In the End

Chapter 6: The Forest

It wasn't hard to sneak out. I easily saddled Flynn by the light of the moon and mounted him without a sound. We cantered down the drive and onto the road. When I felt that we were out of earshot of the house, we set off swiftly down the road. As we reached the forest for the second time today, we slowed down. To get through the forest and across the land bridge which would bring us to Grejna, I was banking on two things: one, that the Guard wouldn't recognize me or at least would not interfere with my plans and two, that I wouldn't encounter another attack since there had been one this morning. I was feeling fairly confident but it may have been in my head.

The road through the forest and across the land bridge was unfortunately very long. It would take me at least three days to reach Grejna and any sort of civilization. Even then, I wouldn't seek help at any homes along the way. Too many people were suspicious of strangers these days, ever since King Arnou decreed that all Nagykan were a threat to the kingdom and were to be eliminated on suspicion alone. 

I was sixteen when that happened. I guess that means Leonidas was sixteen when he lost our father and his stepmother. It was strange to think of Leonidas having a whole other family. I had had families too but not in the same way. No siblings. Not real blood relations. Maybe that was for the best, all things considering.

That year, the year of the decree, I was with the last family I had until I met Weylin and Lenora. Agnes. Whatever. I was staying with a kind, blind woman that I had met by accident in town. Someone had bumped her in the street and she had dropped her basket of apples. I had stopped to help her, hoping to steal one of her apples in the process. As I had walked away with a shiny apple in my hand, she had called after me saying, "Enjoy it, deary! You'll need it if you are to continue on your journey." I stopped in my tracks, my blood running cold, and my skin had started to prickle all over. I whipped around to look at her, to double check her eyes, see if I had been mistaken. But her eyes stared into the distance passed me, cloudy and icy blue. Before I could open my mouth to reply she had continued, "I may be blind, deary, but I see much. We are akin, you and I." And I knew. She was like me. She was a Nagykan. 

I went home with her and she taught me much; everything from drying meats to baking to canning goods and even sewing. She never told me her name, though, so I always referred to her as Babushka, or Babuh for short. In this way, we lived peacefully together for nearly two years. 

Then one day, while we were at market selling preserves, someone approached us and struck up a conversation. It was a tall, dark haired man with eyes so brown they were nearly black and a scar across his left eye. He seemed very genial and interesting but Babuh clearly distrusted him and I was too wrapped up in the conversation to pay much heed to the faint goosebumps that were starting on my legs. I eventually noticed them but chalked it up to the cool breeze. But Babuh, though blind, could see something was amiss. She tried to excuse us and had pushed me to start parking our belongings. We were packed quickly and loaded into out cart. But as I drove us home, the man asked after us, "What was your name, miss? I didn't seem to catch it?"

"Allegra Kelly."

The next thing I knew, Babuh had snatched the reins from me and whipped our poor horse into a frenzy. We bumped haphazardly along the cobbled road behind the horse as he sprinted down the lane. Moments later, I heard another horse in pursuit. I dared a look behind to see that man chasing after us. Babuh whipped the horse and tried to keep ahead of the man but we lost control when a wheel hit a divot in the road and the cart crashed onto it's side, spilling Babuh and I out onto the cobbled stones. Babuh had a terrible head wound that bled profusely but she seemed unbothered as she shouted at me.

"Run, girl! Don't look back! Never give your name again. Run!"

I didn't argue. I knew better than that. I ran. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs burned and I felt as if I might burn into ash altogether. I ran and ran and never looked back. And that was the last time I welcomed kindness from anyone or told anyone my name. My last name, that is.