My Fair Lady: Chapter 2

“What is this?” 

      Kezia jerked awake. 

The man reached down, and yanked her to her feet.  Kezia winced in pain.  She hurried to explain her story. 

“I was being chased by wolves, and then I got lost, and-” 

“Save it for the lord.”  The man said gruffly pulling her along with him. 

 Kezia could barely keep herself from shivering even though she was inside the castle.  She was still wet from the night’s rain. 

The door slammed open.  Kezia about jumped, but the man held her in place.  A stern looking man walked down the steps to where she was. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”  He growled. 

“I was attacked by wolves, and I got lost, and then I found this place.   I tried to find someone, but I couldn’t find any one so I took the horse to the stable cause it’s not mine you see, and I didn’t want it to get sick in any way, and….”

   “I’ve heard enough.”  The man said holding his hand up.  “You trespass, and then act like you’ve done nothing wrong.”  The man said angrily. 

“I wouldn’t have, it’s just under the circumstances that there were...” 

The man scoffed.  “You think that is an excuse to do so?” 

“I’m sorry…”  Kezia stammered.

 “Sorry isn’t good enough.”

“But I didn’t intentionally trespass.  If you could’ve seen those wolves-”

“I’ve seen wolves before, girlie.”

“Please pardon me!” 

The man shook his head.  “Consequences are in order.  Take her to the tower, Jameson.  I’ll deal with her in a moment.”  The man walked back up the stairs. 

Kezia kicked and squirmed to get out of the man’s grip.  “Please!  Sir!” 

The man went back  through the door and closed it behind him.  Jameson drug her down the hall to a staircase, and led her up them. 

“Let me go!” 

 After going up a couple flights, they reached the tower.   Jameson threw her inside and locked the door. 

“You won’t get away with this!”  Kezia yelled. 

Jameson disappeared down the stairs. 

Kezia banged her fist against the door in frustration.  She sanked down to the floor, and held her knees to her chin, shivering.

 Kezia jerked her head up at the sound of the lock on the door.  The man she had seen before entered.  A horse crop in one hand, a handful of chain in the other, and shackles slung over his shoulder.   He closed the door behind him. 

He walked to the center of the room, and threw the chain over a rafter.  He caught the swinging chain and steadied it.  Kezia stood frozen in place.  The man looked over at her. 

“Come here.”  He said. 

“What do you think I am? An idiot?”  She thought.   Kezia stood up slowly.  Her leg throbbed.  She dashed towards the door, but the man caught her around the stomach with his arm, and swung her around.  He snapped the shackles on to her wrists then attached them to the chain.  He pulled the other end of the chain, and attached it to a ring in the wall, lifting Kezia a couple feet off the ground. 

Kezia inhaled sharply.  Her arm felt like it would tear off.  “Look, you got to believe me when I say that I didn’t purposely trespass.”  Kezia pleaded. 

“You’re a spy of some sort.”  The man said running his finger across the crop.  “No one has found this place in years.  Well, I have a message for your superior.  We will fight long and hard mercilessly till your group is destroyed.”  The man said glaring at her. 

“Sir, I work at a stable, and take care of horses.  I was returning one when I got lost and came upon here.  I have proof.  There’s a piece of paper in my pocket with directions to the master’s house.  I also have a map with a line made for the route I was taking.  Nowhere on it does it have anything to do with your castle.”  Kezia said desperately. 

The man eyed her, suspicious.  He felt around in her pockets till he pulled out the two pieces of paper.  He scanned over them.  “They’re too soggy to read.”   He dropped the pieces of paper to the floor.  Kezia’s heart sank. 

The man turned back around facing her.  He whipped her furiously with the crop.  Kezia writhed around from the blows. 

  The man heaved heavily.   Kezia’s body shook violently.  The man stormed out of the room, leaving her hanging.  Kezia sighed ,blacking out.

***********

 Kezia dropped to the ground.  She couldn’t feel her arms.  She heard the door shut.  She didn’t move; she couldn’t move. 

She felt sharp pinches in her legs.  Kezia turned her head just enough to see her legs.  Rats were chewing on her.  Kezia gasped; she rolled over quickly and kicked at the rats.  They retreated into the dark. 

