TOPWL 244
The promise of a way out ignited a frantic scuffle.
“Got her! I got her first!”
“Let go of me!”
“Ahhh!”
A fight broke out among the people as they grabbed at Kani’s limbs. Not a single person cared for her safety. They were simply desperate to escape the plaza.
“What a view!” Valterian cackled, looking as though he couldn’t contain his delight at the sight of their desperation. Kani screamed for Jepetto, but the old man was busy being systematically beaten by the guard he had punched. The soldier’s eyes were bloodshot with rage. After the first few hits, Jepetto had stopped trying to guard his face. His body hung limp, taking every blow.
“I have her! I’ve got her!”
A large man finally hoisted Kani into the air. Her clothes were torn and her hair was a mess from being yanked by the crowd. Valterian frowned, seemingly annoyed by the girl’s disheveled state.
“A promise is a promise. I’ll let you pass. Step forward.”
The man walked toward him, clinging to a thin strand of hope. With his free hand, he gripped his wife’s wrist. She was a sobbing mess. The man, his wife, and Kani stood before Valterian.
“Please, let my wife go instead of me.”
“Darling…!” The wife shook her head, but her husband was firm. She was heavily pregnant. Valterian watched the poorly staged drama with a bored expression.
“Suit yourself.”
“Thank you… thank you! Hurry, go!”
“But…”
“Go!”
The husband pushed his wife forward. She stumbled toward the edge of the square, constantly looking back. The man couldn’t bring himself to look at Kani and hung his head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Kani said nothing. She had been silent ever since she saw Jepetto go down. The pregnant woman stopped in front of the line of knights. Her small frame looked tiny against the wall of iron and shields.
“Wait.”
Valterian watched her turn around.
“If you’re pregnant, that counts as two. I never promised to let two people go.”
“…Your Majesty?”
“This is the problem with the uneducated and the poor. I offer one thing, and they always try to take two.”
Valterian stepped toward her. The woman tried to back away in a panic, but the shields of the guards blocked her path. Valterian drew his sword, a cruel smile on his lips.
“You offered one life, so only one should leave. Don’t you know about equal exchange?”
“No!”
The woman curled into a ball, shielding her stomach with her arms. Valterian raised his sword high. But the blade never reached her.
“Agh!”
Thwack! An arrow hissed through the air and pierced Valterian’s wrist. He let out a shrill scream and dropped his sword.
“Ambush!”
“Protect the King!”
The Royal Guard fell into chaos. Valterian, screaming in pain, tried to reach for his sword with his other hand. A second arrow tore through the back of his hand and pinned it to the dirt.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Valterian flailed in agony. The guards looked around for the source of the arrows, but the tall buildings surrounding the square made it impossible to pinpoint the shooter. The knights and guards swarmed around Valterian to shield him. In the confusion, the gap in the line widened, and the trapped people began to pour out of the square like a retreating tide.
“Mister!”
Kani used the distraction to run to Jepetto.
“Mister, wake up. Please!”
Jepetto’s eyes fluttered open at her voice.
“Kani…”
His voice was a dry rattle, as if his throat had been damaged. Tears dripped from Kani’s eyes as Jepetto tried to push himself up, only to fall back. Every time he coughed, blood leaked from his nose and mouth. Kani propped his head up on her thin arms to help him breathe. When he spat, two teeth clattered onto the cobblestones amidst a thick clot of blood.
“Mister…”
Kani cried at the sight. Jepetto looked at her with pity, then shifted his focus. His eyes were fixed on Valterian, who was still surrounded by the panicked Royal Guard.
“Kani… can you help me up?”
Kani nodded through her tears. After a few tries, she managed to get him on his feet. She braced herself, taking as much of his weight as she could. His legs weren’t broken, so once he was up, he could move, but a concussion from the beating made him stagger and sway as they walked.
Jepetto limped forward, never stopping. When he reached Valterian’s side, he simply walked past him. The guards were so focused on the arrows raining from above that none of them paid any mind to a battered middle-aged man and a child. Because of their distraction, Jepetto reached the gallows where his son was tied up among the corpses.
Jepetto knelt and began working at his son’s bonds. Kani was quick to follow his lead, picking at the ropes of the man next to him. His son looked at his father’s mangled face and sobbed.
“Father…”
“Don’t say a word,” Jepetto said, his voice slurred by his swollen cheek. He kept his focus on the ropes until his son’s wrists were finally free. Even with the chance to run, the young man hesitated, looking at the other bound guards. He looked back at Jepetto, worried for his injured father. Jepetto forced the corners of his mouth into a grimace that was meant to be a smile.
“Do… what you have to do. I am proud of you.”
The son pulled his father into a brief embrace before turning to free the man beside him.
“Father, go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”
Jepetto ignored the plea and started on the next set of ropes. If everyone had been alive, they might have tried to run while still bound, but with twenty corpses tied into the line, they had to cut everyone loose to move. Kani worked with clumsy fingers, and the guard she was helping waited with agonizing patience despite the chaos. Then, a voice spoke from behind them.
“Pull your arms as far as they’ll go.”
Slash. A woman brought a dagger down on the rope. Thanks to Kani loosening the knot, the hemp snapped in two with little effort. Kani looked around and saw that the people who had fled were coming back, one by one, to help free the guards.
Contrary to what Valterian believed, half the people in the square were family or friends of the men on the gallows. As more guards were freed, the work went faster. Meanwhile, the Royal Guard was busy ushering Valterian to safety under a constant barrage of arrows. No one was left to block the escape.
Jepetto’s son put his father’s arm over his shoulder and urged him forward.
“Father, a little faster…”
“I’m trying…”
The crowd of fleeing people soon became a single, surging wave. Caught in the middle of it, Jepetto and his son were carried along by the momentum of the mass.
“Ah!”
Kani, hurrying to keep up, tripped. With people crowded so tightly on all sides, she didn’t fall at first, but she was separated from Jepetto in an instant.
“Mister!”
Terror took hold of her body, but she couldn’t find him in the sea of backs. She was buffeted and shoved until she was pushed out of the main group. The moment her human support was gone, she fell to the ground.
“Oof!”
She tried to get up, but someone stepped on her. It wasn’t on purpose; they were just blinded by panic and looking for the exit. Every time a foot hit her back or chest, the wind was knocked out of her. Just as she tried to roll away, someone reached down.
“Grab on!”
Kani didn’t look to see who it was. She just took the hand. She was yanked upward like a radish pulled from the soil during harvest.
“Are you all right?”
The man asked as he brushed the dirt from her clothes. His face was hidden by a hood, but the kindness in his eyes made her want to cry. Kani looked into his violet eyes and nodded.
“That’s a relief.”
“Kani!”
At the sound of her name, Kani turned. Jepetto and his son were fighting their way back through the crowd toward her.
“Go on,” the man said.
“Th-thank you.”
Kani gave a quick bow. The man seemed to find it endearing and patted her head.
“Prince, we have to move,” a person beside him urged.
The man nodded. Before he left, he looked at Kani once more.
“Don’t worry. It will all be over soon.”
There was a certainty in his voice that made Kani want to believe him even though she wasn’t sure what he was saying. She ran over to Jepetto after nodding.
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