Hera was sitting in her usual armchair looking out the open window when Mara walked into the room. The night had fallen and the fire lanterns far in the distance were the only things visible in the darkness. The winter was fast approaching, bringing with it a bite in the evening breeze. Mara clasped her arms around herself as she walked over to close the window. Hera did not notice. She continued to stare vacantly at the closed wooden shutters. Mara lit a candle and brought it to her mother’s bedside table.
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“Ma.” She placed a hand gently on Hera’s shoulders.
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Hera turned her head and smiled in recognition.
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“It’s late. Let’s tuck you in bed.” Mara grasped her mother’s frail shoulders and gently raised her up, supporting her to the bed. When Hera was warm and tucked in, she sat by her mother’s side, gently caressing her wrinkled forehead.
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“Ma, I need to talk to you about something.” Mara said softly.
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She had not told her ma anything about what had happened in the village and given strict instructions to Aalia, Noria and Mali not to discuss Eren or the murder in front of her. She was afraid her mother’s fragile mind would not be able to stand the shock. But she had decided it was time. For what she was about to do tonight, Hera needed to know why if something happened to her.
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Hera smiled at her daughter, a gentle smile that seemed to light up her shadowed face. Then her face crumbled into distress.
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“Oh my poor child. My poor, poor child,” she wailed. “I do not know why Joha punishes us so.”
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“Ma,” Mara exclaimed in concern. She still had not gotten used to her mother’s volatile moods.
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“I know darling, I know. Oh, I should’ve never agreed to it in the first place. I knew that boy was trouble.” Mara realized with trepidation that her mother knew. Somebody had told her after all. “What have I done? I’ve ruined your life.”
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“Ma.” She gently took her ma’s hands in her own. “It’s alright ma. Eren didn’t do it. He is innocent.”
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“Of course, he is darling. Of course, he is.” Hera touched her cheek and Mara couldn’t help but feel her mother was patronizing her. “But what will we do now? I should’ve stopped your da from taking that foolish oath from Myron back then. I never really liked the man. Always hanging around the tavern, pulling Marvin into his little schemes. And that boy of his, who knows what blood he carries. I should’ve realized he would come to a bad end.”
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“Ma!” Mara cried out in shock. She couldn’t believe her mother had uttered those words. She recognized those words were not hers. Hera would never speak about anyone in such a manner. “Who have you been talking to?”
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“Oh, don’t you worry about that. Maven came by to check up on me. Told me everything.”
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Mara gritted her teeth. Healer Maven was one of the few women in the town that she had any respect for. She always thought her to be a practical and forthwith woman.
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“Ma, you need to stop listening to these women. They do nothing but spread poison and vile all day. Eren is innocent.”
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“Then who am I supposed to talk to?” Hera pouted like a child. “You don’t tell me anything and Aalia, stupid girl, pretends she does not understand what I’m saying. As if I can’t see past her tricks.”
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Mara sighed. She was right. Even her ma, batty as she was, needed company and the only one willing to give her time these days were the old biddies who had nothing better to do but gossip and spread dreadful rumors.
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“But don’t you worry about anything, darling.” Hera suddenly grasped her daughter’s hands in a tight grip. A feverish grin split her wrinkled face. “I have everything figured out.”
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“About what?” Mara enquired with unease. It was never good when her ma got excited these days.
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“How to save the inn, what else? Is that not what you wanted to talk about? But don’t you worry. I’ve talked with Maven. You remember Morin, her sister-in-law’s nephew. He is still unmarried and looking for a bride. He may be a little old and not all there, Joha forgive me for saying it, but Maven says he is the nicest little man. I’ve already told Maven to talk to him …”
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Mara wrenched her hands out of her mother's grasp and stood up horrified. She was breathing hard, and her heart was racing as if she had run several spans. Her mother looked at her with an expression of innocent confusion with no cognizance of what she had just said.
