Chapter Eighteen
Wyatt
I’m losing my mind in this cramped, filthy wagon. Only able to stretch my legs when the guards see fit to take rest, only then do they allow us outside to relieve ourselves before forcing us back into the wagon.
If we’re lucky, they chuck some food at us. Scraps they’ve deemed not good enough for themselves or the horses. More often than not, it’s stale bread that they’ve dropped in the mud or meat that has rotted.
Water is impossible to get. I haven’t had anything but the tiniest of drops since we left Vendyl. My mouth is dry, and my head feels like it’s going to explode any second, but the guards offer nothing. No water or liquid of any sort.
Yesterday, I sat with my tongue hanging out through the bars, trying to catch droplets of rain, while the guards sloppily guzzle down liquids.
These ‘men’ are the foulest I’ve ever encountered.
Sleep has been difficult; the floor is stained with stale urine and vomit—a housewarming gift from the previous occupants.
My stomach turns with every breath. I’ve tried sleeping upright in the back corner, facing a rip in the awning or a crack in the panels, hoping for some fresh air to help me settle.
But between the stench inside and the bumpy road, I never sleep for long.
I honestly believe the guards deliberately try to hit every rock and hole, sending us sorry idiots inside flying about for further punishment.
With the wheels rolling and catching on large stones, I shuffle to the back of the cart, watching the fields go by through the bars.
Watching farmers tending to their flocks, and cows grazing on the long grass.
I always dreamed of adventures when I was younger, running off to fight bandits, saving innocents from their tyranny.
Sailing with pirates on the hunt for buried treasure and dodging the royal guard.
Feasting with dwarves in the depths of the mountains.
Befriending elves and living in luxury amongst their kind.
Andi, Elana, and I would often roleplay as kids; Elana the damsel in distress, Andi the evil kidnapper, and I the heroic knight coming to rescue the princess. Fashioning swords out of sticks, I fought my way through the obstacles we had set up.
The temptation to run off and find adventure was always on my mind, but the actual leaving, I could never do. Now, with Nia and Elana taken, and Andi gone, I can never go back. Not until I have them, and know they’re safe. I’ll do anything I have to, to get them home.
What does Adrian want with Andi? Would he stoop so low as to kidnap her family to coax her to him? My mind runs wild, imagining the cold, damp dungeons Adrian is keeping them in. Elana would never cope. Her fragile mind would break in an instant.
What will become of me? I’ll be thrown into whatever nefarious dungeon Adrian has at the bottom of his castle. Starved, tortured. Maybe never seeing them again, purposely keeping us apart. My chest tightens at the thought, but I will not show these guards any weakness.
I overheard them last night as I pretended to sleep, talking about Andi. I’d squeezed my eyes tight, as I quietly shuffled around so I could hear them better.
“Everyone in that damn town knew her, you can be sure of that,” a deep voice growled in disgust. “Lord Adrian should punish them all for attempting to hide her, obstructing our search in the process.”
“Yeah. Did you see their faces when Auron pulled out his bone saw? Cried like a baby being ripped from its mother’s bosom,” a younger voice mocked. “I think we should just do away with him now.”
“It’s not up to you, though, is it?” the first voice grunted. “Lord Adrian will want to question him. Find out what he knows and where she went.”
An icy chill ran through me. That’s why I’m here. Well, good luck, arseholes. There’s not even the slightest chance I’ll give them what they want. No way would I endanger Andi like that.
The journey has been fairly boring, my companion is a withdrawn sort of chap, doesn’t venture into a conversation easily. Whereas I need it to keep me sane. The quietness is awful, unbearable, I kept trying to get him to talk to me the past few days, begging him to give me anything.
Today I eye him curiously, trying to figure him out, his face is bruised, old and new cuts all over, his clothes covered in dried blood. He looks like he could be a beggar who got on the wrong side of the guards, fighting for a scrap of food. He catches me staring and I quickly turn my gaze away.
Instead of a healthy conversation, I’m forced to sit in silence, to think. About what I was going to do, how I would escape, how I could plead my case to the High Lord, hoping he’ll accept that I know nothing about Andi or where she went.
Most of the time, I wriggle around trying to stretch the rope around my wrists, so I can free my hands. Or at least stretch it enough to shimmy them in front of me.
