The Blade and The Bird

Chapter 14

"You sure this is the right room?" Sidra asked Baron as she looked at the ornate door standing in front of them. From what Sidra could tell the door was made of dark wood but what caught her attention were the delicate flowers etched into the wood.

"That's what the cooks told me," Baron said. Sidra took a deep breath and handed Baron the plate of food she had been carrying before she pushed the door open. The door was much heavier than she thought it would be, it creaked on its hinges as she pressed against it.

The first thing Sidra noticed was how massive the room was. Sheer curtains were drawn shut, but the large windows that were covered by the fabric brought in natural light even with the overcast weather outside. A four-post bed sat in the center of the room with silky sheets that glimmered in the light, and there was an assortment of pillows stacked on the head of the bed in rich colors. Sidra looked around the room at the expensive velvet furniture scattered about and felt dejected. The room looked untouched. It didn't seem like Selene was here.

Before she could turn to back Baron and tell him the room was empty, a young girl stepped out of a doorway to the right of the room. Sidra recognized her sister immediately, her hair was shorter and clean. Her clothing looked far nicer than anything she had worn in the past.

Sidra ran up to her sister and embraced her before the girl could move. Selene was stiff as she was embraced.

"Selene, are you hurt? Are you okay?" Sidra asked. She put her hands on each side of Selene's face as she looked at her sister for signs of injury. As far as Sidra could tell Selene looked perfectly healthy, in fact, she looked better than she had for years.

"Sidra?" Selene's eyes widened as she looked at her sister. She moved Sidra's hands out of her face and leaned forward to hug Sidra tightly as she began to cry.

"What happened to you?" Sidra asked as she returned the embrace.

"They told me you were dead," Selene said between sobs. "You and Grams. This nice lady brought me here, she saved me from the bad men."

"What are you talking about? What woman?" Sidra leaned back so she could look Selene in the face again. She glanced for a second toward the door to make sure Baron was still keeping a lookout for guards.

"She's this really pretty nice lady who lives here. She brought me here and took care of me," Selene said. Sidra's eyebrows furrowed as she took in what Selene had just told her.

"Listen, you can't trust that woman. She's keeping me from you," Sidra said. "We need to get you out of here." Sidra stood up and grabbed her sister's hand as she led her toward the entrance to the room. She went to grab the handle when the door slammed open and Baron stood there wide-eyed.

"Someone is coming," he said. Sidra backed up with her sister safely behind her as Baron ran into the room and faced the door. Before any of them could say more, several guards thundered into the room. They were large cloaked men, similar to the one's Sidra and Baron had fought off before, she could see that several of them were carrying batons.

"Get them," one of the guards shouts to the others.

One of the guards lunged forward and raised his baton into the air. It came down with a tremendous force against the back of Baron's head and he crumbled to the floor, unconscious.

"Baron!" Sidra shouted. She raised an arm out but didn't run forward, she had Selene behind her that she needed to worry about.

Two more of the large guards were stepping forward with their Batons raised and Sidra tried to take a step back. Before she could do more the men pulled her away from her sister. Sidra tried to lash out, to kick free, but the guards kept a firm grip on her.