Everyone shook their heads.
“James found it, and instead of handing it to the King like he was supposed to, he ran away with it and hid it somewhere,” Jenny stated. Her eyes were dark, almost cruel, something neither of the girls had ever seen before. “No one knows where it is or what it looks like. There have only been whispers about it and a weird prophecy. ‘Three girls born to three sisters on the same day at the same time will lead you to the ultimate power.’” Jenny explained. “God, I wish.” Everyone looked at Jenny, confused.
“Is that true, momma?” Jasmine asked.
“Of course it’s not true,” the third man in robes said. “The problem is that the King and other foolish people believe it is. As for the prince, I heard a rumor that he left because his brother was going crazy, trying to find these mythical girls, so he left.”
“The King is a good man,” Jenny declared.
“Good man?” Martha yelled. “That asshole had his men burn down our home after one of his soldiers asked if everyone was accounted for. A good man would never do that.”
“Bite your tongue,” Jenny yelled back. “We all know why the village fell. If the fallen prince would have never come to our village…”
“You’ve seen him?” Elizabeth asked suddenly. Everyone looked at Jenny, confused.
“Yes. He lived in one of the shacks down the way, trying to pass himself off as a regular person, but I could tell he wasn’t,” Jenny said, knowingly. “So you know what I did?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“I told a soldier who…”
Elizabeth, Renee and Jasmine’s eyes snapped towards Jenny’s as if she were a magnetic. It was her fault, they thought collectively.
“Wait, you told the soldiers where he was?” Renee asked bitterly.
“You’re the reason our town was destroyed?” Jasmine added.
“You’re the reason my dad is missing or maybe even dead?” Elizabeth said, scornfully.
“No the person who did all of that is Prince James. I’m sorry about your father, Lizzy, but the whereabouts of the prince was too important,” Jenny said, not backing down.
Elizabeth stood up and looked at Jenny. Never in her life had she ever hated a person as much as she hated Jenny, and all she wanted was to see her brains splatted all over the ground. The world would have been a lot better if she wasn’t there. How could she do this to her? To the village? Then it dawned on her. Why else would a person sell out their village? “You mean, the money that you got from the King’s dog was more important. If you would have never said anything, we could have still been living in our house and my dad would still be here.” Elizabeth hit her hand on her chest and glared at her and when she spoke her next words, her voice was much sharper, harsher, as if she were cutting Jenny with a knife. “But because of you, our village is gone, my dad could be dead and we are on the run,” Elizabeth said, spitefully.
“Girls, calm down,” Mark replied, noticing the change in the wind pressure as well as the flames rising once again.
“Calm down?” Renee yelled. “Dad, she ruined our lives.”
“She ruined our birthday,” Jasmine added.
“I didn’t ruin anything. I told you the culprit,” Jenny said, nonchalantly.
“Yeah you,” Elizabeth said. The moment she said you, Jenny’s hand caught on fire.
“AAAAHHHH” she screamed as she tried to put it out, but it wouldn’t go out, no matter how hard she tried. The flames were eating up her finger. Rico, Will and Sam ran over towards her with the children behind them. While they all worked on trying to put the fire out, Jasmine and Renee’s parents turned their attention towards the girls, who were staring intensely at Jenny with huge smiles on their faces.
Without warning, Caroline yanked Elizabeth down towards her, causing all three girls to break their focus and the fire on Jenny’s finger to go out. Jenny lay on the ground crying; in so much pain she couldn’t think straight. Cara cleaned and bandaged the wound as much as she could while everyone else looked at her, confused as to how she set her hand on fire.
“What happened? How did her hand catch on fire?” Rico asked, more to the girls than anyone.
“We don’t know,” Elizabeth said, truthfully. The last thing she remembered was yelling at Jenny and wishing something bad would happen to her, and after that everything went blank. It was like she was outside of her body watching the whole thing.
“I think she accidently stuck her finger in the fire,” Justin said.
“I didn’t stick my finger in the fire,” Jenny said, through the pain.
“I saw the same thing,” Caroline said.
“Me too,” agreed the rest of the parents. Even the men in robes and Martha were convinced.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that we're going to rest here tonight and then head for the camp tomorrow,” Rico said, shaking his head.
“What is this camp you speak of?” Martha asked.
“It’s a safe place. Do not worry, no one will try to harm you there,” Sam assured them.
Elizabeth stood up.
“Where are you going?” Rico asked her.
“I need to clear my head. I’ll be back in a minute. Girls, you want to come with me?” she asked her friends.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Rico said, softly. “I promised your father I’d keep you safe and I think your safest place is here with your friends and their parents.
“He’s right, Lizzy. Thanks to Jenny, the army might still be in the forest looking for the prince if he hasn’t escaped yet, and for three girls that the King so foolishly thinks could lead him to the ultimate power,” Martha reminded them.
“We’ll be fine. It’s just a short walk,” Jasmine explained.
“Besides, if I have to look at her a minute longer, I might do something I might regret later,” Elizabeth said, glaring at Jenny.
“Go ahead then,” Justin said.
“Can I come?” TaKayla asked before they set off.
