Unknown
In a carriage
Perriguin was almost losing her mind and herself . The place was thick black, all she could hear was the sound of the rattling wheels. Once in a while, left overs she could not even see were dumped through a tiny hole. Whatever it was, hungry Perriguin had no choice but to feed on it. Perriguin could not tell if it was even night or day. She could not even tell how many days had passed because the voyage was slow. She was just in there, squeezed like a foetus in a womb. Her body stunk.
After a long while, the carriage was opened roughly and she was pulled out brutally. The first place Perriguin saw was Lukana! She could not even have access to the palace to see Reguin. It was Lukana.
'Deal with her properly and kill her a day to the festival of a completed revolution…the Duke and his people must not come for her' she said and gave Perriguin those wicked eyes before walking elegantly to her furry and comfy carriage. She looked at Perriguin once more with a smirk before leaving.
It was over to the soldiers to do whatever they wanted to her. They dragged her like a sack of refuse to the deepest part of the valley. She was hungry, her ribs were outstanding. As soon as she had reached the deepest part, she was chained to the stand. She had no strength at all to help herself! The grass around was itchy and the insects did not hesitate to start biting. Yet, she remained still.
'The Duke of Jumbadiway wasted a hundred dyms on you. Yet, you decided to continue being useless…' the head of staff sounded.
His staff and he had whips in their hands. Some were stretching theirs, others were rehearsing on pillars. She shut her eyes in pain, hoping to open them and see it was all a dream. It wasn't…doom was about to befall her. They started stroking her. The first one she received awakened her. All her cells reacted to the pain. There was anger burning in her. She opened her eyes and saw a letter coming. It was already opened as if it was aware that her hands were chained. It read;
Perriguin,
Do what you can do
Duke
She shut her eyes, wondering what the letter was meant to mean. Soon, she was becoming saturated with the pain. She started thinking what would happen to her before the day of her eventual death if it was just the first day. At one point, she could no longer feel pain. It was permanent pain. She was already numb. Then, she opened her eyes. They were counting the number of strokes.
'205, 206, 207…'
There was vexation in Perriguin's eyes.
'You fools…leave me alone!' she yelled.
They paused and looked at her. She covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said and the implication. She looked down, her hands were free. In disbelief, she looked at them. How was she able to break the chain. She remembered the Duke's letter, do what you can do. How possible was it? They were all still. As soon as she was out of shock, she stood up and raced weakly. Due to shock, they were dumbfounded. When they were back to their senses, they followed her. She was so hungry and tired. Though she tried, one leg was lagging behind because it had received strokes. Her eyes were closing though she was active. The probability of her not being caught was zero.
Not long after, they caught her and pushed her to the floor. She landed on her head.
'How did you break the chains?' they asked, surrounding her.
Her mouth was injured so she could not mutter a word even if she had something to say. Her eyes were looking in their direction but she couldn't see their ugly and wicked faces. Her vision was blur.
'There is something about her…' the head said.
Days passed, weeks too. The torture continued, mainly because she could not tell them why happened with the chains. At a point, they got scared so they reported to the Duchess.
'She broke the chain…then why are you telling me?' she screamed back at them.
Perriguin was in state that seemed like coma. She had been dragged to the Duchess' presence. After the annoying scream from the Duchess, her eyes were forced open involuntarily. From her deep rest of agony, she couldn't bear that din voice.
'Just execute her!' she screamed again.
Perriguin tried to compress her cough so she'll not attract attention but it came out. They ceased talking and looked at her. The Duchess was pacing about while a maid followed, fanning her. Perriguin squinted her eyes to see who it was. Something told her it was Perriguin and it was actually her! She was trying to keep up with the duchess' movement and fan her properly. Perriguin was in a state of disaster but she was sure Reguin was in a worse state. Reguin was like a skeleton with patches of flesh. Her ribs were so obvious that they could be counted. Their eyes met. Reguin gave a faint smile.
What crept into Perriguin's mind that moment was the boldest thing she had ever thought of, escaping with Reguin. She did not know how but she was going to do it.
'You heard me…now, take her out!' she yelled again and at on her throne.
Perriguin wondered why the duchess was so interested in eliminating her. The Duchess was breathing heavily as if she had been threatened.
The guards grabbed her roughly and dragged her out.
'Reguin…' Perriguin muttered under her breath.
She was dragged down the valley of Lukana. The soldiers surrounded her then, the head squat in front of her. He raised her head up with a curved knife.
'How did you break the chain?' he asked.
Perriguin totally understand their concern. The chain was as thick as her wrist and made with strong metal. But truth was she could not tell how too.
She was shivering because it was very early and cold. It was harmattan.
'I…I don't know' she muttered.
Perriguin was pretending to be weak. She was weak but she had enough strength to run, take her friend and escape. They kept persuading her to speak and she played along, speaking tiredly, saying she did not know how. While they kept persuading her, a letter fell and it read;
Perriguin,
They are about to kill you. Please, escape…
Duke
It was about two months to the festival of the completed revolution, maybe that was why the duchess was furious about her dying as soon as possible. No person in the valley of Lukana was to cross over.
The head pointed the sharp part under her jaw. She could felt it almost tearing through her skin.
'I'll speak' she yelled with authority.
He dropped the knife and stood up.
'It's a superpower given to me by Lord Zuzu. If you kill me…the gods will hurt you' she said, hoping she sounded scary enough.
They paused. Then, they laughed loudly and crazily.
'The gods don't cast their pearls to swines' the head scoffed.
Perriguin looked at them boldly, without a smile.
'Then…try saying one more thing and see if Lord Zuzu will not strike you down' she said boldly.
They paused again. The fearless head wanted to say something but one of his colleague covered his mouth, seeing the seriousness in her eyes.
'Try it!' she yelled again.
Perriguin knew nothing was going to to happen because whatever happened was probably luck and nothing about Lord Zuzu. She was lucky Lord Zuzu did not strike her down for using his name to lie.
The head waved her away fearfully and she ran into the bush. She ran non-stop. Yes, she was going to get Reguin but she had to save herself first. She ran for hours without stopping till she could see the clear demarcation between the bushes and a desert. That was when she knew she ha ran for hours and had entered another kingdom. She looked around, there was nobody. Then, she looked at herself. Her cloth was torn and dirty, having blood and dust. She sat on the floor then, she saw a letter coming down. Before it landed, she grabbed it and opened it. It read;
Perriguin,
You're in the kingdom of the strict Duke. Noir kingdom
Duke
'The strict Duke?' she mumured to herself.
Then, she went into the bushes. The first thing she saw was a tree of fruits. She did not know how but before she could think, she was already up the tree, seated on a branch, eating two fruits at once. She ate to her satisfaction. She took so much that she lost count. Then, she plucked many for her friend. Put of the some leaves and sticks, she made a basket and stored the fruits inside. It was very late and dark, the galaxy had no stars- not even those three stars. The itchy bushes made matters worse. It reminded her of the carriage. She squeezed herself like she was in the carriage, thinking about the bliss of Jumbadiway, Lamidat and Roria. She wondered what was happening over there. After much thought, she slept off.