Fledging

Chapter 11

*Edited content!

Chapter 11

                I kept my right arm close to my body, trying to protect it from any further harm.  The mark, just above the band that wrapped around my wrist, was still incredibly painful and the smell of burning flesh followed me wherever I went.  His Uncle had seen us off and despite all that had happened, I couldn’t help the thrill of joy that flared up in me as we took off.  I was finally rid of that horrible man for the rest of my life!  Kenneth wouldn’t be near as horrific as he had been, I didn’t think anyone could.  However it wasn’t as if I were planning on staying with him.  I would try and get Alida to go with me of course but it seemed that she had taken a liking to Kenneth.  But then again so had I at first, before he had shown his true colors starting that night at my flogging.  There was something about him that had, and even still now, made him seem so trustworthy, I didn’t know what that could possibly be but I was determined to get Alida out from under whatever delusions Kenneth had thrust upon her.

We walked along slowly at either side of Kenneth’s horse as we passed through the town.  He had indeed acquired a lot of new belongings, the saddle bags were overflowing with items while Alida and I each had a number of satchels weighing down our arms and shoulders.

As we made our way through the town, my mind was far from dormant.  It was racing to come up with the best escape plan possible.  It was obvious that I couldn’t run away anywhere populated like this, there would be too many people that would be able to stop me when Kenneth realized I was missing.

And it wouldn’t take him long, I could feel the constant glances he shot in my direction when he thought I couldn’t see and it was starting to drive me crazy.  And then there were still the shackles that he had left on me, I had no idea what the leash was set to so I didn’t dare try to run away until I could somehow take them off.  But how?  No ideas came to me, causing me to sulk silently to myself as we moved through the crowd.

                It wasn’t much later that we were leaving the city behind.  I breathed in deep, welcoming the new scenery.  I hadn’t been this far south of the city in ten years, Vernon, the man who had captured me, lived in a less populated area just north of the city.

“It is nice, isn’t it?” Kenneth asked looking down at me with a faint smile, “getting out of the town?”

I glanced up at him and nodded warily.  “Where are we going?”

                “Back to my place, I live much further in the south.  The journey will take a few days.”

                “How many?”

                “Depending on how things go, we should be able to get there in six days.”  I was surprised by the number, it had taken just over a week to get to the town after my village had been raided, could he possibly live close to my old village?  Or was he in a different direction?  It had been so long and I had been so disoriented and scared that I couldn’t remember exactly where the village was in comparison to the Vroulk town, but I should be able to find it sometime, it couldn’t be too difficult right?

                “We won’t be spending nights in many towns if I can help it, we’ll be camping out until we reach our destination.” He continued looking forwards again.

                “Why not?” I demanded.

                “Because most towns would be out of the way if we take the shortest path to where we’re going so I thought we should keep the walking to a minimum wouldn’t you agree?”