Akira Rises

by Nonie Wideman

  Her father was ruthless, merciless. It seemed to Akira every year he grew more mean and vindictive towards those who crossed his will. As he aged and lost physical strength, lost whatever good looks he imagined he had to begin with, the meaner he became. His face was getting puffier, redder, heavier. He drank wine with every meal and in between each meal. He secretly wore a girdle to cinch in his belly. He even smelled rotten. The perfumes he wore did not mask the foul smelling sweat that his body gave off. She could often tell her father had been in a room after he left it. There was an unpleasant smell that lingered Another tear escaped. She despised crying. She despised giving the baron the satisfaction of seeing her cry, even for another and not herself. Her hatred flared.

  Fortunately, Akira was no longer the focus of her father’s attention. He missed the look of pure hatred shooting out of her eyes. Benjamin did not miss it. He prayed Akira would lock her lips and cloak her eyes. If she did not, he feared his father would be tempted to lock her up and throw away the key. The old man’s temper was growing shorter and shorter. It seemed as if he was unraveling. There were rumors the king was again questioning finances and shortages of grain shipments.

  Benjamin was beginning to question many things about his father. Being the youngest son, he had the least influence over his father. Edgar’s efforts earlier in the day to caution their father seemed to have fallen on deaf and defiant ears. The Baron had struck Edgar, and called him insolent. Edgar attributed the offense to grief, and the effects of too much wine the night before. He cautioned Ben to keep his counsel to himself. Ben suspected more than a headache and grief ailed is father. His mother’s words came back to haunt him. “Your father is going mad, and I fear for my safety and Akira’s. Take care my sons. Do not trust him.” Ben wished Marcus would hasten home. Something had to be done. His oldest brother was first heir, and if their father was going mad, Marcus could step into his father’s place. He was away trying to gain the king’s ear and do damage control. Their father needed to be safely ensconced into an insane asylum. Insane or not insane, he was a danger to his family, and an uprising was imminent. Benjamin thought about his father’s words. Protect the family, yes I agree, Father. Sometimes a rotten root needs to be cut out and saplings allowed to take its place. Your rot seems irreversible.

  Akira forced her attention to Benjamin and Edgar. What plan do you have to protect me from our father? Where can I go? Why have you not confided in me? Edgar and Ben did not look happy to be hunting the serf on the morrow. When would Marcus return? He usually managed to calm troubled waters. Poor Edgar and Ben. It was expected of them to put on a show of force with their father. She wondered if their father suspected he could be losing his hold over them. Akira suspected her brothers were conspiring against their father. Could they usurp him with the king’s backing? Duty had been pounded into them from the time they were born. Her mother had taught her about duty. Duty to family was not duty to just the head of a family. It was to the family itself. She hoped her mother’s influence over her brothers was stronger than Aunt Violet's.

  At mention of the hunt going east, Akira’s attention was immediately riveted to the voice she had been ignoring. Her heart thumped harder in her chest. She could hear her heart beat in her ears. She listened attentively, without looking as if she was paying any attention to the conversation. The words made her sad and disgusted at the same time. It was reported that the young man about to be hunted was headed east, running for the nearest city, trying to disappear among many. If he could escape Baron Rolfes' clutches for a year, he would be considered a free man. Akira wished him well. The serf was running east. Akira longed to go west. Her mind was quickly planning. No better time to run than when a hunter is going in the opposite direction. Here is my opportunity! Her heart pounded. Her face flushed. If she told her brothers of her plan to run, they would most likely try stop her. If only you had confided in me, I’d confide in you. I can’t sleep without thinking of Anne. We should have done more. I will go to the mountain and get help for Anne. No! I must do what I should have done before. I will free Anne before I run away.

  She tried to contain her excitement. It was imperative to learn of every detail of who would be where and when for tomorrow. An early morning start was planned. It occurred to her one of the hunting party might choose to take Pegasus, for he was a strong big horse, with a smooth riding gait. She needed him for her own escape. She would not leave her horse behind, could not leave her horse behind. What to do? What to do? It came to her.

