I decided to start posting chapters of my book,
Freedom's Bonds. It's going to be around 26 chapters (as of now) and I'm on chapter 7. I'm hoping to start chapter 8 tomorrow. We'll just see how that goes I guess. Enjoy the chapter! =)
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Chapter 1:
The sound of clashing swords forced me to look up from my work. I raced inside my hut and grabbed my dagger and sword, stuffing my dagger into my dress pocket and strapping the sword in its sheath by my side. I lovingly fingered the leather that had my name, Kacia, embossed on it. Someone outside screamed and I left my hut.
Coming out into the yard, I looked towards the noise and saw a crowd gathered at the center of town. There were two people fighting in the center of the circle, but I couldn’t see any more than that because of all the people. I raced out the gate as fast as I could, almost slipping on the pavement. My hair streamed out behind me as I ran. I hastily tied it back with a piece of twine and continued running.
I had reached the circle now and forced my way into it. The sight I saw shocked me. A Lipatovian soldier fought a basically unarmed village man. Twirling and slashing his sword in only the fashion someone trained could have, he gave the man multiple gashes all over his body. The man looked up wide eyed at the soldier, who I assumed to be a general.
A evil look filled the general’s eyes and he raised his sword above his head to deliver a final blow – a death blow. I knew I had to act quickly and raced toward him. Unsheathing my sword, I raised it to block his blow. It came down so hard that it knocked my teeth together and I had to struggle to hold on to the sword.
I glanced back and saw the man crawl away, bleeding from multiple wounds. It infuriated me that a soldier would fight someone who was obviously unarmed and untrained. I turned back to the soldier and stared into his face.
Hatred contorted his face as he stared at me in disbelief. We stayed locked in that position, swords above our heads, for several minutes. I stared directly at him and tried to be as intimidating as possible. It was hard considering the fact that I was only five foot four inches tall and he was at least six feet high. I pushed against his sword and threw him off balance for a second. That was all I needed to get the upper hand. I put my sword to his neck and watched as a small stream of blood trickled from the scrape.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, placing great emphasis on the ‘you’.
“I could ask the same of you. Do you know the penalty for threatening one of the king’s soldiers?”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I knew well the penalty – years of work in the labor fields, followed by torture, then death. Yes, I knew of it. Still, it didn’t keep me from challenging this one.
“Of course I know the penalty. Only a brainless person would threaten a soldier knowing the penalty.”
He smirked and countered, “Then I suppose you are the brainless person.”
I felt the blood rushing to my face as I tried to keep my anger under control. Withdrawing my sword and re-sheathing it, I replied, “No. I am not the brainless person. I am simply protecting whatever freedom we might have left in this land. Which is near none.”
The soldier took this opportunity to scurry for his sword and picked it up without stopping. I had expected this and so I readied myself for his attack. He raced towards me, twirling his sword in an intricate pattern. I recognized it from the training I had done when still living in the palace and reacted with the same series of intricate twirls.
Steel clashed on steel as our swords met, still moving so fast they were almost a blur. Sweat poured down my brow as I fought him. I had never fought someone as strong as this, but then again, I hadn’t fought someone for a while. The last time I used my sword was against some wild animals that attacked our village, but they were no match for me. This general…he was different.
The muscles rippled under his bronzed arms as he pushed me back, knocking me off my feet. I hit the cobblestone street, hard, and was temporarily stunned. He rushed towards me and I rolled onto my back, pushing him the stomach with my feet. This did little to him because of his armor, but slowed him enough that I was able to jump up and regain my footing.
I rushed towards him and struck his sword as hard as I could, trying with all my might to knock it out of his hands. He held onto it and pushed back. This time I expected it and didn’t let him throw me off balance. I pulled my sword away and swiped at his legs. He easily jumped it and laughed.
Without warning, he shrieked at the top of his lungs. I was so surprised that I dropped my sword. As it clattered to the ground, at least forty soldiers came racing out of the trees brandishing all sorts of weapons. I stood there staring at them, dazed.
I regained my senses and dashed for my sword, picking it up only moments before a horse came clattering over the cobblestone where it had lay. Breathing quickly, I darted into a nearby alley and sat there for a moment, trying to see what was occurring.
A young man came flying into the alley and fell to the ground with a thud. He moaned and rubbed his head in pain. Racing over to him, I pulled out my ever present pouch of different herbs known for all sorts of healing.
His head was bleeding from a wound that had been inflicted on the side of it, but thankfully, it didn’t look serious. I applied some herbs to it before wrapping his head with some soft cloth to absorb the blood.
