Remi's Great Escape (Forestfolk Prequel)

Chapter 1b

I slipped inside with ease.

My eyes immediately locked onto the platter of fresh fruit on the square table. My first impulse was to take the entire thing. Why should the chief get to have all this while my mother and I starved? But he would notice if it was missing, and my mother and I would be executed if they found all that in our possession.

I took an eager step toward the fruit.

"Ghooost!" a young gurgling voice said.

I froze.

"Hmm?" a woman replied.

How could I have been so stupid? In my eagerness to locate the fruit, I hadn't noticed the chief's mate and their toddler in the corner.

"Ghooost!" the kid said again, pointing a pudgy hand at me.

I shuffled backward as softly as I could, pressing into the wall and squeezing my eyes shut. I'd learned not long ago that, although my entire body took on the texture of my surroundings, my eyes did not.

"You silly thing," the woman cooed. "There's nothing there."

The toddler shrieked with joy as if being told he was wrong was the most awesome thing ever.

The woman began singing a tune, and I took that as my cue to keep going. I'd already gotten this far.

Ten steps later, I stood staring at the fruit. Apples, plums, and four kinds of berries. The apples were rare, and only appeared when the tribe's raiders stole them from other lands.

And I was going to plunder from them. The thought made me smile.

I took an apple in each hand, pausing to purse my lips in annoyance that my hands were so small. Should I carry one with my teeth? I picked up a third and drooled at the prospect.

Always think about consequences. My father's voice echoed in my head. Think ahead about what your actions will cause. Be smart.

My heart sank. Three missing rare apples would be noticed, and Aberrations were always suspected first.

I put two of the apples back, filling one hand with berries instead. Now to sneak out of here.

I took three steps and kicked a wooden toy. It bounced across the hard-packed earth of the floor. The sound wasn't loud, but to my ears it might as well have been a stampede.

My eyes darted to the woman just in time to see her head turn in my direction. I shut my eyes and hunched my shoulders, trying to make myself smaller. I could still feel my camouflage thrumming through my skin.

"Gabooo," I heard the tiny boy say before hearing another wooden toy skitter across the floor.

"You little scamp," the woman said with a laugh. "You're cleaning that up, you know."

The love in her voice tugged at my heart. Whatever it took to make my mother well again, I would do it.

When it was safe to move again, I managed to scamper out the entrance without kicking anything else.

And ran straight into muscled leg of a warrior. Oof.

Some of the berries mashed into my chest while the rest dropped into the dirt. The camouflage on my skin dissipated. I gaped up at the man who towered over me.

"What's this?" He peered down at me, at the apple still in my hands, dark brows furrowed. It was Rinnic, who was known for his skill on the battlefield. I was no match against him. To my horror, I began shaking.

I was going to die. I was going to die over a stupid apple.

"You are Remi." I couldn't tell if his stern voice was asking or confirming.

"Y-yes. Sir," I added, in case it helped.

He clamped a hand on my shoulder and steered me away from the hut. I had no choice but to make my halting feet walk while my hands feebly clutched at my ill-gotten goods.

"Do you know why there are no Aberration thieves in this tribe?" he asked when we stopped in a shadowed area near the compound's perimeter.

I gulped. I'd been forced to watch two beheadings not long ago, as a lesson. The boy had stolen a dress for his mother, a known Aberration who could see through walls. When confronted, the boy uttered a thunderous shout, causing a shockwave to blow back the two warriors in front of him. I'd never heard anything like it.

He'd always been so quiet, never showing any sign of being an Aberration. But the tribe knew then. More men came, and they grabbed both him and his mother. The boy's father pleaded, trying to convince them the boy meant no harm. I remember the man's skinny arms flailing as he begged, his dark eyes frantic. But it fell on deaf ears. The chief had no sympathy for Aberrations.

The boy was executed for thievery, and his mother too, ostensibly for hiding the boy's abilities. I think it was just an excuse to kill off another Aberration.

I remember the boy's father—who didn't have any abilities as far as I could tell—wailing like his beating heart had been ripped straight out of his chest. He clutched his lifeless family in his arms, their blood coating his very soul. I'd never liked Borga. I'd always found him a little creepy. But that day... it was the first time I'd ever seen a man die while he was still breathing.

Rinnic's eyes bored into me, and my shaking intensified. I cast my eyes down in shame. I wouldn't grow up big and strong. I wouldn't escape this prison of a tribe. And my mother would have no one left to take care of her.

"Remi."

I raised my eyes at the commanding tone of his voice.

"If you know the consequences, then why?"

"M-my mother is sick. She needs nourishment."

Rinnic nodded and looked out toward the open plain beyond the perimeter, considering. His dark gaze returned to me. "You should be more careful."

My eyebrows went skyward. Was it possible this great warrior was showing me... sympathy?

He glanced around quickly before nodding to the fruit in my arms. "Take these to your mother. And don't get caught again." He wiped the smear of purple berry juice off my chest with the heel of his hand. "Go."

I stared at him like a stunned deer. I wasn't going to die?

"Go!" He slapped my shoulder.

I scurried away, pausing by the perimeter fence to activate my camouflage before making my way back to Ma.

Whew! He barely made it outta Chapter 1. I think kindness deserves a vote.