  “May I be excused. I need to ask for Pegasus to be put out to pasture, since I won’t be riding him anymore. He has a sore hoof and the softer ground in the pasture where the draft horses are kept will help him walk easier.” The lies slipped off her lips easily.

  The baron raised his eyebrows. “A sore hoof?”

  “Yes a stone bruise. I’m sure he will be fine soon enough.”

  “Very well. You are excused. I’m glad you have decided to bow to my wishes. From now on if you do any riding, it will be in the company of myself or your brothers. You need to start acting like a noble woman.’ He paused and added, “and this time, thank me for that concession.”

  “Thank you.” The words nearly choked her. Akira forced herself to meet her father’s gaze briefly. She had much to do and little time in which to do it.

  Baron Rolfe dismissed his subdued looking daughter with a nod. Akira resisted the urge to run from the room. She forced herself to walk. Relief. No one would want to take her Pegasus on the hunt. His disappearance would not be noticed right away.

  The baron stroked his thick beard. He barked at his manservant. “What fool allowed her to ride about unchaperoned?”

  The man servant replied meekly. “I believe it was her mother.”

  Baron Rolfe grunted. “That figures.” He waved his goblet high. “My cup is empty.”

  The manservant quickly filled the raised cup, careful not to spill a drop and be cuffed. He hid his disgust of the baron. The questioning of his daughter’s state of virginity, was crude and uncalled for. The man was a pig. The manservant had noticed of late that the daughter avoided staying at home, finding any excuse to be away. He hoped her brothers would protect her. One had raised his dark eyebrows and frowned towards his father at the questioning of his sister’s purity. It seemed as if he too felt uncomfortable and had been about to say something but thought better of it. The older son, Edgar looked even more concerned by his father’s next comment about bringing the aunt back under their roof. They had quickly masked their feelings well if their father’s rants and threat actually bothered them. He hoped the sons of his mistress took more after their mother than their father. For if they did, they would at least have hearts.

  “Remind me in the morning to ask my sister to take charge of my daughter and see if she can do something to improve her appearance.” The baron looked pained for a second until he belched.

  “Yes milord.”

  Baron Rolfe once again stroked his graying beard pensively, thinking perhaps he had been very foolish to let his wife have domain over the girl, but the late Lady Shy had been more attentive and agreeable when he had done so. The key to assure his wife’s obedience was the same as the key to Akira's obedience. It was to threaten something she loved, and Shy loved her daughter. Her daughter loved her mother, and her horse. The mother was gone. That hold was gone. But the horse was not. Love was a foolish emotion he mused. It made people weak. He needed to toughen up his sons. The hunt would be a good lesson. They had been too squeamish of late.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Akira was relieved to take leave of her father. She had held tongue. It had almost been impossible with the recent circumstances. Her mother had schooled her well to look obedient, sound obedient, and fade into the background. As she left the reach of her father’s eyes, she squared her shoulders. Looking obedient was not being obedient. She stood straighter and raised her head. Sounding obedient was a learned skill, not a state of mind. Years of practice
served her well. She retreated to her bedroom. She gathered that which she would need.

  It is time. I’m leaving she thought. The anticipation of freedom, the removal of angst over deciding to run made her feel giddy for a moment. She had heard the whispers among the servants that Baron Rolfe had been making comments that it was time his sister took his daughter in hand and prepared her for marriage or a convent. Her thoughts were directed towards her mother’s dead spirit. It will only be a matter of time before he follows through with his threats. I will make good on our escape plans mother. I shall leave this horrid place. I’m old enough, strong enough to make my own journey. I will ride Pegasus towards the mountains. I will follow our plan to seek sanctuary at the monastery of the White Rose. I can no longer abide living under his roof and rule. I fear I shall try kill him and fail and then be hanged hang for it. If I were to succeed it would be worth it. I’ve seen a look in his eyes that makes me shudder. He looks at my body and it feels like he is touching me with his eyes

  I will free Anne. I will free her to run with me. The more we run in different directions the more we will have a chance to escape. If we divide father’s resources, we can beat him. Killing him would be easier.

