I forgot that Dakota was very clever, too. She reached for her bow and sent an arrow right into the middle of the animal's head.
“Now we're even,” Dakota smiled on relief.
We were already near the castle, where a tall railing surrounded by guards separated that perimeter from the rest of the village. We couldn't excuse ourselves, let alone fight an entire army. We needed to find a way in without being seen. I noticed that a cart loaded with groceries entered the gate with ease. We had to try.
We grabbed one full of potatoes parked at the market on the main street, emptied a bag. While one pulled on the cart, the other would go hidden.
“Lola, you better hide, I’ll drive the cart. Get in the bag and don’t make a noise. Be a potatoes bag.”
Dakota was right, if my scent caught the attention of those men before, imagine the guards. We carried on as planned, I hid trying to mix my smell with the rotten potatoes in the cart. I don't know what was worse, the terrible smell or the choking sensation inside the bag. I was so tense wanting to get in, I only noticed the desperation after I got out.
We were both shaking, on the way to pass an armed guard of Leikians, with a king who wanted my head. We were risking everything we had, our lives.
We waited for the arrival of another cart, where an old Leikian also wanted to enter the castle. We'd pass right behind him. The guards wouldn't notice.
“Stay in and be quiet. Let's go now!” whispered Dakota.
I could see nothing from inside the ocher-colored bag, swaying from an unleveled stone street, but I could feel my breathing speeding out of control as we approached the rack of metal and men talking. Finally, we arrived at the entrance. The old man before us was stopped by two guards. They searched the groceries, kicked the wheel, asked something, and a guard slapped his head for pure mockery.
I could feel Dakota shiver, it was our turn to pass.
“Next! You, approach with the merchandise!” shouted a guard.
It was now. I put my hands in my mouth, held my breath and went to the inspection before entering.
The same two guards stopped us. While one asked Dakota questions, the other inspected the cart. With every nudge in a bag, my heart almost came out of my mouth.
“What do you have in that cart, girl?”
“Potatoes, sir.”
“Another shipment of potatoes? Are you going to make a puree lake? Let me see your ID tattoo.”
Identification tattoo? Since in Lumen, prisms had the family mark, Elof invented the identification tattoo for Leike. Every Leikian has a mark of an ID number burned on the wrist, like the hot iron that marks an ox. Dakota was pale and her legs failed her, we heard nothing about it on the previous cart. Meanwhile, the other guard was getting closer and closer to me.
“ID? Yeah, hmmm ... my arm is hurt, but I'm the granddaughter of the man that came before us,” Dakota replied, lowering her face and with a shaky voice.
“Really? Let me see your face. What a strange smell, it seems ...”
The guard touched Dakota's hood. Her heart skipped a beat. Felling an adrenaline rush, she pushed him back and shouted.
“LOLA, RUN!”
Before the guard dug his sword into the sack I was in, I jumped out and fell on him. I was faster and managed to run, but I turned right. Dakota and another guard to the left. She managed to throw the nearest guard to the ground, putting two others down with her bow. Another three followed me. She didn't go very far. She was cornered before got out of my sight.
I ran as fast as I could, they were a few steps away. Some carts were along the way, a thick rope that hoisted a pig in a cage about two feet off the ground, all turned into obstacles to escape. When one of the guards managed to get a palm on my cape, I threw my ax toward the rope, which snapped and threw the cage over one of them. But the other still pursued me. I managed to retrieve my weapon and jumped on some crates propped against the wall, pity that my feet did not reach the floor. I felt the guard's hand drop down my cape as I fell into a dungeon with the door open, deep enough not to be followed. As soon as I went down, the old wooden door through which I fell, closed with force. I stood in the dim light in total silence. I didn't know where Dakota was or where I was. Still panting with my galloping heart, I smelled the scent of flowers coming from a thread of light, right behind where I was. I followed the perfume, it was a door to another exit, lower, which with a jump I might be able to open. I took a breath. Time was short enough without a guard preparing to surprise me from outside. The only noise I heard was from a bird chirping afar. There was an old wooden box standing near this door, I used it as a support to be able to get out carefully.
When I passed by the door at the top, I was no longer in the dirt corridor, filled with broken wood and hanging pigs. The air was fresh, I could almost see a sun between clouds illuminating the place. I would never think that existed there. It didn't even seem to be in Leike, but this is a land where danger, is where you can't even imagine.
Chapter Fourteen
Be Mine
With the castle behind my shoulders, I was now in a garden that was easy on the eyes. A man with a gray beard, wearing a sombrero and an earth-colored jumpsuit tore out weeds that were reluctant to leave the lawn, placing them in a wooden crate. The scent of flowers was denser, now I saw where it came from. Within this garden was a main corridor, surrounded by six marble statues (three on each side) with blue hydrangeas around it, forming a place for peace and reflection. In front of each statue was a small bench, suitable for the appreciation of each work of art.
This place didn’t match in any way all the dark scenery I've seen so far, it was different. I approached the gardener working, trying not to scare him.
“Excuse me, sir. What place is this?”
“Oh, hello! This is the King's private garden.”
“Even this they copied from,” I bit my tongue before finishing the sentence. The gardener raised his eyebrows, he didn't like what I was going to say.
“This is a secret place. The King built this garden in memory of his beloved mother, the only prism worthy of Lumen, Ophelia Leike. Her favorite flower was hydrangeas. The statues represent the King's journey until he came here and owned this whole Kingdom.”
“Oh, nice. I need to get into the castle, can you help me?” I didn't even hear the blah blah blah, I wanted to get down to business.
“Yes, just get in there,” he said, pointing to a rusty door without a handle on the back of the castle.
“I'll have to find a way to break in, thank you.”
“Not so fast, young lady. This door is sealed with a good spell, you can turn to dust if you try to break in. You need the key given to you by the last statue in the garden. You must hear what each has to say, it is a brief introduction about our King, in the end you will have enough information to enter. In return, you will receive the key.”
“Sir, there's an hourglass running out of time, surely it must be over by now. - I don't have time for museum stories.”
“That's the price to pay. If not, the exit to the village is right there.”
“Shit! I need to get in.”
“So, make yourself comfortable. I must go back to work, have a good day.” The gardener raised his sombrero to say goodbye and walked away, carrying the weeds that still lived and complained in the crate.