Chapter 7:
Vigil
I stay close to the cozy fire. Trevus finishes his soup and packs the bowls back into Gramps’s saddlebag.
Marcellus has been carving his wooden figurine since the duel, and not once has he met my gaze.
Trevus fishes a leather blanket out of the bag and sets it down beside me. I lift the rolled blanket to find that it’s sewn into a tube. While the outside is leather, soft white wool adorns its center.
He takes a large branch and snaps it in half with his foot. One of the halves is placed over the fire. Flames lick the middle, but the edges are left untouched. “The watch log burns,” Trevus says. “I shall take the first.”
Both Marcellus and Giddius climb into their sleeping pouches. All four of us are around the fire. Trevus is seated on the log to my right, while Giddius and Marcellus are wrapped up on my left.
With the cue from them, I decide to turn in too. Taking care not to bend or stretch my tender torso, I slowly unroll my sleeping pouch. Untying my boot laces is challenging with these thick sleeves, but I eventually pick them free. I crawl inside the cozy pouch, resting my head beside the warm fire.
While lying on my back would be more comfortable, the thought of Trevus watching me sleep makes me uneasy. I lie on my side, facing the fire, away from him.
The pouch keeps my body toasty. Such a comfortable article must have cost more than a few coins. They also bought four horses, with Becky designated just for me. I expected that Trevus would have his own horse, but never did it cross my mind that I would be riding instead of walking. Trevus made provisions to leave Antiock with an extra person before he even knew me.
Through the flames, I spot Marcellus’s head poking out from his pouch. Despite being asleep, his fingers are wrapped around the hilt of his axe. Is being out here really all that dangerous? Giddius mentioned that they needed to stay ahead of someone. Are we being pursued? Will there be a battle? I could lose my life if I don’t escape before then, but Trevus catching me after a botched attempt would be another way to cut my years short. When I make my move, it needs to be intentional and well thought out.
The duel affirmed that I’ll never beat them through confrontation, and Trevus is far too quick on a horse to outrun. I need to sneak away without being noticed, and the best time would be when they’re asleep. I’ve been listening carefully since I lied down. It doesn’t sound like Trevus has moved from his spot on the log. He’s keeping watch, but not because of his prisoner. If the concern was that I’d slip away, they’d just bind me, and there’d be no need for one of them to stay awake. Trevus’s watching for something else – something out there that’s a threat to all of us.
The branch in the fire blackens. I yawn but quickly recoil from the stinging in my chest. It’s hard to get comfortable after that duel. I’ll be sore for the next few days.
“You do not rest,” Trevus says in a low voice. He noticed my flinch.
I sit up in the sleeping pouch. “Neither do you.”
“I am on watch,” he says.
“So you’re not allowed to sleep tonight?”
He points to the fire. “Once the watch-log splits in two, I shall rest and Marcellus shall watch. Each person has a turn.”
“When is my turn?” The corner of my lip tugs up.
Trevus smiles. “You are fortunate in that regard.”
I’m fortunate? That’s a twisted way of looking at it. I rest my chin on my knees. “I wouldn’t mind trading places with you.”
“But do you not harbor disdain for soldiers?”
“You’re all bristly asses,” I say. It’s not about whether I like them but about what they have.
Trevus leans forward. I watch him from the corner of my eye. Did I poke him too far?
He nudges the logs of the fire together before sitting down again.
“You have been in captivity for a long time?” Trevus asks.
I nod. My eyes don’t leave the fire. It’s not something I like to reminisce on.
“When you hurl insults at your masters, I foresee only two outcomes – either your words are ignored, as I did now, or they are acted upon, and you endure a battering.”
He stares at me, but my gaze remains on the fire. I don’t care for this conversation.
“The outcomes are never to your advantage. Is it the act of the insult itself that you revel in?” he goes on. “Perhaps you are vengeful, or ‘tis your form of superficial rebellion, resembling that of an adolescent’s.”
He’s a soldier, an instrument of death and oppression. He has no moral authority to judge me, and I won’t hear any more of it. “What did you tell Marcellus in the square?” I ask.
“’Twas for his ears only,” Trevus says.
“The duel was meant to be fair, but Marcellus had knowledge that was kept from me,” I say.
Trevus chuckles. He doesn’t take my concern seriously. The old guards also found it amusing to exclude me.
I lie back down in the sleeping pouch, and my hair covers me like a scarf. I will escape from these men. Fleeing on the back of a horse beats running on foot, but Trevus rides like he’s auditioning to be one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. If they notice my ride out, I’ll be caught. Sabotaging them will assure my success.
Tonight, I’ll only watch. Throughout their shifts, one man will eventually let his eyes close. I’ll learn which of the three of them is most likely to drift off and how easily they’re awoken. On another night, when I see the opportunity, I’ll leave them in the dust.
The firewood cracks and sizzles behind my head. My eyes stay closed, only peeking open to check on Trevus from time to time. He sits like a statue with his elbows resting on his knees. I can’t tell if his eyes are on the fire or the wilderness that surrounds us.
His stillness makes him seem inhuman. Even I’ve had to subtly adjust to stay comfortable. Perhaps he isn’t human but a demon in disguise. Maybe they all are, and I’m the only normal person.
I open my eyes at a shuffling sound. The log that Trevus was sitting on is empty. He’s nudging Marcellus awake.
“I am here.” Marcellus yawns.