  Suddenly, Akira shuddered. She searched her soul. If my soul is at peace with killing him, does it mean I’m as evil as he? For it is abhorrently wrong to kill one’s father. No answering thought came, and there was no time to dwell on it.

  She walked to the kitchen and asked for some carrots, and some biscuits. When Mary was busy looking for carrots, Akira helped herself to extra biscuits. She hid them in the folds of her dress. What Mary did not know would keep her safer. A defiant attitude was reflected in the way she set her lips, the way she tipped her chin out.

  Her eyes, stormy blue, framed with sooty dark lashes swept the across the kitchen and the servants busily cleaning pots and tables. Some servants she would miss, others she would not. There was no time for secret goodbyes. Goodbyes would be a dangerous indulgence. She would not expose those she cared about to danger. They would need to be genuinely shocked and concerned over her disappearance for their own safety. She hoped no harm would come to them.

  “Thank you for the carrots Mary. Pegasus loves them.” Akira gave the cook a quick hug. She hugged the servant for a few more seconds than she would have any other time. She would miss Mary the most. She turned away quickly. She could not afford sentimental emotions.

  Akira left her bedroom dressed in several layers of her warmest clothing. She avoided the dining hall, and walked into the great hall. With purpose, she walked to the fire hearth that had not yet been lit. Making sure she was not seen she scraped black soot from the interior of the hearth and piled the soot onto on a cloth she brought just for that purpose. She folded the cloth over carefully so the contents would not spill. She hoped it would be enough. She took one last look around. A black hooded cape was hanging from a chair. Most likely one of her brothers had flung it there earlier. Perfect she thought, and stole it. It looked like Ben’s cape. He was always losing things. He would not begrudge her needing it. Most likely he would think he left it somewhere he ought not to have been. If in the days to come, he realized or suspected she stole it he would say nothing and if she got a good head start it would not matter.

  Akira slipped into her mother’s chambers unseen. She knelt down beside her other’s bed and felt underneath the bed boards. Her fingers sought a small leather pouch. In the pouch was a stolen vial of sleeping powders. She knew her mother hid the powder there to put in her husband’s drink should he come to her chambers and try to enter her bed. She always had a goblet at her bedside, and mead, and none of the sweet honey mead crossed or touched her lips. Akira looked at her mother’s bedside table. It had been cleared of her mother’s possessions. The goblet was gone. The mead was gone. Akira found the pouch. She tucked it in her bodice. She quickly raced through the halls to her father’s locked chambers. A key hung outside the door. It was left there for the servants to open the door and bring meals to the room’s prisoner. Akira turned the key and pushed open the door.

  Ann stood with her back to Akira looking out the window. The set of her shoulders was one of defeat. “Just leave the food beside the bed,” she said without turning.

  Akira closed the door behind herself. She spoke softly. “Anne.”

  Ann turned with a puzzled look on her face. “What brings you here Akira?”

  “We must flee. I’ve come to help you escape.”

  “But I can’t leave. If I leave, your father has promised to kill my Tom” Ann’s already red eyes welled up with fresh tears.

  “He can’t harm him if he can’t catch him.” Akira grasped Ann’s shoulders.

  “You mean he has not imprisoned him?” Ann’s eyes brightened.

  “No, he is on the run.”

  “A hunting party is going to be sent out in the morning.”

  Ann groaned. The light in her eyes dimmed. Her shoulders slumped again.

  “I’ve a plan, Ann. We can confuse the hunting party and help Tom escape. We need a head start. You must drug my father tonight. I’ve brought you the means to put him in a deep sleep.” Akira handed Ann the pouch. “Can you do this?”

  Ann nodded. She impulsively hugged Akira.

  “Light a candle and place it in front of the window when he is unconscious.” I will come for you. I must leave you now. I dare not be caught here.” Akira paused at the door way. Be brave.”

