City of Fate

16 Years ago

The women ran, the bundled up form of the baby still clutched in her arms. She charged down alleys, knocking down garbage cans and pallets leaned against the walls with a swipe of her free hand. She dared a quick look back and put up a shield around her after a warning, felt more than anything, tickled the back of her mind. A barrage of bullets deflected off the unseen barrier harmlessly. The women cringed instinctually and continued to run, skidding around a corner, hearing the far off pounding of footfalls and the offhand curses from the frustrated pursuers. She held tightly to the precious bundle in her arms and leapt, first onto a dumpster, then to a fire escape railing and finally onto a rooftop. With a gesture she broke the lock barring a door leading into the building, and sprinted down the stairs. She frantically checked door knobs as she ran down the hall, looking back the way she came, in paranoia. Finally finding an unlocked door, she ducked into the room and under a table covered with a cloth that hung low to the floor, much to the surprise of the residents quietly sitting for dinner.

The man sitting at the head of the table took a furtive look under the cloth to see the women sitting, crouched, clinging to a bundle, now making slight cooing noises to quiet the child. The women bobbed the child and shushed softly. When the women noticed the man, she stared him directly in the eyes and lifted one finger to her lips and the man sat straight back up and continued to chat with his family. At the exact moment he had straightened, two men that looked almost identical in black suits and ties, barged into the room. Then looking back and forth with guns drawn they searched the apartment. The family started and stared wide eyed as the men looked around the room. The men stormed back out without a word.

The family looked from one to the other and returned to eating as if nothing happened. After a few long minutes the man reached under the table and gestured to the women to come out. She nodded, not saying a word and left the apartment.

The women hailed a cab and after a short ride, the cab came to a stop in front of a tall art deco building. She entered and rode the elevator to the penthouse. She knocked on a large and imposing door and a small, old women dressed in a black and white maids uniform answered and brought her to the sitting room, decorated in reds and golds. 

After a moment a women entered the room. She was tall and slender, her hair white and straight and she was dressed in an elegant white dress embroidered with golden thread, a thin golden headband with a single pearl hung from her smooth forehead.

The women holding the baby bowed low and said "I am sorry my queen. I have done you a grave disservice." She stared up pleading. "I have betrayed you."

"I know my child." A voice, like music said. "You are forgiven." The queen moved toward the crouching women soundlessly and smoothly. " You are forgiven and have a task ahead of you of utmost importance. Do not fret, we all make mistakes, it is what we learn from the mistakes that defines us. You are forgiven and must now take my daughter to the world of men, hide her and protect her and when the time comes, Ruth, you must teach her to be the savior of our world."