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“Ma, Morin is a forty-cycle old drunk. The reason he is not married is because he spends every other night in jail for beating someone half to death.”
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“Darling.” Her mother wailed, trying to reach for her hand again. Mara backed away. “I know this is not what you wanted. But we take what Joha gives us. If your da was alive today, things would be different. But Joha took him away from us, and we must think about the inn. If you don’t get married, and Joha knows we cannot be picky in these circumstances.”
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“I am not going to marry Morin, Ma. Never! Not over my dead body,” she shouted and then felt guilty for it when Hera started sobbing in her blankets.
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“What did I do to deserve this? You are going to put me on the streets at this age? If only I had a son.”
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Mara could not bear to hear any more. She left her weeping mother in her bed and closed the door behind her. She knew it was not all her mother’s fault. The disease had ravaged her mind. If not for that, Hera would’ve never tried to sell her own daughter off for the inn. But it did little to reassure Mara’s rattled mind. She also realized, once she was halfway down the stairs, she never told her mother what she had gone to confess in the first place.
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---
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It was close to midnight when Mara finally decided to put her plan into action. She checked her disguise in her bedroom mirror. She wore a brown closed tunic with grey cotton riding pants and black leather boots, all slightly too large for her. Her father had not been a tall man, thankfully, but he had more width in his shoulders and waist than she did. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was wrapped in a bun on top of her head and wrapped with a black scarf that also covered her nose, mouth, and neck. She suppressed a giggle of excitement as she imagined this is how her hero, Agathis Strombrewer, must have looked, when she scaled the tower of Morgaine in secret, to burn the defamatory letter that would’ve destroyed her chance of earning the riconorth ring. It was a tale of truth’s triumph against formidable injustice just like what Mara planned to do tonight. She was going to help Eren escape.
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She closed her bedroom door quietly and tiptoed down the stairs, remembering to skip the steps that creaked. The kitchen and the tavern were dark and silent, as she expected them to be. She headed towards the back door to the inn that opened into the narrow alley between the inn and the temple next door. Only, someone was waiting for her at the door, two someones. Horath grinned at his wife as they stepped out of the shadows, then signed.
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I told you.
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Aalia scowled at him then directed it at Mara. “I know where it is you go, mistress. It be too dangerous.”
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Mara blushed at being caught even before her night adventures had started. “Horath, Aalia. Why are you up this late at night?” She whispered back.
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She did not know why they were whispering. Apart from her ma and the two girls, there was no one else staying at the inn that night.
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“Waiting for you mistress.” Aalia shrugged. “Horath be saying you do foolish thing tonight.”
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Horath looked at her guiltily and then shrugged. She had not told Horath about her plans, but it looked like he had figured it out. The man knew her too well.
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“You be going to save master Eren, isn’t you?” Aalia accused her. “You be freeing ‘im and then make him run away.”
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“I’ve to do this Aalia,” Mara replied exasperatedly. She did not have time for that discussion. “I can’t let him be hanged because of me.”
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“I understand, mistress. You be in love with ‘im. Love make everyone crazy. But it is too dangerous mistress. What if you be caught? They be hang you too.”
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Mara blushed. “That’s not what this is about and I will not be caught. Now both of you, please get out of my way. I really need to go.”
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“I know you be not changing mind. You as stubborn as Mali. So you take Horath with you.”
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“What?” Mara looked in surprise from Aalia’s stubborn expression to Horath grim nod. “I will not do that. If Horath get’s caught …”
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“Horath not get caught.” Aalia scowled at her husband. “Horath good at sneaking around. Sneak around my hut all the time before we married.”
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Horath blushed but grinned.
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“You be taking Horath with you. He help and I be little less worry.” Aalia insisted. “Or I be not moving from here.”
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“Fine,” Mara sighed in resignation. Besides, she realized, Horath would come in handy if she were to encounter a watchman. “But, you need to cover your face.”
