Confetti
The old woman offered Kierra something to wear, food to eat and a bed to
sleep in, but Kierra couldn’t eat her food or sleep because she was terrified
and still in shock due to what almost happened to her.
When she closed her eyes, she kept on seeing the faces of the men who
almost raped her.
“Can’t sleep?” The old woman asked her and she nodded.
The old woman sat by her and placed her hands around her.
“What almost happened to you was terrible but it didn’t happen. You should
be grateful to God for that and get over it”, she said and Kierra didn’t say
anything.
“What’s your name, child?” She asked her.
“Kierra”, she said, softly.
“That’s a lovely name. Where are your parents and how did you end up
there?” She asked her and Kierra was quiet.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’ll leave you to rest and
tomorrow, I can take you home”, she said to her and she left.
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Kierra sat on her bed, thinking about everything and how devastated her
family will be with her disappearance.
She started praying to God to comfort them and also help them find her or
help her get away. She also thanked God for rescuing her.
She continued to pray and drifted off to sleep.
*
Kayden was in the room he was given, waiting for it to be midnight, so that
he could sneak out and go to the dungeons to search for Kierra.
He was on his bed, waiting when he heard Lucy’s voice. She was talking
with his guards outside. When he heard her voice, he quickly laid on his bed
and pretended to sleep.
Lucy walked in and laid by him. She started touching him and he started
snoring out loud.
She stopped and was disturbed at his loud snoring. She tried touching him
again and he snored more and growled.
“Eww Kayden, you’re sleeping like a dog”, she said and he ignored her.
She stayed there for a while and tried again, this time he started drooling.
“Pig!!” She yelled and she left.
When she left, he sat up and wiped his face and then he started laughing.
When it was midnight, he left his room and made his guards keep watch for
him. He walked around looking for the dungeon and when he finally found
it he realized that all the guards there were asleep.
He tiptoed and looked through all the doors searching for Kierra and he
couldn’t find her till he saw a young lady in one of the dungeons.
“Kierra?” He called out, whispering and the lady turned around.
“Oops sorry. I thought you were someone”, he said to her.
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“Help me please”, the lady said.
“Ssshhhhh”, he said to her.
“Help me”, she said and he threw in a gold coin.
“Whenever you get out, use that it’s worth a lot”, he said to her and he ran
off.
When he got out of the dungeon, he bumped into Lucy.
“What are you doing here?” She asked.
“Uhh. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a stroll”.
“In the dungeon?”
“Be smart Lucy. How am I supposed to know that’s a dungeon? I went in
and realized that it was a dungeon”, he said.
“Mmm, okay. I was in your room earlier on and you were sleeping like a
pig”, she said.
“Ouch! I never sleep like a pig, maybe I was having a bad dream”.
“Mmm, it was still nasty”.
“Oh please. You sleep like a pig too. The last time I wanted to surprise you
back at the training center, I walked in and what I saw was…”, he said,
widening his eyes and she stopped him.
“It’s okay it’s okay”, she said to him and she was embarrassed.
“But I still like you just the way you are”, he said to her and she smiled.
“Since you can’t sleep, I can keep you company”, she said to him and he
held his stomach.
“Are you okay?” She asked him.
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“I need to use the washroom”, he said and he ran off.
Lucy observed him for some time and walked away.
She met with her guards and asked them if they found Kierra.
“No my princess but we found the men you sent in”.
“Where are those idiots?” She asked and they brought them to her.
“What happened?!” She exclaimed and they told her what happened.
“So you failed to do your job because of an old woman? You could have
easily beaten her up or slept with her too!!”
“My Princess, the place was on fire”, one of the men said and she slapped
him.
“You’re all failures. A simple job which would have brought you pleasure
and money, you failed at it. So where’s she?”
“We don’t know but I think she left with the old woman”.
“Fools!!”
“Tomorrow morning, take them door to door so that they identify the old
idiot and then bring her and Kierra back here”, she said to her guards.
“You better pray that you find them or I’ll feed your useless tools to the
dogs!” She said to the men.
“Get them out of my sight”, she yelled and the guards took them away.
*
Kierra and the old woman were having breakfast when they heard the
banging on the door. The woman got up to open it and Kierra stopped her.
“Don’t open it”, she yelled.
“Why not?” The old woman asked, confused.
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“Just don’t!” She said.
“Do you have a back window?” She asked her.
“Yeah, let’s use it to get out”, she said.
“Why? Are you in trouble or something?”
“Princess Lucy wants me dead”.
“What did you do?!”
“There’s no time for questions now. Let’s go”.
“You’re the one who’s in trouble. You can use the window”.
“If I’m in trouble, you’re in trouble too because you rescued me”, Kierra
said, getting impatient as the banging on the door became louder.
