“What do you think you’re doing?”I ripped the cloth back over my shoulder, wincing as the cloth dragged across the cut.
He sat back and rolled his eyes.“I’m sorry, would you rather bleed to death in the name of modesty?”
His words seemed to blur, and I became more aware of the pain pulsing down my back and arm.The adrenaline must have masked it.
“I can either help you while you’re conscious or after you pass out.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, warring over what to do even as my thoughts grew fuzzy.He couldn’t find out I had a wound in my abdomen.That must stay secret at all costs.
“Valeris, I think—” I couldn’t finish the thought, barely able to hold myself up as I became aware of the sticky feeling of blood on my back, of it soaking into my dress.He guided me forward again, and I felt him pull the wet cloth away from my shoulder.
“I don’t have anything to clean it with,” he said.“But I can try to stop the bleeding.”
Something was tearing.I scowled.He was tearing my skirt, the brigand.I paused.No, he was using it to bandage my shoulder.I winced as it tightened and pressed against the fresh cut.
“Analleia?”
He was talking to me, I knew he was, but memories were surfacing.The dampness of the tunnel was bringing them back, the smell of blood, the slick feel of it on my hands, the bruises on my arms.I could taste the smoke in my lungs, hear the roar of the fire in the city below.Fire.I’d never imagined how loud a fire could be when it had an entire city to devour.
I was running down the stairs, through the tiny passage with barely enough width for one person to fit.My maid’s lifeless body on the floor already haunted me and terror lit my heart.I needed to get downstairs, get to where my family would be.They would meet me there.They always did.We had done drills in case the castle was ever under attack.All of our hidden stairwells led to a room below the castle where fresh horses and provisions always waited.It was safety.All I had to do was get there and we could all get away.My family would be waiting for me, and I would be safe.
The slick stone threatened to send me tumbling down the stairs, but I made it to the bottom.Quiet permeated the dimly lit area.Five horses stood tethered to a post, their heads shooting up at my entrance, their dozing disturbed.I took note of the packs with provisions on the wall, the hanging tack.I tried to ignore the eerie quiet that lingered.
My family wasn’t here.
“They’ll be here,” I whispered to myself, hurrying to saddle one of the horses.“They’ll be here.”
I would saddle all of the horses for us, and as soon as they arrived we could leave.I had saddled and bridled the first horse, and just finished securing the pack behind the cantle, when one of the doors burst open.
I spun in terror, but relief rushed through me at the sight of my mother stumbling through the door.
“Mom!”
I ran to her, falling to my knees as she stumbled to the ground.Blood covered her dress, her right eye swollen, a bruise forming.
She grasped my hands.“Analleia, you need to leave.”
“No, not without you.I’ll get you a horse.”
She grabbed my arm, pulling me back.“No, listen to me, they’re coming, Analleia.You get on that horse, you ride, and you do not look back.Do you hear me?”
Urgency filled her pale face, her white-blond hair streaked with blood.Heavy footsteps descended from every staircase around us, and she pushed me forward.
Tears welled in my eyes, my hands shaking with fear.“Please don’t make me go alone.I can’t leave you.”
The footsteps grew closer, the horses now fully awake and dancing in place, nostrils flared and ears perked at the commotion.
My mother’s fingernails dug into my arm.“I love you, Analleia.Don’t let this kingdom be forgotten.Find your brother, and bring our kingdom back to its glory.Do not let this destroy you.”
She shoved me away, staggering over to the wall and ripping a sword from its sheath.“Go, Analleia.Now!”
Tears streamed down my face as I stumbled backward, toward the horse, forcing myself into the saddle, steering him to the exit.I looked over my shoulder at my mother who was barely able to stand on her two feet, lifting the sword for the coming soldiers.To take them down.To buy me time to escape.
“Go!”
The door burst open, soldiers pouring through, spooking the horses and sending the one I rode bolting down the tunnel, out of sight.The clash of steel rang behind me, the war cries, my mother calling my name over and over again.
“Analleia!”