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Horath pulled out a scarf from his pocket and wrapped it around his head covering his face from nose below, grinning mischievously. It looked like they had come prepared. Aalia, still scowling, moved out of their way and Mara and Horath slipped out into the night.
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The alley was surrounded on both sides by high walls that blanketed it in shadows. It was the perfect place to stake out the town hall across the square green without being seen. It was almost a full moon and with a clear sky, the entire square and the town hall was illuminated in its light. Crouched at the mouth of the alley, Mara and Horath peered at the two-storied building enclosed in a high brick wall looking and listening for any signs of life.
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After a few minutes, Mara decided they’d waited long enough and uncurled from position to run across the green. Just as she stepped out into the moonlight, rough hands grabbed her and pulled her back into the shadows. She almost yelled until Horath’s face appeared above her. He shook his head urgently, then unclasped his hand from her mouth and pressed his index finger to his lips. With his other hand he pointed towards the far end of the green. Mara gazed in that direction, and momentarily two town guards in their brown and bronze livery emerged from in between the houses, walking towards them. If Horath had not stopped her when he did, they would have surely seen her running towards the town hall. Mara thanked Joha that Horath had decided to come along. As they neared the inn, their conversation carried over to the two hidden in the alley.
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“Are ya sure it’s alright to just leave ‘im in there alone?” The taller of the two guards, who Mara recognized as the one she had her confrontation with earlier that day, asked.
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“Of course, ‘tis. What he gonna do, bite through the bars?” The other guard replied. “He’s not going’ anywhere. Besides, ‘tis Chief Inquisitor who told us to patrol the town, didn’ he? He knows what he’s doin.”
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“Yae. You’re right. He just spooks me that’s all, with all that cryin’ and the mutterin’ and the way he looks at ya like he’s gonna eat ya.” The taller guard shuddered. “Heard he nearly attacked the chief, threatened to tear his throat with his teeth, that too in front of the Chief Inquisitor.”
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“What does it matter?” The other guard patted the taller one’s back. “He’ll be dead in two days anyway.”
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“I, for one, will be glad when it's done and over with. How can you raise a girl in this town with the likes of him ‘bout?”
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Then, they disappeared around the corner into the darkness and Mara realized freeing Eren had just become easier than she’d thought. With no guards around, they did not have to worry about someone catching them sneaking into the dungeons. Horath grasped her shoulders and nodded and took the lead, slipping out from behind her. Crouched low, he looked furtively around the square and then started jogging, signaling her to follow him. With heart racing with excitement, she did.
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The green was a flat field with not even a tree to hide behind, and it was the one place they had the greatest chance of being seen. They ran across it as fast as they could and pressed themselves against the brick wall and back into the shadows. Sticking close to the wall, they coasted across the front gate, heading for the back of the property where a large tree stood, its height reaching across the boundary wall to the second floor of the hall. When they reached the tree, Horath quickly climbed up its trunk and then gestured towards the branch which extended close to the window on the second floor. Mara nodded and followed him up easily, well-practiced in scaling trees from her childhood adventures with Tam and Eren. Once they had ascended to the branch in question, Horath gestured to her to wait while he went first and opened the window.
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The branch they were crouched over became thinner farther away from the trunk and Mara wondered with trepidation if it would hold Horath’s weight. But Horath, as his wife had indicated, was adept at sneaking around. With grace of a shafu that belied his bulk, he balanced himself across length of the branch till he was staring across from the window and then jumped, landing quietly on the wall opposite him and clinging to the window’s ledge. Holding onto the ledge with one hand, he worked the wooden shutters until they swung open with an audible creak. Mara froze, looking around her nervously for any sign that they had been detected but no one appeared. Horath was unperturbed. With a swift motion, he lifted himself off of the ledge and disappeared inside the window.
