I kept waking up through the night. Maybe it was because we were sleeping on pieces of cloth on the packed dirt. I kept dreaming about my bed in the Palace. I kept dreaming about that time I sat on a rooftop in Kiziljer with Altan. I would wake with an aching sad feeling, then slowly drift back to sleep. But each time, before I fell asleep, I would look around me and see that Cai was lying on the the dirt beside me.
I woke up again, and I could tell it was closer to morning than it had been before. The sky was still dark but the horizon was slightly lightened, and told of a sun that would soon rise. This time I rubbed my eyes and thought back on my dream of playing rock-paper-scissors with Altan. I sighed and turned my head to where I knew Cai laid beside me but when I looked... He wasn't there.
I sat up and looked around me. I couldn't see him anywhere.
~Where the hell does he go?~
The only people near to me were the snoring men from the previous night that were lumps of sleeping forms on the other side of the long-dead fire pit.
I opened my mouth to call Cai's name but then I stopped myself.
~Holy Cow... Now is my chance.~
I scrambled to my feet in the darkness and tried to smack the sleep from my cheeks. I rolled up the cloth I had been sleeping on and stuffed it into my small bag of belongings.
~If I'm going to get away from Cai, I don't know when I'll have another chance. It's best to do it now before we reach Pani Rasta and I have to hold up my end of our bargain.~
I looked around myself again but saw no one, then I quickly moved over the sand toward the area where I knew the trading stands were. I kept my eyes ahead of me as I walked, knowing that Cai could pop up beside me at any moment.
~I'm not sure what he would do if he caught me trying to escape.~
"Ow!" A man beneath me yelped. and with the sound of his voice I immediately ducked to the ground. That was when I realized that he had yelped because I kicked him right in the stomach while I was trying to sneak away. "What the hell, lady!" he yelled, and I nearly jumped on top of him to cover his mouth.
My eyes widened and I shook my head, "Shush shush." I held a finger to my mouth to tell him to be quiet. When he looked at me quizzically, I nodded my head toward the other sleeping men and hoped he picked up on my implication. Either he got it, or he was still half asleep, because he waved a hand at me, said, "Whatever." laid back down, and immediately started snoring again.
I exhaled relief, and turned back to my mission of escape, this time keeping an eye on the ground as well as the horizon.
~That was close.~
When I reached the area where we arrived yesterday; the area where people were selling the wares, the sun was beginning to rise. People were out and about, feeding chickens, watering plants, unloading carts, and preparing for a day of selling things. I kept my eyes alert and searched the face of every person I passed. None of them were Cai... None of them were Altan... I was safe for now.
~I just need to get some money first... and maybe I can pay one of them to give me a ride to their hometown or something... anything to get away from the crazy nobles that I've been dealing with lately.~
I looked around myself again but still didn't see Cai.
~Maybe he won't care if I've escape. He never vowed to track me down like Altan did.~
I approached a vendor man that was preparing a stand full of dried fish. He was a nice-looking over-weight man with a long beard braided down to his belly button. "Excuse me, sir." I kept my eyes down and did my best to play the part of a respectable woman from this world.
The man turned away from a dried fish that he was hanging and looked at me, but said nothing.
"I have a valuable good that I'm looking to exchange for cash." I said and held tightly to the bag that was wrapped around me. Somehow, through everything I had gone through, I was able to not lose the two expensive looking mallards that I had stolen from the palace. Hopefully, I could trade one of them for a pretty penny, and a ride out of this place. I could sell the other one later on.
"A valuable good, ey?" the man crossed his arms over his chest and I quickly glanced around to make sure Cai was not anywhere in sight.
"That's correct." I looked back at my feet, "I'm looking to travel south, or west, or east."
"Anywhere but north?" he definitely sounded suspicious.
"that's correct." I said again, but did not elaborate.
He looked behind me, "And who are you travelling with?"
"I'm alone." I answered, then wondered if I should have lied about that.
~probably.~
"Is that so?" He brushed over his oily beard with his fore-finger and thumb, "Well, I might purchase a valuable good from you. What have you got?"
~Really? it's that easy?~
I fumbled through my bag and came back with one of the golden mallards. I held it in my hand and brushed dust from the gems that had gathered in the bottom of my bag. "It's this."
"Dear Vohan." the man spoke under his breath when I raised it up. "Now where did a pretty lady like yourself end up with such a thing as this?" he asked and plucked the mallard from my palm.
I bit my lip, unsure if I should have let him take it.
~What if he refuses to give it back?~
"It does not matter how I acquired it." I answered, "It only matters how much you wish to offer me for it." I tried to take the golden duck out of his hand but he quickly deflected my grab.
He laughed at my words, "spoken life a true thief."
"I am not a thief!" I looked up from the ground finally and dove for the duck.
Again, the man was quicker than me. "Then tell we where you got it."
"Fine." I stepped back angrily, "Yes, I stole it. But what does that matter to you?"
The side of the man's mouth curled up. "Because that tells me how much it's worth."
"It does?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes." He spun the duck in his hand. "If you didn't pay any money for it, then why should I?" He then tucked the duck into the pocket of his trousers and my mouth gaped with anger.
"How dare you!" I reached for his pocket but he grabbed me by the arm and threw me on the ground before I could reach it. I began to fight against his grasp, thrashing in the dirt, filling my mouth with sand.
"And that means I also know the price of YOU." he said as he put a knee on my back and grabbed my other flailing arm.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I tried to sound strong or unaffected, but with the weight of him on my back, I could barely breath, I couldn't defend myself at all. He tied my hands together at the wrists and hoisted me to my feet.
"A thief is no more than a lost slave." He spat in my ear, "And the price of a slave is pretty high here in Ot Ulut."
~Dear God, what have I got myself into now?~