◆ Chapter 8: This Has Happened Before
SHORTLY after the sun rises, I go into the courtyard and deeply inhale until a rush of cold air permeates me from the inside out. I never get sick of doing this first thing in the morning.
“Good morning, Holy Priestess,” greets the soldier standing guard near the outer castle gate. The two soldiers on duty on top of the walls call down the same greeting. I know them all by name and face.
“Goooood mooorning!” I respond as I stretch.
“You’re up earlier than usual.”
“Yeah, I barely slept.”
There’s one reason why I couldn’t sleep: guilt over hurting Nady’s feelings yesterday. I went after her when she ran away, but failed to find her anywhere. I still haven’t apologized.
“We can’t have you tired. Please rest a while longer,” the soldiers insist.
“Thank you for worrying about me. One day won’t hurt me. Besides, I’m wide awake! I can’t sleep like this, so I’ll just push through the day!”
I need to find Nady and properly apologize. Mind made up, I clench both fists, ready to get the job done within the day.
“Just speaking to you has reenergized us, Holy Priestess!”
“Heck yeah! I could work a forty-eight-hour shift after this chat!”
“I could go a whole three days now!”
“Please, PLEASE, get proper sleep,” I stress. I’m pretty sure they’re just joking, but the people of Grantz tend to have more than a few screws loose, so I’m scared some might actually go through with it.
As I’m enjoying my daily exchange with the soldiers on guard duty, I notice one of the men on the wall is gone. I’m looking up at them from below, so maybe he just entered my blind spot, but the other one disappears as I’m searching for the first.
“Wh-What the? Hey, something’s—”
“Holy Priestess, RUN AW—”
The last soldier couldn’t finish his warning. I return my gaze to the gate to find him lying flat on the ground. Someone clad in all black is standing over his body—they look like an assassin at a glance. This is clearly not a situation I can manage alone. I open my mouth to scream when something cold and hard presses against my neck.
“Don’t make a sound. We only knocked them unconscious,” someone says in a deep voice behind me. There’s still the assassin in front of me, so it looks like this is the work of more than one person.
Actually, this is giving me horrible déjà vu. It’s not quite the same as when Iris shoved a bag over my head, but this is probably another…
“We won’t hurt you if you behave.”
“Uh, what do you want from me…?” I ask.
“You’re coming with us!”
I knew it—another kidnapping!
✦ ✦ ✦
THEY restrained my arms behind my back and forced me to walk a long distance blindfolded. I went up and down stairs, passed through cold areas where my footsteps echoed, and just when I thought I could finally breathe in outside air, I’m heaved up onto something hard. A horse neighs, and whatever I’m riding in lurches forward.
“...This is a wagon, isn’t it? They’re incredibly valuable. How did you get one?” I ask my captors.
“I exchanged money and goods for it, just as I did for the services of my hired bodyguards,” answers a different voice from the men who knocked out the soldiers. His tone is calm and non-threatening.
He said he hired these men—he must be the ringleader.
“Would you consider undoing my restraints soon?” I request. “I doubt I can escape your skilled guards anyway.”
“…I’ll allow it.”
After a short pause, someone removes the restraints and blindfold for me. The first thing I see is a middle-aged man. Between the bags under his eyes and his sunken cheeks, he looks deathly tired. Right beside me is the man dressed like an assassin. There’s also a coachman at the front of the wagon. Altogether, there are three people involved in my kidnapping.
Less than I thought.
Most of the wagon is covered by a canopy, but I can see out the back through the opening. The royal capital’s walls are fading into the distance. It seems we have already traveled a lot of ground since they first kidnapped me.
“Where are we heading?” I ask.
“…Trade City Cladorca.”
“That takes us into Torstana. You do realize that Torstana is still overrun by zombies, right?”
“Which is why I have the Holy Priestess accompanying me. You will purify any zombies.”
“I’m not accompanying you by choice. You kidnapped me.”
Particulars aside, I now know what he’s after. I mean, that’s the obvious reason for anyone to kidnap me. Being abducted so fanatics can worship me as their goddess definitely came out of nowhere.
“I would have preferred it not come to this either. But it’s the only way for me to save Cladorca.”
“I heard a merchant named Kodbyen requested my assistance from the king. Is that—”
“Me. You know his decision.”
I understand the situation now. But abducting a priestess and charging into a zombie-infested city with just two guards doesn’t exactly equal sane thinking.
“Do you have a reason for taking this big of a risk?”
“I don’t have some grand, heroic reason. I just want to save my family. I want to save my wife and son…!” Kodbyen squeezes his hands together until his knuckles turn white. Strong emotion oozes from his every word.
Wanting to save your family is definitely a common, selfish reason that has nothing to do with heroics. But to me, it’s the most persuasive reason of all.
Regardless of how war-hungry Torstana is as a nation, the people who lived there are—were—just as human as those living in Grantz. There are as many different lifestyles and viewpoints as there are people. It’s not like every citizen is bloodthirsty just because they live there.
I had been struggling with my feelings about this since talking to the king, but I think I was able to sort it out a little thanks to talking with Kodbyen.
“I was actually for purifying Torstana. So, I am willing to assist you when I can.”
“D-Do you mean that?!” Kodbyen is so surprised and excited, he falls onto his face. I’m a bit overwhelmed by his desperation, but I don’t plan on going along with everything he wants.
“Can we turn back first? We can’t purify a city with this few people…”
“I heard you purified Grantz’s royal capital with just three people.”
“We nearly died! More than once. We only survived because we had a superhuman monster on our side. It was more of a miracle than anything.”
“There are no other options available to me.” I know that gleam in his eyes. It’s the rabid determination of someone who can’t be persuaded otherwise. “Grantz’s army is already turning over the capital looking for you. I’m certain dozens of squads have been sent out in pursuit. I can’t turn back now.”
I had the faint hope he would listen to my advice after opening up to me a little, but it was a lost cause.
Ahh…Lex…come get me already!