Chapter 23

Harlan was awakened by a pair of rough hands grasping her upper arms and dragging her up from the floor where she slept. She was pulled through the darkness and thrust outside into the cold night. Stumbling in her bare feet, she struggled to realize what was happening. Overhead, the three moons were low in the sky indicating it was almost dawn. Looking back she saw two young AEssyrian males she recognized from Sulla’s followers. One of them grabbed her, wrapping his arm around her neck and covering her mouth with his hand. Forcing her down a narrow trail they led her away from the village and into the woods. When they reached a small clearing, they pushed her to her knees and one of them pulled his saber. It made a chilling hiss as it cleared the scabbard.

White terror filled her heart. She’d expected this just not so soon. One of them approached her with a canvas hood and she held up her hands to stop him. “Wait! Wait! Does Sulla know you’re going to kill me?” she said in her best AEssyrian.

The male with the hood hesitated. “He’s an ignorant fool,” he snarled at her. “Sulla may be too stupid to know who you are, but we aren’t. You’re General Theron’s wife and he’s going to kill us all if he finds you here. We have to get rid of you before he discovers where you are.” The other male lifted his sword high in the air.

“Stop!” she shouted, holding her hands over her head in a hopeless attempt at protection. “I’m treating Sulla’s injured brother. If I die, so does he.”

The two males shrugged. “He’s of no interest to us. He’s as good as dead right now anyway.”

Harlan tried another tactic. “If you know who I am then surely you must be aware of my husband’s reputation. You know that my husband will torture and kill everyone until he finds me…dead or alive. As it stands everyone in this town is as good as dead. You need me to stay alive because I am the only one who can convince him to spare you and your families.” That seemed to give them pause.

Harlan pushed her luck. “If you let me go and point me in the right direction I may be able to reach him first and tell him how kind and merciful you both were. He will listen to me. But if I’m dead, so are you.”

The males looked at each other. The one sheathed his saber and tossed her a canteen. The other male left the clearing for a few minutes then returned with her boots. He threw the boots and a small package of rations at her. Harlan was so stunned she fumbled catching one of the boots and it fell to the ground with the rations. She picked the rations and the boot up and nodded her thanks.

“I can’t give you a mount,” the one with the sword said, “because we’re poor and don’t have many. But you have some time before they’ll discover you’re gone. Good luck. This trail will take you to the river. Follow it downstream and it will eventually take you back to Sanguar.”

Then the two males turned their backs on her and walked off toward the town. Harlan sat back on the ground, quickly pulling her boots on and lacing them up. Stuffing the rations into her pockets and tying the canteen to her waist she began to run down the trail as fast as her legs would carry her.