17 To Get Past the Gate

There was no hinderance when leaving the compound. A-Narah sat inside the carriage by herself. She sat in the corner and pulled her knees to her chest and covered herself in her cloak. Tonight, she wouldn't be able to sleep at all. The inside of the carriage was dark, she had been told to keep the window coverings lowered until they were outside the capital. They didn't want to risk anyone catching a glimpse of her.

She felt nervous being surrounded by men. They were all bigger and stronger than she was, and she didn't know them. If she didn't know them how could she trust them? Even though these men were highly trusted by her father, they were not trusted by her. But she had no choice but to go along with whatever they said.

The carriage seemed to move at an agonizingly slow pace.

Then it came to a halt.

A-Narah sat up out of her daze and lifted up the corner of the shade flap. "What's happening?" she asked.

One of the guards on horseback next to the carriage answered her, "Just sit back and wait my Lady. We are arriving at the west gate."

A-Narah lowered the flap. [will we be able to get out okay?] she wondered. She just felt a looming sensation that something was closing in. Left alone in the dark with her own thoughts her shoulders shrunk in on themselves and she hugged her knees tighter. What she wouldn't give to have her family by her side right now.

After what seemed like hours the carriage jolted forward. A-Narah almost fell off her seat, but managed to catch herself in time. She felt relieved that they were moving again.

"Are we passed the gates yet?" she asked.

She waited for an answer but all she heard were the wheels of the carriage rolling over the stone street, and the steady horses' hooves.

"Are we passed the gates?" she repeated herself. Could they not hear her? She opened the flap to ask again, but stopped halfway. She had seen all of the horses and men who were accompanying her, and had paid careful attention to what they wore and looked like and their numbers. But when she opened the flap, she saw the front of a horse she didn't recognize. She could tell right away because this horse had special markings. On the breast of the horse was a large, white diamond.

A-Narah swiftly dropped the flap and pressed her back into the seat. Her hands covered her mouth to hold back her gasp and her golden eyes had gone wide revealing the whites. She didn't dare to speak again or even open her mouth. If that strange person on the horse had heard her this could mean the end of everything.

Who was that person? And was there more of them?

If there were more…then this was a dire situation. A-Narah no longer even dared to move.

Outside the carriage were four new guards, not from the Talley household.

When the carriage had wanted to leave the soldiers, who were guarding the gates had stopped them. An order had been sent out a week ago that all coming and going from the capital had to go through inspection. It used to be that only those coming in would be inspected.

Of course, Lord Talley already knew of this and had made preparations for it. The problem was, was that it was supposed to be at the southern gate, not the western. With the sudden send off, the servant who had passed the guards the information had forgotten this important detail. All the guards knew was that they were to head to the southwest border, and had decided to go through the western gate whose road was more direct.

The Talley guards, were unaware that this wasn't part of the plan that Lord Talley had made. They had managed to escape a disaster that would happen the next night, only to fall into a different one.

A-Narah had no idea of any of this. No one had told of any of the arrangements that were made. She was told to just be quiet and stay inside the carriage. No one thought that any of this information was something a woman would need to know.

A-Narah was trapped. There was nowhere to hide and there was no way she could escape without being seen. All she could do was wait to be discovered, and when that happened who knew what would happen to her.

The carriage stopped again to the side of the gate where the inspections were being held. Even though it was in the middle of the night people came and left the capital at all times of the day. It was nothing out of the ordinary for a carriage to be here. So, the guards who were doing the inspection were not yet suspicious.

But the Talley guards started growing concerned. Something seemed to be off, but they couldn't say anything or it just might lead trouble to them quicker.

After waiting for two wagons in front of them to go through inspection it was finally their turn. One of the inspection guards went to the door of the carriage. Feeling his presence, A-Narah closed her eyes and held her breath. She sent silent prayers so that she might go unseen. Just as the man reached out and was about to open the door, one of the Talley guards held back his arm, "Wait," he said.

"Is there a problem?" the guard asked feeling a bit suspicious at this abrupt action.

"No, no. Just open it slowly, the passenger might be asleep and I wouldn't want them disturbed.

The inspection guard gave him a doubtful look, but did as he said and opened it slowly as to not wake anyone inside. He leaned his head in and looked around, his eyes passing right through A-Narah.

"Are you making a joke?" the inspection guard asked. A-Narah heard him, but didn't dare to speak or open her eyes.

The guard turned around. "There is no one in here." He glared at the guard who had stopped him and pointed into the carriage. The Talley guard awkwardly laughed. He was curious. He really wanted to look into the carriage himself to confirm if the girl was still there, but he soon discarded that thought as she couldn't have run off under their secure watch, and there was also the fact that it would look odd on his part. So, thinking this the guard concluded that this was part of an act to get them past the inspection point.

"Ha—ha-ha sorry, ahh my buddy here made a dare with me to do this," he pointed at a fellow guard as he made his weak excuse. The fellow he pointed at gave him an incredulous look, and he sheepishly smiled back.

The inspection guard frowned, unhappy with the so-called joke. "You were hired to do a serious job; you shouldn't mess around. And you shouldn't make trouble with the city's soldiers. You doing this is a distraction and slows down our job and makes everyone else wait. If I was your employer I would have you disciplined." The inspection guard berated them hotly, irritated with these lazy men who were making his job more difficult.

"Yes, I promise I will be better. I will never make a dare like this again."

"Well what are you waiting for? Go on through, you are holding up the line." The inspection guard waved them through, wanting them out of his sight.

Thankfully, they were able to pass this hurdle unscathed. As the carriage finally moved past the gate and out of the city the guard who had been berated couldn't help but feel unhappy. Why couldn't that other guard have been nicer? He didn't have to continuously lecture; it was all just an act anyway. He came to the conclusion that the guy was just the disagreeable sort; he could have just said that the person in there was asleep. He didn't have to go about making trouble for them.

So, this beautiful misunderstanding between the two, one thinking the other lied and the other thinking he had just wanted to lecture them, allowed A-Narah to stay safe. When her father learned that they went through the west gate he was deeply worried, but when no news came of anything about someone being captured or led away, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. No news was good news.

Inside the carriage A-Narah was stunned. She looked down at the palms of her hands. There was no way that man hadn't seen her, so what had actually happened?