“Jade may offer you companionship during your watch. She has not slept,” Trevus says.
I shut my eyes. My stomach flips. He knew that I wasn’t asleep.
A new watch log is placed on the fire. Soon Trevus has settled in his own sleeping pack, and Marcellus is seated on the log.
A flash of shiny steel between Marcellus’s hands grabs my attention. He’s carving that small branch with a knife, and it’s beginning to take the shape of a woman. Since he knows I’m awake, there’s no point in trying to stay still. I adjust to a more comfortable position and brush away the hair that had fallen over my eyes.
Marcellus ignores my presence. He was vocal about his irritation with me today, but after our duel, he has kept to himself.
“What did Trevus tell you in the square?” I ask in a low voice.
Marcellus glances at me for a moment before returning to his work.
None of them want to tell me. They were cheating. How – I don’t know, but there was something that Trevus shared that was hidden from me. I wasn’t expecting to beat Marcellus in a fair fight, but it bothers me that they wouldn’t even grant that.
A twig snaps in the bushes behind me. I perk up, and Marcellus stands. He steps past me and pokes around the bushes with his axe.
Satisfied that there’s no threat, he returns to the fire, this time taking a new seat beside me. He continues carving, but his gaze occasionally jumps to the bushes. Though I’m a prisoner, I do feel a little safer having this soldier between my body and the wilderness. If it’s a dangerous animal or murderous bandit, Marcellus will cut them down with his axe.
The stars progress through the sky, and Marcellus loses interest in carving. His head rests perched on his hand. If he were to permit himself to lean his back against the log, he’d lose his battle with sleep. While I come close to drifting to sleep myself, the occasional sting in my chest brings me back.
After the second watch log burns through, Marcellus wakes up Giddius and immediately collapses on top of his pouch. I’m exhausted now, but I need to spend at least some time observing Giddius.
He paces beside the fire, five steps forward and then five steps back. The flames are dim now, and Giddius hasn’t made an effort to feed them. Morning must be close.
I stretch and sit up, rubbing my eyes. Trevus didn’t care that I was awake. They don’t mind so long as I don’t run.
“Time in that tower has made your mind feeble,” Giddius says.
“What?” I ask. His comment comes off like he was in the middle of a conversation in his head.
He stops pacing. “If you had any wit, you would have deferred to Marcellus. Instead, you attempted to challenge a trained warrior as a meager girl. Learn to cast your lot with favorable odds, or you shall end up battered like a fool.”
“I couldn’t care less about being the last one standing inside a square drawn in the dirt,” I say. “You all may be large, but I’m not frightened. Marcellus knows that now. That was my victory.” After our duel, Marcellus didn’t speak another word to me.
Giddius’s brows crease together. I’m not the idiot he imagined. A punch is nothing I can’t bear, and Marcellus no longer has the footing to call me a coward.
“And how was a Mephian sorceress foolish enough to be captured by Versillian soldiers?” he says.
“First answer my question, then I will answer yours,” I say.
His annoyance grows. “Then what is your question?”
“What secret did Trevus tell Marcellus in the square?”
Giddius glances over the other men. Both are asleep. “Trevus prohibited Marcellus from striking at your elbows, knees, neck and head,” Giddius says.
My mouth opens. Trevus held Marcellus back? Why?
“And your answer?” Giddius says.
The day the soldiers dragged me from my village comes to the front of my mind. It’s not an experience I like to relive. I pull the sleeping pouch up to my shoulders and lie down again. “I was a child.” That’s all he needs to know.
Giddius returns to pacing. He doesn’t speak again.
@CaitRoseCo 😂
Awesome!
I think it’s her only form of control in a helpless situation… I also think it’s better than just shutting down completely.
Yeah pretty stupid but I suppose understandable action…
I hope he’s ashamed
New chapter today yay
😢
Excellent comeback. Respect.
YES
I wish everyone was so punctual and promising. Thank you for the timely update
I know what happens in the next chapter, hehehe
@rileysing it looks fine to me, I kinda got the idea that these soldiers wouldn’t press it, since they seem to like dealing in a give and take system
@rileysing Oh no, the only cliffhanger to me is seeing his reaction lol, I want them to feel like shit XD
@iceheartgoldsmile lol, already written in a previous chapter
Well that’s likely effected their view of her… even if they hate people like her surely they can’t be comfortable with the idea of a child being locked up.
So as not to seriously injure you… just hard enough hits knock you Iverson and to hurt
So the point of taking the beating was to make them realise she’s able to take a hit. An attempt at getting at least some kind of respect hmm
Are you going to sleep? Like you’ll need rest if you want to escape and not get too worn down by the journey.
I don’t think he needed to cheat to beat her in that spar… he’s a trained soldier, and she’s been locked up for years.
She would have to pull tricks to even try and beat any of them.
10
It’s better to have some kind of attention than none at all…
I wanna see his response so bad, this cliffhanger is so mean
I mean he knows you can use touch to control his body, even kill him. I’m not surprised he’s not edge tbh…
And stuff like bandits the risk of attack from whoever they need her against.
Says the one with powers
Seeing as she never got a chance to develop emotionally healthily, yeah, resembling that of an adolescents
Huh, interesting. I’ve never heard of this. It seems like a good way to track time, though, besides using candles.
Does she not know what a sleeping bag is? She must have been quite young when locked up
I read that with a British accent
Her face is going to be so hot and dry lol