Chapter 3

Kira

I take a long, quiet sip of my glass of water as I stare out the window of my office, watching over the courtyard. The sun begins to set. The heavy footsteps of one of my guards come bearing down the hallway.

“Commander, some prisoners have escaped!” I take another sip from my glass and set it down on my desk. I turn to look at the guard.

“Well, don’t just stand there, go find them.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The guard quickly leaves out the door. I turn back around and gaze at the sunset as I take another sip. I refuse to allow these escapees to be a blight on my record. I cannot allow them to make a fool of me. They must be recaptured in order for peace and order to be maintained. Otherwise, the city will take us for fools.

Hours passed by, and there was still no word of the prisoners who had escaped. Bruce walks through my door with an escort of guards around him. I look at him; his clothes are disheveled and out of place, and he reeks of alcohol.

“I hope for your sake, Bruce, you have some good news to report.” I get up and walk around my desk to make sure I look him in the eye. “Eyewitnesses say you were the last one to see prisoner 0043 before he escaped. Do you have any idea of how he did it?”

“No, commander, I do not.”

“I find that highly suspicious. You were the one who was taunting him earlier that day. It wouldn’t surprise me if you broke protocol even further and visited him just to mess with him.” Beads of sweat began to form on Bruce’s forehead. His eyes began to dart from the ground and then back to me. He’s hiding something.

“I promise you, Commander, I ain't touchem.” I shake my head and walk back to sit behind my desk.

“I’m disappointed in you, Bruce. I really had faith that you would have told me the truth. You will pay for your failure effective immediately. Guards put him in isolation.” The remaining guards in the room grab Bruce and drag him away to a holding cell. I turn to my second in command. 

“Any updates on the escapees, Lieutenant?”

“None to report. We scoured the surrounding area, but no one saw anything.” Either no one saw anything, or people are keeping their mouths shut.

“Lieutenant, what do you think of this mess?”

“I personally think we should chase after them, scour the city, and remind the citizens who is in power.” I nod my head in agreement and respond.

“Yes, I agree, gather the remaining squads and let's head out.” I grab my sword and head out the door.

By this time, it’s been five days since the prisoners escaped. I’m growing weary of this search. How could a wounded prisoner escape our clutches for so long? A group of us enters the town square. I walked over to a merchant who seemed to be selling strange objects.

“Good afternoon, sir. I’m looking for one of our slaves. He’s branded on his right arm and has his hair in dreadlocks. He should be traveling with a couple of kids. Have you seen anyone like that recently?” The merchant scoffs and starts to walk off. How dare this mere peasant look at me with such contempt. I grab his arm and whip him around, forcing him to his knees. “Let’s try this again. Have you seen any runaway slaves around here?” The merchant’s eyes grew wide with fear, and his whole body started to shake.

“No, no ma’am. I, I have not seen who you’re looking for.” His eyes keep shifting around; he’s lying. I pull out my sword and point it at his throat.

“I’m going to ask you one more time, and this time you’re gonna give me the truth. Do you have any idea where the group of slaves are?” He cowers and begins to shake even more.

“Ok, ok, please don’t kill me. I'll tell you what you want. Anything.”

“Go on, talk!”

“There is a woman named Sarah in town. Rumors say she is a light keeper and that she has helped slaves escape before. If you're looking for your property, they are more than likely with her.” I sheath my sword and take a few steps back.

“See, that wasn’t so hard. Thank you so much for your help.” I smile and toss a couple of gold coins to him. “Lieutenant, gather as much information on this Sarah woman as possible. We finally have a lead.”