Chapter 25
I didn’t know how to get home, but I did know how to get to the small village I’d visited with Tain. Or at least, I sort of knew how to get there. I wasn’t great with directions, but I thought I remembered the trail Tain had used that day. We’d gone the same way there and back, so I should be able to find my way. It wasn’t the right direction for the castle, but if I got to the village then I could find someone to tell me how to get to the castle, or even take me there.
I did the morning kata with the others and completed my chores. I tried to behave normally, but I was distracted as I made plans. I would need to leave early the next morning, before anyone was awake which meant I needed to prepare a pack to take with me before I went to bed, and to stow it somewhere that I could easily grab it on my way out. Tain slept so lightly that if I tried to do anything more than creep out of the room, she would be awake instantly.
I stole some supplies from the kitchen store and hid them in a pack I’d fashioned from an old shirt. I stowed it in my old training room. I managed to sneak a small sword out of the barn when no one was looking. It was a training sword and wasn’t sharp, but it would do in a pinch if I needed to defend myself. I still wasn’t very skilled in that area, but I think I could do enough to get out of a bind and run away. I couldn’t fight one on one, but I could surprise them and give myself an opportunity to escape. And I had my bow and throwing knives.
I didn’t see much of Parisar. He had once again buried himself in paperwork at his desk. It was for the best. If he had spent too much time talking to me or taking any sort of notice of me, he would have known something was going on. I couldn’t afford to let any of them know what my plan was. They would all try to stop me, but I knew this was the right thing to do. It was time I found out the truth about my ancestors. I needed to know the truth about the mirror, and I needed to know how to fix everything that had gone wrong. I couldn’t do any of that by staying here and hiding.
The day dragged. It was taking too long to end. Why? Every other day had zoomed by so quickly I’d barely been able to catch my breath, but now that I wanted the day to go fast, the sun crept as slow as a snail across the sky. I checked and double checked my pack and even changed its hiding place several times. I couldn’t sit still. I wanted to leave straight away. Surely I could get to the village before nightfall, except if I left in the middle of the day, everyone would know I was gone and would come looking for me. No. I had to do it before anyone woke up in the morning to give myself a decent head start. I had the advantage that they didn’t know which direction I was going. I was under no illusion that they wouldn’t try to find me and bring me back. I also knew they would be able to track me, which was why I had to leave early, to give myself enough time to get far enough away so that when they did start coming for me, I would hopefully have already found passage to the castle.
‘What are you doing?’
I spun around to see Breust standing in the doorway of the training room.
‘Nothing. Tidying,’ I stammered, nudging the pack under a hessian bag with my foot so he couldn’t see it.
‘You’ve been doing a lot of that today,’ he said, sauntering into the room. ‘You haven’t been able to stay still for a moment.’
I shrugged, trying to appear casual, but there was something in Breust’s eyes that I didn’t recognise. Something that frightened me. He had never frightened me before. He had annoyed me and rubbed me the wrong way at times, but I’d never been afraid of him. I shook off the feeling. It was paranoia. I was just scared he would discover my plan and put a stop to it.
‘I’m bored,’ I said. ‘Isn’t there anything fun to do around here? All we seem to do is work, work, work.’
Breust raised his eyebrows as he tossed an apple into the air. ‘You want something fun to do? Should I teach you how to shoot an arrow?’
I tilted my head. ‘You would do that?’ I already knew how to shoot an arrow, but Breust didn’t know that.
He caught the apple and took a bite out of it. ‘Why not?’ he said around the apple as he chewed. ‘I taught you how to swing a sword, didn’t I?’
‘You taught me the kata. Tain taught me how to fight.’
‘Same thing,’ he said holding the apple out to me.
I took the apple and turned it around to the unblemished side. It was red and shiny, and I didn’t know where Breust had found it. As far as I knew there were no apples in camp. There hadn’t been any in the store or I would have grabbed a couple for my pack. Maybe there was a tree growing in the woods I didn’t know about. That wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Despite my time in the compound, I hadn’t yet discovered all its secrets. I still didn’t know what was in the one locked shed, and I had never seen anyone go in there either.
‘If you’re not going to eat it, give it back,’ Breust said, holding his hand out.
I lifted the apple to my mouth and took a large bite just to spite him. It was delicious. The tart juice burst across my tongue, and I closed my eyes with a small moan. But my moan turned to a gasp as my throat constricted. I was choking. The apple dropped from my fingers and my hands went to my throat, scratching at the skin as I tried to breathe. With wild eyes, I looked at Breust for help, but he just stood there, watching. Waiting.
‘Sorry, Princess,’ he said as the edges of my vision began to grey. He smiled as he said it, and I knew he wasn’t sorry at all.