Seeker

There were screams in the other room. She could hear the sounds of fighting very clearly from where she stood in the nursery. The child’s eyes were staring up at her, terrified.

“What’s happening?” he asked quietly in French. He had a lisp, as small children often do.

“Nothing,” she answered, also in French. “It’s all right. Come with me.”

The boy was too frightened to move.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Come with me,” she said again, more roughly now. There was no time to lose.

She pulled the covers off him and reached for his hands.

There was a louder scream from the other room. It might have been a woman’s voice, but it was hard to tell.

The boy started to cry.

“It’s all right,” she said. “I’ll take you out of here.”

He didn’t want to go with her but didn’t know how to refuse. She took his hands and moved with him to the doorway. She could see the others, off in the larger room at the end of the hall. No one was looking in her direction at that moment.

She threw the edge of her cloak around the little boy. Holding him tight, she ran down the corridor, down the stairs. In a moment, they were out the side door and moving away.

She picked him up as she ran across the grass. “Where are we going?” he asked.

“Away from here,” she whispered into his ear. “I’ll keep you safe.”

As she ran with the boy in her arms, Quin knew she was dreaming. This was not real; this was not how it had happened. But for this one moment, she was making the right choice, the choice she should have made, and she was filled with happiness. It was not the truth, but it felt good to be brave and noble, even in a dream.