A Fleeting Eternity - Chapter Sixteen

Ky bit off a sigh. She didn’t want to talk about Father. She didn’t want Aleth to know anything more about her family than he already did, and thinking about Father always made her chest go tight. She couldn’t help but remember him the last time she’d seen him.

Ky didn’t see Mr. Rifkin again after she left him on Myrond’s doorstep. A few days later another, angrier soldier showed up at her house and demanded to be taken to Myrond right away – slapping her when she asked to get permission from Father first. He had a royal decree from Makata that he made her read for the town, that said that all the kids had to report to the castle.

The next day the township was on lockdown. Father had made the journey into the center of the township with Ky, so they wouldn’t be so isolated on the farm by themselves. They’d all been waiting in Mr. Myrond’s house when a squadron of soldiers appeared. Myrond grabbed Ky’s shirt and hauled her towards the back corner of the shop, grabbing Talia as he walked. There was a pile of meat scraps from the day’s work that he hadn’t taken out yet, behind several carcasses of deer and cattle that were hanging from large hooks in the ceiling.

“Ky,” Father said as Myrond pushed her past him. Ky lurched forward and threw her arms around Father in a tight hug. “Be brave. I love you, baby girl, no matter what. Forever and always.”

“I love you.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Forever and always.”

She was terrified. She had no idea what would happen, but she knew it wouldn’t be good, judging from Father’s and Myrond’s reactions. They were the bravest people she knew, and even they seemed scared right then.

Myrond bent down and fixed Talia in a tight hug, then grabbed Ky again and pushed them both into the corner. He put Talia in the small opening first, then Ky – then turned and grabbed a long, slender knife sitting on the counter and forced it into her hands. He bent down and looked her in the eyes. “Don’t let the soldiers take you. No matter what happens, don’t let the soldiers hurt you or Talia. Do whatever you have to. Do you understand?”

Ky nodded fearfully.

“Good.” Myrond stood and pushed the carcasses closer to them, walling them in behind a mountain of dead flesh.

Ky looked down at the knife in her hands in horror. She did understand. It was clear what Myrond wanted her to do, and she hated even the thought of it. She didn’t want to hurt anyone and she didn’t want anyone she loved to get hurt. She focused on her breathing, trying to calm herself, as Talia huddled close to her back.

There was a harsh knock. “Open the door! In the name of the king!”

Ky shifted to a crouching position; knife ready. The knock came again, and then there was a loud crash as the entire door fell. Soldiers flooded into the small room. The young, angry soldier who had brought the letter was the first through the door. He pointed at Myrond. “Arrest him.”

Ky could hear scuffling and Myrond cursing, and then a soldier yelped in pain. A moment later Father’s voice broke over the ruckus. “Is all this really necessary?”

“Shut up, old man,” the soldier snarled.

“I’m just trying to say that perhaps there’s another—” Father’s words were cut off as he cried out. Ky started to spring to her feet. Talia grabbed her shoulders and wrestled her back to the ground desperately.

“Stay hidden,” Talia whispered in her ear. “It’s what Papa wants.”

Ky resentfully stayed crouched, entire body tense. Hurting her was one thing; hurting her Father was something else entirely. Her grasp tightened on the knife, a strange feeling bubbling up inside her, removing some of the distastefulness of what she had to do.

Revenge.

She’d never felt an impulse quite as strong as this one. Usually she could be quick to forgive. Today, she just wanted to hurt the solider – to make him realize that he couldn’t hurt Father, or Myrond, and get away with it.

Suddenly the meat pile was kicked on top of them, making Ky fall backward onto Talia. She was in a bad position, with meat scraps falling into her lap, pinning her to the ground and covering the knife. The carcass hanging in front of her was ripped back, and suddenly the young soldier was standing over her. He grabbed her shoulders.

Don’t let them take you. No matter what. Myrond’s words echoed in her ears as the soldier grabbed her shoulders and hauled her into the air. Ky lurched forward, bringing the knife down at the man. She watched in horror as the shiny blade sank deep into his shoulder.

The soldier screamed, cursing loudly, as he threw Ky against the wall. She landed heavily, all of the wind knocked from her, but scrambled to her feet. Father was lying next to his chair, a blade sticking out of his shoulder, blood coating his tunic. “Father!”

The soldier was on her in a moment. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and threw her to the ground, kneeing her in the side as she fell. He favored his left arm but it didn’t reduce the intensity with which he attacked Ky. He kicked her as hard as he could, and kept kicking her until she started coughing.

“Ky!” Father’s voice sounded far away.

Ky writhed on the ground. She could see Mr. Myrond a few meters away, on the ground with soldiers wrestling him into handcuffs. Another soldier was grabbing Talia. The soldier was still cursing at her as he landed blow after blow.

