Chapter 10
He had a bit of a swagger about him as he walked off to find a table and Kiayani couldn’t help but smile. They chose a table close to the door. That way when the others walked in they would be able to find them easily. Koran dropped their number onto the table sliding to the end of the bench seat. Kiayani joined him. A few minutes later the girl from the bar had brought their drinks. She placed the jugs at their end of the table and left to get some glasses.
Koran leant back against the back of the seat, “feels strange not having to do anything to get food other than ask and hand over some gold.”
It felt a lot more normal though for Kiayani, she just had to say that she was hungry back at home and platters would be placed in front of her in seconds. Travelling through the forest had been a radical change for her. She hadn’t realised what it meant to be truly hungry.
The bar maid came back within a minute, “You food will be here shortly.”
“Thank you,” said Kiayani smiling.
The girl raised a delicate eyebrow and swept some of her long blonde hair out of her face. She turned away after giving Koran a dazzling smile and muttered something incomprehensible. Koran poured a glass of water for himself and downed it in one long gulp. Kiayani reached out for the juice just as the door swung open. Laughing amongst themselves walked in the other boys, Mik, Leo, Rute and Yulan. Mik and Leo had their arms full with a variety of goods. Mik’s eyes swept the room, looking for Kiayani and Koran. He muttered something and the others looked over and began to move towards them. Leo dumped his goods on the end of the table and then sat down next to Kiayani.
“Chuck me a glass why don’t you?” he asked.
She pulled the stack towards the middle of the table and gave one to Leo. She then placed the jugs where everyone could reach.
“What did you get?” Kiayani asked Leo looking at the strangely shaped parcels.
Her eyes raked the large pile of assorted items.
“Mostly dried food and some other stuff,” he then looked at Koran, “we had to go to a few shops because they weren’t keen on selling us food. Us being outsiders and all.”
Leo took a sip from his glass thoughtfully.
“Seems like they have less and less food being shipped from the capital. If there was a better time to act it is now which is just perfect for us,” said Mik pouring himself some juice, “I can only hope that we are not too late.”
“I find it hard to believe no one had thought of this before,” said Kiayani placing her hands around the cool glass in front of her, “It’s not like those children’s tales are uncommon.”
“I doubt anyone would have had the nerve to,” Koran said seriously, “Speaking of which did you two find anything?”
He looked down at the twins who were sitting at the end of the table by the shopping.
“The priest wouldn’t tell us anything,” said Rute gazing down at his glass.
Yulan then said, “It was like he thought we were messing with powers above our own and that we were doing the wrong thing. Either way he wasn’t telling us everything he knew.”
“Fat load of help that is,” said Leo, “stupid old man.”
Kiayani suddenly felt the need to go to the bathroom. She stood up.
“Excuse me,” she said but the others didn’t take much notice.
She slipped off the end of the bench seat and made her way to the back of the inn where she guessed the bathroom must be. When she came back out she heard voices talking in whispers and very much like they didn’t want to be over heard. Instinctively she flattened herself against the wall.
“Did you see that girl with them?” one of the voices said, and Kiayani recognised it as the bar attendant.
“I know,” said another girl’s voice. It was high and girly making Kiayani feel like she was listening to a terrible actor from a play.
“I bet they forced her to come along,” said the blonde bar maid.
“She didn’t look to happy to me,” replied the friend.
Kiayani frowned; they must be talking about her. A jolt went through her stomach.
“I think we should make sure she’s all right,” said the blonde, “you haven’t seen those boys around before have you?”
“No, but, I heard that they were hanging around this morning outside the village.”
“Travellers do you think?” the blonde asked.
“Most definitely,” the friend whispered back, “I think we should help her out, who knows what those boys want with her.”
Kiayani’s heart skipped a beat. Those boys were friendly and she knew they wouldn’t touch her, they had too much pride. She scowled at the girls voices. There was some clashing about coming from the direction which she guessed held the kitchen.
“I’ve got to go,” the blonde said.
As inconspicuously as she could Kiayani straightened up and walked through the crowded tap room to her table. She slid down next to Leo and he muttered something to her which she didn’t hear. She just nodded and took a long drink from her glass.
Rute and Yulan were just talking about a funny cat they saw on their wanderings through the village when the blonde bar maid came back, a large platter in her arms. She placed it on the table gently. She slid it down the table, smiling broadly.
“Here you go,” she said sweetly, her voice was almost unrecognisable to Kiayani.
Frowning slightly she grabbed half a sandwich before they would all disappear. She chewed slowly while the boys ate ravenously and talked loudly between bites.
