knee

Samantha

She felt peace out of necessity.

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.

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Roe untied her arms and legs to hand her food. She dove out the back, bloodied and graveled her knees and hands and face and tumbled tumbled and ran. Roe turned around.

It was more of a stumble for the first few dozen steps. There was pain, of course, O Shiron, O Shiron there was pain my stupid pulsating knees and the stupid gravel indents in my hands with its stupid loose skin everything stings ow, but as long as she kept moving, she could outrun even pain. Couldn’t outrun a horse-drawn wagon, though. Roe patronizingly caught up and had the horses trot behind Samantha.

“See you in Felkner, — knee, knee, ow, — Roe,” said Samantha, looking over her shoulder. The first expression she could actually steal from Roe: exhausted disappointment. Fool, she should be happy someone was standing up to Anisa’s tyranny!

“It’s been what, 3, 4 hours? So if I just run for a day straight, I’ll make it, yes?” Roe’s face didn’t bother answering, nor did the horses.

She kept it up for 10 minutes. Another cart drove past.

“Hey Princess,” said Chet.

“Hey Chet,” said Princess.

“Long way back to Felkner,” said Chet.

“That’s why I didn’t start running later,” said Princess.

“Later is later, you can’t have not started then yet,” said Chet, and he left ear-and-mouth-shot.

She kept it up for 5 minutes. She wanted to keep going but she hadn’t eaten and the blood trickling down her head was tricking her into thinking she was lightheaded so she collapsed and Roe swaddled her with rope again, all stupid and babylike.