Chapter 7: Betrayal.
Hay Lin was supposed to be keeping watch. Instead she was curled up tightly around Hope, her face like that of a child. Will smiled and sat down at the edge of their makeshift camp. 'I don't mind, really. Hay Lin's been playing mommy with all of us. And she's earned a rest. We all have. I just can't sleep.' Will thought. She wrapped her arms around her stomach in the same way Caleb often did. 'If we don't find them soon, I don't know what we'll do. We've been here for nearly 2 weeks and all we can do is run away like chickens with their heads cut off! Well, if we don't find any clue soon, I'll take us home and we can go into training and then come back.' She decided. That simple thought was enough to make her sigh wistfully. Tired and worried as she was, she just couldn't imagine life without Caleb. The young woman brushed her red hair out of her eyes and looked across the dark, vast area. In the distance, a torch glowed.
Will's face lit up and she shook the nearest girl awake. "Look! Look, a torch! Get up!" She hissed.
Irma propped herself up on an elbow. "Huh?" She asked sleepily. Then her eyes fell on the approaching torch and she sat up. "A person?" She asked eagerly. The 2 pregnant women managed to wake up the other mothers. Cornelia wrapped her arms around the drowsy Camilla and sleeping Camella. "Who is it?" She asked softly.
Her voice echoed painfully, and she winced.
But a familiar laugh rang out, and Caleb shouted back, "Who do you think?"
Will pulled herself up and grinned. "Caleb!" She shouted, trying to hurry towards her husband.
Caleb ran to her (which was a good thing since Will had been going about as fast as a quick trot) and enfolded her in his arms.
Will sobbed into his neck. "Oh, I was so scared...I thought you were--"
"I know." Caleb interrupted her softly. "But I'm not, now am I?" He nodded a greeting to the other women and smiling at the children. "You girls are the last people I expected to see here." He added as he sank down beside Will.
"Did you escape?" Taranee asked.
Caleb blinked in confusion. "Escape?" He asked as he helped himself to a piece of warmed but dried meat.
"From the palace! From Cedric and Elyon!" Cornelia prompted him. Tommy's cry distacted them all, and they missed the blank look on Caleb's face.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah. You guys look cold." He added as he shivered despite the warm fire nearby.
Will shrugged slightly. "Well, yeah, but we knew we had to handle it to get to you guys." She said with an adoring smile at her husband.
"But where's Dan?" Cornelia asked suddenly. "Isn't he with you?"
"And Lyle! Where's he?" Irma added.
"And Jake!" Taranee agreed. Panic showed on their faces as the women looked at Caleb.
Caleb sighed. "Well...they couldn't escape. Only one of us could, and they voted that I should since I had done it before. I found us a place to stay, too. The people there are waiting for us." He added.
Will looked uncertainly at her friends, then at her husband. "First thing in the morning, we'll go break them out, right?" She asked nervously, trying not to play favorites.
Caleb nodded. "Oh, yeah. It goes without saying. I just thought you ladies would need to rest up before a big battle." He agreed. Quickly he piled their few supplies in his arms. "Now come on, or dawn will catch us." He urged. The small group herded the children outside the Endless City and down several back alleys. Finally Caleb turned to them and smiled weakly. "I forgot to mention--they want to keep their location secret. So..." He produced a handful of blindfolds.
Will sighed. "Do we have to, hon? We're too tired as it is." She begged.
"Well, it doesn't matter to me, but they had their minds made up." Caleb commented as he quickly tied the rags around the women's faces. The group staggered on, single file, for a while.
And then Hope's small voice broke the silence. "Oh, what a purty big house, mommy!" She whispered in her slurred toddler's speech.
"Big house?" Hay Lin asked, looking around blindly. "What big house?"
Carmella screamed. "Mommy it's a big snake! Kill it, kill it!" She shrilled.
"Big snake!" Cornelia jerked off her blindfold and looked up at Cedric. "What the--" Hastily the other guardians ripped their blindfolds off as well, but the Lurdens surrounded them.
Will screamed at Caleb. "You lied! You lied to me and to us!" She sobbed. "I can't believe I married you!"
Caleb winced, but recovered quickly and shrugged as the women and children were herded off. But the moment they were gone he looked at Cedric, now in human form. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked.
Cedric smiled. "Positive. Now hurry--we have a wedding to get ready for." He said. The men walked into the palace and nodded a greeting at the other guardians' husbands.
Dan looked up from the mirror he was using to adjust his clothes. "Won't they be surprised?" He asked with a grin.
"Surprised isn't the word, Dan. I think it's more like furious." Caleb commented as he and Cedric walked into the throne room.