The Rejected Queen

Chapter 5 - Aaden

"Aaden! How long does it take to pack some clothes?" An annoyed voice yelled  from outside. Rolling my eyes, I shoved the last of my clothes into my bag and ran out to my brother who was standing impatiently by the front door waiting to leave. He sighs dramatically and walks off quickly, leading the way to the town hall where we are meeting the others.

We reach the town hall just on time and we rush inside and sit down on one of the benches. The other three men are already there and waiting nervously for the inquisitor. I've never seen the hall this empty. Normally when a meeting is called the whole village turns out to listen, no matter the time. It doesn't happen often and people love a reason to gossip.

Promptly, the mayor and inquisitor arrive. The inquisitor looks at us nods, as though pleased with the group. He immediately gestures for us to follow him and so we all stand, not daring to disobey him. The mayor looks surprised at this. "Do you not wish to brief them before you leave?" He asks. He is only interested as he wants something to tell the others in the village. That is how he got elected mayor in the first place - by knowing everyone's secrets. "No." He says briefly, waving the mayors weak protests away. " We can discuss it as we walk." Jonah snorts and the mayor immediately shoots a glare at him. We glance at each other, silently laughing at the mayors desperation for gossip. The inquisitor either doesn't notice how upset he is or doesn't care as he waves us out of the door in front of him. We all walk out quickly, bowing our heads as we pass him.

As we walk out the village, you can see faces pressed up against every window. No one but us and the mayor were supposed to know we were leaving this early but something as important as this was bound to spread. As we walk past the well, I see Rosella hiding, crouched behind it, her face partly obscured by the bucket. I nudge Jonah and we both smile at her as we pass, silently saying our goodbyes.

As night falls we approach the edge of the forest that marks the boundary between our village and the next. In a few steps, I will be the farthest away from the village I have ever been. Instead of feeling worried, I feel overwhelming excited. Before we walk any further however, the inquisitor calls out to us to make camp. We can't walk through the forest in the dark. Everyone knows that. These woods are hardly safe in the daytime, let alone in the night. Sighing, I pull a piece of fabric out of my bag and lie it on the ground. It isn't much compared to the inquisitor's tent but it will do for me. We light a fire and quickly cook a meal. Leaving the embers burning down, we settle down for the night.