Romana's Freedom (Soul Merge Saga Book 1)
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“Of course you are.” Katelyn insisted, “You’re going to leave to make me safe. But I don’t want to be safe without you.”
“Marten will keep you safe.” She countered
“I know.” Katelyn replied. “But I don’t want you to go without me.”
“Where I’m going is too dangerous for you sweet. You’d be hurt there. But you can’t tell anyone that I’m leaving till I’m gone.” She hugged the little girl closer.
“How long do I have with you?” Katelyn asked, stretching up to play with the short strands of Romana’s hair.
“The rest of today.” She answered.
“Can you play with me for that time?”
“Of course sweet.” She replied. “What do you want to do?”
“Can you teach me to cook?”
“What would you like to cook?” At that moment Romana was Katelyn’s slave.
“Cake. And then Ratatouille for dinner.” Katelyn decided in an instant.
“Alright then. Wait for me in my kitchen. I’ll be down soon.”
Katelyn hopped down and ran from the room in anticipation. Romana chuckled and dressed quickly before following her down, noticing as she did that there were guards posted at every door in the house. She frowned disapprovingly, even as she pasted a smile on her face and entered the kitchen to find Katelyn covered in flour and looking shocked.
She laughed, “What happened?”
“I tried to measure the flour and it exploded.” Katelyn replied, looking genuinely upset.
“It’s alright.” Romana replied, brushing flour from Katelyn’s already messy hair and sweeping the rest of it off with a brush. “Next time wait for me though, okay?”
“Okay.” Katelyn replied, accidentally breathing in flour before she erupted in a coughing fit.
Eleven hours later and everyone was sound asleep. Prince Marten had found a suitable guest room to sleep in. She’d snuck in there five minutes ago she’d left a note explaining her absence and telling him to care for Katelyn but omitting details about where she was going or who was helping her. Now she stood by the kitchen window, unlocking the catch. She’d dressed for battle. Practical combat trousers strapped with knives sheltered her legs from the weather. Her top was long sleeved and had the tell tale bulge of hidden weapons. Her boots were practical walking boots, laced up. Her double broadswords hung from her back, sharp and ready for action if necessary.
The window swung open, and almost immediately yells sounded. She waited for the guards patrolling this side of the house to move, and then ran.
It felt like the longest run of her life, but in fact she moved so fast that her footprints barely made tracks on the snow. She heard Marten’s anguished yell, but didn’t turn around to look for him, because he would be following her, and that definitely wasn’t part of the plan.
Houses began to blur past as she streaked for the market place, knocking over stalls in her effort to slow Marten down. She looked back, and saw a jaguar racing over the stalls she’d just tumbled. Aww hell, she changed course, running through a different fountain to clear the area of her scent, and then streaking through back alleys to confuse him. And it must have worked, because by the time she reached the horses he was nowhere to be seen.
The five women had cloaks drawn down over their faces, and all the horses looked nearly identical to Jayde, who she climbed up on. The woman nearest to her held out a green camouflage cloak.
She pulled on the shroud, despite the many onlookers, and the horses milled about for a minute before they finally lined up and rode down the street at a gallop. A minute in she heard the sounds of roofing tiles falling to the ground and knew that Marten was racing above them. But still she didn’t look up, and wouldn’t show her face. The other women did the same.
They stormed the west city gate, where the guards were distracted by thieves, and the sounds of fighting surrounded them for an instant as they rushed under the falling portcullis. It seemed like only seconds before they came to the first split in the road from Morendor. Romana and one other woman took the left hand road, while the three others took the right. She heard Marten skid to a stop on the gravelly road, spraying tiny stones everywhere. As hard as it was, she didn’t look back, not even when the woman beside her turned right at the crossroads and she went left once more, leaving her completely alone.
And she definitely felt alone. She slowed Jayde to a walk, and listened. Complete silence. Even the birds were quiet, as if they sensed a predator.
So she wasn’t surprised when a jaguar leapt in front of her and shifted to become Marten, half dressed, sweating and furious.
“Did you really think that I’d lose you because you were dressed the same as some other women?” He growled. “Get down from the horse. We’re going back.”
“No.” She replied, continuing to walk Jayde forwards as she struggled for calm. “You’re going back. I’m going onwards.”
“Where are you even going?” Marten demanded, snatching the reins from her hands and trying to turn Jayde around.
“Somewhere I can’t hurt anyone.” She retorted, grabbing the reins from him and steering Jayde away from the city.
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“Marten—”
“I can protect you. Keep you safe.”
“Marten.” She cut him off and said the words she knew would have him hating her forever, but at the same time were the only way he’d leave her alone. “I don’t think you can protect me all that well anyway. Remember that time when I was tortured for just under a week by Silver? I seem to remember you were protecting me then as well.” His mouth worked but no sound came out. “I don’t want you to come with me. I’ll guard myself.”
And with that she galloped off, looking back as she turned the corner to see him looking stricken and betrayed. That was her last image of him and as he turned to walk back the way he’d come. A tear slipped down her cheek.
“I didn’t want to hurt him. I had no choice.” She muttered to herself. But it didn’t make her feel any less guilty as she rode on, away from the rising sun.
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