They spent the rest of the day just walking around and about the village. Kiayani spent most of that time alone sitting on a bench. While the others ran off to look in shops and explore she just sat and thought. Those girls seemed like they were up to something. After an hour or so however she felt like reading so she got up, intending to go upstairs to her room and fetch her book. However at that very moment the door of the inn swung open and the blond bar attendant walked out with another girl. She must have been the friend she was talking to earlier for they were both chatting away again. The friend’s small eyes were raking the square for any sign of Kiayani. She was short and slightly overweight, her cheeks looking very enlarged against her tiny features.
Avoiding the gaze Kiayani tried to blend in with the bench and she watched only out of the corner of her eye. What were those two intending to do? Then even with all of the noise of people moving around the shops she could hear the girls idle chatter stop. They must have found her because a new pair of footsteps echoed through the square.
Kiayani hoped that they hadn’t seen her, she didn’t want to get into trouble. Koran had specifically said that they were staying for one night only. She closed her eyes.
“Are you okay?” it was the blonde’s voice and a hand rested on her shoulder.
Nerves tingled from the spot where she was touched. Kiayani’s eyes fluttered open.
“I’m fine,” she said calmly.
“Are you sure?” the friend asked, her hand closing around one of her arms.
“Yes,” she said confidently.
The blonde wrapped her other hand around her free shoulder. Both girls were now leaning over her.
“Why don’t you come with us?” asked the friend, smiling with pointed teeth.
Before she could protest they had pulled her forward off of the bench towards them.
“It’s okay,” said the blonde, patting her with a free hand, “those boys won’t hurt you now.”
“But I’m fine,” she said loudly trying to pull out of their talon like grip. A pair of nails dug into her arm.
The two girls steered her away from the street, pulling her along behind them. They slid through a door into the hallway of a home. The blond snapped the door shut behind them. They released their grip on her arms but a hand found her shoulder and pushed her into a living room.
“Why don’t you take a seat,” said the friend.
Nervously she sat down onto a footstool as close to the door as she could get. She could easily outrun those two girls if need be. The forest had strengthened her in many ways.
“What do you want?” she said icily, feeling dislike for them begin to mount. What right did they have to drag her in here and question her?
The blond girl looked very taken aback as she sat down.
“We want to help you,” she said.
“I don’t need any help.”
“It’s okay,” the friend said soothingly, “those boys can’t hear you here. I’m Maria and this is Lacy,” she nodded her head toward the blond.
The girl called Lacy spoke, “tell us how you came to be with those boys and why you were with them.”
“It’s none of your business,” she snapped standing up.
Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? At her movement Maria grabbed her arm and gave it a slight twist, “we are not letting you leave until you tell us what’s wrong.”
The chubby girl gave a little snare of a smile. Kiayani sat back down at once.
She had to think fast, they were determined to keep her. So like in the forest when she had met the boys she lied.
“They are my brothers,” she said quickly trying to sound real, “the twins are my brothers.”
The blond looked at her suspiciously.
“What are their names?” Lacy asked quickly.
“Rute and Yulan,” she answered immediately.
“Really?” she gave a cunning smile.
The blonde’s eyes flicked and Maria laughed.
“Okay,” she choked, “we’ll let you go-.”
“Thank you,” Kiayani said standing up.
“On one condition however,” said Lacy.
“What?” Kiayani said in a very annoyed tone.
The girls looked at each other with identical grins.
“You show us you know which is which,” said Maria, “They are identical but it shouldn’t be a problem for their sister.”
Kiayani looked at them in disbelief. Why were they being so cruel? Her stomach dropped slightly at the thought of having to identify which was which. Did she know them well enough to pick them apart?
“Okay,” she replied. If it would make them happy she would do it. She just prayed that she could get out of this mess herself.
Trying to hide their grins the girls took her back outside keeping firm holds on her.
“When they come past you will address Rute,” Maria explained.
“Mix them up and you will have to wait until they leave before we can let you go,” Lacy giggled.
They released their grips and she left the house, walking back over to the bench where she was sitting earlier, the girls shadowing her footsteps. She sat on the bench and tried to work out the slight differences in the twins faces but her memory was not being kind to her.
Her clock ticked on her wrist and nerves built up inside her blood. She would surely get it wrong, but even if she did she was certain that the boys wouldn’t leave without her.
At last the village clock chimed six rings. The street was almost empty so Kiayani saw the boys approach straight away. They saw her and made their way to her. She smiled and looked at the twins’ uncertainty. She stared foolishly at them while they walked. She knew there was something that really told them apart but she couldn’t remember for the life of her.
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