Owin #44 — Waking up in Solva

Owin woke first. Gwen had curled up into a ball with her back pushing him towards the edge of the small bed. They had both fallen asleep quickly after the efforts of the previous day…many days, Owin corrected. Now morning had come and with the limited light coming in through a small window on the back wall, he looked around the room, only he had no desire to get out of the bed. But we can’t waste time. We don’t have much if we are to get ahead of Denton and his scheme.

It had been too hot to use a blanket and so Owin rolled off the bed and stood up. Gwen did not make a sound at the change.

Carefully, he moved across the floor, testing each board before he committed his weight and potentially made noise. From moving around the prior night, he knew the floor was fairly quiet with only a few board that squeaked. This morning, he frowned as he rediscovered several of the noised spots.

“Do we have to get up already?” Gwen asked as she slowly rolled onto her back.

Owin turned and met her eyes; her cropped hair and masculine clothing still looked off to him, but he suspected most people would not notice. “Afraid so. After Brent shows up, we need to really search through the room. I’ll also set up a few tells to see if anyone comes in while we are out. I don’t trust our situation at all.”

Gwen rubbed her neck and rolled her head. “What’s not to trust?” She sighed. “Why is it people like us are always meant to die for someone else’s whims?”

Owin did not like the certainty of resolution in her voice. Coming back across the room, he sat down next to her so that he could keep his voice low. “We’re not beaten yet. We’ll get out of this and get your mother out of Rhyl. We’ll beat them.”

Gwen nodded her head and pushed herself into a seated position with her arms extended behind her. “Yeah, but that’s because you’re not really like us. You’ve got skills and know what’s coming.” She shrugged. “If not, we’d have been just another bunch of people who die namelessly in the alley. No one would care.”

Owin patted her calf with his hand. “Gwen, people need to step up and take charge of their lives. I know most of them have been beaten into submission and no longer aspire to something better, but they can’t rely upon someone else to fix everything for them. You have to decide on your own to get out of your situation.”

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Owin, without your help, I’d have no chance of figuring out how to get myself out. Yeah, I have to step up, but someone has to stop those who work to keep me trapped where I am. People don’t want me to succeed. They want me to die a laundress.” She frowned. “A lot of that is because I’m a girl—and too frail to do anything—but that is not all of it.  Mostly it is that people are expected to keep their place and anyone who tries to change their caste is pushed back down.”

Owin bit his lip. Both he and Gavin had tried to make Gwen independent and strong-willed. Although his initial reaction was to disregard her statement and demand that these people just needed to try harder, he knew how intelligent she could be. “Perhaps,” he finally said. “But I see too many people who don’t try at all.”

Gwen shifted her legs to cross them so she could sit upright. “People need to see something different is possible. I’m not saying people aren’t lazy or even that people are good—too many aren’t. But, without someone to lead the way and show people how to survive, it is hard to escape the caste we are born to.”

Owin smiled at her. “I don’t disagree.” Standing up, he rolled his shoulders and changed topics. “I don’t want to tear things up until after Brent comes by. No use in letting him know we are checking for things. But once we get the chance, we look under everything and make sure there is nothing here that incriminates us.”

“Then what?”

“Then,” Owin said, still uncertain he wanted to risk sending Gwen out on her own, “we need to see if we can make contact with one of the parties involved. We need to find a way to warn them of what is happening and see if we can’t get them to change the location of the meeting.”

Gwen raised her eyebrow again. “What for?”

“Well, if Urel already has people in place, we won’t be able to counter it at the current location. However, if we get the meeting moved, then that may draw Urel out into the open–assuming his people are not on the staff and would move with the location change.”

Gwen nodded her head. “Will they even believe you?”

Owin took and deep breath and exhaled. “Not likely. In fact, if any of them have heard the rumors about me, then they might kill me on sight. So, I think that means sending you in to deliver a message. I’ll get some paper and write something up.” He crossed the room and sat down in one of the chairs by the small table and motioned for Gwen to join him. He continued as she sat. “The only question is, who do we approach?”

“The ambassador has a lot to lose,” Gwen said, “but he’s not in town yet. At least that is what they’ve said.”

“Right,” Owin agreed. “And this Lord Nathaniel might be too hard to reach. Especially if Urel has people watching. We might have to get Duchess Emilia’s person involved and have him contact Nathaniel. The request to move would have more weight coming from a peer. And the Duchess is at risk for getting accused, so her agent would have motivation to help.”

Owin sighed and looked toward the door and then back to Gwen. He still saw her as a girl, but in truth, she’s a young woman, who looks to be a young man. “You up for that?”

She nodded her head. “It’s that or remain stuck as I am and die a laundress.”

Continue to next episode.