Standing, he shook his head and rubbed the bandage. He grinned lopsidedly at me and said, “Thank you.”
I nodded in reply.
A band of soldiers galloped by the alley, plowing down whatever was in their path. I gasped and the young man pulled me further back.
“Princess, you must get out of here while there is still time. We can hold them off without you here,” he pleaded with me.
“But where am I to go? I know of no villages around here that would accept me. Most of them know that I am the Princess, so they would kill me on sight!”
He looked around cautiously and whispered, “There is a place. The village of Noapeh will take you. It is not a commonly heard of village. It is a few hours ride to the north. If you hurry, you can probably get there before dark. Now, hurry!”
“I will go, but I’m coming back as soon as I can. I need to make sure you all haven’t died!”
I thanked him as he raced out of the alley to continue the fight. Screams of anguish and pain still filled the air as I looked around, trying to find an opportunity to dash across the road to the stables.
Seeing my chance, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me and threw myself into the stables. A pitchfork decided to step in the way as I landed on the floor and speared my arm. I gasped in pain and gritted my teeth as the warm blood flowed down my arm.
I stood and the herb pouch bounced against my hip. I took its contents out with my good hand and started to bandage the wound. It probably didn’t take a long time, but it sure seemed like it in light of the circumstances.
Refastening it to my waist, I raced to the stall of my horse friend, Blair. She lay snoring on the ground, obviously oblivious to the commotion outside. I rolled my eyes in annoyance at how well she could sleep and yelled down to her to wake up. After several attempts, she finally awoke and stood to her feet.
A war cry pierced the air, followed by screams of grief. I winced as I imagined what could have happened. Looking back at Blair, I saw that she was confused. She started to say something, but I stopped her in mid-sentence.
“There is no time to explain this right now. We need to get to Noapeh as quickly as possible. I will explain to you on the way. Hurry!”
She raced through the swinging doors of the stable and almost ran over a soldier. She reared to keep from hitting him and I barely stayed on. I was glad for the pockets I had sewn into my dress that kept my dagger from falling.
She veered right onto the street at a steady canter, easily dodging the fighting people and animals. Feeling myself slipping, I squeezed harder with my legs to steady myself. My arm throbbed in pain with each step that Blair took.
Blair plowed on ahead and raced out towards the main gate of town. I looked back, pleased with our escape. The gate was getting closer and closer until we stopped suddenly. I glanced around to see why Blair had stopped and saw the soldier I had challenged originally standing in front of me.
He smirked and pulled his sword from his sheath. Taking a deep breath, I slid off Blair and whipped out my sword. The polished steel glistened in the sunlight. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pointed it at the soldier.
“No one threatens this village and gets away with it, even you.”
“We’ll see about that!” he yelled as he swiped his sword at my legs.
I jumped to avoid the slash and brought my sword around, slicing his arm. He grimaced in pain and grabbed his arm, momentarily dropping his sword. This was all the time I needed to get away.
Blair started away as I jumped onto her back, grabbing her mane to pull me up. I swung my leg over her side and kicked her sides, urging her on. She galloped as fast as she could out the gate.
Blair surged up the hill and into the densely populated woods. Tree branches hung overhead and several whacked me in the face. I grimaced as I felt something wet run down my cheek. Swiping it away with my hand, I looked and saw that it was blood.
Wonderful, I thought, now I’ve got this and my arm to worry about!
Ducking closer to Blair’s body, I grabbed her mane and shut my eyes, wishing this would all be over. I looked up for a second and saw a stream approaching. From the speed that Blair was going, I could tell she wasn’t slowing down. No, she was going to jump it.
She got to the edge of the stream and jumped. I grinned as we flew over the stream and for one moment, I felt free. But that moment ended. She landed on the opposite bank and I fell off, not prepared for the force of her jump.
I hit the ground – hard. Gasping for breath, I saw a soldier come racing at me. I tried to stand, but when you’ve gotten the wind knocked out of you, it’s quite hard to do. I pulled out my sword and sucked in a deep breath of air. I stood once more and this time was able to remain standing.
Pointing my sword at him, I advanced forward. A look of terror appeared on his face and he turned and ran away. I looked after him, confused and still holding my sword. A rustling sounded behind me and I turned to see a bear.
I held tightly to my sword as I stared up into the face of the bear. He was at least ten feet tall and his fur was matted and hairy. My heart beat wildly and I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself.
The bear looked at me, then started towards me. I gritted my teeth, preparing to be ripped to shreds.
