Anathema - The Song of Eloh Saga, Book 2 (5 page)

“Go, child! Run as fast as you can and crawl
out the window. We only have thirty seconds to spare.” The cloaked
figure waved his arms towards the windows.

I slipped off the chair and ran as fast as I
could. Standing underneath the stained glass window, I glanced up
at its height. I faced a choice: either find a way up and out or
lose my chance to escape. I glanced around and saw the masses of
petrified guests. These cruel people had been here to watch my
branding. It was like a sick, disgusting sport to them.

Without a second thought I pushed a nearby
woman off of her chair. The body slid to the floor and I slammed
the chair against the wall. After heaving myself up on the chair, I
pushed the window open and scurried over the ledge. I peered into
the bright, cloudless sky.

Before jumping out the window, I took one
last glance in the room and saw a token, just like the one I’d
found in Ivy’s place, sitting on the table where my neck had lain.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I jumped out the window, quickly
followed by my cloaked savior.

“Put this on.” The figure handed me a
similar cloak. “It will keep you hidden until we get back to my
house.”

I flung the cloak around my shoulders,
buried my head in the hood and followed him into the surrounding
forest.

Chapter Four

“Reychel, it worked! I can’t believe it
worked,” Ivy squealed as I slipped inside a house just behind the
cloaked figure. She grabbed me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Ivy?” I stuttered. I looked around at the
small cabin, so unfamiliar, but so warm. “What happened? What’s
going on?”

Ivy laughed. “You’re safe. We’re safe and
we’re going to be free! Tania rescued us.”

The cloaked figure spun around, flinging the
cloak off in a whirl. Her blonde curls danced through the air,
revealing a striking woman flashing the most infectious smile.

“I didn’t think I could pull that one off,
but I did it.” Tania laughed, tossing the cloak on a hook behind
the door. “I’ve never gone into a room with so many people before.
Well, not hidden like that, at least.”

I stared at my rescuer, my mouth hanging
slack. “You’re...”

“A woman?” Tania asked, her voice lost the
deep tone and sparkled like falling stars. “The voice put you off a
bit, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I said. “How?”

“It’s part of the spell. Easy stuff.” Tania
put her arm around Ivy. “Your friend here thought I was a man too.
It’s good for the disguise. Keeps people guessing.”

“You saved me. I’m forever in your debt.” I
slid to the floor at Tania’s feet. My second time in one day of
groveling at someone’s feet. I reminded myself not to make it a
habit.

“You’re in no one’s debt. Not ever again,”
Tania said, pulling me to my feet. “If I have anything to say about
it, you’ll be a free woman for the rest of your life. It won’t be
easy. You have no pedigree to present, no family to live with, but
there are many of us out there and any of us will help you if you
just ask.”

I sat down on the nearest chair. My chest
stretched tight with each breath. I supposed my heart had been
pounding the whole time, I just noticed now that things were
calming down.

“Isn’t it crazy?” Ivy yelled, jumping up and
down around the modest room, barely missing hitting her head on a
ceiling beam. My mouth twitched and I couldn’t help but smile. I’d
never seen Ivy so excited about anything.

“Ivy wouldn’t leave without you,” Tania
handed me a cup of tea. “We approached her three days ago in the
market, offering to free her. She immediately accepted, but swore
she couldn’t leave without her best friend.”

“
Didn’t I tell you that I
would never leave without you?” Ivy grinned at me.

“Unfortunately we can only free one person
at a time,” said Tania. “There are only two cloaks here in Wendak.
The rest are scattered throughout the realm. We can’t spare any
more than that for each major town. We had to wait a few hours
until after your birthday party.” She rolled her eyes at the word
party. “It’s risky taking more than one slave at a time. Raises
suspicions.”

“I didn’t want you to feel the same pain I
did,” Ivy said. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever been through. I
couldn’t imagine putting you through it too, when I knew I could
stop it.”

Ivy bumped me with her hip, nudging me to
the side to make room on the chair. Flinging her arms around me,
she smothered me in another tight hug. It was surreal.

“Who’s this we?” I asked Tania, trying to
process all of the new information. “Where are the others?”

