The Maze - Tor's Quest Book 2

Chapter 22

"Can't Bellak or Ellen do something?" Sam whispered to Tor as the guards were preparing to leave. He frowned at her.

"Why?" he whispered back. "We are being taken where we want to go."

"Silence." The guard who shouted had a scar running down the left side of his face. He was the same one who had struck Seth. Sam was beginning to feel deep hatred for the man.

Captain Kelly sighed. "Take it easy Damos. What harm can they possibly do by talking?" Damos grunted an inaudible reply before riding to the front of the column.

The prisoners had each been provided with a horse; the ones they had arrived on having been returned to the local garrison. All of their belongings, including the weapons they had claimed as well as Brin's bow and quiver, were in a small cart being driven by a young guard. Samson was asleep beside him. Brin, too, was in the cart, having failed to regain consciousness. Ellen had examined him and assured Sam that he would be alright once he woke up. As they headed off, the prisoners were forced into single file with their arms bound in front of them and guards flanking them on both sides. When asked, Kelly informed Tor that they would reach the capital in a little over 48 hours. It was going to be a long and tedious two days.

As it turned out, the journey was much more pleasant than any of them had expected. They were well provisioned; the food they ate was a lot better than any they had had while travelling on their own. They were treated more like guests than prisoners. By most of the guards anyway. While Captain Kelly and the majority of his men made polite conversation with their prisoners, Damos refused to speak to them, except to order them to keep in line if they appeared to be moving too far to one side or the other.

Sam learned a lot about Auxland as they rode. The Queen's Guards were all fiercely loyal to their ruler and felt deeply saddened by what was happening to their country, though they freely admitted that life had been hard for the men in their land while the Queen's mother had been alive. Only women were allowed to own property or run businesses. While the men did most of the work, it was the womenfolk who saw all of the profits. Most of the women, however, did not abuse this, treating their menfolk with kindness and respect. There were those who treated their workers, men and women alike, more like slaves, but they were in the minority and those who abuse power could be found in all countries, no matter which sex was in control.

Since the death of the previous Queen, men had slowly been taking over the country. It started with the farms and small businesses, then spread. As soon as one Duchess was overthrown by her brother, all of the women in that province were forced to surrender everything to their male relatives or face execution. Most of the husbands supported their wives and while the title deeds changed hands, their everyday life was not affected. The real problems were caused by the Lords and Dukes who were only interested in themselves and how much better their own lives would be with them in control. Peasants became just another source of income and local law and order fell apart, with the soldiers defending whoever could pay the highest, regardless of who was in the wrong.

Of all the cities in Auxland, only Tennel remained unchanged. The Queen was kept oblivious to what was occurring in her country.

"I met her once," one of the guards claimed the first night as they were sitting by the camp fire. "It was just after her tenth birthday. A ball was held in her honour and she insisted that all of the Queen's Guards who were stationed in Tennel be allowed to attend. She made an effort to personally speak to every one of us, letting us know she had been told how proud her mother had been of us and that she was honoured for us to continue serving Auxland. She won my respect that day and I know she would put this country straight if she knew what was going on."