Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.
As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.
Chapter 58
It seemed that the ruler of the world, the man who according to Numico is called Sikh, was unaware of the methods his troops use to keep expanding his domain.
The council surrounding the Sikh does not find it necessary to provide him with this useless information. Why should he need to know exactly how things are going? As long as they can say that the empire continues to grow and that the costs of troops remain limited, there is no problem.
How our little Numico managed to get all this information out of one of the senior military personnel remains a mystery to me. According to Numico, it was the big, stupid eyes he put on and the simplicity of his questions that tempted the soldier to elaborate on his life as a soldier.
Still, I have the feeling that Numico used his gift to find some extra information in what little brain his victim had left. The rest of us failed to uncover any new information; mouths seemed to seal at the first glance of a possible question.
Apparently, the intention was that the population and the military should have no contact with each other. Because as soon as their mouths closed, they quickly looked around to see if one of their colleagues had seen the soldier in question being addressed by a civilian.
It looked like there was also fear in the ranks. This seemed logical to me because good contact between the oppressed and oppressors could consciously or unconsciously relax attention. Something that in this relationship, in which fear keeps people in check, has a very positive influence on the situation. At least for the oppressor.
Yet our tentative investigation had awakened sleeping dogs. We were too conspicuous and too often stared at or followed. Too often there were black riders within earshot of our conversations.
Something must have intrigued them. Of course, we are the new ones in town and therefore an easy target to distract from other people's business. But I didn't like it. I don't know who put them on our trail, but we should leave as soon as possible and be even more careful until then.
Our earnings were not enormous, but enough to keep us going for a while. Tomorrow we would receive our share, or at least what was left of our share, and we would leave the village in silence.
It must be the middle of the night when Retsj suddenly stands next to my bed. “Hurry up,” he says. It takes a few seconds for me to fully wake up.
“They come here. I was just in the tavern and two of those soldiers kept watching me. Based on gestures and some words that I overheard, I understood that they were going to get reinforcements. As soon as they left I came here. We have to leave now, I could be wrong, but I don't trust it.”
Minutes later everyone was standing groggy, but packed, ready to leave. I was the last to enter the room and was the only one standing facing the window.
I could see that torches were already passing through the streets. We raced down the stairs as if possessed by the spirits. We left the house through the back entrance that Remo had once shown us. Few houses had such an exit and my hope was that this would give us a few minutes head start.
We ran along the backs of houses to the edge of the city. There we knew a farm with a barn that was empty and not far from the edge of the forest. There were no roads or houses nearby. If we were to hide there until the next night spreads its darkness and most of the soldiers fell asleep, it would be possible to leave the village without too much trouble.
Panting we reach the shed, when I go in last I take a quick look over my shoulder. I breathe with relief, there are no riders in sight, we have not been followed. There was also no one on the street who saw us.
It looked like we got away safe, but we will have to wait and see. They will continue to search tonight, the roads around the village will be checked. We have no choice but to to stay put for now.
This just had to happen now that Remo was away for a few days, as a board member he could certainly have arranged some things to protect us. It was an unfortunate coincidence. We couldn't even leave a note to thank him for his good care.
After spending the night and a large part of the day in silence, we can finally get ready for our flight. It was after midnight and the village seemed calm. There were no patrols, no searches, at least as far as we could observe from our very limited position.
Maybe we were not a major threat and they were already happy to get rid of us. We haven´t spoken a word and even now we still talk in signs when Numico tells me to hurry up. He already has the door ajar and sees his chance to start the short sprint to the edge of the forest. I grab my carrier bag, close the door, and run.
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