Korah: Heir of Gnamalea

CHAPTER TWENTY

The crowd was huge. Everyone was rushing through the streets and all leading in the same direction. With their hoods up, the five of them separated into two or three. Needing to draw attention away from themselves. The townspeople are shoulder to shoulder; the stench was pungent, sucking the energy from everything. The sun was bright above, the heat becoming unbearable the slower they walked, the closer everyone became amongst each other. They kept their heads down, blending into the large crowd of rugged and grotty bodies—the zombie-like figures becoming familiar to her. The older man who ran the butcher was just ahead, his head covered with silvers, the withered strings of hair shining in the light, sores encrusted his scalp. The woman from the fruit market - a lovely woman really - her hair tied in a bun on top of her head. Strands of greys and her fading brown were prominent in the roots. She smiled, the look of excitement appearing on her face - as well as many others in the crowd. A horrible feeling came to her stomach; it made her sick. Her rune burning through her skin, a feeling that Marcus had gotten himself into trouble as she had hoped her assumptions were only a nervous twitch.

Korah realised that the large crowd was heading straight towards the castle at the end of the path and the centre of Gnamalean territory. Further stood the tall and wide-spread mountains. Grey clouds covered the sun and let rain fall lightly on the lowly crowd marching below. Azula stayed close to Seb as they blended themselves deeper into the crowd, Alistair close behind and the other broad body behind Korah. Korah's rune on her side was burning through her skin, worry beginning to make her panic. Something was not right here. She leant closer to the older woman, concealing her identity, covering her mouth with the rim of her hood.

"Excuse me, ma'am" the woman smiled at Korah. "Could you please tell me where everyone is going? I asked around, but one would tell me", the woman chuckled and pointed up at the palace.

"The King has ordered that the entire city gather to watch his work from the balcony on the highest tower. An execution! It will rid our city of that thief, and I can properly sell my produce! Once the clock strikes noon," Korah's assumptions were accurate. Fear crept into her chest, her heart pounding. She closed the gap between the trio and merged with the three on the right.

"We need to get the palace now" they stayed quiet but turned their heads to Korah, confirming she has their attention. "He's sent himself into a public execution, including his own mother and brothers. Everyone was ordered to the gates and watch the tallest balcony of the building. God, how sick do you have to be to take that dignity away from someone? No matter what crime they commit. We have until noon" Azula grabbed Korah's hand and squeezed it for comfort.

The two tall men behind Korah, Azula and Seb, were able to tower over the crowd, their view much more beneficial than theirs.

"There is a path off to the right that can lead to the right, or we can get the front of the gates and move to the left. With these options, we can get away from the crowd with the field of trees and shrubs on our side", Alistair says, thinking out loud.

"No, they know that we would be close. We need to clear off to the right; guards would be able to close us in with the hundreds of people around us and the guards lined up. We'd basically be walking to our death" Seb moved himself and Azula towards the right first, with Korah and the two towering men in between, securing the three of them.

No one seemed to notice their dispersal from the crowd, their excitement too fixated on the slaughter above them. The older woman with her silver hair was practically jumping with joy when she told her that her bond-mate would die before her eyes. She followed Seb, the lead, through the bush through to the right. It was then they realised how thick the forest was. How would they be able to get to the palace before noon? Her mind rushed with thoughts, scrambled with the idea of her time running out fast. Seb turned towards Alistair and his Beta and slapped them both.