Kezia backed up against the wall, breathing heavily.  “This place is a nightmare.”  She muttered under her breath.  She leaned against the wall, careful not to bump against anything.  “What is that guy’s problem?”  She thought. Her mind wandered more, to three years ago, when she was younger.  When she was a captive of war, beaten ruthlessly, abused physically and mentally, half starved, her pride shattered. 

The beating had triggered the memories that she had tried to bury night after night of nightmares.  The man had obviously had been in the war.  “Perhaps it made him go insane, and he thinks it’s still going on.”  Kezia thought.  It was true that there were still enemy lines, but there was no active fighting just war-like words exchanged between each side.   

Kezia looked over at the window.  It was raining steadily.  Rain blew into the tower.  Kezia shivered, and carefully hugged her knees to her chin. 

*********************

 “Sir?” 

Jack looked up from the paper he was looking at.  “Hmm?  What?”  He asked Turner. 

“I asked what we were going to do with the girl.” 

Jack rubbed his brow, and turned his attention back to the paper. 

“She seems like a harmless passerby to me.” 

“She is until she leaves.  If word gets out that we are building an army here, our operation will be ruined.  She’ll just have to sit tight till we attack.”  Jack said. 

“But sir,that will be awhile yet.”  Turner reminded him.

“What other choices do we have?  And how do we know that she isn’t a spy with a cover up story?”  Jack asked walking over to the window. 

“Her story seems to have proof enough.  Those wounds were pretty bad.  One of the boys had to clean up the trail of blood she had tracked in.”  Turner said standing by Jack. 

“It’s too risky to let her go.”  Jack said looking out the window once more before sitting down in a chair.  He pulled out his pipe out of his pocket, and lit it.  He puffed out a couple rings of smoke.  “Besides, how else did she be able to get past the gate?  She had to either be able to climb over it, or pick the lock, and on my limited knowledge of women, they aren’t born able to do that.  She had to be taught or trained to do that.”  Jack put his pipe back into his mouth.  

Turner sunk down into a chair.  “Women are pretty crafty creatures if you think about it. But perhaps one of the boys forgot to lock the gate after coming back from hunting or training.”  Turner suggested. 

“I checked the gate before I went to bed.  It was locked.  Why are you so concerned about the girl anyways?  You do know that when we rage war there will be great casualties.  Villages will be destroyed.” 

“I was in the first war right beside you, Jack.  You don’t need to remind me of what war is like.” 

“The girl is staying and that’s final.” 

****************

  A food pan was slid under the tower door.  Kezia didn’t even budge.  She had no strength to move.  It was the fourth day that she had been there, and she was losing hope of getting out. 

Rats scurried across the room to the food, and quickly devoured it.  “I couldn’t stomach the food anyways.”  She thought.  “Besides it seems to keep the rats away from me.  Terrific.  I’m going to rot in this tower.  I survive a war and this is how I die?  I think not.” 

Kezia forced herself up.  “Yeah, that hurts.”  She thought doubling over.  She made her way over to the window.  She scanned the courtyard.  There was a group of men that seemed to be doing drills.  “Don’t they know that the war is over?”  She thought.  Then it hit her.  “They’re rebels from the war.  They’re going to restart the war!”  Kezia thought frantically.  “I got to get out of here, and warn the others to go into hiding before they get caught in it.”  She said out loud. 

Kezia limped over to the door.  The rats went running in different directions.  Kezia studied the door.  She sat on the floor.  “It’s hopeless.  There’s no way I can escape.”

***************

There was a knock at the door. 

“Enter.”  Jack said without looking up. 

Jameson stood in front of his desk.  “Sir, there’s something I think you ought to know.”  He said. 

“What have they done now?”  Jack asked. 

"It’s not anything about the others, sir.”  Jameson said quickly. 

“Oh?  Then what is it?”  Jack asked looking up from his papers. 

“It’s about the girl.  I don’t think she’s living anymore.”  He said. 

“What do you mean she isn’t alive anymore?  You’re giving her food every day aren’t you?”  Jack asked.  His brow furrowed. 

“Yes, sir.  But I look in there after I’ve put the food in, and she doesn’t move.  The rats always eat the food.  Every time I look in there, she’s in the same position that she was before.”  Jameson said. 

“I see.”  Jack was silent.  “Check on her to see if she is or not.”  Jack pulled the keys out of his desk.  He handed them over to him.  “If she is, you know what to do with her.”  Jameson nodded his head and left the room.

