One Step Closer
by Spottedwave
Hunched in a room with so many others sleeping about her, the younger girl scribbled furiously in her notebook. She brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. At the sound of footfalls, she quickly snuffed out the candle and snuggled under a thin wool blanket, hiding the worn, aged book under her. She heard clanking as a guard opened the heavy wood door, lantern in hand.
"What is it?" drawled the disembodied voice of the other guard.
"I coulda' sworn I heard scratching," the soldier in the door answered, sounding nervous.
The girl glared mutinously at the quill in its inkwell next to her bed.
"Mice," called the guard outside, probably sitting with his feet propped on the table with a bottle of mead in one hand and a slice of bread in the other. The young girl, about fifteen or sixteen, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let me check," came a third, younger voice. The child's blue eyes widened in fear. "You know, since
Carlz here's afraid of mice," he teased. She heard a chair scrape against the stones as the youngest guard stood.
"I'm not afraid of nothin'!" complained the guard in the door, presumably Carlz.
"Even so," the third voice continued, his footsteps growing closer, "we don't want all the servants to wake up due to your lumbering waddle."
"Hey!" protested Carlz, visibly bristling.
"Now, where did you here this mouse?" the guard questioned boredly, appearing in the door.
"Over there," Carlz grumbled, pointing in the teenager's direction. She rolled over slowly, moaning as though she were asleep, before lying still and attempting to slow her breathing and beating heart.
The young man turned to his fellow guard. "Go back and sit by Bili. It's your turn." Then as Carlz followed his orders, he quickly walked across the room in the given direction.
The girl was glad she had turned over. That way, the guard wouldn't see the stricken look on her face. She waited as the soldiers footsteps grew ever nearer and wondered what would happen if she got caught.
Perhaps they would beat her. Maybe she'd get whipped. Or even...banished. She attempted not to shudder at the mere thought of it. When you were banished, you were sent into the wide, windy moor, where any food was too quick to be caught, and not a single person lived. The banished people were gone forever. That was the last thing the girl wanted.
But she could get it. The clanking of the guard's metal armor was closer than ever. She froze, hardly breathing, as she felt his gloved hand on her shoulder. She felt his breath, surprising sweet on her ear. He leaned in close. Surprisingly, he breathed softly, "You really should be more careful. We don't want you do get caught now, do we?" As she opened her mouth to reply, he continued, "Shh, it's alright. Watch your back. There are people here who would love to see you gone." With that he stood, turned, and hurried back outside, closing the oak door behind him.
Nadzieja sat up and breathed a sigh of relief.
First chappie! Woot! Waddya think? leave a review and tell me!
Title: One Step Closer
Category: Misc. Books
Rating: K+
Summary: One serving girl must lead a parentless slave, a runaway guard, a rebellious fighter, a haphazard magician, and her best friend to a new home to forge a new life-and get one step closer to finding out the truth about herself.
/I ran, with Zavaranak holding my hand and the little girl on my back, away from the alarm and the guards calling desperately. We dashed up the hill to where we would be safe, and turned to watch the building behind burst into flames./