Chapter 1
My heartbeat slammed against my rib cage with every step I took closer to the table. Candle light flickered and most of the guests were too drunk to notice me, still I tried to remain as silent as a serpent. Laughter floated around me like a melody, its song joyful yet clumsy. I crept closer to the oak table covered in delicious breads and fruit, it seemed to call my name like a mother calls her child. The cool, sticky mud muffled my footsteps, yet I could feel the glazed-over eyes watching me. I prayed no one would call out to me. That they would simply assume I was another slave girl who had come to serve them. I technically had, but I would return with something for the others. It was better not to make any sudden movements and only to keep my eyes on the gloriously decadent food that was mere paces away from me. The intoxicated guests would not have cared if I were an assassin come to steal their lives away, they only cared about where their next flow of wine was coming from. My fingers brushed the table and quickly gathered as many pastries and fruit into my long skirt as I could. The juice began to drip down my clothes, but I hardly noticed because my mind was more occupied with how I was getting back to the slave house. I couldn’t dash, surely they would know I had taken the food if I made my escape so obvious. A gentle breeze sang through the courtyard as I dodged torches that were staked into the ground. Tiptoeing back to the gate where I had come from, someone clapped their hand onto my shoulder. I was spun around so quickly, some of the pastries fell out of my skirt.
I sighed just a little when my it was Elias’s eyes that hardened into mine.
“Rune, what are you doing here?” Elias’s voice was hard and rough like granite.
“I came to see the wedding. Isn’t it wonderful that the Master’s daughter is finally wed? The Maker must be most pleased.” I let a saccharine smile play on my lips.
Elias wasn’t fooled. Anyone could plainly see my skirt was overflowing with food. “If everyone weren’t so drunk, you’d be whipped for stealing from the Master. I should turn you in for being so foolish.”
“Well, you’re a terrible guard anyway so what would letting me go really do to damage your reputation?” I reply with a mischievous lilt.
He rolls his brown eyes as if he is contemplating actually turning me in. “This isn’t for you, is it?” He looked at the contraband.
I shook my head. “It’s never for me, Elias.”
Elias looked around. The guests were sated and some were asleep. We were well into the night and the two moons above us glowed brilliantly on the happy couple who were exchanging drunken kisses and meaningless promises.
He finally turned back to me. “You must stop stealing as much as you do. Everyone is starting to notice and there’s not much I can do for you.”
“Oh, Elias. You have been looking our for me since I arrived here—“
“And you don’t make it an easy job, Rune.” The wrinkles around his eyes crease and I see—for the first time—that age has taken a toll on him. “I don’t have much time…”
I stopped. My face turned serious as I asked, “Are you leaving?”
The hardened features of his face fell. My heart sank.
“No,” he said, “not yet at least.”
I felt tears well in my eyes.
“Don’t do that, Rune.” Elias placed his hand on the back of my head and pulled me to his chest. The food in my skirt was the last of my thoughts. I wrapped my arms around his muscled torso and squeezed as hard as I could. Hot tears streamed down my face.
“I don’t wanna be here without you,” I stuttered through my words.
“Dear Maker, Rune…” he cursed softly.
“You’ve been here since I came to this awful place 15 years ago…” I choked down the memories of his kindness and how I didn’t have a father, but he tried his best to be one.
“You could speak well enough to get you in trouble.” Elias laughed a little.
“And you were always there to get me out of it. Like when I lost the Master’s daughter’s brooch. You gave me enough time to find it so I wouldn’t be whipped.” I tried not to sob uncontrollably. “I can’t do this without you…”
“Rune…” he whispered, “you’re not the scared little girl that I first met anymore. The younger ones look up to you. They need you to be strong—“
“
He wiped my tears with the sleeve of his uniform and said, “You can’t face the little ones with your face red and puffy. Don’t cry, Rune. You have to be strong.”
“Don’t leave. Don’t leave. Don’t leave. Don’t—“ I chanted over and over until Elias pushed me away from him.
“Rune. I’m not leaving. But you need to get out of here before someone realizes what you’re doing here. Go back to the slave house and don’t say anything to the others.” He helped me gather the food and gently pushed me towards the gate.
Some point between Elias and the gate, the tears stopped. Some point between Elias and the gate, my resolve started. Some point between Elias and the gate, a piece of my soul broke.
