The tunnel really wasn't too bad. It weaved through the massive wall around the kingdom. Cracks in the stone allowed enough light in so that we weren't in total darkness like the last time.
Actually, it was mildly comforting. Not that it was a nice place or anything, but at least for the moment, we were making real progress without having to worry about being seen. But it was a while before we found the exit. Even if I'd known where we started from, I wouldn't have any idea where we ended up. Which was probably the idea. Someone trying to escape this way would want plenty of distance between where they disappeared inside the kingdom and where they wound up on the other side of the wall.
As expected, when Reed and I emerged through the opening, nothing was familiar. This definitely wasn't any place I'd been before, and it wasn't any place I'd want to be again. It was the slums. An alley in the slums, to be exact.
I hadn't even known the kingdom contained this sort of area, but that was stupid. After all, the lower class had to live somewhere. I'd just never given it much thought before.
Which was yet another reminder of how spoiled and self-centered I'd been.
"Lovely..." Reed mumbled, taking in the piles of rotting garbage and puddles of mysterious liquid that I hoped was just dirty water. The smell was unbelievable.
He glanced at me. "Well let's not waste time, sight-seeing."
If it wouldn't have taken precious oxygen, I'd have responded. Instead I nodded and hurried after him.
I was accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the busier areas of the kingdom, but I'd never seen or heard anything like what I was experiencing now. It was just so...lively and loud. Many of the people were crude. I suppose while the upper class was present, the other classes behaved with more civility. But this...I'd never even heard some of these words. Of the ones I could distinguish, at least.
There were beggars and brothels, and men who were obviously drunk, staggering around or passed out. Scantily clad women solicited themselves from doorways despite the fact that it wasn't even dark yet, and dirty, bedraggled children ran every which way. Everywhere you looked, someone was hustling somewhere or shouting.
I didn't want to prolong my time in this place, especially since it was getting close to sunset, but several times I stopped and stared, only realizing I was doing it when Reed would pull me along.
I couldn't seem to help it. It was all so astonishing and terrible. I'd realized that one building was a brothel by the activity that was easily seen through the window. One woman on the street was slapping a child and screaming at him for losing a penny. And perhaps the most shocking of all was when I saw the child who couldn't have been more than six-years-old, pick the pocket of an unconscious man in the street, and then with a vicious kick, scurry off before anyone else even noticed him.
My parents would probably be horrified if they knew where I was, and I was utterly grateful to look nothing at all like myself.
I was also glad that I wasn't carrying Cara's basket any longer. Once the food was gone, there hadn't been much reason to carry it. Reed and I divided up the few things that had been left, and put them in our pockets. Then Reed had advised me to tuck the dagger away where it wasn't so obvious. I wondered what sort of target I'd have been if Reed hadn't thought ahead.
"Out of the way, clumsy fool!"
I was roughly shoved backward and nearly lost my balance on the dirt road. Shocked, I stared at the large woman who had pushed me, forgetting Reed's advice to not make eye contact.
"Nearly run me over!" she barked. "Try watchin' where you're goin'!"
As this woman was probably close to three times my size, I thought the danger of me running her over was pretty slim.
"I-I'm sorry," I stammered, trapped in her angry gaze.
Her beady eyes narrowed on my face, apparently realizing I wasn't the boy I first appeared to be.
"Terribly sorry," Reed said, appearing at my side. "Won't happen again."
The woman looked as if she was ready to argue with him - for what I don't know - but he yanked me away before she could get the words out.
We hurried down the bustling street without looking back, and when we were far enough from the awful woman, Reed slowed slightly and shot me a pointed look, his meaning clear - pay attention.
Vowing to be abundantly more attentive, I bit my lip and followed closely beside him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I tried very hard to keep up with Reed. The reason for his urgency was obvious - it was long passed sunset, and this was not a great place to be caught at night, though it probably wasn't too bad in the day time. We'd clearly crossed the border from the lower class neighborhoods and had made our way into middle class territory.
The buildings here actually looked inhabitable, and there was no garbage or other mysterious obstacles in the streets as had been so prevalent a short while ago. Flowers and trees even decorated the area - an attempt to draw potential customers to the numerous shops lining the street.
But at night, it was eerie. There weren't many respectable looking homes on these streets and the merchants had all gone for the day, leaving quiet, darkened shops, interspersed with shadowy doorways and alleys. More than once, I'd been startled almost into screaming by an animal scurrying from one hiding place to the next.
I'd been lagging behind...well for most of our journey, but especially after my confrontation with that woman. Once we were more or less out of danger, my heart had calmed and I was left feeling drained.
Of course, I wanted to go home more than anything in the world, but I was just so tired and sore. Reed seemed to have boundless energy. Not to mention, he was much taller than me and his strides were twice as long.
