Arissa's Fate (Redemption Trilogy) (2 page)

Chapter Three

By the time Arissa was able to locate a village, it was near nightfall with a vicious storm looming. In sight of the public eye was the last place she wanted to be, but she knew that there was someone in the area who could help her. Someone she hadn’t spoken to for a very long time, but she was confident that they were still loyal to her. Of course, with everything that had happened recently, she doubted there was a single person who hadn’t drastically changed their opinion of her.

Moments before approaching the settlement,
Arissa had been forced to find a secluded place to stash Raze. All of the horses within the villages were the identical chestnut soldier mounts and having a solid black stallion suddenly in the midst of the town would send up such a panic that she wouldn’t even be able to try to escape before there was a complete lockdown. Somebody would know she was there.

Before leaving Raze alone in the quiet wooded patch, Arissa quickly untied one of the straps from her worn saddle, snatching up a tightly wrapped bundle. It was the long, black, hooded cloak that Arissa had been lucky enough to bring with her the day she had left Daer. With it, she was able to completely conceal her
unusually long, jet black hair and her strikingly sharp features and pull it low enough that her face was obscured by shadows. So far it had served well in masking her identity whenever she was forced to mingle in public, even though there had been several close encounters.

The village was dark and gloomy enough, but now that the dull and broken lamp posts were the only source of light, it
became absolutely horrifying. The savage wind whipped Arissa’s cloak around her and she had to hold onto the hood to keep it covering her face. The falling temperature grew more bitter by the minute.

The first building she encountered was a tavern, exactly what she was hoping for. Ignoring the raucous crowd, Arissa slipped into the darkest corner she saw, behind a large stack of wooden kegs. The seat she found was broken and crooked, but it felt good just to sit down and be still after travelling all day.

From where she sat, she could survey most of the bar, but it didn’t seem like she had been noticed by anyone yet. The entire population of the bar was men, except for the young barmaid who had messy piles of yellow hair and wore a revealing dress.

Arissa hardly acknowledged the drunken ramblings and the occasional bar fight that broke out around her and focused on remembering a certain era from her
time before she became the wanted outlaw. It wasn’t an exceptionally long period of her life and it was somewhat distorted in her memory, but she was confidant her plan would work.

The tavern was definitely not the most secluded place for her to hide her identity. Just while she had been sitting in the dark booth, over a dozen people had come and gone.
Still, it seemed nobody cared to acknowledge her existence, which was actually perfect.

The reason Arissa had chosen the tavern was because of the person she was hoping to find. They were often the most popular place of any village, perhaps she would even get lucky and
see him walk through the door. Chances of that were small, because she knew his lifestyle had recently changed. Still, she had to wait and hope he would show up.

She would be sitting in a prison cell within three minutes if anyone saw her.

Trying to keep to the shadows and her eye on the door, Arissa was still trying to figure out a way to contact her old acquaintance, given that she could even find him. Simply walking up and saying hello was completely out of the question, obviously. But she needed to be clear about who she was and what her intentions were...and be out of sight by the time her message was interpreted.

Interpreted,
she thought to herself, her posture perking up suddenly. She immediately slouched lower and pulled the hood farther over her face. That was her answer, she needed the right message. And she knew just what to do immediately.

Trying to be as quiet and unnoticeable as possible, Arissa reached into her cloak and pulled out her precious letters. Without bothering to open them, she tore a thin strip of paper from the edge of one of them, careful not to disrupt the words. Cautiously tucking them back in, she looked around for something to write with.

When her shaded eyes landed on the fireplace that was sparking and sizzling behind her, she felt herself grin. Honestly, it wasn’t very smart, she thought, to have an open flame around so much alcohol and drunken men, but it worked to her advantage so she didn’t care if the whole place burned down an hour from then.

Arissa slipped from her booth and ducked her head towards the fireplace. She held her hands out to the flames, pretending to heat her hands. Her cloak and hood probably seemed suspicious, but maybe the other people would assume she was a traveller and not question her.

Trying to act as quickly and casually as possible, she quickly stroked her fingertip down the edge of the sooty fireplace. It was a good thing it hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time, because her finger came away completely black. She delicately began writing her message on the strip of paper, trying to make it as legible as possible.

The ashes were working better than she had expected and by the time she was nearing the end, Arissa was actually proud of her work. The moment that the paper was touched, the ashes would wipe away, basically destroying the words.

She was working on the very last letter of the final word when she felt a cold shiver zip through her spine. The door of the tavern had just opened and the person who had entered began talking. The voice was completely familiar to her.