“Well, in Wendak it’s just my husband Jon
and I. There’s at least one couple in every town. We’re the only
free gifted here.”

“Gifted?” My tea slipped down the wrong
pipe. I coughed, bent over and Ivy clapped my back.

“It’s true, Reychel. Tania and Jon are
gifted,” Ivy said.

“And free?” I asked. “I didn’t think there
were any free gifted people. You’re supposed to be slaves.”

“Some were slaves and some were born that
way. Born gifted out of captivity. Some from gifted parents and
others, well, others are born to parents who don’t have the spark,”
Tania explained.

“How is that possible? I thought only the
gifted could give birth to gifted children,” I said. “At least
that’s what we’ve always been taught.”

“It’s not true, sweetie.” Tania stroked my
bald head. “All it takes is two parents and little blessing from
Eloh.”

I took another sip of her tea, not because I
was thirsty, though I was, but because I needed a moment to think.
Ivy joined Tania at the sink, washing dishes. Menial work, but
voluntary; so different than the life we lived at Kandek’s
castle.

The cottage was nothing like I had ever
seen, but it was everything I had imagined in my stories. Unlike
Kandek’s castle, Tania’s wooden cottage was one level with walls
covered by a tough mixture of clay and water. The dirt floor was
punctuated by flagstones. A small sleeping loft tucked in to one
corner of the ceiling. This house was held together by love, not by
slavery.

Tania turned to us with a grim look.

“The hard part of this is that we have to
say goodbye so quickly.” Tania wiped her damp hands on her apron.
Ivy dried the last bowl and nested it with the other bowls on the
shelf.

I looked to Ivy and she returned my glance
with a tiny smile and a shrug.

“You have to leave. Everyone here knows that
Jon and I have no children. If we suddenly have two
fifteen-year-olds living with us there will be too many questions.
Everyone will figure it out quickly and we can’t afford to be
discovered. Ivy has been hiding in our sleeping loft today, but
many people drop by unannounced. It’s too risky.”

“When do we have to go?” I stood up and
washed my mug in the sink.

“Tomorrow. In fact you must be gone before
first light so I suggest you both go to bed early tonight. I know
you have a lot to talk about, but you need as much sleep as
possible. You’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”

“But everyone will know. We’re both bald,” I
smiled giving Ivy a little rub on her head. Fine golden stubble
sprouted from her scalp, tickling my fingers.

Tania laughed. “I have plenty of wigs in
storage.” She pointed to a rug on the floor. I looked at the rug,
wondering how it would become a wig.

“Trapdoor.” Tania smiled. “I’ll get an early
dinner for the two of you and then you really should go to the loft
and sleep.”

“But I have so many questions,” I said.

“I know you do,” she said placing a small
kiss on my forehead. “I can’t explain everything to you, but after
you arrive in Keree my friend Johna will tell you more. She’ll give
you specific directions on where to settle and start your new
life.”

Ivy grasped my hand and tugged.

“Let’s go up.” She pointed to the ladder.
“There’s something I want to show you.”

I smiled at Tania as I turned and followed
Ivy up the ladder to the loft.

“I just can’t believe all this,” I said.

“Wait until you see this,” Ivy crawled
across the bed to the window. She peeked behind a curtain and then
pulled back out, a pout on her face. “It’s started raining.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “We’re inside.”

“No, I just wanted to show you the sun.
Since you hardly ever get to see it, you know.”

I hugged Ivy and then pulled the curtain
wide, taking in the scene before me. The rain fell lightly against
the window pane, picking up speed with every drop. Thunder rolled
in the distance as the sky grew grayer.

“It’s lovely,” I sighed with a smile. “I’ve
never seen a rainstorm before. When I was allowed outside or at a
window it was always sunny with big, puffy clouds. I’ve heard the
storms but never seen them. It’s almost a bit overwhelming.”

As I turned to look out the window again, a
flash of light snapped through the hazy sky. I screamed and jumped
back from the window.

“What was that?”

“Lightning,” Ivy laughed. “I’ve told you
about it before.”

I tried to compose myself, but a nervous
giggle slipped through. “I guess I never expected it would be so,”
I paused, “bright. It’s amazing the way it appeared out of nowhere.
No warning, nothing. This is so much better than a boring, sunny
day.”

