Discovering Freedom

Chapter 7

Breakfast is awkward, all conversation stops and all eyes train themselves on us, suspicion radiating from their tense bodies. We sat down at an empty table. Shortly after, they returned to their porridge except for one. He glares at us with open hostility.

I take my time to inspect him as I may as well know who to avoid. He has shortish blonde curls that tumble over his forehead. He may have been handsome if not for the scowl that contorts his features. I could tell his chest and arms are well muscled, even through the tunic he’s wearing but still slim compared to some of the men around him.

It is then I notice that most of the hall are filled with mostly men and only a few tables contained women and children and only the older men sit with them, clearly they are families. Although there are a couple of other women who look a bit older than me sit with the younger men.

When we finish eating, Talib beckons us to him from the doorway.

As we walk Kayleb opens his mouth and asks “Where are we going?”

“To Ethan” he replies seriously which over the last few days I found, for him is unusual.

Nearly every time I had seen him he has a smile plastered across his face with a mischievous glint in his eye. This time however they are serious and he keeps his face carefully blank, when normally I can read him like an open book. Glancing over at Kayleb I can see he’s worried at this change. Talib stops and knocks formally at the door in front of us. Kayleb shoots me a ‘let me do the talking and do not say a word or do anything rash’ look. I send an innocent ‘when do I do anything rash’ look in reply. Kayleb shakes his head slightly at me, reiterating his point as we enter. I take a deep breath and release it slowly before I absorb my surroundings.

In front of me is a desk with who I assume is Ethan sitting behind it and several others stand around him. I allowed my eyes to drift to the walls of the room which are bare and the floor is covered with a rug. Shifting my attention to the serious faces gazing at us, I examine Ethan’s features hoping that I could extract a clue as to the reason we are here but to no avail.

“Why were you in the tunnels?” Ethan demands, breaking the tense silence encompassing the room.

I glance at Kayleb, his eyes begging me to keep quiet and let him explain but words tumble from my mouth without my permission.

“How is it any business of yours why I was?” I say my face blank and my voice empty.

Out of the corner of my eye I see one of the younger men break his gaze towards me, unsettled at my tone of voice.

“She was in your tunnels because we were looking for the resistance so we could help fight.” Kayleb broke in hurriedly as the atmosphere quickly turns to open hostility as the man to Ethan’s right put his hand to his sword hilt. I realise the man with his hand on his hilt was the blonde man I saw at breakfast glaring at us.

I grit my teeth and take a deep breath before I say anything else that would cause a fight. I guess Kayleb’s right on that account. For no reason I feel rage flare and boil within me, something of it must show in my eyes as the same young man that broke his gaze takes a slightly involuntary step back. The man with his hand on his hilt loosens the blade a little for a quicker draw.

Kayleb noticing these things reaches out and puts his hand on my arm to calm me. Only then did I realise my fists are clenched and my sides, with difficulty I unclench them. I focus on Kayleb, calm and collected as usual. Struggling to bring myself under control I try and push my emotions away and attempt to emulate Kayleb. Slowly I calm, feeling the tension ease away from my body. Kayleb sensing this drops his hand.

My inner battle felt like it had raged for hours when the reality had been a few minutes. Glancing around I see that it was long enough for actual fear to enter a couple of the men’s eyes. I have no idea what they saw when I was fighting but it was bad, I can tell that much.

“Why should we allow her to join us?” the man with his hand on his hilt demanded angrily “She has the same look as Tamaracks elite. How do we know she’s not one of them?”

I recognise his voice but I couldn’t quite place where I had heard it.

“Quiet Jason.” Ethan commands and he falls silent “That is a good question why should we let you join us, give us reason to trust you.”

“Tamarack killed our parents. We don’t want others to have to go through what we had to.” Kayleb replies, his face darkening a little.

“For now we’ll let you stay but the second you give us reason to doubt you, I’ll kill you both personally.” a hint of threat enters Ethan’s voice as he speaks the last part.

Jason is clearly furious at the verdict and promptly storms from the room cursing under his breath. Talib flashes me a grin, which looks far more natural on his face than the blank serious look he had adopted for meeting. Kayleb let out a puff of breath as the anxiety left his body. I gave Kayleb an encouraging smile and gave him a quick hug that he clearly needed before we left the room.

“Talib I want to talk to you.” Ethan mentions as we leave the room.

As soon as we leave Talib closes the door.