Coalesce: The Escape

“Where are we going?” He calls out to me as loud as he dared. I squeeze his hand a bit harshly, a subtle warning.

“Be quiet! I don’t want anyone to hear us,” I hiss and cough. The air was clearer here and the forest was fine, a very good thing. I doubted the soldiers would be able to follow us through here. I open my eyes and gasp for breath. We sink down against a tree and try to catch our breath. I could hear the river nearby that supplied the Brotherhood with water. We were close, but not quite there yet. We weren’t out of danger yet.

I didn’t know if I would be able to make it to the water or not. On my hands and knees I make my way to the water. Head pounding and vision blurred, I could barely tell if I was moving at all. It was a slow process, but I got there. The cold water felt good against my skin that had been slightly burned in places. Cupping my hands in the water then lifting them to my lips, I drink the cold liquid with great satisfaction. My throat still burned, but not as badly. Beside me Luciack does the same, he was a bit worse off than I was. I could see the cauterized wounds in his arm and the blood stains on his tunic.

Footsteps, soft, and familiar sounded near us and I tried to sit up. My body ached and I could barely lift my head more than a few inches. The person kneels down next to me and I see that it’s Kylon. I sigh softly with relief then cough. My ribs ache and I close my eyes, curling up on myself.

“Are you alright, Morgan?” Kylon asks, worried. I give him a weak nod and feel myself losing consciousness. He carries me to the sanctuary and someone else half drags Luciack as well. He lays me on my straw bed once in the sanctuary and has one of the girls come in and tend to me.

“Is she alright?” Allistor, the leader of the Brotherhood, asks his daughter, Mara. She looks up at him from where she was crouched next to me.

“From what I can tell, she is,” Mara was a widowed merchant’s wife. Her husband had been assassinated a few months earlier. She had mourned the loss of her husband greatly, but she was still happy. She was respected greatly in the Brotherhood. Like a mother to everyone, even to her own father.

“What a way to spend the night with her husband,” Allistor says quite crossly. I can tell from his voice that he’s not pleased, whether with me or the attack, I can’t tell in my delirium.

“We should have known this would happen eventually, Scholar’s Keep has never been friendly toward us. This is exactly the opportunity they were looking for, a weakness in the kingdom.” This voice was far more angry, and I knew exactly why.

“I’m not deaf, Kylon,” I mutter. I open one eye a little and look at him.

“I-I... Oh...” He seemed to have thought I was completely out of it and blushed, which was actually quite surprising. For him anyways. It was rare to see him embarrassed by anything. But when it came to me, he was always trying for approval or something… I could never tell what.

“It’s fine, I need to ask you something anyhow,” Even in my half conscious state, the conversation with that man came first in my mind. He seemed most surprised by this and got up.

“Yes?” He kneels beside me and gently strokes my hair. I look up at him for a few long moments as I collect my thoughts.

“I want to go out in the world, and I want you to come with me,” I rasp, my voice is nearly gone now, but I needed to tell him now. Then maybe I could rest easily.

“You-you want me to come with you?” He looked both stunned and quite pleased by this. I nod a bit between breaths.

“Yes, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it,” I give a weak laugh and half smile.

“Well, I...I guess. I mean, I would be honored, Your Highness,” He stands up and gives me a low bow which makes me laugh a bit more. He really was a strange man.

“No need to be formal, but I would like some rest now,” I let my eyes close and even out my breaths.

“Of course,” He bows again and leaves me to rest. Allistor leaves as well, but Mara stays for a while to make sure I’m fine. Something seemed to bother her as well, I just couldn’t tell what it was.

“Is something on your mind?” I ask softly after a few more minutes of silence between us. I open my eyes as I look over at her.

“Actually, yes. I... I don’t know how to say it,” She looks at me almost pleadingly.

“What is it?” I try to sit up a bit more but she gently pushes me back down.

“Well, I know this probably sounds strange. But, I want to come with you and Kylon, out into the world. I feel trapped here... I love it here, I just feel there is something I should be doing… something more. And, I can’t do it here.”

“Mara, I know how you feel, but what would Allistor say? Three of us leaving for who knows how long? I don’t want you to get hurt...” I close my eyes and try to keep myself from coughing again. “I would let you come if I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I understand, my father probably wouldn’t appreciate me going anyways. He says I get into too much trouble here as it is,” She laughs softly and stands up when her name is called. “I’ll come and check on you later.”

I nod and she walks out. I fell asleep with a heavy heart, I hated telling her no. What could I do though? I didn’t want to be the reason she died. I was already putting myself and Kylon at risk. I don’t want to become a murderer of innocent people just for some journey into the world, away from all this. That and the war…