Not Out Of the Woods Yet

Posted on Fri Dec 16th, 2016 @ 11:26am by Kalikana (Kali)

601 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Shadow Dance
Location: Qunari Territory, Jenefra
Timeline: Day 3, morning

ON

Kali woke suddenly, her heart pounding in her chest. What had awakened her? She held still, her breathing slow to not draw any undue attention. She'd learned well over the past year to not move or make a sound when something disturbed her sleep. After her period of mourning she'd tried to get back to a semi-normal routine, but the palace staff kept insisting that she needed to stay away to show her respect for her mother. She even tried to attend council meetings like she used to do with her mother, but the door stewards had orders to keep her out.

After that, she began to spend long hours in the palace library reading over the old journals and histories. No one cared about them any more, but she was grateful that her father had not succeeded in his attempts to remove them. She learned much about ancient history, the departure of the Qunari, and the changes that brought about the monarchy that existed today. It was while she was locked away in the library that the semi-regular nightly visits began. She would wake in the night to find that someone had entered her room. Sometimes, the intruder searched her drawers, sometimes he or she simply stood and watched Kali. She quickly learned to pretend to be asleep and observe. She'd found the gardeners spying on her when she was outside, too. Like now, she'd taken to hiding in the heavy foliage.

When she settled in for the night, she'd piled fallen leaves and mulch over her to give her warmth in the chill spring air. Now she was grateful for that added protection. Hopefully, who or whatever was outside would not look beyond the leaves that hung almost to the ground, protecting her hiding place.

A twig snapped. Then she heard the distinct sound of a footfall. Her instincts had been correct. She glanced up at the nearest branch. It was too high to climb without the risk of drawing attention to herself. So she slowly turned her head to the side where she could see the light of early morning through the leaves. A large shadow passed by. It was too large for a dog -- which would have caught her scent, and too small for a bear. Qunari? Possibly, but there was a stealthiness about it that made her think it was Jenefran. Besides, Orvack said there would be no Qunari to help her, so why would they care where she went? Therefore, it had to be Jenefran. Then it passed the light and she saw legs. The clothing was the same as that of the assassins who'd followed her to the river. Her heart beat faster and she held her breath while the stalker passed.

She breathed slowly while the man passed her tree. The length of the stride made her pretty sure it was male. She waited quietly until the sense of danger passed, then longer in case he came back. When the sun had risen halfway to its zenith, she carefully climbed out from under her covering and began to pack her meager possessions. She would have to move again.

She'd been too careless, believing Orvack had scared off the assassins. Clearly, she was too close to Jenefran territory and had left too clear a trail to be followed.

This time, there would be no one to rescue her if she got caught. She walked into the nearby stream and headed further into the wilderness. When the terrain grew rocky, she continued to head towards the rising sun.
____
OFF

Kalikana
Princess of Jenefra

 

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