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After a few tense moments, he appeared in the window grinning and gestured at her to follow him. Unfortunately, she was not as dexterous or as light as he had been when the last time, she had to walk across a tree branch, and she almost slipped several times as the branch swung under her wait. Heart racing, she grabbed on to another tree branch for support, and made her way slowly as far as she dared to go. She was still not close enough to the window to step into it though. Horath motioned for her to jump, indicating with his hands that he would catch her. Gulping down her indecision, she leapt.
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She thought she was done for when her hands slid off the window ledge and she plummeted towards the ground two storeys below. But then, Horath's large hands caught her wrists, slamming her into the wall with a thud. A jolt ran through her body at the impact, but she grabbed his forearms and held on, hoping no one had heard the sound. Horath lifted her slowly and pulled her inside the dark room. They sat down on either side of the open window, panting breathlessly. Then, Horath threw her an approving grin, and she grinned back in delight, a disciple basking in her mentor’s praise. Well, if she does lose the inn, maybe she and Horath could get into the burglary business together.
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After their exhilaration had died down and they had caught their breaths, Mara finally stood up and gave her surroundings a glance. The dark cramped room was filled with an enormous dewar desk in the center with one large wooden chair on the lord side and two others on the petitioner’s side. A large banner with heraldry of the town guard of Silver Peak, a snow-covered mountain with a dawning sunburst and a man with plough in a field of grains, covered the lord side’s wall behind the chair. Otherwise, it was bare. On the desk, a decanter of Alpinion wine and wooden mug sat in one corner, and at the center of it lay a gold promise band.
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Mara gasped as she picked the familiar bracelet. In the moonlight streaming through the open window behind her, she could clearly make out her name etched on it. It was the promised band she had given to Eren on their engagement day, the one that had been found near Feldor’s dead body later that night. It seemed suspicious to her that the Chief would leave such an important piece of evidence simply lying around, unless of course this was the chief’s office. She searched around for anything unusual that might help her, a key to the dungeons or some clue that Muntoose was working with Haysteed to frame Eren and Myron, but she did not find anything. Horath in the meantime, had left the office to scout the building and came back nodding his head indicating it was safe to proceed.
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The town hall was empty, but still they were careful to not make any sounds as they proceeded down the stairs that ended in front of the entrance to the building. She knew that the dungeons were in the basement, but she did not see any other set of stairs leading down to them. She gestured to Horath to search in the opposite direction and started down a narrow hall with several closed doors to her right. The first two doors led to empty rooms. The third one had a wooden cabinet with small cubes attached to one wall and a pair of benches lined on the other. The room smelled heavily of dried sweat and musk and old socks making her gag and she closed the door back in a hurry. When she opened the fourth door, a different kind of smell assaulted her nostrils, and she clamped her nose and mouth with her hands. The room was bare except for a stone platform in the middle. On top of the platform, lying atop of a slab of balasite was a figure covered with a brown blanket. Burned incense laid around the figure and on the walls around the room and she realized she was smelling a dead man.
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Her breath caught and her body shuddered involuntarily. Her instincts told her to run, but her mind reminded her that she needed to know who it was.
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What if they went ahead with the execution? What if that was Eren under the covers?
The thought brought tears to her eyes. She hadn’t truly contemplated Eren’s death till that moment. Legs shaking, she slowly crept up to the figure and uncovered its face. She almost screamed, the only thing that stopped her was the relief that it was not Eren. Feldor Hargreev had never been a handsome man, unlike his son. But now his battered head had swelled to the size of a small melon and his skin was a sickly yellow. His dead eyes bulged outwards as if they were going to pop out of his skull and black veins stretched across his neck and cheeks. Mara stood there, mesmerized with horror, at her first view of death.
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A shadow moved across the corner of her eyes, and she yelled. Her heart nearly gave out before she realized it was only Horath at the door. He signaled to her to be silent and walked up to look at the body. He shook his head and lifted his hand to his chin, mumbling a soundless Nogar prayer. Then, caught her arm and gestured towards the door. He had found the way to the dungeons.