“Let’s go now!!” She said, pulling the woman.
She helped her up and pushed her off the window and then she climbed out.
“Ouch!” The old woman said.
“I know you’re in pain but we have to run now”, she said and she pulled the
woman and they ran. The woman slowed her down but they were able to get
away.
“I’m thirsty”, the old woman said.
“There’s a bar in front there. Let’s make a stop”, she said and they went in.
“Do you have money on you?” She asked the woman.
“No! You didn’t give me enough time to grab anything”, the woman said.
“Hmmm”, Kierra said, face palming.
“Just sit here and I’ll see what I can do”, Kierra said to her.
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“Excuse me, do you have some water that I can give to the old lady. She’s
really thirsty”, Kierra said to the man at the bar.
“You want water, you pay for it”.
“She left her money at home and she’s really thirsty. Please, just a cup”.
“No money, no water”, she said.
“Give the girl what she wants”, an elderly man said.
“Are you paying for it?” The bartender asked him.
“Yes and it’s just water after all”, the man said and the bartender gave her a
cup of water.
“Thank you”, Kierra said to him and she rushed to the woman and gave her
the water.
They both decided to stay there for a while to rest. As they were conversing,
the elderly man who helped them earlier on, walked up to them and sat by
them.
“Are you both okay now?” He asked.
“Yes please. Thank you very much”, she said to him.
“You’re welcome. You’re a really beautiful young woman”, he said,
looking at her.
“Young enough to be your daughter”, the old woman said, glaring at him.
“I’m just appreciating God’s beauty”, he said, smiling.
“You think I don’t know men like you. Kierra let’s go”, she said to her and
Kierra got up with her to leave.
“Don’t I get a hug to show your appreciation?” He asked, pulling her hand.
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“Don’t touch her?” The woman said, waving his hands off and he pushed
her and she fell.
Kierra quickly pushed him on the floor.
“That’s your appreciation”, she said to him.
“Let’s go”, she said to the old woman and lifted her up.
*
Kayden and everyone were in the throne room when the guards walked in
with Warrick and Joshua.
“We saw these two lurking around”, the guards said.
Kayden’s eyes widened when he saw them and then he glared at them.
Warrick and Joshua had disguised themselves to look like peasants and
Joshua had his eyes glued to the floor to prevent Lucy from recognizing him.
“Who are these people and where did you find them?” The king asked.
“We don’t know but they were around the dungeon area”, one of the guards
said.
“Oh they’re my prisoners”, Kayden said and they all turned to face him.
“I arrested them in my country on my way here but because I couldn’t return
to the palace, so I brought them along with me”, he said to them.
“You should have told us so that we lock them up in our dungeon for you”,
the Queen said to him.
“Oh don’t worry. I found out that they were innocent, so I put them in the
room with my guards”.
“And what where they doing, lurking around the dungeon”? Lucy asked.
“I’m sorry my princess but we were looking for King Kayden”, Warrick
said.
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“Shut up you low life. Who asked you to speak”? Lucy yelled.
“Lucy that’s enough”, her dad said to her.
“If you would excuse me, I have to attend to them”, Kayden said and he left
with them.
When they got out of the throne room, he turned to face them.
“Are you both crazy? What happened to leaving everything to me?!”
Kayden asked them.
“How were you expecting us to do that? We had to come up with a plan B”,
Warrick said.
“Wow and getting caught and thrown in the dungeon is your plan B?”
“And getting married to Lucy is your plan? We heard that the King of
Janrico has come to seek the princess’ hand in marriage. Wow, how does
that help you find Kierra?” Joshua asked.
“You think I’m stupid enough to marry her? I did that to have a reason to be
here and to get close to her to know of Kierra’s whereabouts”.
“So where’s Kierra?!” Warrick asked.
“She’s not in the dungeon but I’ve assigned one of my guards to listen in on
Lucy’s conversations. I’ll surely get an answer soon”.
“What if she’s dead?!” Joshua asked.
“For their sake, I hope she’s not because I’ll burn the whole country down
to ashes!!” Kayden said.
“I’m getting really impatient. We have to find her today”, Warrick said.
“I promise you, I’ll find her and get her out of this country safely. Just trust
me and stay out of it or you’re going to cause problems”, Kayden said.
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“We can’t stay out of it. We’ll speak to the people outside the palace to
know if they’ve seen her or heard anything”, Warrick said.
“Fine but whatever you do, please don’t ruin my plans”, Kayden said to
them.
“And how do you intend to turn down the marriage offer after you rescue
Kierra?” Joshua asked.
“I’ll definitely find a way but that’s a problem for tomorrow. Right now let’s
focus on finding Kierra”, Kayden said.
