Page 5 of A Broken Promise

Not Kahors. They were silent. Must be the guards.

Moonlight poured into the small box, reflecting little shimmers of deep purple as the small door was opened wide.

“How many you got?” a crackling male voice sounded, not too far away.

“Three. Two girls and a boy,” the guard casually responded.

“Hell, I ain’t paying you for three,” the man angrily protested. “Just grab a girl, the younger the better, and take her in,” the same man barked at the guard. I recognized the loud thump of bagged coins against the gravel a second later.

The girl and I quickly glanced at each other. Tears didn’t seem to stop pouring from her horrified eyes. She scooted a little further away, shaking her head. I blinked at her in understanding.

I would go first.

A quick nod.

A quick goodbye to a stranger.

The guard’s hand peeked through the open door, pointing at us as he shouted, “One of you. Out. Now.”

Without looking back, I obediently crawled through the door.

3

Two guards in dark burgundy uniforms grabbed the end of the rope leading to my neck. Some level of Royals, I realized, based on their large crown insignia.

The full moon now hid behind the long, heavy clouds, as if she too closed her eyes, ignoring the downfall of humanity.

Like a dog on a leash, they dragged me to a large manor down the road.

The Royal house was surrounded by tall, ancient pines. The building was made from dark rock supported with large wooden beams in between. I recognized that stone immediately. I still had torn up bloody calluses on my hands from mining it.

There was so much of it. The path, the large fence, the steps leading to the house, the square porch. The gray stone went on and on; stables, fountains, statues.

My eyes narrowed in anger.

How many slaves have died carving these rocks?

I glimpsed back just once. The small prison box was long gone in the night; an empty horizon now lined with shadows of the Rocky Mountains. Sorrow churned in my heart. My thoughts floated far behind them, to a dark, cold cave within the Peaks. To Viyak.

One of the taller guards yanked on my leash, almost choking me. Walk faster.

I was an animal; a dog to them.

No.

I was glad it was me and not a dog on this leash. No animal deserved to be treated with such vile.

We passed the tall fence. The green grass was perfectly cut, and freshly watered too, I realized, as the small droplets covered my bare feet. Waist tall braziers filled with small, red coals irradiated little heat and light as we walked down our path. I cast my eyes past the house. Large stables filled with sleeping horses were left notable unattended.

If I could get there, I could get a horse and then run, I thought to myself.

Run where?My mind followed.

Somewhere far.

Somewhere away.

But I had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. I had nothing and no one.

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