Shadows of Sovereignty

The night that Nadia fell from her bedroom window, Mikel’s outstretched arms were there to catch her, as he had always promised. They both stumbled, briefly, before Nadia sprung to her feet. The two children exchanged a smile before Mikel threw a ruined satchel over Nadia’s shoulder, leaving behind specks of dirt on her nightgown. He then readjusted the two heavy bags resting on his hips and took Nadia’s hand with his own, tugging her from the courtyard; the only evidence left behind lay in two twigs and a crumpled rose at the edge of the shrubbery.
They snuck along the bushes, keeping their heads below the beam of moonlight that overlooked them. The grounds were eerily quiet, not a soul in sight. Eventually, Mikel slowed alongside the edge of the property, where the wall dropped into the street below. He went first, getting down on his knees and climbing down slowly, landing on the dirt below quietly. He then motioned for Nadia to toss her bag down. After catching and setting it aside, he held out his arms for her, which she jumped into with no hesitation. Again, Mikel clomped around once her weight met him, but managed to stay on his feet. Once she was settled and had grabbed the satchel again, the two took off toward the town below.
Just as the courtyard, the streets were abandoned. No sellers stood out among crowds of shoppers. No mothers chased their children in circles around their homes. There weren’t even soldiers out on patrol, leaving the night silent. Nadia took great notice in the absence of life, peering into shop windows and frowning at the soulless square in the middle of town. Although questions had been playing on her lips, she kept them sealed, as directed. Mikel’s eyes remained focused on the horizon, but slowly, he reached over to hold her hand and pull her closer to his body.
Once at the gates of the entry of the city, the children slowed to a stop. Each iron masterpiece stood wide open, as though inviting them into the desert beyond. No soldiers stood there either, leaving the path as clear as it’d ever be. They exchanged a glance, Nadia chewing on her lip, Mikel’s eyebrows creased in determination. She nodded, once, and that was all it took for them to take off at a sprint.

“We are at war,” the man said. “There is no mercy.” A murmur of interest trickled through the cracks in the stones and brushed against everyone’s throats. It was either a promise or a threat.

“It’s okay, kid,” the guy across from me said when he steadied himself, his large belly still bobbing with chuckles. I turned back towards him. “None of us know why we’re here either. We’re all innocent too,” he grinned crookedly. The rest of the men in the room nodded along, agreeing.
“Don’t you worry about it,” said another guy. “You’ll fret yourself to death in here.” The comments kept bouncing around the room.
“I never killed anyone, I swear.”
“And I haven’t robbed a person a day in my life.”
“I have a family to get back to. Why would I ever get locked up?”
“The only thing I’m ashamed of is being caught,” The laughter stopped. The man in the corner cell had spoken. Everyone avoided eye contact, but I made the mistake of looking right at him. He was staring back. His eyes sent a shiver down my spine and the smile pulling on his lips planted a feeling of dread in my chest. When he stood and moved towards his bars, I walked backward, away from him, towards the disgusting bucket.
“Nice to hear your voice again, Archerd,” one of the men spoke up.
“We almost thought you were dead,” another stated, leaning against the bars on his cell.
“Quiet, skamelar,” Archerd barked. “I can hear you gossip about me at night. I’m not dead yet!” His yell echoed through the small room but didn’t attract any guards. Perhaps they didn’t hear, all the way up on the top of the walls, or perhaps they didn’t care. Everyone stayed quiet after the outburst. Archerd leaned forward against his bars and singled me out.
Only then did I realize the halo of darkness around his head wasn’t due to lack of light, but instead because of the locks that cascaded down his face and neck all the way to his mid-back. His silky, dark clothes. as opposed to everyone else’s crinkled trousers and tunics, also helped him blend into his dank cell. Due to his dark skin and shadowed face, the only part that stood out in the torchlight was the flickering of his eyes, looking like stones at the bottom of a lonely, forgotten, blackened lake.