Chapter Seven

Mageia and her companions tippy toed

across the roof of the west wing to the

entrance of an old chimney now used to

transport laundry. Dean used his hammer to

break the lock and the latch and opened the

metal door. The shoot's supposed ladder was

broken and partly gone, as expected, when

she peered down into the darkness.

"Ladder," she said.

Gibby took off the ladder he wore across his

torso and they dropped it into the shoot and

secured it. Mageia silently prayed as she went

first down the shoot, sweat dribbling into her

eyes and her arms sticky with nerves. Dean

followed in suit, but Gibby stayed, staying low

to the roof to prevent being spotted.

Time was of the essence as she passed the

fifth floor and halted at the fourth floor. A door

had been built to the back of the chimney and

to her relief it possessed no lock. She placed an ear to the door, listening intently and heard

children whimpering. Remembering her own

unfortunate time in this very quarter, there

were no supervision. Placing a foot on the

ledge and holding the ladder, she pushed the

door open. She cringed as it creaked, but she

chanced it and peeked in. A new chimney had

been built beside the shoot due to the fire's

bright light and massive heat.

She caught eyes with a child sitting by the

chimney. He couldn't be more than ten with a

very small head and boney shoulders. Trails

of tears decorated his dirty face and his lips

opened as if he wanted to cry out. She placed

a finger to her lips, and he nodded rising to his

feet. Mageia crawled into the room and stood

seeing no supervision.

Unable to sleep in their ordeal, the children

sat up in their beds, faces crusted from hours

of nonstop crying. Mageia knew a few hours

from now, guards would enter with basins

of water and sacred robes for the children

to change into. With the level of celebrating

rising outside the front gates of the Taefo,

a decision could be made to prepare the

children earlier.

So, they had to move fast.

"Are you here to save us?" the ten-year-old

whispered.

"Yes," she said as Dean crawled inside.

"I need you to gather everyone, silently," she said and the sorrow in his eyes quickly lit in

strong determination.

He went to each child, all of them under

the age of ten with various ailments and

deformities. Mageia thanked the gods

seeing no one was sick to the point she'd

have to leave them behind. They ushered the

children to the laundromat shoot and one

at a time they climbed up to the roof. One

of the smaller ones had a very bad leg that

curled inward. Leaving his crutch behind, the

ten-year-old offered to carry him on his back.

The rescue was going fast and smooth, to

her liking, but the hairs along her arms sat on

ends. Any sudden sound could have a guard

enter within seconds.

With soft feet, Mageia went to block the door

with a chest of bed linens and toiletries.

Beyond the only exit in the room, she heard

men talking and laughing down a hall amidst

the wails of the condemned. A slight whimper

arose to her far left within the darkness and

she froze. Sitting in the corner of the room

was a wooden crib. That's when she realized,

she had counted only eleven children when it's

supposed to be twelve.

Gods in the Serene, she thought approaching

the crib. Lying asleep inside was a baby girl.

The structure of her skull was unnaturally

squeezed, a defect that automatically marked

her for a mercy death.

She waved Dean over and he glanced inside.

"Great gods. We can't take her."

"But she's a baby."

"Ay. A baby that cries. Plus look at her skull.

She has to have some type of brain damage."

"So, what," she said.

Mageia's eyes watered staring at the beautiful

baby upon whom the Fairest would call ugly

and unworthy to take care of. Did not this

baby have a right to live, to grow, and to die

free?

She shook her head and carefully wrapped the

baby from head to toe. "I can't leave her."

"Damn Geia, she's going to weigh us down."

"Just make sure everyone else gets out okay."

She picked up the baby and it stirred for a

second causing her heart to skip. When it

stilled, Dean helped to tie it around her torso.

Dean went to the last child, a girl, eyes coated

white from blindness, and placed her on his

back and began to climb up. Mageia waited,

until Dean and the girl was out of the shoot

and all the children were across the planks

before she ascended. As she quickened her

pace, her foot slipped on the ladder causing

her to partially fall. Her body swung and

slammed against the shoot and the thud

sound echoed downward.

The baby stirred awake as she clutched her

close to her bosom and the shoot erupted in

wails.

