The Claimed: Rashika's Resistance

Chapter 29: Day of Acrador

Ten minutes later, boots thumped dry dirt and snapped twigs, and panting breaths mingled in a voiceless hymn. Twenty minutes later, Rashika's Resistance reached the central plaza.

Thirty wooden posts protruded from a mound of hay at the plaza's center. Roped to each post, prisoners scuffed their feet and twisted their heads. A silent crowd of peasants in tattered rags scattered around the gold pillars, eyes alight with morbid fascination. Dim sunlight peeked through dark clouds and drew long silhouettes across the dusty marble floors.

Guards surrounded the pile of hay, chests puffed and hands clasped behind their backs. Nausea boiled up in my gut. Would I once have stood among those guards, proud to serve the King — proud to slaughter innocents?

Pamil stood above the rest on a wooden platform, gesticulating his words with broad gestures. "And so let this be a message to all of Rakim. The one true Goddess blesses her worshippers, but she has no mercy for the heathens who turn away from her and worship Lesser Gods."

Despite his clear position of authority, I noticed he no longer wore the Head Guard badge. An inexplicable tingle of unease followed this realization, but I had no time to contemplate it. I scoured the plaza, picking out the archers at the crowd's edge.

I drew back the hood of my tattered cloak a few inches to side-glance Izra. Beneath her own hood, her eyes tracked the same threats I had seen. But before we could speak, a hand tugged on the sleeve of her cloak.

A tall woman peered down a hawk nose at Izra. Dirt clung to her skin and clumped her hair, but her eyes burned bright.

"Izra? Is that you?"

Izra squeezed her eyes shut and expelled a breath. "Not now, please."

An equally tall man squeezed the woman's shoulder. "I knew it was her!" His eyes flitted left and right, and his voice dropped lower. "Izra, we just wanted to thank you. We know you risked your life to save our son."

Izra shook her head. "I endangered Narik by speaking to him."

The woman tsked. "You were just buying bread."

Izra's eyes flitted to mine and raised her eyebrows. I nodded, not sure what I was agreeing to but very sure I trusted her. Perhaps more than I trusted myself.

"Listen to me," she said. "Find everyone here you know, and ask them to go home. You should not be here for what is about to happen."

Narik's parents exchanged a wide-eyed glance before nodding at Izra and slipping back through the onlookers. When they disappeared, Izra turned back to me.

"What now, Epsa?"

"I'll try to get to the leader of the Royal Guard." I tilted my head toward Pamil. "He's cowardly enough to cave when his life is threatened. Meanwhile, have the team prepare to free the prisoners quickly. We need to get as many people as we can out of here before the fight begins."

Chewing on a corner of her bottom lip, she nodded. "Alright."

I started forward, but I made it just one step forward before Izra captured my forearm. When I twisted back toward her, the crowd and sounds and dark clouds overhead all disappeared, devoured by the vortex of her gaze. Her lips parted and closed as though in an attempt to form words she had forgotten how to say. I waited in breathless anticipation, heart fluttering.

She swallowed. "Just be careful, please?"

Ridiculous disappointment doused me. Had I really expected some final declaration of undying love, like a maiden bidding farewell to her hero? That was only for storybooks, not for real life.