It was only an hour after sunrise and all three men had there bags packed. "Is this all you're taking?" Fenral's Mother asked her. They had explained everything to her as Alura rushed around making sure that They had everything. "don't you have any pretty dress that you want to take with you?" Trenton looked up at her.
"Well the cream dress from the floor of our room... No others that aren't packed already. Honestly my closet looks like a little girls imagination vomited in there. If I have one regret from leaving here this way it is that I won't be able to tell my father to shove that purple monstrosity he made me wear up his own ass!" Cathous laughed.
"I told you that you would be doing her a favor by ripping it off of her!"
"Wait I thought that you were color blind."
"No better my father pay to terrorise a dress maker than it be me." She explained as she took the dress from his hand and quickly packed it away into her bag.
"Well that is true." Cathous agreed with her.
"You don't get to agree with her! You wanted me to throw her in the moat!" Fenral growled at him.
"Yeah well what my father has planned for us, trust me when I say that I'd prefer to drown in the moat."
"Will it be that bad?" Senora asked.
"Get out of the city or die trying." Alura paused and looked at the four of them. "That goes for all of us." Trenton tapped his chest with his fist twice and lowered his head. Cathous murmured a quiet yes and Senora looked pale. "When we hit the forest I need you all to stay close to me or Trenton. I grew up riding these woods and know every game trail. Trenton has been escorting me on my morning rides every day for the last week. I trust you can find a faded scent trail in there?" He nodded. "If you get separated from us don't stop. Just keep moving. Once they realize we're gone they will send a hunting party after us. Don't get caught and don't look back no matter who falls behind!" when she saw the looks of determination on every face she lead them out of the room and made for the servants passages.
As they exited the palace through the hidden entrance Alura wondered only briefly what lay ahead for her. No matter what it was it had to be better than what she was leaving behind. The city was quick going as the streets had been cleared to make finding them if they made it out of the palace easier.
"This is the hard part." She whispered to Fenral. "The open square. We have a straight shot at the gate from here but we won't have any cover."
"Is that good or bad?" Just as Fenral asked Fenic Held his hand up to stop them.
"Yes it's bad. My father must have posted bowmen Somewhere close but high. We'll be shot down before we make the gate." Fenic pointed up above his head twice then to the tower of Sebeenhime thrice. She nodded to let him know that she understood. "The tower of Sebeenhime there are three and two on the wall above the gate. From here we would be moving into their fire."
"Is there another way?" Senora asked sounding as if she might cry.
"No. Do you hear that bell. It's an alarm bell. They know we're trying to escape. But Fenic is a blessed of darkness." She raised her hand to her throat after catching her brothers eye and then jerked it violent down as she clenched it to a fist. He nodded and she pointed to the tower.
Fenic moved fast as he left his sheltered place by the gate and moved silently and unnoticed to the tall tower and scaled the outside as if he was taking a stroll in the fresh morning air. Growing up she had loved to watch Fenic hone his skills. She would squeal in fright when he would pretend to fall. Now watching him and knowing the end result would be the lives of three men it terrified her. Never the less it was their lives or the lives of those men.
"I am not familiar with that phrase. Blessed of darkness. What does it mean?" Fenral asked.
"He was trained as an assassin. Mostly because of the circumstances surrounding his birth. Every one who lived in the house his mom was staying in perished in a fire late in her pregnancy which meant she was forced to give him to Sebeenhime for training when he was only two." Just then she heard two loud Thwacks. "Run now!" She yelled and sprinted to the gate and turned to see Fenic and fenral just dodge the arrows from the top of the wall. Both men were laughing.
"I was sure I had you bested You're grace." Fenic said as a the bell above their heads started to toll.
"Almost but that was because she took me by surprise." Fenral answered. "That's a signal isn't it."
"Yes we need to get out of here now." Fenic motioned for them to follow him and slipped out the hidden door.
Once they reached the forest Fenral placed her atop his horse as Fenic mounted his own forest racer. When she looked around she saw four wolves waiting for her to take off into the woods. She put her heels to the horses sides and urged it forward as she told it to get her out of there. Fenic seemed surprised but urged his own horse into the forest as she pushed the extremely large stallion into a canter. She looked back only once as the place she had called home faded into her past. Alura was not sure how she should feel about her departure but she knew one thing. She would never willingly return to this hell disguised as paradise.
As Fenic watched her riding confidently on the black stallion hours later he saw the same thing he always had. She was finally free. For how long he was not sure but he knew that what ever she decided from here, he would help her achieve. For now he would let her breath though. She opened her mouth and, unhindered by a corset, began to sing a song.
"Oh the winds blow east and winter comes on but to the road I take my song. No home to warm no walls so strong but freer ne'er any than me. Don't tempt me in I can not stay. To the road tempt you to stray. Come winter freeze or summer thaw through valleys of rivers long. I travel far and farther still and freer non than me. Never a man so free. Like birds take wing though have I none i let my song take flight."
The largest of the four wolves stopped suddenly and looked at her. If wolves could look surprised this one had mastered the look. Fenic laughed. "She certainly has a voice to kill for! Perhaps he doesn't like the song! Come on dear sister sing something worthy of such ears as our dear king Fenral!" To his shock and horror she smiled wickedly and belted out the very song that she swore she would not sing for any save him.
