Breaking Lies: Stars and Fire

Chapter Four (Part Two)

"Well?" the woman barked.

My chest heaved. I saw a muscle work in Cedric's jaw. His hold on the knife tightened. I wasn't worth it to him. I was going to die. I shut my eyes.

"Alright then," the woman's tone was sickly sweet.

I felt the knife move centimeters, then abruptly stop when something fell to the ground. I opened my eyes. Cedric's dagger.

"There! " he shouted, "now let her go!"

"Attaboy," the woman sneered. Several men closed in around Cedric grabbing his arms and pinning them behind his back.

The woman barked orders at a man to collect our bag of food and coins. When all was collected, the woman nodded her head at one of the men by Cedric. In a flash, the butt of a sword crashed into Cedric's temple. He dropped to the ground like a sack of flour.

"You try coming after us, you die. This time, without warning," the woman hissed in my ear.

I felt her blade go and stumbled away. Within seconds, they were gone, shadows in the dark.

My knees gave out, collapsing me down. As my palms hit the ground, I sobbed out of fear and relief. I remained there shaking and crying until dawn. I had been so close to death. Too close. One more inch of the knife's movement and...

When I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder, I jerked away, gasping and yelping. It was Cedric. I crawled away from him. I didn't want to look at him right then.

"Aelia," he started, but I turned away.

"Aelia, it's alright. We're fine now."

I cursed, loudly. "Yeah, no thanks to you!"

His eyes darkened with anger. "No thanks to me?" he shouted, "if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be talking right now!"

Tears blurred my vision, but I shouted, "you were going to let her! She was about to kill me! I..."

"I would never have let her kill you," Cedric said quietly.

I barely heard him. "And she stole all of our stuff! What are we going to do now! We have no food, no weapons, no..."

"Aelia, calm down," Cedric ordered, "we're fine. We'll get new ones at the town. We're fine."

I took deep shuddering breaths. I felt the knife on my skin again and gulped nervously, pushing the memory out of my mind. I looked towards Cedric, brushing my palm against my eyes. I felt embarrassed to be crying like this, but I forced the thought away. I was allowed to cry. He waved a hand in a circular motion. "Come on."

We kicked dirt into the last remaining coals of the fire and moved on. Every time the thought of the knife came to mind I wanted to fall down and cry, but I knew I couldn't'. I glanced at Cedric. Maybe I could talk to him... talking always helped me. Then, I shook my head angrily. I would not start relying for help on a boy who barely tolerated me.

We stood at the edge of the forest, both looking ahead for a moment. Then, "alright. When we go in, just act casual," Cedric told me, "I'm counting on a watch looking for us. After all, it is worth it to expect the worst." He took a breath and continued. "And assuming I'm right about a Watch, they're going to catch us pretty quickly. So here's what we'll do. Keep your head lowered, not too down, though because that can look suspicious. Just don't look at anyone and walk somewhat quickly. Be ready to answer someone but don't cause any suspicion. And don't-"

"Cedric, slow down!" I half whisper-half shouted, "we'll be fine. Just walk normally, yeah?"

He looked at me and nodded. I nodded to myself, in a self-assurance way. I ignored my fast paced heart and started walking.