The wagon is bare. There is nothing inside that could help, except the beige canvas awning that could be torn, if I had use of my hands. Although the tear would alert the guards, I’d have to rip a little at a time until I had enough space to sneak out when we’re resting.
The newly adapted door of the wagon was a problem, the bars are big enough for me to fit my hand through to release the latch, but after watching the guards the past few days, the latch is stiff and loud.
Every time they open it, it groans with a deep reluctance.
There’s no chance they wouldn’t hear it.
I need to figure out the right moment: when the young guard dozes off, which he does every time we stop for the night. If I could just free my hands.
Finally, after three days of silence, I hear a quiet hoarse voice, “Wish we’d hurry up and get there already.”
“Wow, he speaks,” I say in surprise.
“I was hoping they would kill me back in Vendyl. But only the good die young.” There’s a hollowness to his voice, and deep, dark purple bags under his eyes. “What’s your name, kid?”
“I’m Wyatt. What did you do to deserve such an honour of meeting the High Lord?”
“Bearnard.” He offers with a curt nod. “I said that both they and Adrian could suck my dick. They didn’t take too kindly to that, one arsehole punched me in the face, so I spat at him.”
I chuckle, but Bearnard’s face shows the same solemn look.
“Oh, come on, don’t leave me hanging. There’s definitely more to the story than that?” I say, raising my eyebrow.
“When the guards first came to Vendyl, to look for that girl. You saw how cruel they were, treating the women and girls in town like livestock. My wife and daughter were among them, and they tried to take my daughter Eve with them. But Ani, my wife, pleaded with them to leave our daughter alone. They did. But they took Ani with them instead. I fought back, only they knocked me unconscious. When I woke, I could barely speak, my jaw was in agony. Left me with a few loosened teeth, blood pouring from my mouth. They beat me rotten while I was out. Not one part of me isn’t covered in bruises. ” His head dips, sighing.
I hear his breathing becoming more ragged, heavy. “They abandoned my wife back home a few days later, she was… well, let’s just say she was a different woman. The sweet, caring Ani I fell in love with was gone. She became withdrawn and numb. Flinching every time I went near her.”
Bearnard closed his eyes tightly, his jaw clenching, trying to regain control of himself before continuing, “She couldn’t cope, never slept, never ate. I didn’t know how to help her. She never let me in. Then one morning, she was gone. Dead.”
I stare at him, my forehead creases, and my jaw tenses. “I’m sorry, Bearnard. I—I don’t even know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. After I found her, I drank myself stupid. Somehow found my way to the tavern. Guards swarmed the place, joking and laughing, and I lost it. Decided I’d take a few down with me. I hoped they’d kill me and get it over with. I was wrong.”
I watched the man before me, who had lost everything. His demeanour was grim, and he spoke in hushed, lifeless tones. His appearance was scruffy. His clothes worn, tattered, and reeking. His face was withered and tired, drained of all colour and life. His eyes scream the words he couldn’t voice.
“What about your daughter? What happened to her?”
“After the guards took her mum, she and her husband ran. Only decision they could make given the circumstances. He’ll look after her, I know that. Best she doesn’t see what I’ve become anyway.”
Bearnard turns his body away from me. I leave him, lost to his grief. There’s nothing I could do to make his life any better.
I gaze out of the cracks along the wooden panels, and the sky darkens as another day concludes.
Another day, not knowing where Nia and Elana are.
If they’re hurt. Bearnard’s story sends chills down my spine.
Elana is a young, na?ve girl. The guards have proven time and time again, that they have no morals.
Misneach, if you’re listening, keep her out of their grasp.
The sun lowers into the horizon, its bright orange blends into red like fire in the sky, before being engulfed by the never-ending darkness of night. The faint glimmer of starlight begins to sparkle above.
My stomach aches for food, my energy levels have dropped dramatically, I haven’t been this hungry since I was a child alone in the woods. Maybe they’re just hoping we die of starvation before we reach Zury.
Auron shouts up ahead, and the cart slows. “We’ll stop here for the night. You, get some firewood. You, tie up the horses.”
The wagon comes to a stop in a clearing.
The woods to the left of us are dense and dark.
There’s a strange feeling surrounding them, like something is watching us, waiting to pounce.
The guards don’t seem to sense it like I do.
I can’t explain the feeling, having never felt anything like this before, but these woods are hiding something.