Annie -- your "what happened after?" is a much longer story ;)
For the curious -- this is a prequel to my Jezina story Beyond the Wall.
Thanks for reading!
----
"You have to take
her," the frantic whisper commanded. Leesha grabbed the brown bundle
of fabric as it was shoved at her, before realizing what it held. Who it
held.
"What? No.
Your highness, I can't..."
"She is not safe
here," the voice less frantic, more commanding. The queen speaking
rather than the mother. "My husband will kill her. You must
take her, and I cannot know where she's gone. Keep her safe. Keep
her secret. Until the time is right for her to return. You will
know when the time is right to tell her."
The queen handed Leesha a
small sack. Its contents jingled as she grasped it, letting her know
exactly what it contained. Its weight suggested there was enough money to
last a lifetime.
The queen's face softened
as she looked at her first-born daughter, cursed with hair pure white, as her
own had been. The baby gurgled in her sleep and the queen reached for
her, but as Leesha moved to hand the child back, the queen quickly stepped aside,
straightening away from the child and glancing quickly over her shoulder.
"You must go
now!" The lines deepened on her forehead, but the tension evident
did not disguise the pain in her eyes.
Leesha gave a small curtsey
and backed away from her queen's haunted gaze. What did she know was
coming? Why would she fear the king?
What could possibly be bad enough that she would send her beloved
daughter away with a maid? And why her?
Leesha's mind whirled with
questions as she returned to her chamber to gather her meager belongings.
She made her way through the castle sticking to shadows and rarely used
passageways, grateful for the princess's silence. She looked longingly at
the route to the kitchen, but didn't dare visit there with the child. She
didn't know how long she'd have before someone missed the girl, or if the queen
would protect her if she were caught.
She thought wistfully of
the friends she'd miss and hoped one day she'd be able to return. Leesha
had no family to miss her, she was sure that was a large part of why she was
chosen. What the queen didn't know, what nobody knew, was that she did
have family. The question was whether that family would take her back in.
She glanced at the baby's
face – only her eyes visible through the blankets, and those mostly hidden by
shadow. Her white hair was covered – an oddity here, Leesha would take
her where she would fit in, a place where Leesha never had.
She scanned the field and
saw nobody before leaving the shelter of the wall and walking calmly but
quickly toward the northern gate. She'd picked a side exit, off the
normal guard route, where she knew there'd only be one guard. She hoped
it might be a friend, someone she could convince she was never there. Or,
failing that, someone who could be paid to forget -- at least for a little
while.
Leesha heard sounds up
ahead. Two people? There were never two guards here. And then
her eyes widened and a smile touched the corner of her lips as she realized
what she was hearing. The guard, being less than diligent, had found
himself some company to occupy his long shift. Leesha's luck held as the
baby slept while they slipped out the little-used exit.
She hurried across the
field, trying to hold the child in such a way as to not jostle her. The
steady rhythm kept her sleeping, and her silence was necessary to their escape.
She reached the forest but found the trees too think to cut through, so
stuck to the edge, hiding in the shadows. She shortly found a path --
one of the smaller ones she knew lead to town.
Never before had the dark
seemed so complete, the night so overwhelming. But still she walked even
as adrenaline began to give way to fatigue.
By the time she got to town, she’d concluded she couldn't
seek help; not with the princess in her arms. To do so would be to risk
not only herself and the child, but also any who helped her.
Terrified, Leesha hid the
girl in a hollow of a tree off the poorly used path and hoped she'd make it to
town and back quickly enough. She quickly bought travel necessities and
foods she could make into a gruel for both of them before visiting the
docks. A reasonably safe place, Leesha
affected a bored countenance while negotiating travel for herself and her
daughter up the river. Her heart beat wildly from the lie, but the
weathered boatman didn't even look at her, just agreed to a price and told her
to return before his crew finished loading.
Leesha hurried back, fear
making it hard to swallow, but the baby was still there and fine, just starting
to fuss and wave her tiny fists in the air.
She fed her quickly before rebundling her, careful to ensure her hair
was entirely covered.
Only once the boat was on
its way with Leesha on it, did the reality of what she was doing sink in. As she dozed on the gently rocking ship, she
remembered the village she’d left as a girl. A small village it was bound by stricter rules
than most. She recalled as a young
child, visitors had been encouraged, but by the time she was a teen and ready
to explore herself, things had changed.
A wall had been built that few were allowed to cross. “For the good of the village,” the elders said. They knew
what was out there and had to protect against it. Those who wished to leave could, but they
were not guaranteed to be welcomed back.
Leesha was afraid the hard words she had exchanged with her mother
before leaving would ensure she would not be permitted to return.
The journey took several weeks,
and while there were some challenges, they made their way there together and
unharmed. The wall was much smaller than
Leesha remembered, and the gate stood open.
“A keelah!” Leesha heard a child’s excited shout and the nostalgia it brought helped calm her
nerves.
The baby whimpered and
Leesha softened her hold. She focused on
calming the girl as she entered the village she’d sworn never to return
to. As she looked up a woman stepped out
of the crowd, her face pale but proud.
Not a welcome, but more encouragement than Leesha had expected.
She
held the bundle out and uttered the lie that would change lives. “Mom, I’d like to introduce you to your granddaughter. Jezina.”
Posts