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The stairs to the dungeons were on the opposite end of the building at the end of a similar passageway. As they descended into the darkness, Horath leading them, a shiver ran down Mara’s back. The dungeon smelled of dampness, rot and decay. They emerged in a large, pillared hall walled with stones and barred empty cells. Two torches hung on the wall near them. Mara picked one and proceeded carefully down the row of cells, searching for any occupants. In the last cell, a figure sat huddled in a dark corner with his head hidden between his couched knees.
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“Eren?” She called out.
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He raised his head, and she almost did not recognize him. His dark matted hair knotted around his head in clumps. His gaunt face was stained with tears, blood, and mud. His hands and bare feet were coated in grime and so were the clothes that hung on his scrawny frame. He looked starved and wild.
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“Go away,” he whispered fiercely, his maroon eyes blazing with madness. “Go away. Not you. Not you too. Go away.”
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“Eren, it’s me Mara.”
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“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream.” He mumbled shaking his head.
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What did they do to him? She thought, horrified at his condition. “I am not a dream, Eren. I came to get you out.”
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“No,” he moaned and buried his head back into his lap.
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She looked at Horath perplexed who simply shrugged at her. She did not know how long they had before the guards returned. Then she remembered she did not have a key to his prison either. Cursing herself for her carelessness, she looked at Horath and moved her hand as if trying to strike the metal padlock on the prison door. He nodded his head in understanding and left her to look for something to break the lock with. Mara looked back at Eren and called out gently.
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“Eren, it’s me, Mara. Look at me, please.”
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He raised his head again, looked at her and seemed to recognize her. He stood up and staggered to her looking confused.
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“Mara.” His voice was hoarse. “What? What are you doing here?”
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“Don’t worry. I came to get you out.”284Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKv39cOgzVo
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He frowned. “Did da send you?”
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“Myron?” She hesitated. Did he know that his father had run away? “No. Myron is gone, Eren.”
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“Oh.” His face dropped and he turned his head away. “You should go. You shouldn’t be here. I have to wait for him. He told me to.”
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“Eren,” she said impatiently. “Look at me.” He turned to look at her again. “Myron is gone. He left town in the middle of the night without telling anyone. I don’t think he is coming back.”
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“No.” Eren backed away from the bars. “He promised. He promised me he’ll come back for me.”
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“Eren, please. We don’t have much time and we won’t get another chance. We must go now, before the guards come back.”
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Eren shook his head stubbornly.
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“Eren, listen to me.” She reached in through the bars and grabbed his hand before he could escape. “They are going to hang you the day after. I know you did not kill anyone, but the mayor wants my inn, and he is doing all this just to get it. He even has the chief inquisitor in his pockets. Do you understand? So, we have to get you out of here tonight. You can hide at the inn until Myron comes back.”
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He looked at her doubtfully for a moment, then nodded. Mara sighed in relief. Horath returned with a mallet in his hand. It wasn’t the best tool for the job, but it would have to do. He stuck the thin end of the mallet in between the lock and the handle and started working on prying it open. Mara hoped the lock was old and rusty and would give away soon, and they would not have to hit it to break it.
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Suddenly, a new set of voices broke the silence, coming from towards the stairs. They froze and she heard footsteps descend towards the dungeons.
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“Go. Hide.” Eren gestured to her and Horath frantically.
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Quietly as they could, they rushed to an unlighted corner of the basement and hid behind a large pillar, Horath remembering to douse off the torch. With fear-filled anticipation, they waited for the newcomers to arrive. A few minutes later, three figures emerged from the darkness, carrying the second torch, and crowded around Eren’s cell. From her vantage point, she could not clearly see who they were, but their voices were recognizable.
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“Well, boy,” the chief inquisitor’s voice rang through the dark hall. “It is done. You will rip for the crimes of murder and depravity, and everyone will spit at yours and your father’s name, just like I promised you.”
