I love the ending of this chapter and I hope you do too.
I needed to write something 'good' and somehow this story once again came to my aide.
-
Imre was starving by the time evening fell.
He rested his head against the back of the tree he had finally collapsed against and tried to catch his breath. His heartbeat was sounding in his shoulder and list legs felt near collapse. He had been running off and on for hours through the woods and his legs were protesting at the strange use. It had been so long since he had run that his body had almost forgotten how to do it. Slow steps with large weights had been his legs only requirement for so long that running seemed strange and awkward and used aspects of his muscle that he had not used in months.
It was strange how the aching of his muscles felt good for being different.
Listening for any sound Imre closed his eyes to try and focus and hear if anyone else was there in the woods following.
An hour after leaving the camp behind he had heard the faint sound of yelling, it had made him pick up the pace to put as much distance as possible between himself and Nicholi. One thing that stood in his advantage was there were not enough Tamerian soldiers with is group to send out a full search party. The only people who would be looking for him would be Nicholi and the two other Tamerian's who had ridden in with him.
Having anyone in pursuit was a bad thing.
Imre's stomach took his rest as its opportunity to growl loudly at its emptiness. He had not eaten since the morning ration and it had been far from filling.
Hunger and fatigue weighed down on him.
To sleep was to allow the potential of them finding him unaware...but if he didn't sleep he couldn't keep going and he had been.
"Just a few moments..." he told himself and closed his eyes.
-
A branch cracked.
Imre's woke, his body snapping to attention.
Through the darkness Imre's eyes searched the woods until they were met with a pair of glowing eyes.
One hand went to the dagger pulling it out slowly...if it was a bear or a Wolven would he even be able to right it off with the tiny blade?
The animals head turned and Imre relaxed catching the shape of a deer.
The breath he had been holding slowly released and the deer's ear flickered towards him before it bounded off through the woods leaving him alone.
Imre let his head tilt back resting against the bark of the tree.
How far had he come?
How much distance had he put between himself and Nicholi and the group he had been with?
If...no...when Nicholi came looking for him on horseback trudging through the woods would mean nothing against superior speed.
As if answering his question the sound of water rose up to meet Imre's ears.
The Canal.
He would swim.
Or rather he would let the water carry him down faster than he could ever walk.
The Shaynari did not pull at night.
Any urgent messages went by horseback on the road, it was the ships that carried goods and wares and slaves and those did not need to be pulled by night, after all the Tamerian slave drivers enjoyed sleeping when the stars were out.
All he had to do was make sure that he avoided being seen by the guards posted at each lock. So he would ride the river until the night torches flickered into view then walk the distance past them through the woods then slip back into the water once more when it was safe.
It was a dangerous plan, and at the same time the safest course of action.
He could not survive in the woods without food and water, and he did not know which plants could be eaten aside from a few berry bushes and the blessed Kirrini flowers.
As soon as he thought of the flowers he thought of Adira and that tiny ring of hers. How out of place it had looked next to her more expensive jewelry and how seeing it there let him know she cared more for meaning than money.
She is in Shaynaria too, his mind whispered.
"I can not see her again," he answered quietly to the night.
If he did he would be tempted to stay with her...and that would only bring ruin and pain for them both.
The banks of the Canal were silent and empty when he reached them. He double checked the dagger in its sheath and then walked into the water. As soon as it passed his knees the bank dropped off right away and he was punched into the warm water.
He surface almost immediately and arranged his body so that his legs were headed down first and his head after. There were no rocks or rapids on the canal. They had long since been removed in order to keep the hulls of the ships safe from damage. He was surprised at how swiftly the water was flowing though and kept his head above water at a sharper angle in order to keep his eyes front and open watching for the lights of the next lock.
It was only about an hour before the torches came into view and Imre turned his body fighting against the current he swam to the bank and managed to pull himself up onto the side despite his protesting limbs.
With shaking arms he lay flat on his back against the bank and stared up at the stars.
Could he manage another length tonight before the sun rose?
You have to, he told himself.
Just one more and then he could rest once the sun had already risen.
Making his way into the woods Imre walked on the edge just outside of view. It was a good two hours before he felt safe enough to try getting back into the canal.
On the opposite bank he saw another group of Shaynari Canal slaves laying deep in sleep and he wondered if there were any faces there that he might have recognized.
There was nothing he could do to help them and it felt strange and wrong to be free in the way he was now.
Verek was dead.
He still couldn't believe it.
The man who had tormented him all these years was gone.
He tried to touch you...Imre closed his eyes tight against the memory of Verek pinning him down on the forest floor. The feel of his hand sweeping over his skin. Despite his empty stomach Imre dry heaved.
He tried to hold back the action and failed.
He turned back to the woods worried the sound would across the water or draw attention. His stomach wrenched and he heaved again.
His arms were strong, carved by years of pulling, but they had not been strong enough to fight Verek off.
Imre shook violently and leaned back against a the bark of the tree nearest him.
This time when he closed his lids he saw amber irises looking back.
He hated that she would understand. That if he told her she would hold and comfort him and know exactly how it felt.
This world is vile, he ground his teeth.
And yet there are those who are still kind, his mind pressed pushing Adira forward in his thoughts.
He remembered the bruises on her legs.
Did she know too?
The thought made him sick and he wretched again, this time what little had been in his stomach came up and he spat out the acidic taste from his mouth.
Despite his earlier thought...Despite knowing it was a bad idea...
He had to see Adira.
When he got back to Shaynari, he had to risk tracking down the young Tamerian woman who had saved his life regardless of the danger the danger. He had to know she was okay.
I won't talk with her, he told himself.
I won't even let her see me or get to close, but I need to know...I need to know she is okay.
Imre closed his eyes and breathed in deep, and a faint familiar smell caught his attention.
Surely it was only his mind playing tricks, giving false hope.
When Imre opened his eyes the starlight seemed brighter and there across from him, growing atop a small boulder was a tiny patch of Kirrini flowers.
-
Food, healing, medicine and hope in a few small blooms.