Voyagers: Flight to Freedom

CHAPTER ONE

Keti Makes a Friend

The sombre gloom of the basement gave way to daylight as Keti mounted the steps to the upper floors of the huge sprawling palace. Because it was a long way from the kitchen to the prince’s rooms she carried the clay pot, filled with broth, wrapped in a thick woollen cloth to keep it warm.

The solemn, slightly-built, girl, who neither by her dress nor in her manner gave any hint of her superior rank, was worried about her brother, Prince Horus, the elder of the two royal children and heir to the throne, who was sick in bed.

After the death of their father, the king, their stepmother, Lady Felina, had assumed the title and powers of regent and intended to rule until Horus was old enough to succeed to the throne. When the king was alive Felina had appeared to be devoted to the young prince but now her neglect of him was proof of the insincerity of her previous concern for his welfare. In poor health since birth, the thirteen year old prince had fallen ill once more and since he had been deserted by his former friends, was now grudgingly grateful for his little sister’s company.

The passage outside the great banqueting hall was full of warriors in off-duty cloaks worn over their splendid uniforms; which had supposedly been designed by the regent herself. These members of her elite guard stood or lounged around in groups, engaged either in conversation or games of chance. All of these men had been personally selected by Felina. None were less than six feet tall and all were powerfully built with heavily muscled bodies conditioned by hours of training.

Their commander, Captain Philemon, one of the regent’s favourites, was leaning indolently against a wall, joking with some of his cronies, when he caught sight of Keti. ‘Look who’s graced us with her presence, men. I swear she grows more like a mouse every day. What have you got there, girl? What’s that you’re hiding?’

Keti had never understood why Captain Philemon seemed to take pleasure in making her life miserable and she dreaded encounters such as this. His sneering remarks delivered in a scornful tone were greeted by appreciative sniggers. Although she tried to ignore him, tears started to her eyes and as she attempted to go on her way, she tripped over her tormentor’s deliberately outstretched leg.

‘You’re a clumsy little thing, aren’t you, girl.’ Philemon stood over her where she lay sprawled. ‘Please allow me to help you.’ Cruelly pinching the soft flesh of her arm, he pulled her up.

Although she could not stop herself from crying with pain, Keti knew, from past experience of Philemon’s spite, that it would be useless to beg for mercy.

‘Stop it!’ the objection came from one of the warriors. A full head taller than any of the others, he was a giant, someone she had not seen before, a new recruit to the regent’s elite company of guards.

‘Stop it? What do you mean - Stop it?’ Philemon was outraged.

‘I mean, leave her alone. Let her go.’ The big man, who had been standing on his own a little distant from his companions, now loomed massively over his superior officer.

‘Stand back. What’s got into you, soldier? Have you taken leave of your senses?’ A vein throbbed in the captain’s forehead as he yelled up into the giant’s face.

The recruit made no reply, choosing instead to take the captain by his prominent nose and tweak it hard until he was forced, with a yell of anguish to release the little girl.

‘Gross insubordination. Seize hib, Seize hib,’ Philemon mumbled, as he staggered back, holding his wounded nose, tenderly in both hands. When guardsmen hurried to obey the order, the huge man put up no resistance and without protest allowed them to bind his arms behind his back.

Meanwhile Keti had taken the opportunity to retreat. When she looked back at her champion, he was standing quietly, head and shoulders above his captors. He smiled at her. Keti knew that his punishment would be harsh. He would be confined to the dungeons, tortured and perhaps put to death. Assaulting a superior officer was a very serious offence.

On her return to the palace kitchens, a servant listened sympathetically as she explained what had occurred and gave her another pot of broth. The little princess was well liked by the palace servants and minor officials with whom she was more comfortable than with her peers, who generally ignored her. This time Keti took a longer route to bring the broth safely to her brother, who finished it to the last drop, despite expressing little gratitude for her efforts. Because there were no others to perform the duty, Prince Horus had lately permitted his sister to read to him and he feebly coughed into a handkerchief as he lay listening until eventually he fell asleep.

The gruff keeper of the dungeons, Alkat, was fond of little Keti; who unlike others did not mock the needlework with which he passed the long, lonely hours of his job. In fact, she often kept him company as he sewed busily at some sampler which, despite his big clumsy fingers, was delicately beautiful. Alkat confirmed that the guardsman had already been locked up. He told her that he was a member of the Walumpo tribe and a champion fighter, even among those brave warriors. His fame had reached the ear of the regent and he had been recruited as one of her elite guard. He was called Shakata.

The keeper of the dungeon took her to the prisoner. He was in a single cell close to the torture chamber and he smiled when he saw her. Alkat left them together. Keti stood gripping the bars of the small window to his cell and stared seriously at him with big eyes. Hesitantly, she told him that she was grateful for his help and that she was sorry that he was being punished so severely. He replied in his deep gentle voice that she must not worry about him. Keti promised that she would come to see him again.

