We travelled in silence and all I thought about was how another person had died because of me. I felt defeated. Nothing I did seemed to change things the way I wanted. I was stuck in a state of reacting or coming quickly to regret my choices. But the worst of it was that I didn’t reallyfeelbad about the driver. I should have felt terrible. I should have been horrified by Remy. I wasn’t. I was tired and sad and didn’t mind all the dried blood I could feel on my face.
I was free, but I had no idea where I was, where I was going or how I would get back to Selene.
Remy tapped under my knee, signalling he was going to put me down.
He steadied me as he looked ahead.
“Round that bend, we’ll see the yellow of the sunflower fields outside my village. I don’t think it’s a good idea to walk on in through the main road. Vouna guardsmen might be waiting for us, assuming they’ve noticed us missing and think we’re stupid enough to go home. Which we are, mind you,” he said and smiled at me. I returned his smile.
“What’s the plan then?” I asked. He wiped the back of his hand against his forehead. It was hot now and we were both visibly grimy.
“There’s a small farm just on the outskirts. I’ll take you there, see if we can get a look at that ankle and a change of clothes. I’ll get Sheila and we can travel the backroads to Kings City together. We can part ways then.”
“Okay, but what if Vouna guards are in the village?” I asked.
“Don’t worry now, flower girl. I can handle myself and they don’t know the village or surrounding lands like I do. You did your part. You got me out of that cell; I’d have been stuck there until my death without your help. I’ll do my part now, get you on the road to that Princess of yours.”
I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips at the mention of Selene. Remy made me believe that I would be back with her soon.
“Thanks for everything,” I told him. I had been in my head, focusing too much on my hurts to appreciate what Remy, a stranger, had done for me. He had taken a risk with his life to escape. He didn’t leave me behind. He probably could have walked out the bailey past the guards, but he had got us in the van, he carried me when I couldn’t walk, and yes, he had killed for us. I felt the weight of what he had given me.
“Sometimes we do wrong things for the right reasons,” he told me, his voice quiet as he turned to face away from me. “I’m not a good man, never have been - not on my own. But Sheila, she made me good. Made me want to be better. But I’m still not a good man, flower girl. Don’t thank me like that; I’ve done far worse than you saw today, and I’d do worse still to get back to her.” He seemed almost angry with himself.
I felt like I understood what he meant. I would do whatever it took to get back to Selene, to be with her, to keep her safe. And that truth was why I couldn’t feel bad about the driver.
“Let’s get going then, flower girl.” He led the way slowly over easy slopes until, in the near distance, fields of bright yellow and green from different sowing times stood proud.
I limped slowly as we grew nearer to the fields. I could make out the tops of some buildings, smoke was rising from somewhere and I could hear faint sounds of people and bustle. I turned to look at Remy and was concerned to see his face lined with worry.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“That’s a lot of smoke,” he said.
“Is it not normal?” I asked.
“Not for this time of year. It looks like it’s coming from the village hall ceremony space. On feast days, it’s where we burn our offerings or build bonfires in the winter,” he explained. “Probably nothing.”
As we continued on, the smoke and rising voices as we neared a small stone farmhouse began to feel ominous.
Remy stopped us behind a barn about a hundred yards away from a minimalist garden, slabbed with laundry hanging out to dry, but it looked like the task had been abandoned halfway through.
“Something’s not feeling right,” he told me. “But we don’t have much choice from here. We’ve got to get out of the open.”
He turned to me and I nodded.
We walked, crouching in the long grass until we reached the edges of the garden.
“Do you know the people who live here?” I asked him.
“My sister,” he answered, before he led us out of the grass to the garden.
He led us right up to the backdoor and opened it stepping inside to a kitchen and I followed.
A woman screamed, briefly, startled as she entered the kitchen. A man ran in behind her, shouting, “What’s going on?”
“Remy, what are you doing here?” the woman asked, stepping forward to Remy. From the family resemblance I knew they were related.
“Remy, you shouldn’t be here. They’re looking for you and her,” the man said, pointing at me.