:

I HAVEN'T SLEPT in almost two weeks. Each time I close my eyes, I see him. Not the taskmaster, I've killed the bloody bastard in my dreams. But Cirok. It hurts and it's painful that I'll never get to see him again. I can't believe that our love was not given a chance to blossom.

That night of our escape keeps swirling in my mind, tumbling over my thoughts. If only I had known that I would lose him I would have held on to him tighter, kiss him deeper. I won't have let him sit beside me on the horse. And when he fell, I left him. I left him just like that coward Cerric did.

The ring gleams on my finger. I swear I feel it warm up each time Cirok is on my mind which is often than not. Most times, I feel so disgusted with myself that I urge to chop the finger off and with it the ring.

Sitting at a corner in the room I was generously given, my mind drifts off to that night.

The mare keeps trotting forward and I wonder how she knows the way. Probably she doesn't and is just following her instincts.

My fingers tangle into her mane of coarse hair and I let the tears fall. Cirok. No amount of apology will ever make what I've done justified. I'm evil, I'm a betrayer, a backstabber. Cirok came back for me, but I left him to the taskmaster. Who knows if he is even alive?

The mare runs into a shallow stream and her hooves splash water which slaps me across the face. Should I drop it in? I am suddenly overly aware of the onyx ring on my finger. I should fling it so my mind will be at peace, so he won't haunt my dreams.

No. I need to have a piece of him with me even if I comes as my own personal ghost haunting me every second.

I don't know how long we keep galloping through the forest with claw like branches scratching at me and lashing me as we go. The air tastes salty or maybe it's the sweat that runs over me and dampens my skin. My heartbeat keeps to time with the thundering of the mare's hooves.

I don't know if I'll survive this night. I'm not sure if I'll see beyond this full moon. I don't know if tomorrow will come. And I don't care, I don't even feel sorry for myself. I've lost my family and my fiancé, but I don't feel sorry for myself. I don't feel anything. I'm numb.

The trees become sparse, and I think I can see the silhouettes of huts in the distance. My breath hitches. I have hope, I might just make it.

But the world teeters and my sight dims and I lose balance and I fall. And I hit the ground and inside me, tiny shards of me disperse with the collision.

The hand that touches my cheek is soft. It gently skims over my stinging skin and pushes my damp hair from my forehead. The voice that accompanies it is soft and mellifluous. I think it belongs to a female, but I can't be sure. My heart is throbbing like it got split by an axe and I can't seem to find my voice. I try to connect to my arms and legs somehow, command them to push me up give me a sign that I'm still alive. The voice and hand can be my afterlife for all I know.

The voice gasps. "She's waking up!" The voice is Isla's. I'm incredibly sure of it.

Groggily, I blink my gritty eyelids open and I'm met with blurry colors all swirling together. But I can make out a face, a soft female face.

Isla.

I cannot contain the excitement inside me, groping like a blind, I cup the face in my hands. "Isla, it's really you. I'm so happy to see you again."

The voice croons softly telling me to rest again, to sleep that I haven't recovered fully. But I refuse, I don't want to be separated from my sister ever again.

Rhani pushes the curtain aside and gives me a smile. The smile lifts her face and crinkles her light brown eyes. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Fine," I lie. Every part of me aches badly.

"You look better already," she says.

I've been here for two days and need to get going. I need to execute the plan that tumbles urgently in my mind. I need to find peace.

Rhani took me in and nursed me. She and her husband have been nothing but kind to me. They barely ask any questions about where I come from or where am going, but they respect my privacy.

"Your horse is tied up behind the house," she tells me.

"Thank you." It's all I can say but it's not enough. It can never be enough but it's all I can offer to her.

"You are welcome, Mavli." She sits next to me on the mat and holds my hand," you can stay with us until you are fully recovered."

"I am fully recovered, Rhani. Staying here any further will only inconvenience both of you."

She shakes her head. "We have enough to cater for you until you are healthy."

"I have to go, Rhani." I swallow audibly, "I have to find my sister. I've wasted time, I need to find her fast but first, I'll have to take revenge on my taskmaster."

She stares at me, her compassionate eyes filled with complete understanding. "You are one of the Kintilese slaves."

I let the corner of my lip rise in a smirk, "I'm not a slave anymore, Rhani." I twist the onyx ring on my finger, "this was given to me by my fiancé. He got killed during our escape, I need to avenge him." The tears fall but my voice doesn't quaver. Rhani stares at me with a mixture of pity and awe.

"You are so young; you don't deserve to suffer so much." To my surprise, she breaks down in tears.

Moved, I wrap my arms around her. "Don't cry for me, Rhani. I'm free now and I'll soon find peace when I get my revenge."

"Let me help you," she chokes out.

"No," I protest. "You have already done so much for me."

Rhani ignores me "But you'll need to move quickly or you won't catch him—"

"Him?" Who am I going to catch?

"A friend of mine. He can help you." She quickly wipes her tears and disappears behind the curtain.

I wrung my hands feeling uneasy about my plans for the first time. I don't know if I can ever repay Rhani. She appears again with a pouch.

Realizing what is inside it, I begin to shake my head vehemently. "I can't take it, Rhani—"

She presses it into my hand ignoring my protests. "Go to the pub hut just outside this village and look for a man named Ghost. He'll be hard to miss."

Watery eyed, I give into tears and embrace Rhani. In many ways, she's a sister to me. I can never forget her.

The pub hut is one of the most irking places I've ever entered in my life excluding the cages that was used to capture me.

Here and there bodies are strewn and sprawled on the floors. The stench of ale and beers is nauseating.

Harlots with veiled faces grope at drunk men. And at the corner, two men wrestle each other with daggers. I want to believe it's just for entertainment, but when one man sinks his dagger into the other's thigh, I turn away and try to block out the disturbing groans and screams of pain. Why doesn't anyone stop them?

I make my way to one of the servers and open my mouth to about Ghost when she turns to me with a sneer. "What do you want, beggar? Leave this place this instant or I'll get the landlord to throw you out."

I hold her menacing gaze and stand my ground. "I'm not a beggar. I'm looking for someone."

"And who might that be?" She cackles smugly and shoots me a glare. "Be gone!"

My hands curl into angry fists at my sides. "I'm here for Ghost."

At the mention of the name, color drains out of her face and she points a stubby finger to a corner. I nod, partially grateful and follow the finger to a tall man sitting on a stool with a cup in front of him. As I advance closer, my shadow, cast by the many candles, falls across his face; he raises his eyes to me.

I freeze, the man is a terror to look at. A long scar starts from his forehead and slants into his eye socket taking the eye with it and trails till his chin. He is badly disfigured and is large built. I gulp, this man can kill me with one blow of his thickly muscled hands.

But I trust him because Rhani does. "Ghost," it's a whisper. "Rhani told me about you."

His reply is a grunt. He runs his one eye over me and turns away like I bore him.

"I need your help," I choke out.

He gestures to the stool opposite him, and I force my body to sit. He holds his palm open and taking the cue, I place the pouch in his palm. He weighs it, opens it and pulls out three bronze coins and tosses them at me pocketing the rest.

He grunts again, and his eyes rests on my face.

I lace my shaking hands together to reduce their trembling. "I want to start a large fire. I need something to start it with."