Rebel

Chapter 6

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise." 

She nodded slowly, calming herself little by little. 

"We can talk more about this when it's just you and I together. I don't want to drag Ana into too much with Sabel still asleep back home." 

Another nod was given as her response, but curiosity flit across her eyes at something that had been said by Devlyn. Something that made zero sense to her. 

"Still asleep? It's after the noon hour. Shouldn't your friend be up, it's not healthy for him to be sleeping so long." 

A chuckle slipped from Devlyn once more, drawing more curiosity from Amaria. He could see it as he glanced down at her and just as quickly back up to the road ahead of them. 

"Don't worry about Sabel, the sleep will do him good." 

"The sleep would have done me good as well, but you don't see me complaining about being woken up." 

Both Amaria and Devlyn turned their attention towards Ananke, who had been rather quiet up until now. Amaria had nearly forgotten that she was even there with them as quiet as she had been. 

"I highly doubt that. You've always had an attitude to some degree." 

Amaria smiled, holding back her laughter that wanted to explode from her at Devlyn's small jest. He on the other hand laughed at the annoyed pout that had found its way onto Ananke's face. It wasn't every day that someone could make the fiery woman pout, so Devlyn saw this as quite the feat. 

"Anyway, enough about my husband. He isn't the reason we are here. Plus, the village is coming into view." 

Looking back in the direction of the village, Amaria's nerves began to tense as she became a little on edge. She was becoming anxious and overly nervous about what they could possibly find out about her master. She could only pray that none of the accusations were true. 

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As the trio entered the village, it was painfully obvious that something was very, very wrong. The entire atmosphere was filled with a sense of doom and gloom. There weren't very many people roaming the streets when they should be filled with the working men and women of the village. The few small houses that did make up the village all had their shutters closed as if hiding or keeping something out. Regardless of how empty the village felt, the trio still felt as if they were being watched from every angle. The village was nothing as Amaria had remembered it. 

"What happened here? Where have all the people gone?" 

Looking around, worry for the people that she use to live among filled Amaria rather quickly. The few people that did roam the street looked emaciated and ready to drop at any given second. It broke her heart to see, but it only made her want to figure out what had happened even more. 

"I don't know." 

"The people are still around, I can smell them nearby. They're in the houses hiding away." 

Stopping the horse, Devlyn shot a quick glance towards Ananke only to look at Amaria. It didn't seem as if she had heard what had been said. If she had, she wasn't saying anything about it. 

Leaning over just a bit, Amaria let Devlyn swing his leg over so he could climb down off the horse before her. Once he was down, she waited till he had turned to face her to get off the horse herself. She rested her hands upon Devlyn's shoulders, supporting herself so she wouldn't fall. He reached up, placing his hands squarely on her waist to help her down off the horse.