Forever Green

~ 32 ~ A Violent Escape

Lenesa wasn't sure how long she waited, cowering in the darkness behind the sturdy oak barrels in the alleyway, listening for any sound of approaching footsteps. It was only when the rain began to pick back up that she finally forced herself to move. She couldn't tell if she was shivering from the cold or her lingering fear anymore, but there was nothing she could do about that now. She had to get back home.

But how? Theiden had warned her that Decliteur's men would have alerted the guards at the gate now.

And that was another thought that she couldn't bear to dwell on at the moment. Why was Theiden helping her, after all she had done? He had been so angry when he'd realized she had been lying to him, and she would have expected him to naturally have turned a blind eye when he saw her being chased. He'd even had the opportunity to trick her and bring the men right back to her, yet he had instead led them away and given her a chance to escape.

Why, why, why?

Lenesa shook her head and steadied herself with a hand against a rain-soaked barrel. Right now, she needed to focus on getting out of the city. Making sense of Theiden's behavior would have to come after.

She squinted through the rain in the direction of the city gate, but shook her head. If the guards were already warned of her arrival, there would be no appealing to have them let her out this time. If she had Audeste's powers of persuasion, she would have had no trouble getting by, but as it was, she'd more likely be speared through as soon as they looked at her.  Besides, it was well past the hour when a normal person would try to leave the city.

What other option did she have? Going to the bookkeeper and asking for lodging?

Lenesa shook her head again, harder this time. No, she couldn't face him like this. But she couldn't very well stand there all night, either.

What, then? Go back to hide under the ferryman's bridge like a troll?

Despite her situation, Lenesa gave a half-amused snort at the thought. That plan certainly wouldn't do. But the bridge...

Lenesa's eyes widened.

The river!

If there was a river running through the city, there would have to be a place where the river passed through the walls surrounding it, to both enter and leave. Why hadn't she thought of it before? For all the times she had visited the city, she had never thought to arrive by water. Of course, Miche-en-Mir was downstream, and Völpúnsgard up north was too far away to have many frequent travelers.

Lenesa stumbled out of the alleyway, spinning until she faced the direction of the river and nearly tripping as she hurried off in that direction. The torches mounted on the stone walls of the buildings hissed at her beneath the onslaught of rain, urging her faster.

The cobblestones were slick beneath her boots, and several times she nearly fell. Twice, she heard footsteps that sent her racing in a panic away from anyone who might discover her. It seemed an eternity until she came to a stop at the river, which flowed thick and dark as raindrops splattered upon its surface.

No one was around to see her as Lenesa descended the steps to the riverbank and began pacing in the shadows alongside the water. To go upstream, or downstream? There were bound to be more guards posted downstream, to both prevent anyone from easily sailing out of the city and to check incoming passengers from Miche-en-Mir. But going against the current would be difficult by herself.

Upstream, a voice whispered in her mind. You have the power. Use it.

The voice held the same dark, hypnotizing lull as the swirling eddies in the water before her, and at first, she instinctively rejected it. It reminded her too much of her thoughts from earlier that evening, tempting her to kill the child she had just saved. But as the idea continued to trickle through her mind, she decided to listen. If it got her out of the city in one piece, she would do it. At least this time, the voice wasn't urging her to kill anyone.