Book One of
'The Hither and Nigh Carnival'
R. Moses
Spurned
by R. Moses
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2013 by R. Moses
This is a work of fiction, and all names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Prologue
Mud and blood filled Kara's mouth.
Kara tucked her knees under and pushed up. She spit out the salty muck coating her teeth and tongue.
Anna's mocking laughter washed over her. She said, “You have been spurned, dear sister.”
Kara did not respond. Carefully she found her footing in the slimy earth. She stood up and backed away from her half-sister. Her teeth and jaw were throbbing from where Anna had just hit her. But Kara could not hit back or she would be a fugitive, running from the King's Law.
Anna gave her a mean, little smile. She was dressed in green hunting leathers and metal-tipped boots. She was much taller than Kara, even though she was younger. “Nothing to say?”
It took every last bit of Kara's self-control to not rush her half-sister or retort back. Anna was their mutual father's heir, a young noble, and enjoyed the full rights and protection that station afforded. If any commoner, sister or no, hurt her they were fair game for the King's Law.
Kara was just a bastard and a recently freed slave with little rights and no kingly defense. If she hurt Anna and was caught as a fugitive running from the King's Law, the best punishment she could hope for was having the hand she hit the noble with cut off.
She did not even want to think of the worst punishment.
Kara backed away a few more feet, towards the woods. She had to leave now. If she did not, she was going to hurt Anna very, very badly. She edged a little closer to the woods where she had hidden a satchel full of food, spare clothes, water, and a few other things stolen from her Lord father's estate.
Anna was not done with her taunts. She said, “Father may have freed you, but you will always have the soul of a slave.”
Kara's fingers twitched and jerked towards her throwing knife, which she always kept hidden under her tunic these days. She forced them to stop. Nothing would make her happier right now than if the knife was buried up to the hilt in Anna's long neck.
She took another deep breath. She had to keep her head; her mother, still enslaved to the household, would pay the price for Kara's perceived insolence with Lady Anna. She said, “As you say, sister. As you say.”
Anna looked disappointed that her taunts were not having the desired effect, then an evil light brightened her brown eyes. She switched tactics. “Let us have a hunt. You have an hour head start.”
Kara gaped at her, incredulous. Surely their father would stop Anna from hunting her down like a fox. She looked up to his study window in the manor. She saw their father standing there, the noble Lord Brahm, a glass full of amber liquor clutched in his shaking hand.
When she caught his eye through the wavy glass, he turned away.
It really hit her then, the dire straits she was in. She was spurned, cast from the house she had known her whole life.
She was alone, and forever separated from her mother, unless she figured out a way to buy her freedom.
Kara looked back at Anna and nodded. “As you say, sister.”
With that, she turned and crashed into the woods, searching for her hidden satchel. She found it, heavy and bulging. She slipped the wide, canvas straps on her shoulders and began to run due south, jaw throbbing worse than ever. The smell of her own blood mingled with the scent of blooming jasmine.
Blood and flowers, she thought wryly. What a combination.
She had no doubt that Anna would release the hounds early. Ever since Kara had found her sister's journal a few days ago, she knew how evil she was. How she plotted against everyone, even her own parents. If only their father had not cast Kara out, she could have warned him...
Like he would have done anything about it. Weak and ruled by his wife, he would have ignored the problems presented before him like he always had.
She stumbled and ran as best she could through the old forest bordering the estate. Her sides ached and her lungs burned as she pushed herself hard and then harder. She had to keep moving. If she could just reach the King's Land, she would be safe. No one, not even nobles, could hunt any kind of prey on the King's Land unless the monarch himself granted you the right.
But the King's Land seemed impossibly far away the longer she went on. She was slowing down, her throat burning for water. She stumbled to a stop, panting, and fell to her muddy knees. She pulled out a skin of water and gulped the cool liquid.
In the distance she heard a hunting hound bay. Then another.
And another.
Kara groaned and looked up at the angle of the sun. Anna had not even given her a half hour.
She took another deep drink and pushed on, her leather boots pounding against the leaves. On and on she flew, the hound's baying growing closer.
She glimpsed a green field through a break in the trees. The King's Land! She clenched her hurting jaw and kept running.
Almost there...
She swerved around the last tree and burst onto a luscious field surrounded by gentle hills. She slowed her pace the tiniest bit as she bounded up the closest hill. She stopped at the crest, gasping for air. She saw a carnival in the field beyond the ring of hills, camped near the village graveyard. The tents for the carnival goers were red and white, but the tents the carnies lived in were gray and patched. She blinked, surprised. The fair was not there yesterday...
Barking sounded behind her and she spun around to see Anna on a magnificent chestnut steed. She was exiting the tree cover-and now on the King's Land. Her dozen muscled hounds circled around her, baying and panting alternately. Anna stopped, her drawn bow lowered.
They stared at each from across the distance. Kara's heart was beating bird quick in her chest. Surely not even Anna would dare to break the King's Law.
Anna nudged her horse forward and shouted a command to the hounds. They turned in unison to stare at Kara.
No, she thought numbly. No one is mad enough to hunt here. Not even Anna.
Anna raised her bow as her hounds bounded forward.
Kara unglued her gaze from her sister and turned towards the carnival. She needed witnesses...
She forced her trembling legs to take a step, then another, until she was running to the enormous gathering below. She shot right by the outer circle of faded tents and came to a panting stop by a group of staring people. One man had a forkful of egg almost to his mouth, but was so shocked by her entrance that his egg slid right off into his lap.
She glanced back and saw Anna at the top of the hill, elegant and poised, her dogs sniffing about. She was the very picture of a gently born, well-bred young lady, with her fine clothes and finer horse.
When Anna caught Kara looking at her, she flashed a hand code they had used to communicate when they played as children. Her message said: Your mother will pay the price for your insolence.
With that, she turned her horse around and galloped home.
Her heart thudded with a new surge of fear. Her mother was still trapped in her father's house as a slave. Anna could do anything, large or small, to torment her. Unless Kara saved her mother by buying her freedom for a thousand gold coins. An obscene fortune when she did not even have a thin bronze coin tucked away.
“You run fast.”
It took a second for Kara to realize the comment was directed at her. She looked over and saw a tired woman with wispy blonde hair staring at her. She was leaning against
a carnival wagon, the flaking paint catching her dingy, yellowing tunic. She inclined her head. “Name's Malone.”
Kara found her voice. “Pleased to meet you. My name is Kara-”
Malone interjected quickly, but not unkindly. “We don't give our last names in the carnival. Rule of the road.” She looked Kara up and down. “Need a place to stay?”
Kara glanced around at the gathered crowd suspiciously. No one trusted traveling folk but there was safety in numbers. She said, “Maybe.” She took a step toward Malone. “What do I have to do to earn a place to stay?”
Malone grinned. “You are fast and small, perfect for a job around here that needs filling.” She titled her head. “You got a problem with lifting purses?”
Dry laughter swept through the assembled. Kara heard someone mutter, “The girl would be perfect.”
Kara squared her shoulders and thought of the high price of freeing her enslaved mother. She said, “Not if it pays good enough.”
Another burst of laughter. Someone shouted out, “You've met your match, Malone!”
And just like that, Kara was a carny and a thief.