I hope it doesn’t last long. How much will it hurt?
Something whooshed past me and I opened my eyes slightly to see what it was. The bear had not been going after me, but after the soldier! I almost fainted from relief, but steadied myself by holding onto a tree. Looking around, I saw that Blair had vanished.
No doubt she’s probably hiding in the trees, I thought. I don’t blame her.
The bear chased the soldier farther and farther into the woods until I could no longer hear them. I let go of the tree I was holding to and started off to find Blair. The leaves rustled overhead and I shivered in the cool breeze. I could still hear the sounds of fighting in the village and tried to block them out.
Blair stepped out from behind a large bush, burrs sticking in her mane and making her look rather ridiculous. In spite of the circumstances, I couldn’t help by laugh. I walked over to her and, still laughing, started to pull the burrs from her mane.
“Kacia, will you explain now what is going on?” Blair asked.
After relating the entire story to her, including that we needed to go to Noapeh, we set off. The morning sun was already hot and sweat was running down my face in what seemed like torrents. I wiped the sweat from my eyes and squeezed my legs around Blair as we took off at a canter.
~*~
It was almost dark when we reached Noapeh. The village looked deserted and I could see the charred remains of where houses used to stand. Jumping off Blair, I walked into the village. The streets were empty and the doors and shutters were open on the houses that weren’t burnt down.
Blair and I silently walked down the abandoned main road. Seller’s carts still stood on the sides of the road, the produce rotting. Rats scurried around, looking for something to eat. I looked around, pleading for any sign of life. The smell of cooking food reached my nose and I started towards it. As I got further down the road, I saw a house. It was the only one that wasn’t burned to the ground and there was a pleasant smell coming from it, along with lights burning in the windows.
I looked at Blair hopefully and raced towards it. Reaching it, I banged on the door. I heard a slight yelp from inside, followed by a crash.
“Who goes there?” a female voice asked.
“My name is Kacia. I’ve come here to seek refuge. The Lipatovian guard attacked my village and I was told to come here.”
The door opened with a creak and I saw the silhouette of a woman. She looked to be about my age and strangely familiar. After looking at both Blair and I, she nodded her head and opened the door all the way. She motioned for me to come inside and I stepped in, standing awkwardly inside the door.
Her hut looked much the same as mine back in Tira. The only difference was that she had a loft. She shut the door and turned to me. I gasped in shock as I realized why she looked so familiar. It was my cousin, Tamira!
“Tamira! It’s you!” I said.
She looked at me confused for a minute before realizing who I was. After a few moments of hugging and crying, I pulled away from her and grinned.
“I never thought I’d see you again! Imagine that the king would be so silly as to put the two of us close together when he banished me.”
The king, who is actually my uncle on my father’s side, banished me after my father died. He was supposed to help me learn how to become queen, as he promised my father that he would, but he was too drunk with his greed to be king. He banished me and anyone in my family who resided at the palace. This included Tamira, who is the daughter of my mother’s brother. We were forced out of the palace and taken to villages. The locations were unknown to the other family members, that way we couldn’t possibly get together and try to reclaim the throne.
“What happened here?” I asked. “Why are all the houses burnt down?”
Tamira looked at the ground and wiped an unseen tear from her eye. “It was the plague. It wiped out over half the village in just a few days. Those who were still healthy left for other places, to avoid getting sick. The only way to stop the spread of the disease was to burn the houses after the people died.”
“Oh. That’s terrible.”
She nodded and wiped yet another tear from her eye. “There is no time to think about that though. We need to figure out how to get the throne back.”
I looked at her, shocked that she would even suggest such a thing. “What do you mean? Two girls can’t possibly best the army of Lipatov!”
“I’ve heard rumors that the king is going to kill everyone in his labor fields. He’s tired of having to worry about the poor and destitute. The people working in those fields are against the king and would surely help us.”
I sat back in my chair and thought over this. I hadn’t planned on taking over the throne – I just needed some place safe to stay. Inwardly, I kicked myself. How could I be so selfish? The people of Lipatov need my help! I’m their princess – they are relying on me!
“We will go, but I need to go back to Tira. I have to make sure that the soldiers didn’t completely wipe out my town. Perhaps we can find someone there who would be willing to help us.”
Tamira sighed and nodded. “Alright Kacia, if you wish then that is what we will do. Right now though, let’s some sleep.”
I nodded and replied, “Sleep sounds wonderful. We’re going to need it. We’ve got an army to raise.”