“Sure why not, squirt?” Elizabeth said, with a smile.
TaKayla smiled brightly, happy that she finally had the opportunity to hang out with her sister and see what they did when they would leave together without her at home.
“We’ll be back in half hour,” Jasmine announced, and with that the girls left the group.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Rico asked the girls’ parents.
“They’ll be fine. Besides, it’s been hours. I doubt the soldiers are still out there. If anything they have returned to their base,” Mark declared.
Rico headed towards the direction in which the girls had gone.
“Where are you going?” Ethan asked, sharply.
“After them. Something doesn’t feel right,” Rico explained. Something had been bothering him ever since they left the village, only he couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew that the girls were the real thing from the experience he had had earlier in the carriage, and he was sure that he had gotten to the village in enough time to grab James and Elizabeth without having to worry about the army chasing them. Unless, the person leading the army wasn’t Hugo, but the young recruit that he had heard so much about, a man a little older than him but just as deadly with a sword, if not more so. Then there was the look on James’ face the moment the carriage fell over, James knew then that it was only a matter of time before they found them and, if Rico’s hunch was right, the army would be right behind them. “Change of plan,” Rico said, as he drew out his sword. Martha, Jenny, the men in robes and the children all moved back out of fear that Rico would turn on them.
“What, you decided to scare everyone with your sword?” Ethan asked sarcastically. He did not like Rico, and Rico could tell, only he had no idea where the hostility was coming from.
“No, we are moving deeper into the forest. Put that fire out. Sam, Will, stay with them. I’ll be back with the girls.” Rico ordered.
“Why the change of plans?” Justin asked.
&
nbsp; “It’s hard to explain. Just please do what you’re told,” Rico ordered.
“I’ll go with you,” Cara said.
“Me too,” Caroline declared.
“No I can’t allow that,” Rico said, forcefully. He couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to the family while trying to protect the girls.
“With all due respect, soldier, I have been wielding a sword since before you were born,” Cara declared. “I think I can handle myself.”
Rico shook his head as if to give up. “Okay, let’s go. The rest of you wait here,” he ordered.
Ethan stood up and walked towards him.
“What are you doing?” Rico asked.
“Joining you. Lead the way,” Ethan said.
Rico shook his head then started off in the direction that the girls had gone.
11
“I can’t believe it was her, of all people,” Elizabeth said, still angry about what had happened. She, like everyone else in the village, really admired Jenny and respected her as an educator. Never in their wildest dreams had they ever believed she would betray them.
“I can’t either. What is so great about gold, that you’d sell out your entire village and entire family for?” Renee asked in disbelief.
“But don’t you guys find it weird how her hand just caught on fire?” Jasmine asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, that was weird,” TaKayla admitted, happy to be included in a conversation.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, what’s weird is how I was thinking about how much I wanted it to happen, and it did,” Elizabeth said, nonchalantly.
Everyone stopped walking. They had walked a large distance away from the camp without noticing. All they could see were trees for miles and a lake nearby. “You did?” Everyone asked, looking at her weirdly.
“Did you set her finger on fire?” TaKayla asked with wide eyes and her mouth open.
The girls laughed. “Like that’s even possible,” Elizabeth said, amused that TaKayla would actually believe that.
“You read too many books, squirt,” Renee teased.
“Yeah, if she could do that, the entire village would have burned down at her hands by now. We all know how short her temper is,” Jasmine reminded TaKayla.
TaKayla laughed at herself for even thinking it was possible. “You’re right,” she said, holding her stomach, “she would have. I don’t know what I was thinking.
“Yeah well, let’s go play in that lake,” Jasmine said, pointing towards the beautiful clear lake that had looked purple because of the moonlight. Everyone but Elizabeth began to take off their dresses.
“No,” Elizabeth said, firmly. Everything about that scene was too similar to her dream. The moonlight, the lake, the woods and the three of them. The only difference was TaKayla’s presence. “Let’s get back,” she ordered.
“What?” TaKayla pouted, “I wanted to play in the lake,” she said, folding her arms on her chest and pouting her lips. Normally when she did this, Elizabeth always let her have her way. However, this time was different.
“What’s wrong Lizzy?” Jasmine asked, confused. Like TaKayla she was also looking forward to cooling off in the lake, but the way Elizabeth was standing, as if something dangerous was coming, made her fix her dress and think twice about disobeying her. Then she felt it. It was faint, but a sense of bloodlust was in the air, and from the looks on both her friends’ faces, she could tell they sensed it too. “You know what, you’re right, we can play in the lake another time,” she said, as she started to make her way back the way they came—but it was too late.
The moment they started to move, five soldiers came out of the forest and surrounded them. “Look, guys. It looks like Prince Caleb was right after all,” one of the soldiers said. He was fat, bald and missing a couple of teeth. They could tell that he had been in many fights in his life, losing most of them.
By instinct the three girls grabbed each other’s hand, holding on for dear life, with their backs towards each other and TaKayla in the middle. It almost looked like the eye of providence with TaKayla as the eye. The sky became as black as charcoal and the wind began to pick up, blowing the trees and bushes every which way, as if they were decorations and not planted in the ground.
