Chapter 16
It was just their luck that they had managed to land in a pitfall. Of all the places in the forest that those men could set up camp it had to be here. Her breathing eventually calmed down and fear and worry sank in. she desperately wanted to help her friends but she didn’t have the slightest idea how.
A few hours later the man came back to find Kiayani sitting on the floor staring at the opposite wall. She had long stopped crying and the tears had stained her face with dirty long streaks.
“You,” he barked at her, she looked up at him, “You are to come with me. Remember that your friends get hurt if you try to run.”
She nodded that she understood and got onto her feet. She wiped her face with her sleeve. Apprehension of what she might be required to do, or what they might do to her, put her on edge. She followed him mutely out of the hut.
“You are to tell friends that they are going to be sold as slaves, then come back here immediately,” he directed her.
He pointed her towards the trees that surrounded the camp clearing and set her off on her way. She walked slowly across the campsite trying to not draw attention to herself. Kiayani found the boys bound to the trees on the other side of the clearing.
“Kiayani!” exclaimed Leo when he saw her.
She looked at him sadly. Koran and Mik’s faces showed relief that she was okay. The twins looked very uncomfortable, being bound with an extra rope each and the rope being doubly as tight.
She approached them warily, very aware of the guard’s eyes following her.
She couldn’t make eye contact with them as she spoke, “I’ve been told to tell you that you are going t-to,” her voice cracked and she had to hold back a sob, “I’m really sorry.”
“Kiayani what’s wrong?” Mik asked her gently.
A bruise on his cheek caught her eye, they would do everything to protect her yet she could give them nothing in return.
“They are going to sell you as slaves,” she said very quickly before muttering a single, “sorry,” and then turning away.
She hated being the bearer of bad news and she felt so terrible being able to walk around almost freely whilst they were stuck tied to trees. She walked away as fast as she could back to the centre hut. The man wasn’t there so she sat down against the wall closing her eyes. If only she was a strong or as powerful as the boys. They would see her as a threat perhaps. But she was only a girl and girls were always weak in the eye of a man. Kiayani blinked at looked up, her mind began racing. She could do anything and they wouldn’t suspect that it was her. It was very risky though; they made it very clear that if she played up that the boys would suffer. Her heart was pounding, but, she needed to take a risk or two. She hated the idea of putting the boy’s lives in danger but she had to do something. Anything.
She was so lost in thought that she jumped when the man came back for her. He raised his eyebrows at her shocked expression.
“Girl, you to make fire,” he said harshly handing her a flint.
She nodded fiercely and hurried off in the direction he pointed her. She walked until she found the fire pit. Several men were lounging around it and seeing Kiayani approach one of them jumped to his feet and walked towards her. He was saying something that she couldn’t understand in their funny language. He had his long hair tied at the back off his neck and he had a very square face. She tried to ignore him but he placed a hand on her shoulder holding her in place. He said something again and Kiayani felt her body flood with fear.
“I don’t understand,” she said, her voice quavering.
He talked again shaking his head.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re saying,” she said clearly, trying to keep the note of fear out of her voice.
He laughed and place his free hand on her other shoulder. Panic began to set in and she tried to push the man away. Her jerky attempts to free herself gave him enough reason to slap her hard across the face. She fell to the ground her face stinging and tears leaking down her face. He gave her a kick in the leg before muttering something as he walked away.
Feeling as though she had lost all of her dignity she tried to pull herself to her feet, very aware of the blood that was running down her chin from her noise. The men laughed again and she felt so frail and helpless. Doing her best to try ignore them, she made her way over to examine the fire pit. There was already a good supply of wood there so she set about putting it together and setting it alight. As she sorted through the wood supply for tinder she found a small plant growing by the pile.
She instantly recognized it from a few weeks ago. Yulan had pointed it out to her one time while they were practising slinging. It was a zamilia, or as Rute put it, sleep smoke. If you ever saw it you are to never pick it or build a fire near it. Yulan told her that if it caught on fire it would secrete a gas which would knock you out for a few hours.
The clogs were turning in her brain. Without really thinking she plucked the little plant and placed it in her pocket. A plan was forming in her mind. She built up the fire carefully, placing the little plant at the very centre. In the time it took her to have it ready to set alight at least half of the men were lounging around the fire pit. Trying to ignore the shouts of the men she pulled the flint from her pocket with shaking fingers. She knelt down beside the fire and placed the flint on the ground. She pulled off her shoe and reluctantly her sock. She put her shoe back on and picked up the flint again. It took three strikes of the flint to get the fire going properly. Then quickly she placed the sock over her mouth, holding in place with her hand. Any moment she would smell the gas of the zamilia as it caught alight. She stood up and backed away from the fire slowly, trying to not look at all suspicious.
She waited patiently with the sock over her mouth and noise, hopping the men would think she was using it just to keep out the smoke. Kiayani watched more men arrive and some of them bat their eyelids sleepily. She smiled behind the sock when some of the men yawned. She was happy to see that none of them noticed that anything was wrong. Then almost all at once they all slumped from the log seats and began to snore. The noise was incredible.
Making sure to not breathe any of the gas in she crept forward towards the nearest man. She took a knife from his belt with trembling fingers. Then trying to not make a sound she snuck away to the edge of the clearing where the boys were. Then she froze. They still had a guard sitting there. How could she draw him away or talk to the boys without looking to suspicious? The guard looked up at her and she avoided his gaze trying to look as though she had a purpose.
“Kiayani!” exclaimed Leo.
The others looked up at her and she had to hold her face straight. She walked straight to Koran who was the furthest away from the guard. She stood only inches from his face.
“I’ve knocked them out with a zamilia,” she breathed and his eyes lit up, “I don’t know how long it will last but,” she moved closer and pulled the knife out of her pocket, “I’m going to do everything I can to help you.”
He remained silent as she slowly sawed at the rope binding his hands. She moved even closer so that the guard wouldn’t see what she was going, resting her head on his shoulder. He didn’t react to her touch. Once his hand was almost free she pressed the handle of the knife into his fingers gently and they closed tight around it.
“Your packs are in the third hut on the left of the centre hut,” she breathed into his ear.
“Thank you,” he whispered closing his eyes.
“Be safe,” she said and without thinking she kissed his cheek lightly.
There was a shout and the guard was walking towards her and Koran. Without looking back she walked back to the fire pit. She had no idea how long they had left to get away, but she hoped it was enough. However before she could get more than a few metres away there was a shout from the fire pit. The sound of raised voices filled her ears and she froze on the spot. She turned around to look at the guard who was staring at her and a wide grin spread across his face. Expressions of horror adorned the boy’s faces and she stayed perfectly still, unable to move for the fear that was filling her body.
She could hear the sounds of multiple running feet as she knew the other men raced towards her. One of them yelled something very loudly that she didn’t understand. The guard was coming closer to her. She tried to get the boys attention by looking at them directly. Why don’t they run? She thought looking at them in horror. Why don’t they just leave me and escape? They were too fixated by the incoming swarm to think about themselves however. The man who had spoken to them in her language stepped forward as the group of men came to a halt.
“You have disobeyed us!” he shouted pointing at her with a grubby finger, “you shall be punished.”
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