Disaster

Hey guys, Gala here. I apologize for those of you who have been reading the chapters as they came out, as I did a bit of reorganizing between chapters 3 and 4. I cut 3 short a little early and appended it to the beginning of 4, meaning that if you had already read 3, this is going to be a bit of a reread. Never fear, the new material is a few paragraphs down. If you're reading all of this through for the first time, ignore this message entirely. That is all, carry on!

The fleeing crowd jostles me along but I feel numb. How did I let him get out of my sight? I didn't expect him to do this. GODDAMMIT! I begin to turn back to find him but if he is trying to draw the guards away then sticking around will only make him more reckless. He has to survive. I won't leave without him. I'm sure he won't let himself be captured until he's reasonably sure I'm safe. I just need to get to him before then. I was prepared for action but now I'm completely lost. Everything is slipping out of control quickly but I won't leave here without him. If I do he's dead. He told me to find Eve. Will he meet me there? At the very least, maybe she can help me find him again. She knows him, maybe she knows where he would run? If I can just get lost in the crowd long enough to regroup, I'll find him, get him out of here somehow, and worry about the rest later. Her shop is not far. I remember the way and retrace my steps, listening for signs of him in the crowd, trying to figure out his position but the guards are scattering in different directions. I don't think they know where he is. I'm praying he's alive, praying that the protection I gave him holds when I slam open the door to the shop.

"EVE!"

I accidentally run into Eve, who was worriedly making her way to the tent door to see what all the fuss was about. She laughs a little at the jostle and clings to me to remain upright. On the bust, the top inspired by me is half cut and half marked. The thread carefully hung near the loom. Eve looks up into my face.

"Eve!" I grab her by both arms. "You have to help me—it's Aston—I think he's trying to do something stupid—"

I'm out of breath, and I just realized I'm in tears.

"I have to get him out of the castle. They discovered me, and now the guards are on him, and I made everything worse..." my voice is a sob now. "Help me save him, Eve." I look at her, not a clue how this little woman can help but desperate for anything.

Eve spends most of my outburst hushing me down. Her hands pat my face. She calmly reaches across my arms and takes the knife from my hand.

"Aston idn't in trouble, dove." She holds the knife, a fighting knife, up to show me the hand carved handle with his Mark whittled into it.

"We must move quickly." Eve is anything but quick. Her tiny shuffle towards the back is determined nonetheless. In the back of the shop there is an old, old door. Eve had been very careful with her choice of shop location.

"Help me, dove." Eve makes a token effort with an iron bar to pull the braces off the door.

I am confused, but I gently get her to step aside as I heave on the bars. It's not an easy task because of my own slight frame, but with a groan they shift. I might have been able to move them easier with my gift but I'm saving as much energy as possible. I already feel the effects of the little I've done so far. I look to her when the task is done, waiting for her guidance.

While I was working, Eve closed the curtain to the back. Eve fetches me a new scarf for my Mark and hands me a tight, prepared travel bundle. It feels no different from the exile pack, save the nicer green cloth wrapping. Nearby, the sounds of shuffling armor grow louder. She drapes another, similar green cape over my shoulders with a word of safety and a kiss. She pulls the door open for me.

I hesitate. "Where does this lead?"

I look through the door and see a mound of earth: the dirt moat around the castle. To my right I can see the other side of the Abandoned hall. To my left, the wall stretches a fair distance before cornering out of sight. Worn paths leading up to the mound suggest this used to be a merchants' entrance before the dirt moat was installed. The door certainly looks old enough. Over the top of the wall, I can hear guards shouting for order. The forest is rather close on this side of the castle.

"You want me to leave?" Does she think I'll just run?

"What about Aston? Please, he doesn't have much time, there are too many guards for him to outrun, I have to find him!"

"Aston idn't in danger. He has a plan, dove. He's been duing thisa long time. Not always chased, but hekin handle things. He cares about you only. I know cuz he care for me too." She fixes my cape around me, always pruning. "He's done so much good for so long. His mother'd have been proud."

I look into this woman's face. I have to decide whether or not to trust her-to believe that Aston will be safe if I do what she's asking me. "Will I see him again if I go out this way now? Will he follow?"

