Falling Feathers Book I - Rogue Without Fear

Chapter XXX

>>> Autumn Rose <<<
    It was a dark and chilly day. There was no breeze, and no birds. Today, I'm going to die, I thought to myself.  I wondered for a moment if there was really a heaven or a hell, and spent a few more moments after that wondering if I would end up going to one of them.  Burning for eternity sure sounds like how I'd like to spend the rest of my life, I thought sarcastically.  But if I'm dead is it technically life?  I contemplated that for what felt like hours, standing and staring out the window.  Suddenly, I was distracted by the sound of someone knocking on my door.  I sat up straight and looked at the large piece of wood that separated me from my normal life, waiting for the voice I knew I would hear shortly.
"Autumn you have a visitor," Soren announced flatly.  Who would come to see me?  I wondered.  I opened my mouth to say "come in," but was never given the chance.  The door unlocked and was opened, and in stepped the stranger.  He was cloaked and his face was hidden. Soren was standing behind him, looking quickly into the room with an unsatisfied glance. They were about the same height, but the billowing cloak made the stranger look as if he was larger.  Soren murmured something in a low voice.  I struggled to make it out, but still managed to hear him.
"Five minutes, no more."  The stranger nodded and stepped into the room.  The door closed and I heard the locks once again.  He stood in silence looking at me for a few moments.  Finally, barely louder than a whisper,
"We're going to rescue you."  I thought to myself, of course you will.  Aren't those words anyone would want to hear from a friend, if they were going to die? I nodded slowly and smiled pleasantly.
"And what if it doesn't work?"  I whispered back.  The stranger took a step closer, then sat on my bed.
"Isn't that what you asked me when you were going to fight Danny?  You're still alive aren't you?"  I thought about it for a moment, and figured he was right.  I did live through that and I was skeptical.  "Just trust me, and Felix.  Don't look for us in the crowd, we want to blend in as -"
"You mean you're not rescuing me now, you're rescuing me when I'm going to be hanging from my neck, in front of a crowd?"  I breathed.  The stranger nodded and said,
"Just trust us."  He explained the plan to me.  Felix would be standing in the bell tower. The stranger would be in the crowd, down on the ground in the square. Felix would watch us to see if anything went wrong.  To provide a distraction, Felix was going to shoot someone in the crowd.  When the crowd breaks into chaos, Felix would shoot again and break the rope.  From there, the stranger would come up and help me get out the rope and escape through the crowd.  Because of the fact that people will be rushing around and screaming, he figured escape will likely be an easy task.  From there, we would go back to the lair, behind the inn. The rest would be up to me, since I'm the leader.  The stranger stood up, and looked out the window. In a sudden burst of curiosity, I asked,
    "What's your name?" As soon as those three words came out my mouth, I wished I didn't inquire. The stranger didn't move or do anything differently, his eyes were still fixated on something outside of the window. "Sorry," I murmured. The locks on the door began clicking again.  The stranger turned from the window.  I could feel his icy gaze turn to me, and he replied in a low voice.
"If you, Felix, and I live through this, I'll tell you when we're back in the lair."  The door was nudged open gently by Soren.  His eyes searched me first, then he combed over the stranger.  When he was done, he stood aside and let the stranger walk out.  When the stranger had walked through, Soren closed the door behind him, and he didn't look back.

>>> Soren Hawethorne <<<
It was noon now, the sun was high in the sky and it was starting to warm up outside.  Everyone was crowding the center of town, where the platform and noose were.  The executioner, dressed all in black, sat on the edge of the platform, his feet hanging over the edge, staring at the ground.  I'm sure he's feeling the heat, I thought.  I looked around at the crowd, finding a few familiar faces of people I had seen around town.
A few of the children were scampering around, weaving around the adults trying to get close to the front.  A couple of them were even holding stones in their hands, or putting them into their pockets.  My eyes wandered around a bit more, then I checked the time. It was almost noon. I pressed through the crowd, and went back to my inn. Time to bring Autumn. Once I made it to the inn, I silently and gently opened the first door.  Just before going up the stairs, I turned to my left and went into the closet.  I grabbed a short piece of rope, and closed the door behind me. After that, slowly I began to creep up the stairs.  When I was at the top of the flight, I stood in front of Autumn's door. I reached into my pocket, and pulled out the keys. Slowly I inserted the right key into the lock, and twisted it. After hearing a satisfactory click, I twisted the knob and opened the door.
    Autumn was sitting on her bed, looking out the window.  I didn't have to tell her it was time to leave, she already knew.  She rose silently and seemingly glided across the floor to the door.  Her footsteps were silent and smooth.  She looked calm and collected, not at all as if she was walking to her own execution.  For a moment, I admired her courage.  The moment ended swiftly, and I was filled with hatred and disgust.  You monster, I thought to myself.  She moved to the door, and stood in front of me.  Her eyes were emotionless, but not cold.  I tied her hands tightly, but not tight enough to hurt her.
I stepped out the doorway, and she walked through.  I closed the door behind her, and followed her down the stairs.  I opened the door, leading outside and walked through.  Holding it open for her, she stepped out into the bright day and took a deep breath.  The bell tower began to toll, indicating that it was near noon.  It's time.
Autumn didn't have to press through the crowd to reach the noose.  They parted like the sea parted for Moses - people only moved when she came close and went back to where they were when she had passed.  The crowd was completely silent.  No one talked and no one pointed.  Not even the children were whispering.  I followed her about half way to the noose, then I pushed my way into the crowd.  Autumn walked around the platform to the stairs in the back.
By now, the preliminary jingle of the bells had finished.  The bells started chiming, slowly.  One.  Autumn had made it to the top of the stairs.  Two.  The executioner helped her up onto the chair.  Three.  He put the rope around her neck, loosely for now.  Four.  Peter came out from the crowd, and hastily made his way up onto the platform too.  Five.  He began reading Autumn's sentence.  Six.  People began taking their hats off of their heads, and holding them to their chests.  Seven.  The executioner tightened the rope around Autumn's neck, and made his way behind her.  He prepared to kick the chair, watching Peter for the queue. Seven.  Peter finished reading, and nodded to the executioner. Eight. The bang of a gun was heard. The executioner staggered back, and immediately the crowd broke into screams and cries. Nine. The bell tower was barely able to be heard anymore.  People began to run and scream.  The executioner, who was lying on the ground, pulled the chair out from under Autumn.
    In that moment, it hit me. They're rescuing her, I realized. Immediately everyone began running away from the platform and the noose, but I pressed through trying to get to the front.  Ten.  From quick glances between the heads and shoulders of others, I could see Chase climbing up onto the platform.  I saw another bullet whiz by out of the corner of my eye.  Twelve.  This bullet struck the rope just above Autumn's head.  With a twang I couldn't hear, the ropes snapped and Autumn fell.  No, she's going to die!  I growled to myself, my hands became clenched into fists.  I began pushing through the crowd now, more frantically than before.  There were a couple more gunshots, I assumed being fired into the crowd. I wasn't aware they were being fired into the air. Chase got to his feet, and helped Autumn to hers.  I knew it!  He loosened the noose around her neck and helped her get it off.  He looked around, surveying the crowd, then untied the ropes on her hands too. They jumped down, and began fleeing with the townsfolk towards the north gate, towards me.  Autumn and Chase pressed through the crowd, but no one stopped them.  People weren't checking their surroundings, they were only running.  I cursed them under my breath, and watched as they came closer and closer to me.  I'm going to catch them, I thought.  And when I do, I'll get them both hung.  And this time, I'll make sure that no one can save them.