Niall ran home from the keep. All eyes were on him as he wandered through the streets and paths, it was as if they knew what he had done.
Niall arrived at his home and opened the door. Upstairs, he heard muffled steps before they faded into silence. Niall walked over to the cabinets of the kitchen and began pulling everything in them out. Grain, herbs, vegetables, and the small amount of meat they owned.
"Stop!" shouted someone from behind Niall. He recognized this voice as his mother's. "Don't move, or I will be forced to strike you!" his mother ordered. Niall turned around towards her. She dropped her knife. Her eyes were sunken in and surrounded by dark circles, she was gaunt and her eyes vacuous. Tears stained her face and her lips were dry. She ran to Niall and tightly embraced him.
"Are you hurt? What did they do?" she checked Niall's face. Suddenly fear struck her face. "How are you here? What did you do." she was no longer relieved to see her son.
"They took me, I escaped." Niall said nonchalantly. There was definitely more to the story, but more would only crush the fragile heart of his mother.
"I know you are holding something, but it must be for good reason." Niall's mother said. There was sympathy behind her voice. Niall gave her an awkward nod and went up to his room to gather his things. He grabbed clothes and sheets and the few bags of emergency grain for the winter. Niall went to his desk and pulled all the parchment out, all the writing he had done. Niall was lucky his father had been in the military, he had known how to read and write. While grabbing
all his papers, Niall noticed the box. It was made of sader wood and had beautiful engravings on the lid. It's latch was of pure iron and its hinges weathered copper. His father had said he had gotten it from the dwarves, and that Niall was to store the many other gifts to come inside of it.
"Gather your things, Mother, we're leaving!" Niall shouted down to his mother.
"What?" his mother asked.
"Just do it!" demanded Niall. He could not have her doddle, for all of Laeche's soldiers would soon be upon them. Niall put everything he had gathered into a leather satchel he had owned for a while. He remembered he and Saia making them together when they were small. Niall walked to the door. Before leaving, he turned and looked at the room. It had been shelter on a stormy night and a quiet place when he was ill, now it was to only be tainted by the treason that occured in it.
Downstairs, Niall's mother had gathered all the emergency supplies from the hidden cupboard under the stairs and wrapped them in a makeshift sack. Niall began to go to the garden in the back of the house before hearing a knock on the door. Niall and his mother froze. Mother picked the knife up from the ground and signaled Niall to see who it was. Niall peered through the small window by the door and saw Saia's worried face.
"Come in!" Niall shouted to her.
Saia and her parents flooded through the small doorframe. They were carrying large bags and sacks full of food.
"You didn't give me a spot to meet, so I assumed you wanted me to come to your home." Saia said worriedly.
"We don't have much time for apologies." Niall walked over to Saia's father, "Do you have money for a horse and wagon?" he asked.
"Yes." affirmed Saia's father.
"Go fetch us one, we will certainly be caught on foot." Niall demanded. Saia's father kissed his wife and gave Saia a loving embrace before walking out the door. "Now, we wait." Niall sighed.
For the hours that Saia's father was gone, Niall and Saia had sat at the windows, observing. The street was relatively empty with the occasional neighbor passing or loose animal. It was almost perfect for attack. The house was vulnerable, with nothing between it and the street, it would be easily spotted, raided, and burned. The Lord always had a record of where everyone lived, so why not use it to find him. Was Leache letting him go? Impossible, he was far too proud for that.
Finally after the bell had struck twice, Saia's father returned with a horse and wagon. The horse was a chestnut colored draft horse, with thick legs and a golden mane. It's eyes seemed almost black if not for the specks of white in the corners. The wagon could not have been a comparison to the horse, however. The wagon was a shallow, weak, and old thing. It was missing its canvas cover and had only the frames. It reminded Niall of dead trees in the winter: bear.
"I know it isn't much, but it should last to the Iron Keep," Saia's father said, "there, we can buy a better one and even make it to the Human ports that lead off the mainland.
"This will do fine," Niall agreed, "Now, let us be gone!"