Well,here's the next Chapter, I am sooooo sorry it took so long to put up! I was in washington dc all last week, and before that the making period was ending for school and I had a ton of stuff to do... I know, not really an excuse, feel free to flame me about it if you want. Now, finally, here's what happened after chapter nine...
Stumbling outside, both Griffin and Birle's hands were bound behind their backs before they were pushed into a line with the other prisoners. This wasn't good...
Birle didn't really understand what was going on even as it happened. They had nothing to do with this place; why should they be arrested? It wasn't as though they had tried to shoot to shoot the officer. Maybe if she just explained... but no; that wouldn't work. Even if she somehow got them to listen to her, they would want to know what she had been doing there in the first place. She couldn't very well tell them she had been trying to avoid any Lords or Ladies that might recognize her by going to the last she could expect to find them. That plan had definitely backfired.
The Officer had said that they would 'all face the Earl's justice.' The Earl meant Orien, so they were taking her straight to him. She had to find a way out before that could happen. She hadn't kept away for fifteen years to be brought before him now, like this.
She became aware suddenly that Griffin was nudging her with his boot, trying to get her to start moving. The Earl's guards were making them move now, having quickly finished boarding up the doors to the Inn.
Reluctantly Birle began to walk. She had to get away, but that wasn't possible now. She would have to wait. Maybe tonight, when they stopped. They had to stop eventually. It was too far to the capital to go straight there, and that had to be where they were taking them.
As they walked, she watched the sun slowly rise over the distant mountains. The rowdy men from the Inn had grumbled and said many things that she'd rather not repeat when they'd first figured out what was going on, most still stone drunk. However, their captors had not had much trouble with subduing them. They walked now in relative quiet. Birle was glad of the long, frequent walks to the village she had taken with Lyss, for this now didn't seem so bad.
The sun was low in the sky again by the time they finally stopped. Birle was tired by this time, and grateful for a chance to sit down. Griffin sat beside her. One of the men came over and roughly removed the bonds on their hands, with a gruff order not to try anything.
"What are we supposed to do now?" he asked her quietly. "How are we going to find Lyss?"
Birle hesitated. "I don't know, exactly. We're still going to the same place, but we can't really do much going in this fashion."
"I've been studying the guards." Griffin glanced over at her. "I don't think we're going to be able to get away. They seem well-trained, not that I'm really any judge. But they're keeping a close eye on everyone, and I think they know what they're doing."
Birle wasn't sure what to say to that. "But we can't stay here!"
"What else can we do? We can't escape. I think they're going to give us a fair chance to explain ourselves when we get to the Capital. We can tell the Earl that we have nothing to do with these men. I'm pretty sure he'll believe us; any fool could tell at a glance we don't belong here."
It sounded like a sane enough plan, and Birle probably would have consented to it if things had been different. If what Griffin believed to be the situation was really the whole truth, then she would just be another woman of the people brought up before the Earl for his judgment. However, she knew that if she were brought up before the Earl, things would unfold a lot differently than anyone expected.
"No," she said stubbornly, "There's still another chance." Griffin stared at her.
"How? We can either escape or go along with it. We can't escape, so we have to go. Those few who know of him say the Earl is a good man, we'll be okay."
"That's not what I'm worried about," whispered Birle so quietly that Griffin didn't even realize she'd spoken. She looked up at him and continued in a more normal voice. "We could escape, we could go along with it... or we could be let go. You said yourself that any fool could tell we don't belong, so I don't see why they wouldn't release us now." She would not go without at least trying something, however unlikely to help. She'd noticed the officer was sitting very close to them. Tentatively, she approached him while Griffin stared after her in disbelief.
"Um- excuse me, my Lord," she said, not really sure how to start. She wasn't really sure if she should be calling him 'my Lord,' either, but it was better to use it by mistake with someone who didn't deserve it than to forget it with someone who did. She'd address him as a lord until he told her not to.
The officer looked her over. "What do you want?" he demanded.
"I, uh, was wondering if I might speak with you," she said. "My Lord,"
The man looked on her with faint distaste. "If you have something to say, then spit it out and leave me in peace," he growled at her. Well, at least he was listening to her. Sort of.
"Well... you see, my Lord, I am here with the boy over there staring at us, Griffin. I felt that I should tell you, he and I have nothing to do with that inn you shut down just last night. We were merely weary travelers who needed a place to stay for the night, we have never been there before that time and we know none of the others you saw there. We would never act as they were." There was a pause after she said this.
"Are you done?" Birle wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.
"...I suppose so, my Lord,"
"Good," he said, and turned back to his meal.
Birle was so surprised by his response to her little speech, that she was startled into saying, "That's it?" The man ignored her. Birle stood her ground. "My Lord—" He rounded on her.
"I believe you just said you- were- done."
"Yes, but—"
"Frankly I don't much care about whatever you just said. If you're trying to get me to release you, I will not. Now leave me be before I have one of my men drag you away." With an air of finality, he turned away from her once again.
Very slowly, Birle began to walk back towards Griffin. The man couldn't care less about what she had to say. He wasn't going to do anything for her. She was being brought to Orien... no...
That was when Birle did a very stupid thing. She couldn't remember ever consciously deciding to do it, all she knew was that she heard Griffin yell something at her as she became aware that she was running as fast as she could away from the small campsite.
She didn't make it very far. She'd gone barely ten strides before several men grabbed her and yanked her back. She was sprawled on the ground before the very same man she had just sort of talked to. He was looking down on her coldly
"Try that again, and you won't like the consequences. And you might know that I am not a Lord." After giving her a thoroughly disgusted look, he turned away.
They left her then, amid mutters of what various soldiers would like to do with her for interrupting their meal so. She felt so hopeless...
She felt a hand on her shoulder then, and looked up to see Griffin standing over her. "You know, I meant it when I said we wouldn't be able to escape. And I meant by stealth, not right in front of them like that when they can all see what you're doing," he added with a bit of his old humor. Birle gave a faint smile. It was almost funny, now that she thought about it. Of all the dumb things to do... she'd surely ruined any chance they might have had.
Now, they would be watching her especially, since they had all seen her rather pathetic escape attempt. She truly was stuck there.
The only thing to do now seemed to be exactly what Griffin had suggested just a few minutes ago. They would have to go along with it, and face the Earl when the time came. There was nothing else. She would have to face Orien... Yes; many people were going to be surprised when that came about... Oh, god, she would have to face Orien again, after all this time...
Hope you liked it, sorry it was a little shorter than the last couple. I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed on this story so far; it really means a lot to me to know that people are reading this. If you've been reading but not reviewing, thank you anyway for taking the time to read, though I would like to see what you think about it. I'll try to get the next update up quickly. I'll try harder if I get some reviews...