Tiara
The rope binding my wrists was uncomfortable and felt like it was burning my skin. It also made it difficult to keep a good grip on Silver’s reigns. I could feel how startled she was. All it would take was one small scare, she would throw me from her back, and disappear into the trees. And I would never see her again.
The guards had somehow found me in the black. They were looking for poachers, and they believed that we were. No excuse was good enough for them. A father and daughter sleeping in a cave, caring rifles, and the bullet wound on my shoulder. It painted a clear picture to them; we were two people on the run. And we were, but for a very different reason.
Pa was on his horse behind me. His wrist bound like mine, except he was staying calm and collected. Something he said a guilty man could never do.
When the guard found me standing in out in the trees he assumed I was alone and lost. I could have possibly convinced him I didn’t need his help. But Pa had woken up to find me missing. In his panicked state, he grabbed his rifle and ran out of the cave to find me. Once the guard took in Pa and his gun, he pulled out his own gun and pointed it at me. He arrested us under suspicion of being poachers.
The guard bound our wrist and contacted his comrades. He used a radio. Another technological advance that the common people weren’t allowed to use. The queen’s scientist made discoveries every year in every area; weaponry being their focus, followed by technology, and health. The common people were given very little to advance the way they lived. Vehicles belonged to the wealthy. Radios for soldiers. The only exceptions that happened were when the queen saw benefit for her.
I had never seen a radio before and it wasn’t what I expected. It was small and fit in the palm of the guards’ hand. It crackled and buzzed, and the man’s voice on the other end was distorted.
We sat in the cold snow for no more than five minutes when a vehicle came barging through the snow. Its large tires squashed the snow and spat it out behind. It was large enough to fit a handful of people, and the black colour allowed it to blend into the night.
Out of the front climbed a man and a woman. The man was tall, and there was no hair on his head; and he was holding a large rifle in his hands. He frowned as he approached us. The woman wasn’t armed at all. She followed a step behind the man, but instead of a frown her face was blank. There was no sign of emotion.
The man cleared his throat. “What have you caught us rookie? Couple of poachers?” He laughed.
After pointing his gun at both of us he sent Rookie and the woman into the cave, and they brought out all our stuff. The man packed our stuff up and forced us on our horses. We had been taken back to their camp where three other men were waiting with horses. And when the sun rose we went back the way we came. We passed through the crossroads and went up the east path.
There was no clear path after a few meters along the east path. There was no clear direction of where to go but the guard were confident in the direction they need to take. The truck in front of us stopped. The guard holding the reigns of my father’s horses pulled us to a stop just behind them. The man, with no hair, and the woman climbed from vehicle and approached a stump. The top of the stump was smooth, too smooth. It was a perfectly flat top.
The woman turned and pointed to rookie. “You can do the honors,” she said.
Rookie nodded and climbed up on the stump. He jumped off the other side and disappeared.
No one moved to follow him. And no seemed surprised by the fact that a man had just disappeared into thin air. There was no trace of him. The group stood silent, all of them with blank expression.
Pa was watching them intently. He felt my gaze and turned to me. He tried to reassure me with a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. They were too clouded by worry.
The woods surrounding us began to shake. The man, with no hair, climbed back into the vehicle but the woman took a few steps forward. Rookie, who disappeared over the tree stump, was suddenly standing in front of us.
The woman walked towards him and patted his shoulder. “Well done.”
The vehicle rumbled to life and the group moved forward. We continued up the hill but not for long. Soon the gathering of trees grew thin and opened to a large clearing. The area filled with tents, ranging from small to large, with men and woman, all dressed in the uniform of the queen’s guard, standing around camp fires or guarding their posts. But all eyes seemed to turn on us as we walked straight through the middle of the camp ground.
I tried to avoid eye contact with any single one of them. This whole situation was bad enough, I didn’t need to set annoy anyone else.
At the centre of the camp we all camp to a stop. Pulled from our horses, and pushed towards a rather large tent that stood in the middle, the realisation of how bad this situation was, dawned on me. Our fate would be decided by whomever was inside. It was clear from the size and the amount of guards surrounding it that it belonged to whomever oversaw the soldiers.
The flap of the tent was pulled back by one guard and Pa and I pushed through. I stumbled forward but caught myself before I fell. Pa wasn’t so lucky. Pa was pulled from the ground, where he lay, on his knees. I was pushed on mine.
A woman, dressed in a dark grey suit, turned around. Her blonde hair pulled back into a tight blonde bun, and over her shoulder hung a red sash. She stepped forward looked Pa up and down, frowned, and then turned to me. “My men tell me that you are poachers.”
“We aren’t-” A hand connected with my cheek, stopping me mid-sentence.
“You will only speak when given permission.” The female soldier had struck me.
“Now, now, Captain. There is no need for such harsh punishment for the girl.” The woman gently touched my now red cheek. “Plus, you wouldn’t want to ruin such beauty.” She rubbed my cheek before stepping over to Pa. “Back to business. Now to me you don’t look like poachers. For one, you don’t look homeless and you aren’t wearing any animal furs.” She walked around a table that sat in the middle of the ten and picked up Pa’s rifle. “And this rifle is what a farmer carries. Sheep or cattle farmer.” She put the rifle down and picked up my bow. “But a bow is something a hunter carries.” She ran her hand along the string and frowned. “Hand-made.” Back on the table she placed it. “I won’t sentence you to execution just on the word of my soldiers. I will give you a chance to prove to me that you are innocent of their accusations.”
Pa spoke up first. “I own a cattle farm in the Easter Valley. Have for the past twenty-years. I took over it from my father after he died. My daughter and I were traveling to the market at the bottom of the White Mountains to try and find a book that she wanted for her birthday.”
“You were nowhere near the market. In fact, you would have ended up lost if you had kept going in that direction that you were headed. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see. The market is down the northern road,” said the woman in charge.
Pa nodded. “I know that now. I wasn’t paying attention when I should have. First time travelling to the market.”
The woman frowned. “If you are travelling to a market why are you carrying rifles?”
“Merchants from the valley informed me that these woods are full of poachers who would kill us and take whatever we had. The rifles were for our protection.”
The woman’s frown faded. “I will take the night to think on what you have said. I will let you know my decision tomorrow.” She turned on the stop. “Captain.”
The female Captain stood straight and looked at the woman. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Escort of guests to their charming accommodations for the night.”
The female Captain nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Guards pulled Pa and I to our feet and pushed out of the tent.
Our charming accommodation were make-shift cells not far from the edge of the camp. There were four cells with no roof to protect us from the elements, and the floor constructed from blankets that had been stitched together. Each prisoner was provided with a single blanket to protect them from the cold, but that was it. The only warmth came from the small fires that our guards stood around to keep warm.
Pa took my hand in his as we sat in our cell. He let out a shaky breath. “Whatever happens,” he said, “If only one of us gets out of this we need to find Kara and continue with the plan. Agreed?”
I wanted to say ‘no’. If Pa didn’t get out of here then I wasn’t getting out of here. There was no way I was leaving him behind, but there was no arguing with the man. With a simple nod, I snuggled into his side for warmth. I could only hope that tomorrow our luck would change for the better.
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