The Blue Desert

Chapter Seven

"Why didn't you come to dinner?"

Anan was ready to make a horrible face at her brother to make him shut up, but when she turned she stopped dead and nearly laughed.

Kevresh stood behind her, slouched over to make himself appear shorter. He was dressed in the garb of a soldier; light shirt open at the chest, beige pants with a dagger hanging off the belt. He even held a spear in his hand. But what really made her want to laugh was the helmet he had covering is dark curls. It looked as if it was too small for him, and it pushed down on his forehead, causing his eyes to squint.

"I . . ." she stammered, uncertain what he was doing. "I was afraid. My mistress will be angry if I'm home late." She held her breath, afraid that he might not catch on.

"I thought I told you I would take care of that after dinner." He gave her a stern look before turning to the guard. "I'm sorry, soldier, my sister seems to have overstayed her welcome at the palace."

The guard looked at him warily and then at Anan. "As you know, there is no exit permitted."

Anan almost rolled her eyes at the same sentence he always said, but there was a note in his voice that hadn't been there when she was talking to him. Then she remembered that helmets were a sign of rank. She only hoped it was a higher rank than whatever the metal disks on the guard's shoulders meant.

Kevresh drew himself up just a bit taller. "Yes, soldier, I know.  My sister should not have come in the first place, but she cannot stay. I will escort her to her mistress who will properly scold her."

The soldier shifted to look at Anan who quickly hung her head as if she hadn't told him quite the whole story earlier. "She told me she came to deliver something."

Her brother gave her a severe frown. "I'm sure she'll receive a good reprimand which will, hopefully, include a whipping, but I must get her home first. Excuse us." He took a step forward, grabbing Anan's arm as he did so.

The soldier made a move to stop them but paused, glancing at Kevresh's head. "Make sure the girl never comes to the palace again. If I catch her, I'll whip her myself."

"And I would thank you for it; she always was an ungrateful girl." Kevresh pushed the doors open and dragged Anan after them as he walked through.

The next guard simply stepped aside for them and let them into the city. As soon as the doors thudded shut behind them, Anan struggled out of his grip. "I am not ungrateful!" she hissed at him.

He gave her an amused look. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

She paused and then her eyes widened. "Kevresh!" she exclaimed, as if she only remembered it was him. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at dinner! They'll miss you. How are you supposed to get back in now? There's absolutely no entry this time of night--"

"I'm not going back."

His calm words stopped her cold. "What?"

He shrugged. "I said I'm not going back."

"But . . . how . . . ? I don't . . . understand."

Kevresh continued walking as if nothing unusual had happened. It took a few moments before Anan remembered to follow him. "Kevresh, you have to go back. They'll miss you, and you can't just leave like that."

He turned an raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh and I suppose you plan on returning?"

"No."

"Then why should I?"

"Because you're not me," Anan retorted.

"Has anyone ever told you before how clever you are?"

Anan was thoroughly shocked. Not only had her brother just pretended to be a soldier to leave the palace, but he was acting like a complete lunatic. She grabbed his arm, halting him. "You have to explain to me what you're doing."