We unhitch some cart horses from the front of the prison, and then make our slow, careful way over to my father's home. It is night by the time Kane mends all my weaponry, and the cover of darkness helps shield our excursion. The lionesses outside the gate no longer look like they are roaring in defiance.
Now, they are crying for help.
"Wait," Kane slows, looking comical while riding upon the smaller horse, nearly a pony, that must bear his godly weight. He'd enchanted it first though, so that it'd be ten times stronger for the time being.
It's still damned funny.
"Why should we wait? We should hurry before Elio's coronation."
Kane gestures in silence to the front gates of the Ngayoh estate. I see them then, the two shadows hovering at the front, wielding spears and scimitars.
Oh, Elio, how terribly sweet.
You think those men will stop me.
You should have sent your army.
I wave at Kane, and he stays back with a worried tilt to his lips. "You're going alone?"
"It's my father's house." I tell him. "I'll be the one to rid it of any vermin."
Kane nods as I cast a glance back at him, seeing how one of my own, blood-moon eyes is staring back out at me from the expanse of his scarred face. It's unnerving, like seeing one half of yourself in a mirror. "Whatever you say, Champion."
I draw the piss-yellow hood of the prison guard's cloak over my curls, making sure to only show the disfigured part of my face. I trot forwards, making so the horse walks slowly, as though we're both exhausted from a long journey. I lift one of my hands, beckoning with my palm-up. "Please, sirs." I croak, my voice the rattle of an old woman. "I've been travelling so long to see a physician within the city. I need water. Water, and I'll give you my blessing."
One of them acts just as I thought he would. He waves me away and spits, "get out of here, hag. Can't you see we're working here? Go beg from someone else."
The other one, though, surprises me. He shrugs, takes out his canteen, and goes to my father's well to get something for me to drink.
"Here you go, mother." He bows respectfully when he hands it to me.
Stunned, I take the canteen from his hands and sip from it, lips slurping and water sloshing over the edge of the rim. I wipe my mouth and make a big fuss with the canteen.
"Thank you." I curl my hands around the canteen. "I'm sorry I have to do this."
I ram it over his head, and he slumps to the ground.
"Hey!"
The rude guard runs at me. My horse rears up, but I roll off it, taking most of the impact in my shoulder as I land clumsily backwards. The guard unsheathes his blade, lifting it to kill me. I roll away last second, and pull out my scimitar.
His blade hits the dirt beside my head.
Grip clumsy from my blisters during my stay in the Pit, I can't manage to disarm him. Instead, I kick at his knees the next time he comes at me. Being shorter than him, he swings high over my head. Another kick, and the man has fallen to the ground, screaming from when I went for his kneecaps. One thrust of my blade, and it's over.
The rude man slumps to the ground, sputtering. "Y-you... bit—."
He falls over. I strip off the prison guard's piss-yellow cloak and tear it into lengths of cord to bind the nicer young man. I drag his unconscious body over to my kitchens, setting his half-full water canteen in his lap.
We need some good people left in this world.
Gods know I'm not one.
***
Champions,
Have a good upcoming week!
-Sophia