“How dare you!” Irayen shrieked the words, rushing forward to wrest Neiras hand from her husband's.

“I give you a place in my home, and this is how you repay me? By seducing my husband?” She gave Neira a stinging slap and pulled her roughly from the empty banquet hall.

“I should have you put to death for this! Or perhaps I should just sell you off to that Greiber pig who has been slathering after you for the past seven months!”

They turned the corner, Neiras ears ringing.

“I'm sure he will be delighted to find you so easy to bed! After all, a harlot won’t be too particular!”

They rushed along the corridors. Neira felt strangely distant, as though she were watching this horrible evening rather than living it. Irayens grip on her wrist softened as they got further from Rifat. She grew quiet as well, though tears were coursing down her cheeks in rivers.

Casting a rapid glance in each direction, Irayen pulled Neira into the kitchen. Her face was twisted in dismay, red blotches marring her fair complexion. She threw her arms around her friend.

“Neira I am so sorry!” She cried “Are you alright? I should have known something like this might happen.” She buried her face in Neiras shoulder, sobbing. “I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…”

She pulled back looking at Neira, her face lined with worry. Neiras expression was blank, her hands trembling. She looked at Irayen, tears filling her own eyes as well.

The terrible distant feeling hollowed her out. The world around her felt strange and foreign, even the friend she had known since childhood. The tears that had started flowing grew into silent, body wracking sobs.

“I thought…you believed him.” Neira cried “I-I was so afraid… th-that you…”

Irayen wrapped her in an embrace once more, stroking her long dark hair.

"Oh Neira…I'm so sorry. I had to make him think that I blamed you. I have no power unless he grants it to me, but i wanted to protect you. I had to get you away from him before…” Her voice broke and she shook her head as if to banish the awful scene. “I trust you more than anyone. Certainly more than him…”

They cried together for several minutes, Irayen murmuring gentle reassurances.

When the tears began to slow, the two separated, wiping their faces dry. Irayen took Neiras hands and looked into her eyes.

“Neira, I wish more than anything that I had the power to set you free. I hate feeling so powerless to help you. You deserve so much more than this.” She paused, an unfamiliar mix of emotions fought for dominance in her expression. “I may not be able to free you, but I can help you escape.”

She set several kitchen cloths out on the counters and began filling them with nuts and dried fruits from the pantry shelves. Rustling through cupboards she gathered a few large waterskins and loaves of bread.

“That should be good enough to get you through a week at least. I have a map in my room, you can use it to find your way through the desert.” Her voice broke, more tears pouring down her face.

“Let's get you out of here before anything else happens. I'll go get the map and meet you back in your room.”

They gathered up the food and waterskins and hurried off to gather their respective supplies. Back in her own room, Neira discarded her damaged dress in favor of a more practical outfit.

She dug through her few belongings and pulled out her compass. She finished tossing everything into a pack just as Irayen came in with the map. She pressed the parchment into Neiras hands, her eyes misting over again.

“I am going to miss you so much Neira.”

Neira gazed back at her and held the map out to her.

“Why don't you come with me Irayen? This marriage is even worse than we imagined it would be. If we both go we can finally have our freedom … together.”

Irayen looked away, her lip quivering. She pushed the map back at Neira.

“I can't.”

“Why not? There's no way you want to stay here with him. We both know you don't love him.”

Irayen dropped her eyes to the floor, her hands rising to her abdomen.

“It's too late for me Neira. I have more to worry about than just myself.”

Neira recoiled as she processed the awful meaning behind this admission.

“Irayen, you don't mean…?”

She nodded, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. Neira shook her head, gently pulling Irayens hands down.

“Then I'll stay here with you. I can't leave you here alone with that… beast! Especially not with a baby.”

“No! I'll be fine Neira, but I couldn't bear for anything to happen to you.”

“Well I can't just leave knowing what you'll be trapped with here!”

The sound of shouting on the other side of the manor halted the discussion.

“Looks like Rifat changed his mind about leaving the punishment to me.” Irayen said with a bitter smile. “You have to go now Neira. Trust me, I'll be fine.”

Irayen shepherded Neira toward the open window, looking back in the direction of the commotion. It was getting closer.

“Go now!” Irayens voice rose in pitch and her eyes were wide with panic. Neira looked from her friend to the doorway and let out a frustrated growl.

“Fine, but you had better stay safe Irayen! I will find a way to come back for you once I have a safe place.”

Irayen smiled, nodding through her tears.

“I'll be waiting.”

Neira wrapped her friend in a tight hug. She clenched her jaw and slid out the open window into the warm night air. Irayen watched from the window as she disappeared into the darkness.

The guards burst into the room, scimitars in hand.

“Where is the slave girl?”

Irayen fought the urge to look out the window again. Not for the first time, she was very grateful for all the lessons in ladylike theatrics that her mother had forced her to learn as a girl. She put on her most distressed expression and wailed.

“She escaped!”

She took a few wobbly steps toward the guards, breathing heavily. The guards nearest to her dropped their swords and stepped forward to catch her. She fluttered her eyelids with a final dramatic exhale and collapsed into their waiting arms.

“My lady!”

There was a touch of panic in the guards voice. He looked around at his companions, his mouth dangling. For a long moment they just stared at each other. It took every ounce of Irayens composure not to laugh.

She heard footsteps as someone else entered the tiny room.

“What are you all doing just standing around here?” Jifat barked at the cluster of guards. “Did you apprehend the slave?”

He pushed his way through to where the stunned guard stood holding his apparently u1nconscious wife.

“What are you doing? Where is the girl?”

The veins in Rifats neck bulged his face contorted into a snarl. The guard holding Irayen looked to the other guards, who averted their gaze.

“Sh-she escaped...”

“Then why isn't anyone going after her?” Rifats face went purple as she shouted.

“Uhh, well… the Lady collapsed so…”

“Then put her in her bed and let the maids handle it! You-” Rifat pointed to the guards nearest the window. “fetch the horses from the stables and get out there! Find her! I want that slave girl brought back here immediately!” Rifat spun about and stormed from the room.

Neira raced away from the manor, breathing hard. There wasn't time to check the map, not with the guards coming after her. She had to find some sort of hiding place.

Scanning the moonlit terrain she settled on the cliffs to the East. That would give her an advantage for now. The guards would likely be on horseback. They would likely expect her to go through the desert or to try and hide in the city.

It would be suicide to stay in Eshiren. The people there knew her. The safest bet for a runaway slave would be to take the two day trek through the desert to Nopriat. It was an enormous city. The perfect place to make a new life without drawing too much attention.

That had been her plan, but it would have to wait. She ran as fast as she dared through the darkness. The last thing she needed right now was a sprained ankle, or worse.

The ground was more treacherous as she neared her goal. Loose shale and large boulders made it impossible to run through safely.

Neira picked her way through, running her hand along the stone face of the mountain for stability. She turned back to look at the manor, and that's when she saw the torches.

A dozen guards on horseback were riding out toward her. The torches they carried wouldn't help them to see her from that distance. For a moment she wondered why they had brought them at all. Then she saw the hounds sniffing at the ground around them. There would be no hiding from those.