  Jameson slowly opened the door.  “Miss?”  He asked opening the door wider.  He crept over to where she was.  He knelt down and set his lantern down.  He shivered.  “It sure is cold up here.”  He thought.  He shook her shoulder.  “Miss?”  He asked again.  He withdrew his hand.

It was covered in something wet and sticky.  He put his hand next to the light.  It was blood.  He grimaced wiping it against the floor.  He waved his hand in front of her face. 

She bit down on his hand, and butted him in the face with her face.  Jameson fell back, caught off guard.  By the time he was back on his feet, she was gone.  He ran to the door.  It was locked. 

Kezia ran down the steps on the last leg of energy that she had.  She raced down the hall towards the door.  She froze in the center of the room.  Coming out of the room at the top of the steps was the man that had whipped her.  He stared down at her.  Kezia laughed nervously then rushed out the door.  “Guards!”  She heard him shouting. 

She raced to the stable, pulled her Morgan out of the stall, and snapped on the lead while leading him out of the stable.  She jumped on top of a bench and struggled to mount the horse. 

The man came running towards her.  Men seemed to be coming out of everywhere.  The gate stood open.  Kezia spurred the horse towards it.  Men scrambled to get to the gate.  Jameson yelled out of the tower window. 

A man had made it to the gate and was starting to close it.  Kezia urged the horse to go faster.  The man slammed the gate closed.  He smiled with satisfaction knowing that he had cut off her escape route.

 Kezia eyes narrowed with determination.  She balanced herself on top of horse’s back in a crouch position.  As soon as she got close, Kezia jumped off it’s back through the bars of the gate.  The man who had closed the gate, watched in shock as she slid through. Kezia rolled on the ground for a mere second then was back up on her feet.  “Open the gate!”  She heard the man that had whipped her shout.  She didn’t know who he was except he was the one who had put her through a great deal of pain. 

 Kezia tore through the woods.  Branches snapped her in the face, but she continued on.  “I’ll get the horse later.  Just have to focus on getting back to town.”  She tripped over a log, but got right back up.  She tried to put her weight on her good leg, but her leg still burned with every step she took. 

She came to a screeching halt.  There was a road up ahead, but there were three ways to go.  “Which way?”  She thought rapidly.  She slipped her hand into her pocket for the map.  Then she remembered that the man had taken it.  Kezia broke into a run down one of the roads.  She glanced over her shoulder. 

To her dismay, there was the man coming after her on her horse.  Well, not her horse, but the horse she was in charge of.  His horse crop beat against the horse’s flank.  Kezia winced at the blows.  She curled up her fists angrily, but she didn’t have time to correct the man.  She needed to run.  

  He was advancing on her greatly.  Her pant leg caught his attention.  It was soaked with blood as was her arm.  There were spots of blood soaking through her shirt as well.  She was just a couple feet from him. 

Jack reached his hand down ready to snatch her up.   Just when she was inches away from his grasp, she darted into the trees.  Jack growled in frustration; he halted the horse, and dismounted to run after her. 

 Jack looked back and forth.  He had lost sight of her.  He ran to the top of the ridge.  Sure enough there she was.  She was stuck in a trap, and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.  He slowly descended down the ridge.  

He had caught her.  He stood in front of her.  She was frantically trying to get her foot out. 

“It’s not every day that a guy catches a girl in his animal trap.”  He said kneeling down on his knee. 

She looked up at him, glaring.  There were tears running down her cheeks.  She went back to trying to get out of the trap. 

“Let me help.”  Jack said reaching down.  

She punched him in the side of the face, making him stumbled backwards. 

“Feisty, aren’t we?”  He said.

 Kezia threw her blood covered hands in the air, exasperated.   She glared down at the foot trap.  

“Do want my help now, or are you still throwing your tantrum?”  Jack asked. 

Kezia folded her arms. 

“Well, isn’t there something that you’re supposed to ask me?”  Jack teased.  He tried to keep a straight face. 

Kezia rolled her eyes.  “Why would a war veteran care about such a question?”  She asked. 

“What makes you think that I’m a war veteran?”  Jack asked sitting back on his hunches. 

