The Witch Woman's Prophecy

37 | Leaving Polemmy |

It was almost nightfall when the bellowing of camels and braying of donkeys and mules told me the guards had come searching for me among the animals penned up outside the city. I was already in my hiding place; motionless and hardly breathing.

The guards talked with Irridus and I strained to make out their muffled words.

'Have you seen the young man that Soni brought back from the desert?' asked a deep, gruff voice.

'No, master. No one here,' answered Irridus. I imagined he was smiling his gummy smile and wondered if he would slap the guard on the shoulder as he did to everyone else.

'We must look here for him anyway.'

'Look, look all you like. No one here.'

I heard the noise of saddles and bags of grain being moved around and voices discussing where I might be. Footsteps trudged through the sand towards my hiding place and I stopped breathing.

'Whose are these children?' asked the deep voice.

'My sister's. They come help me.'

'Have you seen a young man here? About sixteen summers with dark curly hair?'

Quain and Reesa must have shaken their heads as I didn't hear their answer.

'Have you checked this pile of hay?' The deep voice sounded close, maybe an arm's length away from me. 'No? You there, use your spear to check.'

My mouth went as dry as the desert sand and I lay so still that I might have been carved of stone. I tried hard not to breathe or make any sound at all, although my heart was thumping so loudly that I was sure it could be heard all the way back in Polemmy.

Feet thudded across the sand close to my head and a man grunted as he stabbed his spear into the pile again and again.

My heart felt as though it would burst inside my chest.

At last his voice called out that the hay pile was empty. There was more thumping around in the corral as the guards made final checks. Finally the tramping of their feet faded away and I breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed to take forever before Quain whispered to me 'They're gone. You can come out now.'

The children climbed off me and their eager hands brushed away the sand they had piled on top of me. Once the weight lessened I was able to push myself up out of the desert sand and pull away the cloth that covered my face to keep out the loosely packed sand.

When I emerged I was shaking with cold and my skin was clammy. I took in deep lungfuls of cool fresh air. Although Quain and Reesa had waited until the last possible moment to push sand over my face and then sit on me, I had still found it difficult to breathe.

'I was right!' Quain was so pleased with himself that he hopped from foot to foot. 'I knew they would check the hay pile, but they wouldn't think to check where we were sitting!'

I ruffled his dark curls. 'You are the cleverest person I've ever met. The guards would have found me straight away if it hadn't been for your quick thinking.'

Quain smiled up at me and slapped my arm, just like Irridus. 'You helped us before,' was all he said.

***

Irridus and the children had gone back to their own homes long before, and only the last traces of daylight remained in the sky when Soni finally found me concealed in the hay pile.

'Get up,' she said softly. 'We must go before it gets too dark.'

'I'm coming too,' said Naamiya from behind Soni. 'You both need someone to look after you.'

'I've spent longer in the desert than you, sister. Stay here and look after our parents,' said Soni.

'But I've spent more time fighting than you, and Thamet has lots of enemies. Besides, think of how our parents would feel if anything were to happen to you, Soni.' Naamiya sounded rather pleased with her own argument. Soni sighed but then nodded in agreement with her sister.

'I glad you're both here,' I told them. 'What happened in Polemmy?'

'Wait until we are away from here,' Soni said. 'There will be plenty of time to tell you later, but not if we are caught and dragged back into the city.'

I set aside my impatience, although I was worried about what might have happened to Umae and the other vorhisti. How would they be treated by the mob if anyone found out how I had escaped? We loaded up three camels with supplies from the stores in the corral and led them away from the city until it dwindled behind us in the distance. I showed Soni the knife relic Umae had given me. She stared at it without speaking and then tucked it away in one of her saddle bags.

At last Naamiya thought it was safe for us to ride. She shouted at my camel to kneel down, and I got up into the saddle. I clung on tight with my injured hands, wincing at the pain the jolting caused my raw flesh as the camel rose to its feet, lurching as it did so. I felt as though I were being shaken like a child's toy, and I hoped I would not be sick.

Naamiya climbed onto her camel's saddle and it strode off into the darkness. Soni grabbed the leading rope dangling from my camel's bridle and kicked her own camel into a trot. I almost fell off as we dashed off into the dark night. I hoped that my camel's eyesight was good enough for it to see where it was going as we raced through the dark. The stars were bright specks in the dark sky and they swung around me as I swayed on the camel's back. I clung on tight to the saddle and gritted my teeth.

I don't know how far we rode that night, but my arms and neck were aching and my thighs were shaking from gripping onto the camel's jolting saddle long before we stopped.

***

I really enjoyed thinking of how he was going to evade the guards! It's one of my favourite parts of the story so far!

Thamet has managed to get away from the city with all its dangers, but what do you think will happen next?

Any feedback good or bad is truly appreciated, I am trying to make this the best story I can. Please let me know if you find anything confusing or if you think I've left anything out.

And finally, if you liked it, please press the little yellow ⭐️ to let me know!

Anni X