Before she left the dungeons, Alkat reassured her that Shakata would not go without food or water and that he would not be chained when in his cell. The keeper of the dungeon had no authority to prevent him from being subjected to torture. Keti and Alkat were sure that Philemon would insist upon it and Alkat said that he believed that the sadistic captain would personally supervise each session. ‘The big fellow’s not really very bright, is he? Perhaps a little slow on the uptake, if you know what I mean, but he seems to have a good heart and I’m told he’s a great fighter. It’s a shame what’s happened to him, just because he was man enough to object to -’ Alkat lowered his voice to a whisper ‘- Captain Philemon’s nasty bullying ways.’ In the sinister atmosphere of the regent’s court, walls, even prison walls, had developed ears.

So it was that the gentle giant and the timid princess became friends. She visited him every day. Neither of them spoke much but, despite that, gradually, as the hours turned into days and the days turned into weeks, they learned all there was to know about each other.

Everyone knew; Alkat, the other prisoners, Keti and Shakata, himself, that Philemon did not intend the giant warrior to ever again see the light of day. The captain planned to see him hanged like a common criminal but only after his spirit had been broken. The torture went on, not every day because his persecutor would have found that boring, but when the whim took him and it was cruel and brutal. Nevertheless, Shakata remained unbowed, wordlessly bearing each new kind of pain.

Alkat was afraid that before long the captain’s failure to break down the big man’s resistance would lead him to employ cruder methods. Keti could hardly bear to think of the ruin of her friend’s magnificent body, should his bones be broken on the rack. She dreamed of helping him to escape but was afraid to speak of it because she might lack the courage to face the danger it entailed. However, a plan had begun to form in her mind.

CHAPTER TWO

Escape from the Palace

One day Horus asked Keti to read to him from a book which was a particular favourite of his. When she failed to find it, Horus remembered that he had left it in his father’s study on the day before the king’s fatal hunting accident. She hurried nervously along the echoing corridors of the palace, anxious to avoid Captain Philemon or any of his sadistic friends.

The late king’s study was a small circular room which could only be entered from the royal bedchamber. Keti made certain that she would be unobserved before scurrying, breathlessly, into the study. She found the book easily but before she could retrace her steps she heard the sound of voices from the adjacent room. The terrified girl hid under her late father’s massive desk. The study door was open wide and she could hear every word exchanged by the two people she knew to be her stepmother, the regent Felina and the grand vizier, Sinistrezi.

‘Do relax, Sinistrezi. This is a informal meeting. Take a seat over there man, on the settle by the fireplace. Good, that’s better.’ Keti’s stepmother’s voice was unmistakable, at once seductive and commanding. ‘Shall I have some wine brought? No? Of course I forgot you don’t drink wine. How silly of me.’ Keti knew that Felina never forgot anything. ‘Well now my vizier, what news of the crown prince’s health? My doctors tell me he will not recover and my courtiers whisper he’s not long for this world. But they are flatterers and deceivers and I can’t put my trust in them. You, however, are different. Come, Sinistrezi, I can rely on you for the truth.’

‘It is with regret, Ma’am, that in this I agree with your doctors. One of their number, a physician of unquestionable reputation, has assured me that the prince is unlikely to ever fully recover from the sickness which ails him.’

‘But will he die soon?’

‘The physician is of the opinion that Prince Horus may survive for many years, although in continuing poor health.’

‘I see - but will he ever be fit enough to rule?’ For once Felina’s voice was harsh as she barked out the brutal question.

‘Ma’am!’ Sinistrezi was clearly taken aback.

‘Come now, Sinistrezi, the answer is of crucial importance to the stability of the state. Surely you see that?’ The regent resumed her usual persuasive tone.

‘I’m led to believe that Prince Horus may never be strong enough to bear the responsibility of the crown.’

‘Thank you for your honest opinion, Vizier. As usual your advice is greatly appreciated. Yes, you may go now.’

As Sinistrezi left Keti heard another take his place.

‘Good,’ the regent purred. ‘Come sit with me Lady Hellebore.’

Felina’s oldest confidante listened attentively to her account of what Sinistrezi had said. ‘Then you will rule indefinitely, Milady,’ she declared.

‘So it would seem, Hellebore, but I confess I’m disturbed by what my necromancer revealed to me at her most recent reading of the bones.’

Keti shuddered. Her stepmother was referring to Monhegan, her personal fortune teller, whom she had installed in the palace after the death of the king. Although she was a tiny woman, little taller than Keti herself, Monhegan was very scary and her protruding yellow eyes seemed to miss nothing as she glided, snake-like, through the long corridors of the palace. Timid Keti was deathly afraid of the evil little necromancer.

After reading the bones, Monhegan had told Felina that her ambition was not