“Oh please.  Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell?  There are many evidences.  For example, your posture, straight and stiff, scars, the drills your men are doing, and your technique of torture.  It’s so obvious. That and you’re a lunatic.”  Kezia said. 

“And you are a war fugitive.”   Jack said. 

Kezia stood stock still, startled.  She tried to hide her shock.  “What makes you say that?”  She asked. 

“The brand on your shoulder,scars,and the way you take whippings,.”  Jack said starting to work with the trap. 

“What brand?”  Kezia asked. 

“The one that is showing through that tear in your sleeve.”  Jack said pointing without looking up.  Kezia covered up the tear with her hand. 

The top of the trap lifted up. 

“Carefully lift your foot up.”  Jack instructed. 

Kezia lifted it up slowly.  She bit her lip.  She felt sick.  “The way you somehow find energy so suddenly to escape is another clue.”  Jack said resetting the trap. 

Kezia slowly stood up.  Jack took her by the arm, and led her back to the horse .

   “You know it won’t work what you’re trying to do.”  Kezia said as Jack sat her down on the horse’s back. 

“What makes you say that?”  Jack asked, mounting. 

“The lower and middle classes are starting to settle down under the enemy.  They accept that things are what they are, and are making  the best of things.  The high class, which I assume that is where you came from, wants to get back to the power where they once were.”  Kezia said. 

“They stole my pride and power!”  Jack shouted at her turning around so that he could see her.  Kezia didn’t flinch. 

“You lower class don’t understand because nothing has changed for you.  You were in nothing when the war started, and are still nothing after the war.”  He said. 

Kezia frowned.  “Without the lower classes, you high class people would fail miserably because we are the wheels that keep everything moving.” She shot back. 

“Oh, we are the ones that keep progress moving.”  Jack said laughing. 

“I disagree.  You think that you are always entitled to more.  You don’t want to stay in the boundaries.  So you stir up trouble, causing riots and wars, setting us back in progress, and eventually making us lose the rights that we did deserve, but were ruined because of your greediness!”  Kezia shouted. 

Jack studied her.  “You’ve become one of the enemy.” He said.

“Oh, don’t give me that.”  Kezia said, her eyes narrowing.  “If anything you’ve deserted the people.  Who is the one that had been hiding in some castle while the rest of us are going through trials and tribulations, facing taxes and death, returning from prisons half-starved to try to make a living to stay alive, and having enemy soldiers coming through every day to take advantage of us?  It certainly wasn’t you.  If you had gone through the after math, you wouldn’t be having such radical ideas.”  She said. 

“If you had gone through the actual fighting then you wouldn’t be so submissive!”  Jack said. 

“I did.  I watched men fall left and right, innocent women and children being massacred for the fun of it; I was there, sir, I assure you.”  Kezia said. 

Jack nodded his head sarcastically.  “Sure, you were.”

Now was the essential time to do it.  They weren’t back at the castle, they were on the horse that she needed, and the man was nowhere near to be able to call out his men on her.   She had done it before.  Kezia situated her leg just so.  “Just have to lift his leg up on over, pull him over the side, yank the rope out of his hands, and take off in a dead run all at the same time.”  She thought. “When I was in the war, I learned a couple tricks.”  She said slowly. 

“Sure you did.”  The man said.

Kezia executed her plan swiftly, and like clockwork, she was riding down the path while the man was down on the ground, cursing after her. 

 Kezia knocked at the door.   Thankfully it was dark so the man couldn’t see the mess that she was.  The door slowly opened.  “How can I help you, miss?”  The old man asked squinting at her.

 “Is your master at home?   I have his horse.”  Kezia said.  “Let me go fetch him.”  The man said.  He turned and left.  Kezia didn’t expect for him to invite her in.  After all, she was of lower class. 

 Moments later the lord appeared.  “I’m sorry it so late at night, but I thought you might want to see your horse.”  Kezia apologized.

 “He looks just like did before he did before he was stolen.” The man walked back into the house.  He returned with a small jingling pouch.  “This should cover the expenses.”  He said handing it to Kezia.  

She nodded her head, then turned and walked down the path to the road.  She turned around to see the man admiring the horse.  He led the horse to the stable.  Kezia smiled with great satisfaction then turned and continued on down the road.   Sure she didn’t get a thank-you, but the satisfaction was good enough.