Just like in her dream, the soldiers began their banter, each declaring what they would get after handing them over to the King.
“I’m scared, Nee,” whined TaKayla. She had closed her eyes and was hanging on to the girls’ arms as tight as she could, afraid that if she let go, the soldiers would take her and she’d never see them again.
“Don’t be scared,” Renee replied. “We’ll protect you,” she said, with confidence, although it was clear to everyone that she was scared, even shaking a little.
Jasmine locked her eyes on the soldier in front of her, who just smiled at her like a Cheshire cat. He was short with red hair, glasses and skinny. He looked like the type that could sneak up on a person and they wouldn’t know he was there, until they were dead. “What do you want from us?” she asked, terrified. Her lips were trembling, but she knew she had to remain calm, if she let them see the fear in her eyes, there was no way that she and her friends could escape.
When he opened his mouth to speak, a foul odor came out. It kind of smelled like he had been living off moldy cheese and fish guts, and the stench that was coming from his body was unlike anything they had ever smelled before. It was almost like he had been rolling around in horse manure for years, never once bothering to take any kind of bath or brush his teeth. “We want you,” the smelly soldier replied.
The girls released each other’s hands for only a second so they could cover their noses. The smell was so bad that their eyes and noses started to burn. Once they had finished they quickly reached for each other again. “Well, we want you to jump in that lake and don’t come out until you’re clean. I mean, honestly, am I the only one who smells that?” Jasmine asked the other soldiers.
All of the soldiers laughed, amused at how blunt she was. “You’re a quirky one. Maybe I’ll have some fun with you before taking you back to the castle,” the smelly soldier said.
“You can try, but I’ll kill you before you get the chance,” Jasmine bluffed. Her plan was to buy enough time so their parents and the rebels could come find them, but the longer they stood there, the harder it was to remain calm.
The soldiers laughed again. “You’re a hoot. Now be good little girls and come with us. We don’t want to damage those beautiful faces and gorgeous bodies,” another soldier said. He was skinny and as white as the moon, eyes as sharp as razors. His nails were extremely long and from the looks of him he was very handy with a sword.
All of a sudden, arrows started raining down all around them. “Take cover,” Renee ordered, and like puppets her friends and her sister obeyed, each one holding onto the other for dear life, while trying to protect TaKayla.
The soldiers began falling one by one. However, their numbers did not dwindle as more kept coming out of the forest, as if they had been waiting for something to happen before attacking. In the midst of the confusion, three soldiers reached for the girls and tried hard to pull them apart.
Suddenly lightening cracked the sky and it began to pour with rain, like the heavens had opened up and released their fury.
“Where’d this storm come from?” one of the soldiers asked.
“It doesn’t matter, let's just get them and get out of here,” the bald solider ordered, as they finally pulled the girls apart.
The moment the girls were pulled apart, lightning struck the ground, almost hitting TaKayla, who was saved by Rico, just seconds before it hit. “It’s okay,” he assured her. She was petrified and shaking so severely in his hands that she could barely move. “Run as fast as you can, back to the camp, and don’t stop until you reach your father,” he ordered.
“But my sister,” TaKayla stuttered.
“Don’t worry about her. They will be fine, trust me.” Rico assured her
. “You just get back to the camp, and tell them to wait there. We’ll be back when it’s all over,” he said, with an assuring smile.
TaKayla nodded then took off like a bat out of hell in the direction of the camp. TaKayla’s departure brought more soldiers, who had suddenly surrounded Rico. There were a total of twenty, each one bigger and uglier than the first, all looking at Rico like he was a new toy. Rico knelt down, then drew his sword. “Twenty on one. I like those odds,” he said, with a smile.
“You mean two,” Ethan said, joining Rico in the center of the group.
Rico smiled. “No sword?”
“I’ll get one,” Ethan replied, cocky in his abilities.
Rico shook his head, he then flipped his sword around a few times and held it up like a samurai.
“Was that necessary?” Ethan asked, annoyed. He was standing in a karate form waiting on the enemy to attack.
“It’s fun,” Rico explained. “Let’s go,” he said, drawing his attention back to the soldiers, who had finally begun attacking them. Each soldier ran up to the two men swinging their swords, but the duo was too quick for them. Using the rain to his advantage, Rico slid past the incoming soldiers, slicing their legs clean off in the process. Before they had even realized it, the soldiers had already lost half their men and Ethan was now holding a sword.
“Told you I’d get one,” Ethan boasted as he swung away at the swords.
While the men were fighting, Cara and Caroline made their way towards the girls, who were trying desperately to get away from the soldiers. The men had dragged the girls to the horses, and were trying to put them on. “Hey asshole,” Cara yelled. Her bow was raised and the arrow was pointed straight at the soldiers. “Let them go.” Her words were sharp and full of conviction. She was ready to release the arrow and send it straight through the soldiers’ head, but she couldn’t, as the girls were in the way and the rain was pouring so hard that it was hard to see straight. If she could just get a clear shot, it would be over, she thought. Caroline was on the other side of her thinking the same thing, but the soldiers weren’t given them any openings and the lightening kept striking all around them—everything seemed hopeless.
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