A look of disbelief marred her eyes as she quickly wiped her hands clean on her cloak, careful not to mess up her message. She couldn’t quite believe it had been this easy, b
ut there was no time to waste in stalling even a minute.

Without missing a beat, she turned and began striding quickly between the tables and barstools, many of which were overturned. Immediately, her eyes found the person she had heard, recognizing everything about
him. He was almost up to the bar, also dressed in a similar dark cloak with the hood down. Arissa couldn’t see his face from her direction, but she felt her heart beating painfully stronger. An abrupt plan formed in her head and she didn’t have time to question it before she was already pretending to trip over her cloak.

She fell against the surprised man, nearly falling all the way to her knees before he caught her. Faking a loss of balance, she waited until his hand was in perfect position. Seizing the opportunity, she slyly
pressed the paper into his palm and immediately regained her footing. Without waiting a moment, she rushed past him and continued out the door.

It ha
dn’t been the smoothest or most elaborate plan she had executed, but with any luck, it would work. Her message would make perfect sense, the outcome depended on what side had been chosen.

Arissa ducked into the dark, taunting shadows against the wall of the tavern. She still kept her hood up, to block the sight of any random strangers and to keep the bitter wind off her skin. If no one showed up within a few more moments, it would be safe to assume it was no longer safe and she would have to flee for Raze as fast as she could.

Suddenly, she heard approaching footsteps. Tensing, ready to creep deeper into the shadows, Arissa nearly stopped breathing in order to listen to the noise. A shadow appeared and she felt a nervous sense of relief when she only saw one.

The same voice spoke.
“Why did you come back here?”

Letting a moment of silence pass before acting, Arissa then stepped slowly and dramatically out of her barrier of shadows, pushing her hood off her face. Her skin
suddenly shone in the pale light, her soft hair flying gently with the wind that had suddenly calmed.

He looked nearly that same as
she remembered. Tall, slender but strong and had the face of a man that could be trusted. He was tough and unforgiving, but Arissa knew him well enough to realize he was giving her a small chance to explain herself.

“
I turned back to the past to save my future.”

Chapter Four

“Would you just stop and listen to me for once?” Arissa shouted right back, anger and frustration boiling hot in her voice.

“
Why should I? If anyone knows that you’re here, I’m going to get arrested and you’ll be responsible for that, too.”

Immediately after he had met her outside the tavern, he had refused to talk to her until they were safely hidden from the public eyes and ears. The small storage area behind his blacksmith shop was dusty and dry, but it was blocking the cold wind that was still whirling outside.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Fire sparked in Arissa’s eyes. She was frustrated that he clearly wasn’t believing a word she said, and almost desperate for him to see that she wasn’t lying. “I didn’t do anything!”

The dim light from the flickering lantern was hardly enough to reach across the cramped space. It made his face look shadowed and
almost threatening. She could tell that he was trying to intimidate the truth from her, but she knew him too well and she was actually surprised that he didn’t already know that it wouldn’t work.

“
I really don’t understand why you think that I would do anything for you. Frankly, I’m ashamed that you would even ask me to risk my family for you.”

Arissa breathed deeply twice, trying way too hard to control her tense emotions. It was a struggle for her to keep her voice at an appropriate level.

“Landon. Please, listen to me. At this point, I don’t even care if you think I’m a criminal or not. I’m out of time with you and obviously you’re not going to help me, so I need to start working on another way to fix this by myself. I’m just sorry that you have so little faith in me that you threw our entire friendship away just because you can’t get past what everyone is saying. Thanks for nothing.”

Turning to leave, Arissa was already thinking of her other options and what was the quickest way to get back to Raze
, when Landon caught her arm. She snapped her head back to stare at him, her eyes wild and hurt.

He
seemed flustered, suddenly, like he didn’t know what to say or where to look. “Arissa...you murdered him.”

“
I didn’t kill anyone! In Daer, anyway...” she added on. It was true that she had not killed who she was being accused of murdering. However, she had killed several times since then on her journey for freedom. It sounded counterproductive at first, but it was different now that she wasn’t the only one she was responsible for anymore.

“
I want to believe you, I really do. But you can’t blame me for being skeptical! Everything is too...perfect.”

“
That’s why I had to run. It’s not just me they’re after, Landon.”

His eyes turned dark as he watched her, contemplating her words suspiciously.
“Where is he?”

