"You could have told me that you wanted to go for a run, I would have accompanied you!” Sit shouts, exasperated. I look at the ground in defeat.
“How did you find me?” I ask; I don''t have to say anymore. He knows what I am really implying which is; how did you find me without me seeing you coming?
Seeing the defeat and confusion on my face seems to amuse him, he chuckles mockingly, “Wouldn''t you like to know? Someday I will tell you my secret, but not today.” His horse is snorting and prancing on the spot. The beast seems excited to be out running and on the chase. Sit steadies his horse and dismounts. He grabs some handcuffs and small chains from a pack behind the saddle and approaches me.
“You know that I like you Taylan, and you already figured that I won''t tell on you. If Newlyn, Rosaleen, or anyone on their side asks, I will simply tell them that I instructed you to run to build on to your story for Shaylo.” He carefully approaches me; I am still sitting, defeated.
“You aren’t going to try to run again?” Sit asks and I shake my head no; I am still catching my breath.
“Good” He says satisfied, “Now you are probably wondering what these handcuffs and chains are for?”
Shame and embarrassment must paint my face, deep down, I already know what the handcuffs are for, but I deny it to him. “No actually” Can he blame me for trying to get away? It wasn’t a secret that, if I had stayed in the yard, I would have been locked up with Shaylo.
He regards me, “Don’t play stupid, you know and besides, now I have a really good reason to use them, it’s no longer just for the act.” He grin’s a fake smile; I can tell that he is slightly annoyed in the whole matter of me making a run for it and is acting as though I have made his work so much more difficult today. On the other hand, he is also annoyed that I didn’t succeed in eluding him.
“Stand up, turn around.” He orders, taking both my arms and putting the cuffs on, my hands are tied from behind. I can feel him securing a chain to the cuffs. He takes the other end of the chain, secures it to the saddle then mounts his horse, and barks at me, “We are heading back, keep on your feet, or else you will be dragged. The horse could startle, and I may not be quick enough to halt him.”
“Is that a threat?” I ask. I get that half of this is the act and half of it is the truth. I ran. Would he really harm me?
“No honestly I am just stating the obvious.” Sit answers coolly. He urges the horse forward to a nice walking pace. I follow along side. The first few minutes are in silence, walking out of the forest and into the field. Just the odd snort from the horse and the noise of his hooves hitting the ground, I break the silence, “Why do I feel like you are mad at me?”
“Because I am, you ran.”
“What if I thought you were being a good friend and giving me my chance at freedom?” He did leave me alone.
Sit laughs, “If I was giving you a shot at freedom you would know.” His eyes fall a few paces ahead of where his horse is headed.
“I’m sorry Sit, you’ve been good to me; I took off in the heat of the moment. I have only been within these circumstances for a brief time. All I wanted was to just go home and have everything go back to the way it was.”
I catch him role his eyes as he asserts himself, “Heat of the moment, that''s a load of crap, do you know what I’m really doing for you? I am trying to make this easier for you and am lying to Newlyn and whoever else, to convince them that your heat of the moment decision was all just part of the act. Do you realize that if they ever uncovered the truth, you would be punished?”
Angered, I raise my voice, “How much more harm could they inflict on me and my family? They separated us, forced some of us to work for them, forced me to kill another, and now I am being thrown into danger by being held captive, bound in chains?” He stops the horse. Sit jerks my chains hard forcing me closer to him and the beast. He asks, “Do you cherish your life? How about your sisters, do you cherish them? And your mother, do you cherish her well-being?”This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I say nothing; he jerks the chain again, forcing a response from me. I murmur, “Yes.”
“Rosaleen and Newlyn are probably the nicest masters you will ever encounter, they treat their servants fair and for the most part as equals, but never and I mean it, never cross them, it could be the last thing that you do.” He pauses, gauging my reaction and continues, “Always remember that the people that are in power are there for a reason, and it wasn''t because they were just nice.” He looks into my eyes, “Don''t let me down again, I trusted you today and you just threw it all to waste.”
It is hard to look at him now, but I do, “Sit I am really sorry.”