I glanced back at the blonde fuzz on Ivy’s
head.

“Does it itch?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Ivy said, rubbing her head, “a bit.
It’s just weird having it there at all. Honestly I had to resist
the urge to shave it this morning. It’s a hard habit to break.”

“I can’t wait,” I said. “I’ve always
wondered what it would be like to have long luxurious hair. Like
those women who visit for the branding ceremonies. Their hair is so
beautiful.”

“They put bird nests in their hair,” Ivy
giggled.

We collapsed on the bed in a fit of
laughter. Just a few hours earlier I’d been scared out of my mind
and now I was free. Away from the drudgery, away from the
confinement, away from Kandek. It was almost too much to handle.
But rest was soon to come and then the beginning of a new adventure
with my best friend.

We huddled together on the bed, not even
noticing that Tania had left the cottage until she flung the door
open and shook out her wet cloak. She was followed by a tall man I
assumed to be her husband, Jon.

“Girls,” Tania yelled as she climbed up the
ladder, “you need to go. Now. The guards have been dispatched.”

She turned and stared at me with a
frown.

“They are looking for you. Why? They’ve
never dispatched this many guards for a missing slave.”

“I don’t know,” I stammered as Ivy and I
climbed down the ladder behind Tania. “I’m so sorry.”

“We can’t risk being discovered. We’d all be
tortured and forced to reveal our secrets and then probably put to
death,” she said handing each of us a pack. “Let’s see, there’s
food in each pack, along with a change of clothes. Thank Eloh I
packed them earlier today. Here are a couple of wigs.” Tania tossed
us each a wig. “Put them on and get going.”

We jumped to action, equipping our packs and
fumbling with the wigs.

“Here’s a cloak for each of you. Make sure
you keep the hood up in this wind or your wig might fall off.”

“Tania, I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any
trouble,” I said.

“Oh honey, our lives revolve around danger.
I just never expected one master to care so much about one slave.
You must be something special.”

“She is,” Ivy said. “I told you I wouldn’t
leave without her. You have no idea how special she is.”

We finished getting on our gear while Jon
gave us directions. Then we gave Tania one final hug and raced out
the door.

Chapter Five

“Jon said to head to the east and to stay
under the canopy of trees, so let’s walk near this path.” I pointed
to a pebble-strewn path off to the left, hoping that was east. It
was raining and the sky was covered in a dark haze. Without the sun
to guide us, I couldn’t be sure. This was the way Jon had pointed
when he told us where to go. I only hoped I had it right.

I pulled the hood up over my head, pushing
my wig off kilter. Stray hairs poked my eyes and tangled with my
eyelashes. Puckering my lips, I blew the bangs to the side.
Success! I could see again.

“How does it look?” I asked.

Ivy glanced sideways at me as she stepped
over a fallen branch. Her hand flew to her mouth, covering it
seconds after a giggle escaped.

“That bad?”

Ivy grabbed the sides of my wig under my
hood, yanking to the left.

“There,” she said, cocking her head and
beaming at me. “Much better. Your bangs are straight now.”

We continued on, keeping the path in sight,
but stayed far enough into the woods to be hidden from the casual
passerby. The canopy blocked much of the falling rain, but drops
still broke through, leaving the leafy ground slippery. The musty
air was so different from the stale air I grew up with in Kandek’s
castle, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It had its own texture, its own
definition that to me equaled freedom.

“At least we have a head start,” Ivy said.
“Tania and Jon were talking while we were getting ready and they
said the guards were searching the town first. It’s a good thing we
were already on the outskirts of the forest with Tania or we may
not have gotten out.”

“How did that cloak work?” I asked, thinking
back to today’s events. “I don’t understand how she could walk into
the castle undetected and free me.”

“It was covered in some kind of magic. No
one was supposed to be able to see her. It’s a good thing it worked
or the two of you would have been in big trouble.” Ivy pushed aside
a log with her foot.

“But I could see her just fine.”

“I know. Weird, isn’t it? There’s some sort
of special magic she worked on it before leaving to get you. I was
too nervous to pay attention, but the incantation had something in
there about how only friends could see through the disguise.”