Eve shows no sign of any thought that things may not be ok. She is not forcing me, but it is clear that Aston was very clear to her that this is what he wants. It is also clear that Eve is not privy to Aston's half of the plan. She trusts him nonetheless. "He's still taking care of you, dove." Out in the square, adrenaline levels have started to drop and some of the riotous citizens are reorganizing, helping the trampled. The guards and soldiers are reorganizing as well.

I look for a long moment, hesitating. I don't have time to think, but I don't know what to do. I'm so torn. Eve really believes that Aston will be okay- but she didn't see his face the last moment I saw him, before he melted into the crowd. Nothing to lose. The face of a man who truly believed he would not see nightfall. Well, that made my choice clear. I put a hand on Eve's arm, hoping to somehow communicate with a simple touch all of my gratitude.

"I'm sorry."

It isn't going to end this way. I don't wait for a reply. I turn and dash back into the street. The going is more difficult now that the crowds are beginning to disperse- I can't risk being seen. I keep my head down, pull the cloak tightly around my body, and above all listen to the sounds of subsiding chaos- desperate for any hint, any sound to tell me which way to run. I just have to find him.

Eve calls my name as loudly as her soft voice allows her, but to no avail. On the street, a few guards are helping corral the final panicking citizens, and seem to pay little attention to me for the moment. Many of them did not actually see who started the commotion. Apparently an archer did. An arrow comes screaming down from the wall, burying itself into the back of an unfortunate citizen standing six feet in front of me to the left. A grievous miss for someone shooting from just the top of the wall behind me. I wheel around to see Aston fighting the guard, having pinned him against the low rim of the outer wall with a tackle that came not a moment too soon. My heart skips a beat. He's alive. His last punch sends the archer reeling over the wall of the castle. I hear his scream cut violently short, but I cannot hear Aston's shouting. Our eyes lock, and he points animatedly outside the castle wall. He breaks eye contact and looks up to see several pursuing guards bearing down on him from the right, who could not match his armorless agility up the stairs. Up and behind me, Aston points to another archer to be mindful of before throwing one knife and engaging the guards. I realize that this was the only archer on this side of the castle, and Aston would have needed to dispose of him to give me a clear path, had I taken the escape route that Eve offered me.

In a moment I once again size up our positions. Aston has an advantage because they cannot come at him more than one at a time, but he is far outnumbered and he won't be able to hold them forever, though he seems a very capable fighter. But before I make a move I turn and face the citizen who has been shot. My heart is broken that he would be caught in the cross-fire. There is little I can do, I don't even know that he is alive but it is unconscionable to leave him bleeding in the street. I can't approach him but in the space of a moment I hold my palm level, concentrate and draw up, removing the arrow shaft without causing further damage, then draw my fingers together to a point to bring the skin together. He isn't truly healed; I brought the torn edges together but I can do nothing to close the wound. It is the least I can do for the poor soul. I whisper a hasty prayer before turning and running headlong for the wall. Aston had not yet been overwhelmed because the guards have chosen to stay bunched together rather than split up and attack him separately, meaning he is only being attacked from one side. The other half of the wall is clear. I am dashing for the stairs that will bring me up that side of the wall, to get to Aston before they can flank him. My head swims and my vision blurs but I press on-I've used my gifts too much already. But I need to hold on. Not much farther now. I keep running, glancing back to the other archer, prepared to pull any arrows that he fires off course. No one else is getting hurt.

Aston's throwing knife buries itself in the shoulder of the closest guard. He surges forward and knees his opponent backward into another. A third guard scrambles over and swings a sword. Aston grabs his arms and levers the guard over his shoulder by his hips, throwing him onto the stones behind him. Aston kicks his helmet off, but suddenly stumbles back. The arrow reflects off the magical barrier around Aston, knocking him back against the stone wall. The guard at his feet slashes at his legs, but Aston steps on his wrist. To Aston's right, the first guard swings his arm, returning the knife Aston had lent him. Aston deflects it downwards from his face, but it catches him hard in the side. This time I hear Aston scream. The one wielding Aston's knife follows up with a bodily shove to the shoulders just as the guard at Aston's feet lifts his arms.

Aston's face widens as he vanishes over the wall.