As A Stranger Or A Friend?

Mariel - 17 Sun's Dawn, 1242 A.D.

I clutched Samuel close to me as we fearfully nestled ourselves into one of the larger armoires in his mother's dressing room. He whimpered and clung to me tightly, listening as the pirates ransacked his home. Luckily his family was away on a day trip to a neighboring town, so there was no chance they would give us away or get caught in the invasion and be killed while he listened. All we had to do was remain hidden long enough for the pirates to find whatever brought them here in the first place, then we could flee. Just downstairs in the servant's hall, I had a small bag of essentials packed just in case I was called away last minute. I would take it, along with Samuel, and run away as far as I could. I just had to hope that these pirates wouldn't find it before we could make our escape.

There was a loud banging on the door of the dressing room that nearly made me leap out of my skin. What little composure Samuel had left bubbled away, and he began to scream hysterically. He was a boy of eight, but his mind was that of a child nearer two years of age, so trying to reason with him when he entered this state was challenging, if not impossible. Quieting him was even more difficult, but I had to try. Our lives depended on it. Perhaps the coats and the set of doors between us were enough to muffle the sound— a wayward hope, to be sure. But I needed something to hold onto; otherwise, I would begin to panic too.

"Samuel, Samuel!" I hissed, doing my best to mask my anxiety, "Do you remember what we do when something scares us?"

He began to thrash in my arms, groaning and still halfway screaming. In the darkness, I could see that he wasn't looking at me; instead, he was clawing for a way out of our hiding place.

"Samuel—!"

The doors gave way loudly, slamming against the walls beside them. Three sets of heavy footsteps followed as the intruders they belonged to entered the room, each one thudding against the ground with a terrifying finality. Samuel began to scream even louder, hitting me hard across the face with his arm as he flailed in an intense panic. I cried out, and my grip on him loosened. He fell back onto the doors and sent them open with his body, causing us to tumble to the ground below. I snapped my head up and saw three lizard pirates standing there with their weapons drawn. They were huge from my place on the ground, each wearing fierce frowns. My heart began to pound in my chest; if they got ahold of Samuel, he would be as good as dead. As terrified as I was, I needed to be brave. I needed to protect Samuel, but to do that; I would have to subdue him, and quickly.

One of the lizards began his advance on the boy, who was on his feet now and still screaming, perhaps even louder than before. I scrambled up to mine and quickly reached into my apron to fetch the small syringe of luneya from one of the pockets. I kept it as a last resort should he fall into a state like this and become a danger to himself or others. I quickly sunk the needle into his shoulder and depressed the plunger as I hugged him close to my breast. He struggled, but more weakly, as I pulled the syringe out and dropped it onto the ground. I knelt before him, holding his face in my hands.

"Don't worry; I'll give you a sweet when you next wake. Rest now." I whispered to him as calmly as possible, then watched as his eyes shut and his form slackened in my arms.

One problem was resolved, but I was sure our troubles were far from over. The pirates had been watching me almost dumbfounded, so I decided to take the opportunity to buy us our freedom, if not our lives. I quickly removed the gold pocket watch that Samuel always carried and slid it across the floor toward them. It was a gift from his father and one that he would surely miss when he realized it was gone, but there was no time for that sort of sentimentality now. I quickly removed my jewelry, a silver bracelet and a thin gold chain with a small bow in the center of it, and tossed those their way too. My meager pouch of silver followed with a light jingling, carrying with it my hopes that they would accept my offerings and leave us be.