Arissa felt a flutter of hope. If she could somehow get
Landon to help fight for someone other than her, then maybe she could convince him to help. The last thing she wanted was to involve him in anything dangerous, especially considering his new family that she hadn’t even met.

“
I don’t know. We lost contact a few months ago. I have an idea, though, and that’s where I’m heading now.”

“
You can’t go to Vailwood,” he exclaimed, too quickly. “It hasn’t been declared safe yet.”

“
Do you honestly think what I’m already doing is safe?” Arissa turned to leave, feeling the impending pressure settling around her, telling her to move.

Landon
caught her arm again, halting her. “Arissa.” Her darting eyes settled to his for only a moment until he spilled his words, giving in completely. “Do what you have to do. I’ll set it up.”

Arissa nodded curtly, unsure how to thank the man she had once been so close to. She didn’t bother to speak or continue the moment any longer than necessary. He knew she was grateful.

She found Raze exactly where she had left him and attempted to hide her face from the stinging wind as they rode through the night. If her devoted stallion could carry on, they would arrive at their next destination precisely as the dawn broke into a new day.

Telling herself that she could still fully trust
Landon the way that she used to, she began planning her next move based on that leap of faith. There wasn’t time for her to feel guilty about leaving that gap of doubt around her thoughts toward him.

There would be a blockade of some sort around Vailwood, she knew. The desolate territory was still recovering from the attacks that had all but destroy
ed the city the moment they had questioned the words of order from the Capitol. They hadn’t hesitated in levelling one of their own cities simply to make a point to the rest of the people who inhabited the land. Having once been the key city in protection and defence, it was only suiting that it also held the reformatories. Arissa knew for sure that at least one of his letters had come from Vailwood because of the distinct smell that had first accompanied the message. The aroma of wild mint was rare, only growing in protected groves around the city, so that the entire area smelled of the sweet plant.

Arissa already knew that he would no longer be there. They were most likely moving him every week or so, to make sure to stay ahead of anyone who may be trailing them. At least she could hope to find clues of something, but she wouldn’t be doing any of it unless
Landon followed through on his word.

The bitter cold was beginning to ebb as they approached a sudden valley. It was still too dark to see, but Arissa knew that the struggling, smouldering city lay in the very bottom of the basin. Distant torch lights could be seen in the eerie night.

With no sign of anyone following them, Arissa let Raze follow the worn path leading to the city. She controlled him to a walk, hoping that by the time they arrived, it would be light.

Not allowing herself to think
about the impending struggle, Arissa tried to recall what she could about the city in the few times she had travelled there. She had never entered the reformatories and if all went as planned, she wouldn’t this time either.

They arrived sooner than she had anticipated and were forced to wait in the murky shadows of the forest for several hours until the light dawned enough to clearly see the world again. Unfortunately, it was just as impending and dark as the day before.

Arissa could just see the edge of the blockade around the city, the elaborate, impossibly high gate obstructing the regular road into the village. Several armed and uniformed guards protected the entrance.

Her plan would turn out even better than she had hoped.

Quickly stripping herself of her weapons and supplies, including her letters, she made a neat pile inside a hollowed tree she found nearby and allowed Raze to wander. The stallion never left the place where she would stash him, simply awaiting her return.

The only thing Arissa allowed herself to keep was the small, but deadly dagger she had hidden in her boot. It was small enough to hide along a seam, unable to be felt, but piercingly sharp.
Releasing a deep breath, she straightened to her full height and held her head confidently high as she stepped onto the dirt path that was packed from horses’ hooves and carriage wheels.

She walked purposefully down the very center of the road, soundless and graceful. There was a slight bend in the road that was hidden behind trees, but after she rounded the curve, she would be in full view of the guards. Exactly where she wanted to be.

A cunning smile snaked across her lips, despite the tense situation. It was almost going to be enjoyable just to see the look of shock on the sentries faces. She still had the cloak’s hood pulled low over her head, concealing her face for a moment longer as she bent her head down.

The same instant she stepped into view, she heard the excited shuffle of the flustered guards as they shouted out to her. She continued walking, coming closer to the gate.

They shouted to her again, in warning. Arissa didn’t bother to acknowledge them until she was close enough to hear the distinct drawing of their military rifles, then she stopped and paused.

“
Show your identity!” one of the identical guards exclaimed to her, obvious worry ringing in his voice.

I
n one smooth motion, Arissa raised her head high, sweeping the hood off her head and smiled deviously when the guards all stared in shock, gasping her name when they recognized the escaped criminal before them.