Even though he says nothing aloud after receiving my apology, I sense that he accepted it because the tension leaves him, and his body relaxes in the saddle. He nudges the horse on, and we continue in silence through the field. As I walk alongside, I step carefully in fear of tripping, it feels odd to walk with your hands behind your back, I don’t think Sit would actually let me get dragged however the fear is more based on the fact that I don’t have my hands as a buffer if I was to stumble. Neither of us are in a talking mood, we have both said what was needed. I am not really thinking of anything now and just focusing on one foot in front of the other and lose track of time and my inner voice during the silence. We make our way down to the entrance of the gates; Newlyn is out, sitting on the front porch and pretends not to notice us as we walk in. She has someone in her company, but it is no one I recognize. I hang my head in shame and embarrassment even though I don''t have an audience watching me. I feel like an animal bound in chain. This is an entirely different level of treatment that I am experiencing right now, and even though this is supposed to be a cover, it eerily feels real. He continues to lead me, as soon as we are within the gates and around the back of the buildings, where the barn is, he dismounts. This home was built as a retreat but was used as Newlyn’s exile. There are no dungeons, or jail cells per say, instead, they have used a couple of square box stalls that housed horses and converted them to jail cells. I see Shaylo immediately in a stall on the right, which is second to the end. She is up on her feet looking at us as we enter the barn. I notice our similarities. She is dressed in the same linen outfit as me, and she is about the same height and weight. Her hair is tied back into a simple ponytail. She watches us as we enter the space. She acknowledges Sit, “Master Sitrus” Weird; I thought his name was just Sit; Sitrus, what a strange name. Sit answers in his deep voice, “Good afternoon Shaylo.” He leads his horse into a stall on the left with me following; I am still bound in chain to the saddle. He removes the saddle from the horse’s back and then unbinds my chain from it. Showing no emotion, but instead just going through the motion of getting me placed in my new living quarters. He instructs me to enter the stall next to Shaylo''s, closest to the exit. There are few words between us other than the orders he gives me. He removes my cuffs and exits the stall, locking it behind him. I take a seat on the cot that along the outer wall and listen. Later, I decide to get up and pay attention to everything that is going on around me. What if I have been fooled and this is real and not a cover? How am I going to get out of here? I did nothing wrong, why me? Sit goes to Shaylo''s stall and opens it; he cuffs her hands and feet; it is done without any objection. It’s routine for them. He orders her, “See to his stall.” Referring to the horse’s stall, Shaylo goes to work, without any hesitation and picks up a wheelbarrow and shovel that are kept off to the side down the aisle. Sit is at work polishing the horse’s saddle and tack, then shortly brings the horse back out into the aisle and gives the beast a grooming. Shaylo finishes with the stall. They seem so coordinated, finishing each task at about the same time. Sit puts the horse in his freshly cleaned stall that is filled with grain, hay, and water. At this point, I am silent saying nothing, only watching. Sit says without any warmth in his voice to Shaylo, “I will take you to your bath now.”
Shaylo answers, “Is my new cell mate joining us?” For a prisoner, her spirit seems un-broken which comes as a surprise because the impression I got from the others was that she was terribly upset with her currant living arrangement.
Sit answers her, “No not today, come Shaylo.”
They both leave and I am alone, well not completely, the horse is across from me, enjoying his meal, all I can see is the top part of his face, his muzzle is in his food dish, I can hear him chewing on his meal and smell the sweetness of the grain. I gauge my new living quarters. The stall is a perfect square shape, and there are thick wood panels that make the frame. The wood planks stop at about my chest and from my chest to the ceiling, the stall is composed of vertical bars. The difference between the horse’s stall across from me and my prison cell, is that my cell, the ceiling of the box stall is fitted with chain fencing and the horse stall has an open ceiling. I run my hand along the wood walls as I walk the parameter. It is the early evening, just before supper, and I decide that I need to put the strategizing aside and rest. I just don''t care. I go to the cot and climb under the sheets. It is small, but comfortable; I close my eyes and fall asleep for the night.