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Mara did not hear Eren’s reply.
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“What’s the matter? You had a lot to say yesterday evening. Where is all that self-righteous bluster now? Has the fear of doom finally tempered your hot blood?”
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Eren said something Mara couldn’t make out that made the three chuckle. She realized they were all pissed off drunk.
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“Do you know what will happen to you boy? How you will be killed? Baeor, why don’t tell his brave young lad how he will meet his death. You have some experience in that matter.”
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There was an inaudible reply from the man named Baeor and the chief inquisitor laughed some more.
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“You know, I could’ve saved you. If only you’d listened to and agreed to what I asked of you. You could’ve been free. What more, I could’ve made you powerful. Ask Baeor here, he used to be pitiful just like you. Scared of his own shadow. Now he is a feared newil priest.”
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Baeor said something again, a little louder this time and Mara heard a slap. “Relax Baeor, the boy is going to die in a day anyway. No need for you to worry so much.” Then the chief inquisitor's voice took on a soft wicked tone. “Boy, I could still save you. All you have to do is agree?”
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Mara frowned. What could the chief inquisitor want from Eren? Is it about the inn? Do they want him to give them the inn?
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“Go suck a boar’s prick, you sheathers,” she heard Eren yell.
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There was a palpable silence. Then the chief inquisitor’s voice rose out of it in a threatening tone.
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“Looks like you haven’t learned your lesson, boy. Rogen, open the prison door, will you? I think we need to teach young Eren a little respect for law and authority.”
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Mara tensed and she felt Horath do the same by her side. He started to move but Mara stopped him. If they got caught right now any hope of saving Eren would go up in flames. She heard the prison door clang open and Eren screamed.
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“Get away from me, you nitzhils.”
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There was a loud thud and Eren moaned.
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“Hold him down,” the chief inquisitor growled and there was a scuffle. “You know Rogen, you could probably teach the brat a little about a lord mayor’s authority while we are at it.”
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Mara heard the mayor’s voice for the first time.
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“Don’t mind if I do”, he laughed.
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She had enough. She stalked out of her hiding place ready to confront the men and froze. The mayor and the priest had Eren pinned over his prison’s stone berth with his breeches around his ankles and his bloody nose pooling blood under his head. The inquisitor was untying his leather pants panting like a bull. In her daze she was barely aware of Horath, as he let out a roar of rage and charged at the three men. The inquisitor crashed into the iron bar behind him. Eren collapsed listlessly on the stone bed. There was a sound of unsheathing metal and a glint of steel.
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“Horath,” she shouted as the mayor thrust a knife towards Horath’s chest. Horath ducked then threw his head into the mayor’s gut. The mayor coughed and staggered back, the knife falling from his hands. She rushed to retrieve the knife. Just as her hands closed around its handle, something hit her. The side of her face exploded in pain as she skid across the floor. She tasted copper and spots danced around in her vision. She heard Horath growl again. Dazed, she clutched the wall and unsteadily climbed to her feet. She felt the sharp end of something and realized she still had the knife in her hand.
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“Give me that.” Someone clutched her hand and shoved her into the wall.
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“No,” she cried but the man twisted her hands painfully and the knife fell out of her grip. He bent down to pick it up. She tried to stagger away from him, but he caught her, twisting her arm behind her back, and pressed the sharp edge of the knife to her throat.
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“Stop,” the chief inquisitor shouted from behind her, his ale breath making her eyes water. “Or I will gut this bitch!”
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Horath, who was about to pound the mayor into the floor, raised his hand and stepped away from him. The mayor stood up, dusted his clothes, and punched Horath in the gut. Horath crumpled.
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“No,” Mara screamed and kicked the inquisitor’s shin with the back of her boots.
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He groaned, his grip loosened, and Mara tore out of his grasp. But before she could reach Horath, a white light exploded in her eyes as something struck the back of her head and everything went dark.
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