Sage Eyes: Reawakening

Chapter 6.2

"Father, mother, please listen to me. You have to leave this building. It's not safe." Even in their seats, she wouldn't stop.

King George had just about enough of his daughter's heroics. His face had begun to turn red, whether from frustration or embarrassment, he didn't know which. Martha tried to calm him down, but Tiffany had gone too far. Brekham kept sending them nasty looks without missing a beat of his prepared speech. People in the audience muttered and whispered, most likely for seeing Mary questioning the Snake Eye thief, but word had probably gotten out about Tiffany's outburst.

"Tiffany, you're likely to bring down the Dread Lords' wrath upon us all by yourself. That thief sat there for a while without attacking me, even though he had the chance. I'm safe right where I am."

Tiffany gritted her teeth and folded her arms, but didn't say anything more. Her mother patted her on the back, but King George refused to meet her eyes. The nerve of the girl, embarrassing him in front of practically his entire kingdom. What ever happened to the little baby who cooed and smiled and put everything she could find into her mouth?

He put a hand to his temple and counted to ten, breathing in and out. A technique learned as a king, it helped him more as a father. He understood that many people in his kingdom hadn't received an extensive education, they fought over petty issues, and they put themselves in shortsighted situations that only caused problems. He could live with that. He had just assumed that his daughter with her education had risen above it.

With everything going on, he had missed most of the ceremony. Now had come the time to bow down and call out for the Judge Lords to come down and take control. He did it every year, even though it would cost him his job. Did they sense he didn't want to hand over the kingdom to them, and so judged him unworthy? You can take my daughter instead, he bargained in his mind.

"The time has come!" Judge Brekham nearly yelled, his beard waving in excitement, along with his blue robes. "Everyone, bow to the Judge Lords! Bow to Justice! Make ready to pledge yourselves to betterment, to obeying the law, to obtaining the golden age!"

Each person prostrated themselves on the cold ground, with enough room taken into consideration between rows of chairs for this very purpose. Everyone bowed and touched their noses to the floor, reminding them that only obedience allowed one to look up with hope, that one could not escape justice, even after death, and that a perfect society existed through perfectly just citizens, whom they had not yet become.

"Oh, wise Judge Lords..." Brekham began.

"Oh, wise Judge Lords..." the audience repeated, not all in sync, so it sounded more like a deep thunder than actual words.

Tiffany made a dramatic show of going down and prostrating herself. George did his best to ignore her. He had just begun to close his eyes when he heard the flit of an arrow pass him by. Startled, he looked up and saw an arrow embedded in the chair above him, still quivering.

"What's going on...?" King George whispered, right in the middle of the ceremony. No one else seemed to notice, except Tiffany, who gave him an I-told-you-so look. He ignored her look and fell to his soldiering instincts, rushing over and grabbing Tiffany and Martha and hiding them all behind their chairs.

"Now do you believe me?" Tiffany asked in a remarkably calm voice, despite having her fears come true.

"Ok, I believe you!" King George hissed, looked around at his subjects praying with the high judge. No one would hear their screams if the archer actually hit them. "What do we do now?"

"...May all the enemies of justice find punishment..." Brekham continued.

"...May all the enemies of justice find punishment..." came the reply. King George almost wanted to join in, to forget someone wanted to kill him, but the need to protect his girls overwhelmed that desire.

"Father, do you trust me?" Tiffany asked, holding out her hand.

"Yes, I trust you. We need to get out of here."

"Do you really trust me?"

"Now is not the time, Tiffany!"

"Father, if you trust me, I can get us to safety."

"Really? How?"

"Just come with me."

How had she known to prepare for this? King George saw his hands quivering worse than the arrow, after his little brush with death. Hesitantly, he took Tiffany's hand. Martha took his, and they all smiled at each other.

King George grabbed the arrow and they hurried behind the benches. Tiffany led them to the back, to an entrance reserved for the judges. King George chose to ignore the fact that she shouldn't know about that. They opened the door just as the chant started dying down. He hoped the Judge Lords would understand his lack of devotion this year.

"There are some horses outside," Tiffany said. "Just in case we needed to escape quickly. I thought Snake Eyes would attack after their escape."

"Where do you plan to go?" George asked, wondering where these plans came from. Had someone helped her?

"Just follow me. Best not to let them find out."