Chronicles of the Soveriegn

Chapter 2: Uncle and Nephew

 I froze in fear, hoping that no one had noticed, but it was too late, one of the soldiers stood up and stared directly at us.

“Ari,” Tristan said, his voice a bit too loud for my liking, “let’s get out of here.”

“Oh no you don’t,” the man said, walking over to where we stood. “Jenkins!” he yelled at a sleeping soldier nearby. A man I assumed to be Jenkins stood up at attention, still blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“Jenkins, we have a few guests.”

“Guests, sir?” the dazed Jenkins said.

“Trespassers, Jenkins. They’ve been trespassing on the King’s land. Please show them around.”

“Show them around, sir?”

This man obviously didn’t understand a word of what was going on.

“The bench, Jenkins! Keep an eye on them. Put them on the bench!”

“Right, sir.”

Jenkins took away Fire from my hand and led us to a log that was apparently serving as a bed for several sleeping soldiers. After pushing them off onto the ground, he plopped Tristan and me onto it.

I looked at Tristan and was relieved that he didn’t appear completely horrified, for if he did it would give us away. The best thing we could do at this point was look calm and lie, hoping they didn’t find our made-up story too suspicious.

The man approached us, looking rather burly and tough. “Now what did you say your names were again?” He was talking to us both, but I felt his dark eyes piercing mine more than Tristan’s.

I had to kick Tristan because he was about to open his mouth and give us away.

“I’m Elaina, and this is Matthias. I’m terribly sorry, sir, we were just out on a walk and ended up a bit out of our way.” It was the best I could do, but I knew it probably wouldn’t pass his attention.

“No,” he turned his gaze to Tristan. “Didn’t you say her name was something with a ‘A’?”

I could feel the blood drain from my face; this was not going to end well.

“Was it Anne? No, no, Arabella?” Then his face turned beet red and anger set into his eyes, “You’re Ariadne!”

I anticipated his reaction and bolted before the man had a chance to think, grabbing Fire and mounting. Tristan wasn’t so quick, and was slammed into the ground by Jenkins.

“Jenkins!” the man yelled, “Get her, that’s Ariadne!”

I heard Tristan cry in pain and saw Jenkins running after me through the corner of my eye.

“Run Ari!” Tristan shouted at me. His words were strained, and I wanted to go back and save him, but I also knew better than to face a score of soldiers by myself. I knew I wouldn’t last a minute, but I still felt like coward for not staying to fight. I dug my heels into Fire's side and he galloped off toward the road. The soldiers had horses too, but thankfully none of them were saddled or bridled yet. I didn't have much time, but I had enough to get a head start.

As Fire galloped onto the road I looked onto the saddle and almost started crying with joy; my arrows, quiver, and both the basket and bag of clothing were still tightly fastened to the back of the saddle. Not much had been going my way in the past twelve hours, but this at least was good because it meant I had food, clothing, a good weapon, and the few thits I'd stashed in the bag.

Now the guilt was setting in so hard that it hurt. Twice I’d had the chance to stand up and fight for my family, and twice I’d ran in an attempt to save myself. My stomach churned with feelings of shame. I should have done something, anything to help. But I didn’t. Now I was alone, instead of with them, and I wasn’t sure what awaited me. I was going to save them though, of that much I was sure. I made a silent vow to myself to go back for my family, no matter how long it took. They were my family, and they’d cared for my, taking me in when I was a baby. We stuck together, and yet somehow, I’d ended up free, while they were doomed to die. It didn’t seem right.