She could feel a warm darkness tugging at the edge of her vision. She was failing. She couldn’t protect Talia. She couldn’t beat the soldier. Myrond had given her one job and she couldn’t manage to obey. The soldier was too strong. She was too little. And the blackness enveloping her was too thick to avoid any longer.

How she wished that she would have had a different final image of Father burned into her memory. She tried to remember a thousand times exactly where the knife had been lodged. If it was where she’d stabbed Borrond, and if Borrond had made a full recovery, then that meant Father surely would be fine too. Hopefully. But there was always that gnaw of doubt whenever she thought about the incident.

“Where did your father work?” Aleth questioned.

“In the port city,” Ky answered, looking at him sadly. “He traded with the people on ships from other countries.”

“What did he trade in?”

“Homewares,” Ky said, thinking back to the various ledgers he still had on the book shelf next to his bed. She read through them many times when she was learning how to read and got bored with the few fiction books that they had. “Dishes and cloth and such.”

“I see. And he taught you how to read?”

“Yes,” Ky answered, the homesickness building more with each moment that passed.

“How did he end up in sector twelve if he worked in the port city? That’s got to be what, a full two days ride?”

“He traveled some to sell his wares in the smaller townships,” Ky answered. “He met Mama when he came to our sector and they fell in love.”

“Why didn’t she move away with him?” Aleth questioned. “Isn’t that how marriages are meant to work – the woman follows her husband?”

“I think Mama’s father would only bless the marriage on the condition that they stayed,” Ky answered, shrugging carefully. “But I didn’t ask too much about it. Father didn’t like talking about Mama. I think it hurt him, because he missed her so much.”

She had never understood Father’s pain at missing Mama until after her own abduction. Her heart ached every time someone asked her to talk about her life before the castle. The pain had been particularly pronounced the first time she woke up after being taken.

She woke slowly, gradually realizing she was being carried by Rifkin. He held her tight, gruffly ordering her to stop struggling with him. She was silent for a moment as she gradually remembered the soldiers appearing, and then the fight, and – she groaned, letting her head rest on his breastplate.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I got gored by a bull.”

“Close enough,” Rifkin answered, smirking slightly. “The young bullheaded lieutenant worked you over pretty good.”

She nodded slowly, looking up at him. The soldier hadn’t been gentle with her. “Who?”

“Lieutenant Borrond Mikaelson,” Rifkin answered. “You made enemies with him right quick… and rightfully so, I might add. I’d not be too happy with you if you stabbed me, either.”

“Yeah, well, you’d stab me, too, if I hurt you and then stabbed your father.”

“I’d aim better.” Ky looked up to see him smirking again. His voice was low and gruff, just loud enough for her to hear him. “Trust me, hon, you’re not the first person that’s wanted to stab Mikaelson… you’re just the first one of us that’s had the guts to follow through.”

Ky grunted. She wasn’t so sure that she was cut out for this whole bravery thing. She’d adored reading about brave knights in stories, and liked to pretend to be bold when she was riding horses, but her single act of true bravery had resulted in her getting so beaten she blacked out and now couldn’t even walk for herself.

“Hush now,” Rifkin said. “You need to regain your strength. Your night is going to get a whole lot rougher once the lieutenant turns his attention back to you.”

Ky sighed but obediently fell silent. She had no idea where she was, or where Rifkin was taking her, or where any of the other people from her township were. And most of all, she didn’t know where Lieutenant Borrond Mikaelson was.

She thought back to the capture, wondering what she should have done differently. Myrond had given her one job: to not let soldiers take or hurt her or Talia. And here she was – taken and hurt – with no idea where Talia was. She wondered if her friends were okay. And Father.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She wished she was stronger. Wished she could have protected them and protected herself. Wished she wasn’t so weak. She resentfully wiped the tears from her cheek, willing herself to stop crying. She had to be brave.

“Shh,” Rifkin hushed. “None of that, now. You’re going to break my heart. You remind me of my own daughter too much to see you all beat up and now crying.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Aye,” Rifkin answered. “She’s right about your age, too. You’d make good friends.”

“Is she wherever you’re taking me?”

Rifkin was silent for a moment. “No… I don’t expect you’ll find many friends, where I’m taking you. But I’ll try to be as good of a friend to you as I can, I promise you that.”

“How big was your sector?” Aleth asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Was it big enough that you had a doctor?” Aleth questioned. Ky noticed he had a pen hovering over a sheet of paper, taking a break in scratching down notes on everything she was telling him. She swallowed hard as he continued. “An inn? Tell me about the people that you knew growing up, and what they did for a living. I want to hear all about your life up to this point.”