I kept telling myself we were almost there, but that incident had probably been two hours ago and home still seemed ages away. I would have thought we were going in circles if not for the blatant change in scenery. Our progress was just taking much longer than I would have liked. After so many hours of hustling along, you'd think we would be close by now.
Clearly I'd never appreciated just how large the kingdom was.
Feeling the familiar, uncomfortable prick under my foot, I stopped and crouched down to free the pebble that found its way into my shoe. I was about to call to Reed to wait, but he must have sensed it without me having to alert him. Pausing, he turned back. His eyes were only on me for a second before his attention was drawn to the scruffy man who suddenly appeared from the large doorway and viciously put a knife in his face.
Warily, Reed watched the man and held up his empty hands in a show of compliance.
"Empty those pockets, Mate," the man said harshly. "Maybe I'll let you live."
"I don't have anything of value," Reed lied, stalling. He, of course, still had my locket.
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"
Common sense told me that I should be afraid. This man was obviously a murderous lunatic, but I only felt anger. After all we'd been through! After everything Reed had done to help me! This disgusting man was ready to drive a knife in his chest for nothing! How many men had he already killed for the possibility of a few pennies?
Grateful to have it, I whipped the dagger from my waistband, quickly closed the distance, and without a second thought held the considerable blade to the man's throat.
"Drop it," I hissed.
He hesitated, obviously surprised, and I pressed the dagger a little harder against his skin.
Realizing that I meant it, his knife - pathetic by comparison - clattered to the ground before he mirrored Reed's pose with his hands in the air.
Glaring at him, Reed relaxed and bent to retrieve the knife.
Now what? I couldn't kill this man the way he probably deserved, but we couldn't just let him go either. What would stop him from following us and attacking again?
"Step back," Reed said to me, his eyes still on the deviant between us.
Hesitantly, I did what he asked, keeping my dagger firmly in hand and praying I wouldn't have to try to use it again. My adrenalin was fading fast and my hands began to shake.
Once I was clear of him, Reed aimed a well-placed fist to the man's jaw. Unconscious, he slumped to the ground without a sound.
Surprised, I stared at Reed. I suppose it was the logical solution, but I hadn't been expecting it. Reed seemed so mild mannered, it was surprising to learn that he knew how to throw a decent punch, let alone one that could knock someone out cold. Why would he ever have the motivation to learn?
He only shrugged. "He'd have followed us and tried again."
So I guess we were on the same page at least.
Reed glanced around nervously, tucking the knife away. "Come on," he said urgently. "We need to get out of here."
He got no argument from me. I carefully returned my dagger to it's hiding place and followed on, vowing to keep much more alert.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once again the scenery indicated our progress, and it was such a relief when things started looking familiar. Finally!
I still didn't really know where I was, but we were getting close. We'd left those dreadful places far behind and were now amidst the wealthy parts of the kingdom.
I was even able to see the castle in the distance.
Alex was so close! I wanted to shout to him, but of course we were still miles away.
As elated as I was at being so near my family, I was also anxious. This place wasn't nearly as abandoned as where we'd just come from. Which was nice since we probably wouldn't have to worry about robbers, but the chance of running into a soldier was a real possibility.
Patrols were relatively normal - the wealthy wanted to be protected after all, but I got the sense that the numbers and frequency with which they made their rounds had greatly increased because of me.
Our trek, which should have taken a few hours at most, seemed endless thanks to the fact that we could no longer walk along, hoping no one would look twice at us. Under the best of circumstances, two people who appeared as Reed and I did - young men with very little money - would be highly suspect in this area at this time of night, and this was nowhere near the best circumstance. Reed and I had to hurry from one shadowy area to the next, stopping far too often in order to hide. There were plenty of bushes and other foliage to blend in with often enough, but having to travel this way made our trip much much longer.
Eventually we neared the castle and I wanted so badly to storm the gates and demand to be let in. Alex would protect me. He would get me home in no time at all. But I couldn't trust the soldiers at the gates. Alex was undoubtedly sleeping by this hour and couldn't possibly hear me if I called to him from so far away.
For the first time in my life, I realized what an advantage being royalty offered. If I accepted Alex's proposal, there's no way any soldier would openly stand against his future queen.
Future queen! I found myself gasping at the idea. Had I really just thought of myself that way? And not in a horrible and stifling sense, but as a benefit?
"You alright?" Reed asked.
I hadn't realized that I'd stopped walking and was staring toward the castle.
Shaking myself back to reality, I looked at him. "Fine. Just wishing this was over. That's all."
Reed looked slightly skeptical, but didn't push.
"Let's finish it then."
I nodded and gestured in the way we needed to go. It made for a nice change to be able to offer something of value.