"I WAS BORED AND KIND OF HORNY! FIGURED ID PICK UP A BOOK!" The smaller black wolf looked at her confused by the lyrics that rang through the air. "FOUND THE NECRONAMICON THOUGHT THAT I SHOULD TAKE A LOOK! I SANG THE CHANTS AND DID THE DANCE AND MUCH TO MY SURPRISE FOUND AN ANCIENT DEITY WITH TENTICLES AND GLOWING EYES! I POURED SOME WINE AND SAID LETS HAVE SOME FUN! AND NOW CUTHULU KNOWS WHY THEY CALL ME THE DEEP ONE! OH I FUCKED CUTHULU GOOD! I FUCKED CUTHULU GOOD! THOUGHT I'D FIND SOME COSMIC HORROR TURNS OUT I'M A COSMIC WHORE! YES I FUCKED CUTHULU GOOD! NO OFFERINGS OR SCARIFICE! THE ONLY THING GETTING BURRIED HERE WAS WOOD!" The song ended and the only one who seemed to enjoy it was the blonde wolf who howled appreciatively.
"That is not what I meant." Fenic said and hid his face in his hands.
"I have no idea what you mean." She smiled at him and made kissing noise to the horse she was riding to urge it to canter ahead.
"We'll be camping here!" Fenral called and she returned. "And, just so we are clear, where the fucking hell did you learn the theme ballad of Gunashic goddess of fertility?" He asked as he helped her off his horse.
"I am afraid I'm to blame for that you're grace. I heard it when I was fifteen and taught it to my six year old sister!" Fenic glared at her. "Of course it was by accident I was singing it and she overheard me. When she sung it for me that very night I made her promise to never sing it again for fear our dear father would kill both of us!"
"You liar! You said if I wanted to singing it I had to sing it only for you! Honestly, Momma! Fenic is telling lies of me!" She whined to the black haired beauty that was pulling out hobbles.
"What fresh hell is this?" Fenral seemed annoyed by this development. "Since when do you call my mother Momma?"
"Since noon. Fenic stop telling lies of your sister!" She snapped at him.
"What? Fenic is many things but he is not a liar!" Fenral put his arm around Fenic's shoulders and pulled him to his side. "Come on brother let's get the horses watered." With that he pulled Fenic away from the camp sight.
"I'm not sure how I feel about this." Fenic muttered.
"Sorry it's just Alura has my mother on her side of the argument so I figured you need a little back up." Fenral gave Fenic an amused smirk.
"Fair enough. Thanks." Fenic sighed.
"So I couldn't help but notice that you were quick with her bag. Can you tell me how long you've known that she was going to need to flee?"
"The plan was for us to sneak away in the middle of the night at the changing of the guard. Please don't be angry. We had planned for the night you arrived. See with someone new in town if anyone saw us it would be dismissed as we would not have been recognized. A maid rushing to get some obscure delicacy for a visiting king would not have been questioned." He paused to gage how Fenral would take this news. "Even if she was stopped she could just say that you wanted a rabbit liver or something and she would have been allowed to pass."
"What stopped you?"
"Saddien, one of the maids charged with getting my sister ready for the day, arrived earlier than I anticipated. I had no idea that she would have it in her head to get Alura ready for the wedding long before the baker rose from bed." Fenic sighed then went on. "Saddien may be a cunt but she is efficient."
"So you changed the plan? Or did you just do away with it?"
"The plan did change. Unfortunately Trenton was always with her when she would ride and he was far to watchful for it to be effective."
"Did she know that the plan had changed?"
"Well I told her not to give up but did not tell her I was going to kidnap her on her daily ride in case I was unable to." He paused a moment to think. "She has changed over the last week. To someone who doesn't know her well or those who she meets from now on they won't see it. It's subtle but it's there."
"What do you mean?"
"Well when she is with you or one of your men she is far less fearful and more careless with her words. She used to think about a thousand times before she even offered a greeting to people so she would not offend them in any way. Now she belts out a song that most everyone who worships Sebeenhime would be flabbergasted to hear with out the slightest hesitation. To be honest I'm not sure that it is a good change or not. Only time will tell on that account."
"She is stronger and doesn't back down as much. Yes I have seen it too. Where we are going this is a good thing. Honestly it's you that concerns me right now." He touched the dagger at his belt and gave me a hard look. "Blessed of darkness. What is stopping you from becoming a threat to my sweet Alura?"
"Blessed of darkness is what they say. Truth be told it is a curse. We are forbidden from feeling any type of attachment. If we do we are forced to kill them. That starts with our own mothers. When I was six I was forced to put a knife through her heart. I never told anyone just how much Alura meant to me. She believes that my soul has already been redeemed by Sebeenhime."
"What do you believe, Fenic?"
"You don't kill as many innocent people as I have and still believe that you can be redeemed. But Alura showed me that I can hope to someday have a place where I won't have to let lecherous men justify murder by calling it divine salvation!"
"That doesn't mean that you don't have split loyalties."
"For me there is no choice. I was informed about the king Nicolai's plan just before dawn with the other assassins. I would have been there sooner to warn you but I had to make sure the assassins would not be dispatched after us."
"You killed them."
"I had to. Like I said when it comes to my sister there is no choice."