“Sure. We’ll be in one of the inns if you ever need us or have any
information”, they said and they left.
Kierra and the old lady settled in the woods and sat there to rest.
“Where’s the harbor?” Kierra asked her.
“It’s quite close to my house. It’s towards the northern side”, the woman
said.
“Argghh!!” Kierra said, groaning.
“Why are you looking for the harbor? Don’t tell me we’re leaving the
country. My home is here”, the old woman said.
“My home isn’t here. I’m from Navara”, Kierra said.
“Navara? That’s quite far. How did you end up here?”
“It’s a long story but I need to return home. My family needs me”, she said
to her.
“Okay, then we’ll have to go back to my house”, she said.
“No. The people looking for me might be there”.
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“So how do you intend to travel? You’ll need some money to pay for your
travel and my money is in my house”, the old lady said.
“Aww, you’re so thoughtful but we can’t go back. I don’t want to risk your
life”.
“I’m already old, what life am I risking?”
“I don’t think your children or grandchildren are ready to lose you”.
“I don’t have any. It’s just me”, she said to Kierra.
“How come?”
“My husband and two sons died a longtime ago”.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. That’s really sad, what happened to them?”
“Some years ago, my husband was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t
commit and he was hanged. I had to raise my two sons on my own and when
they grew up, they joined the army and they died in line of duty”, the woman
said with a sad face.
“That’s so sad. I can’t Imagine what I’ll do if I lose someone close to me”,
Kierra said.
“I was depressed for years but at some point God gave me comfort”, she
said.
“So you’ve been alone since then?”
“Not really, I had my friends although some of them are dead now and
there’s this little boy who comes around most of the time to keep me
company and in return, I feed him and give him some money?”
“Where are his parents?”
“They’re dead”.
“That’s sad. So where does he sleep?”
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“In his Uncle’s house but they don’t treat him well so he comes to my place
often”, she said.
“Aww, May God be with him”, Kierra said.
“Amen”.
“So come with me then?” Kierra asked.
“No, my home is here and I want to die here and be buried here”, she said.
“Hmm, okay but please find somewhere else to stay. Those people might be
back and they might kill you”.
“I’m not scared of death, Kierra. Don’t worry about me”.
“Hmmm”.
“C’mon, let’s go back and let me give you some money to travel”.
“Okay but we’ll have to be careful”.
“Yes ma’am”, she said and Kierra helped her up.
“I do have one favor”, the old woman said.
“Oh what is it? Say it and I’ll gladly do it”, she said to her.
“Please take the little boy along with you”.
“Won’t his uncle look for him? And will he agree to go?”
“He will. He has always wanted to leave this country because it brings a lot
of pain to him and his uncle won’t even care that he’s gone”.
“Okay and how do we send for him?”
“I’ll bring him to the harbor myself tomorrow morning”, she said.
“Okay”, Kierra said, nodding and they left.
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*
Kayden was in his room, trying to think of how to find Kierra. He was
worried that she might be dead or hurt.
He got up from his bed and kept pacing back and forth, thinking.
He got frustrated and then sat on his bed, and then he started praying.
“God, I know it’s been a long time since I spoke to you and I’m very sorry
about that but at this moment, I really need your help. I need your guidance
and direction on how to rescue Kierra. I care about her a lot and I don’t want
any harm to befall her. Please just help me and I promise to be a good boy”,
he said.
“She doesn’t deserve to go through this because of me, please just help me
out”, he said and then he climbed his bed and tried to sleep.
As he was trying to get himself to sleep, he heard a knock on the door.
“Your grace, I’ve got an important message for you”, the man at the door
said.
“Let him in”, he said and the guards let him in.
“What’s the message? Have you found anything on her whereabouts?”
“Yes! I heard Princess Lucy conversing with her guards. Kierra escaped
with an old woman and they’ve searched every house but can’t find her. And
they are suspicious about a house they broke into. They said they heardvoices
but when they barged in, the people in it were gone and they plan oninvading
tonight”, the guard said and Kayden’s face lightened up.
“Then we need to follow them to that house”, Kayden said.
“When do they leave?”
“Soon? They’re preparing right now”, he said.
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“Okay, then I’ll follow them myself. I need you to look for Warrick and
Joshua and tell them what you just told me. They’re in one of the inns”, he
said to him.
“My king, going on your own is dangerous”, he said to Kayden.
“I can handle myself, just do as I say”, he said and the guard nodded.
Kayden took his weapons and left his room.
*
Kierra and the old woman got to her house and the old woman told her to
eat before leaving.
She cooked something for them to eat and as they were eating, they heard a
loud bang on the door.
“Open up now!!” the men at the door said and Kierra’s eyes widened.