  Akira closed the door, locked it and replaced it on its hook, looking over her shoulder to make certain her presence was not noticed. The servants would be bringing Ann food and the key needed to be in its place. She prayed Ann would place the candle in the window early enough in the night so they would have several hours head start. Akira would be waiting in the shadows of the outside garden for Ann’s signal. Akira returned to her bedroom

  The temptation to confide in her brothers was overwhelming. Had they confided in her, she would have reciprocated, or so she reasoned. She might have asked for their help. There had to be a reason her mother had not confided in them, or had she? Too late to find out now she thought. She would not leave her fate to her brothers. They were men and would decide what was best for her, just like of her father would do. Akira decided her destiny was her own. Her life was her own.

  Somehow, some way, she needed to atone for the mistakes she believed she had made. Akira wished she had told Anne to run, told the villagers to fight her father. She wished she had insisted her mother and Matilde wait out the storm on the fateful day.

  She left the home that threatened to be a prison, and headed for the stables. She slipped outside flitting through shadows. A dog barked and she stood frozen. When she heard the hiss and yowl of a cat, she realized the dog was not barking at her. She walked across the courtyard as silently as she could. She wanted to run. Nothing must look amiss, my actions must not look suspicious if eyes are watching. No one called out. No one asked “who goes there?” A sigh of relief left her lips.

  The stable doors creaked. The smell of hay, leather, horses and their droppings filled her nostrils. It was not unpleasant. It was earthy. A mouse scurried in front of her trying to hide as fast as its legs could carry it. It did not frighten Akira. It occurred to her, they had much in common. Run little mouse run, she thought. Long ears twitched and turned towards the opening door. Several pairs of equine eyes watched her entrance. Pegasus whinnied softly as he saw his mistress approach. The carrot from the kitchen was crunched noisily as she stroked his shoulders and forehead. She ran her fingers under his mane. Akira whispered in his ear. “It is time. We could fly away like the creature you are named for, if only you had wings my friend.” She fondly scratched him behind his ears.

  With only filtered moonlight peeking into the barn Akira relied heavily on memory as she climbed up log ladder to the hay loft above the stalls. In the deepest corner under the thatched roof, where a man could not stand, she had hidden a small sack of grain, a ragged edged ro
ughly drawn map, a long knife, dried jerky, dried berries and an old winter bed fur that had been her mother's. The aromatic herbs she had sprinkled on the robe to keep the mice away wafted up as she shook it and rubbed her face into the soft fur. Squirrelled away, mudded over between the cracks of the stone walls was a small cache of gold pieces her mother had pilfered slowly and carefully over the years from the monies allotted for running the household. It was their freedom fund.

  Akira used her dagger to chip away the mud chinking. She dug the small cloth bag of coins out and transferred them to a small pouch she had made of leather. It was more than a modest amount. Her mother had sold some of her jewelry to add to the sum. Akira remembered a particular ruby. It was blood red. How symbolic she thought. When Baron Rolfe had demanded that his wife wear the particularly handsome ruby necklace her mother had sold, her mother lied. She confessed to losing it. Her punishment had been twenty lashes across the bottoms of her bare feet for being careless. Baron Rolfe did not wish to visibly mar her beauty.

  Akira remembered how her mother winced as she walked for a long time after that particular cruel punishment. Her mother had sacrificed much to protect her daughter and plan for their escape. Tears threatened to fall down from Akira's eyes as she remembered bandaging her mother's' bloody feet. She willed the tears back. Bloody feet, bloody ruby, bloody money. She climbed down from the loft. She tucked her long braids under a boy's knitted woolen toque. The stolen black cape with its deep fur lined hood hid her shape beneath its long cover. She looked about the stable for anything else she might need. A leather water flask was tied to a saddle. She untied it and stole it also. It was lucky that she spotted it for she had not thought to hide one with her supplies. It could have been a costly error. One could forgo food for many days but water was essential. She worried for a second. What else had she forgotten in her haste? She was tempted to go back and ask Ben for his blessings and help. But she suspected he would try to stop her and if she did not flee now, if she did nothing to help Ann, she feared she would lose her courage and the only chance she had to flee. It was time. She told herself sternly, and swallowed her apprehension.