Chapter 25: Chapter 23: A Small Dream

“This one?”

“A stillborn boy, my lord.”

“...Useless. Again. Send my letter to Halver.”

“But my lord, your wife…”

“I have no need for useless things.”

The face was paler than the moon and gaunt, eyes sunken as deep pits. Red, all was red. There was talking, shadowy figures moving around in flickering candlelight. A shriveled hand with a grip of iron wrapped around her small wrist and she was pulled close to the sunken face, the sharp scar from cheek to jaw in stark relief in the candlelight. The words were a dry rasp but were hard with urgency and conviction.

“Run. Run as much as you can. He will come. I know he will. You just need to run, and hide. Run. Go. Wait for him.”

So she ran. She left the house of her father with a blanket and bread. She ran down the street of squat stone buildings with flickering yellow lights in the blue night. She flew past hungry dogs and shivering rats. Snow fluttered down from above, slowly covering everything. She kept running. Farther, farther, further away into the forest which swallowed her up in icy darkness…

Idony woke up with a slight start, sitting up and looking around as cold sweat rolled down her back. The cell was the same as it had been before she had fallen asleep. Rui Yifu’s arm was still around her while the other rested in his now empty lap. Baozi softly snortled. She licked her teeth, half expecting the piney cold taste of ice. Instead she just tasted… teeth. The memories were quickly fading, leaving only the entrancingly frightful face etched in her mind.

“Just a dream, just a dream,” she said to herself. “Because of all the stupid stuff!” She slammed her hands down on her thighs in frustration and looked around.

Since the cell had no windows, Idony had no idea what time it was. She rubbed her head, wincing lightly whenever her fingers strayed too close to the bruise from her attempt to break the door with her head. She laid back down in Rui Yifu’s lap, resolving to at least rest a little longer.

Then the door opened up and a very well fed looking guard squeezed in. Idony groaned. Rui Yifu roused himself from his slumber and languidly picked up his fan to tap his own head, as though trying to rid himself of whatever grogginess still clung to him as he got up while still holding Idony. Baozi was already up and ready, his fat tail whipping back and forth as the similarly shaped guard gestured for them to leave.

Rui Yifu yawned lightly and carried Idony out of the cell. The hallway itself was crowded with other women (a few holding children) and another pair of guards led them out. Idony turned her head around this way and that way, looking for Baozi first. The pig was walking ahead of them, attracting a few curious stares as he usually did. Then she looked at the few guards that were ushering the group out of the hall. She did not see the young grinning guard among them and tipped her head, laying it on Rui Yifu as he walked.

The next room they were in was not much larger than the cell they had remained in overnight, except now there was a small table with a shriveled looking man in faded worn robes calling out names and handing out a small wood and wax coin to each person who was then ushered out the door behind him.

Each time the door opened, a blinding burst of sunlight poured in that made her squint. After having spent however long in dimly lit conditions her eyes could barely handle the light. She covered her eyes as Rui Yifu’s name was called and felt the warmth of sun on her skin as the door opened once more to let them out.

Right outside was a very small excuse for a village. A few homes, a scant amount with half-armoured guards lingering around, a small place she guessed was some sort of inn (or what was it Gege called them, a teahouse?), and a small tower with a cobweb covered bell on it.

The main and only road of the village however was already populated with people. Men threw their arms around women or children, some slipped into the inn, while some others pressed on ahead out of the village, following a road that snaked away into the distance, surrounded by tall grass.

 

She heard an awful coughing noise. Idony looked up to see Rui Yifu pulling a small silk string attached to a greenish colored stone with strange markings on it out of his mouth.

 

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Feeling a bit ill, she looked away once more to gaze into the crowd. It was then that Li Baobao and Bo emerged from the crowd, walking over to them briskly. Bo looked annoyed, while Li Baobao seemed fitful. Idony tipped her head in confusion. Where was Liu Xie? She peered back into the crowd but saw no sign of him. The adults began to quickly speak among each other in urgent low voices. Rui Yifu finally set her down on the ground as he spoke and Baozi was immediately at her feet, pressing his wet snout to her skirt and sniffing around her in a circle.

 

“What’s wrong, Baozi?” She asked. The pig sniffed around two more times before it finally stopped, turning its head to the other men.

 

“Where’s Liu Xie?” She asked Li Baobao, tugging on his sleeve.

 

Li Baobao looked uncomfortable, giving her a shrug, “they separated him from us because he had a sword. But we haven’t seen him since, I’m sure he will be fine though! He’s a lucky man, the Heavens saw him through before…”

 

“Why did they keep us in there? Are they going to keep Liu Xie longer?”

 

“They wanted to make sure no one was a Fish Person. Fish People need to be submerged in water every few hours or they’ll die,” Li Baobao explained.

 

“I don’t look like a Fish Person,” Idony said, conjuring up images in her head of fish headed monsters.

 

Li Baobao smiled down at her, “of course not! But they have to be careful, there’s a city nearby and-” he paused to look up and his face immediately brightened. “Oh he’s here!”

 

The group turned back to the building and now Idony appreciated its size. Even though it had seemed like a simple one floor building, it was actually three floors worth of gray stone and rust-eaten metal that jutted out from the ancient wall along the river like a fat stubby branch. There were no windows but there were strange tattered banners that were covered in symbols that had bled and faded together. From the single lonely door came Liu Xie, followed by two apologetic looking men in the same sort of robes as the men at the desks wore. He was walking swiftly towards them with a blank expression and paid his two followers absolutely no mind but the two officials would stop to bow before scrambling back to their feet to follow after him.

 

Rui Yifu and Bo both laughed at the scene.

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