"Shush," she stated however the child used to be scared

and did what it knew best. Cry.

"Hurry," Dean said above.

Boots plundering the ground arose from the

children's quarters and the door burst open

only to slam towards the chest. The guards

shouted their alarm.

Mageia reclaimed her footing and quickened

her ascension.

"Hey," a guard shouted from the room and

within seconds they have been peeking up the

shoot. "Escapees!"

"Mageia come on," Dean shouted.

"They're on the roof," any one bellowed.

As she handed the fifth floor, she heard

thunder approaching the door. It flung open

and a hand gripped her ankle. She peered

down and shook her leg, catching eyes with

the irritated guard. When he observed her eyes he

gasped, loosening his hold. She yanked her

leg from his grip and kicked at his face. He

jerked away just in time.

"It's the Purple Thief," he shouted.

Mageia climbed faster, ears ringing with the

guards' shouting, the baby crying, and her

heart drumming. Getting caught was the

last thing on her wish list. Then the ladder

snagged beneath her as two guards joined

her in the shoot from the fifth floor.

"In the name of the Crown, stop," they ordered.

"Come on, Geia," Dean shouted from above.

Reaching the top, she felt something sharp

enter the back of her left leg. She screamed

almost letting go of the ladder. She glared

down at the guard, grinning up at her as he

pulled his dagger from her calf. He took hold

of her bleeding leg. With a hard squirm, she

managed to yank free and kicked him clean in

the face. This forced him to let go and with a

terrified scream fell down the shoot, crashing

into the other below.

"Take the baby," she ordered Gibby as Dean

pulled her out the shoot.

Gibby held the crying baby close and ran to

the planks as a warning horn was blown.

Word had either reached the guard on the wall

or the patrollers on the ground below.

"There they go," someone shouted below

spotting Gibby. "Get guards on the other side

of the wall. They're escaping through the

forest."

Mageia blinked hoping to cease the blurring

in her vision as the pain in her leg heightened.

Dean helped her climb onto her feet to the

waiting plank. Lightning bolts shot up her leg

and into her chest.

"Agh," she cried dropping to the roof tiles.

Blood drenched her pantleg and formed

droplets around her boot. "You're gonna have

to leave me."

"No. I'm not going to do that."

"Dean," she said grabbing the boy by the

collar. "Go. The family still needs a leader."

"But-," he managed to say before an arrow

swooshed pass his head. They both ducked.

They searched for the archer and noticed the

patroller on the wall was running towards the

planks, bow and arrow in hand.

She pushed him to go, knowing she would

only weigh them down.

"Go. That's an order," she screamed.

The boy's eyes widened in sorrow and

rebuttal, but he leaned in and planted a long

kiss on her cheek. "Return to us," he said and

sprinted across the planks. He ducked from

an arrow that barely missed him. He crossed

the wall and disappeared over the side.

While the wall patroller aimed his arrow over

the wall, searching for Dean, she plucked out her dagger and cut the rope. Mageia pressed

a hand on the stab wound and seethed her

teeth. Thudding sounds arose from the shoot.

The guards had recovered from their tumble

and the first one was scrambling out with a

bloody nose. She forced herself to a limp just

as the archer turned his attention on her. His

arrow whizzed pass her back, but she kept

going and disappeared around a corner clear

of his aim.

Mageia grinned in her disheveled state and

dashed across the unleveled roof as three

guards from the shoot were now on her tail.

She ran to the opposite side of the wide

building, staying low to avoid crossing with

an unexpected arrow. She peered over the

roof's edge for the privy pipeline to descend

and was instantly spotted by guards on alert

below.

She cursed, trying to figure out what to do

now. A headache formed in the back of her

head and her breathing grew into pants

despite the pump of adrenaline in her veins.

She glanced at her leg squirting blood with no

mercy.

"Hey," a guard shouted coming around a bend

in the roof.

She then noticed the three nearest chimneys

and knew what she had to do. She pulled the

dagger from her hairband and threw it with

great skill into the pursuing guard's knee.

He buckled over with a scream and tumbled

down the side of the roof. His friends came around the bend just in time to chase after

him before he flew off the edge