Chapter 62

“I have direct orders from the king to release the slaves,” Marlon said, sizing up one of the guards that were at the slave farm.

For a moment, the guard wasn’t looking as though he was buying it; he knew these guards well enough to know that they weren’t the brightest. The guards also had no reason to not believe Marlon; Marlon was known to be one of the most racist and fiercest noblemen. No guards would dare go against him, but then again it was weird that he was requesting the slaves be freed.

It appears the rumors hadn’t reached the farm about Marlon’s relationship with Deonna and the child they had together.

The guards looked amongst each other as Marlon approached them; Kamala stayed in the woods, but she was ready to go in for an attack if needed. She was going to help him get the slaves out of the woods undetected and safely. She knew the woods well, considering she’s been hiding out in them for a long time.

She had told Marlon that she was once on the slave farm, but she was transported to the quarantining station with a handful of others. She proved to be too weak and damaged for them to allow her to carry on to a noble home or royal home. The plan was to put her to death, but she refused to go quietly.

As weak as she was, she was also quite handy; she was able to pick the lock of her holding cell and escape the quarantining station undetected. She’s been on the run ever since. However, she stuck around the slave farm, staking them out because she planned on helping them escape. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do it, but she was trying her best at planning something.

Marlon was glad he ran into her because she would prove to be useful to him.

“Why would the king want them freed?” One of the guards asked; he was eyeing Marlon carefully.

Marlon could tell he was trying to figure out if they should trust him or not; they had no reason to not trust him. Marlon supposedly hated the slaves more than anybody and it would be odd for him to travel to the slave farm for nothing.

“He’s going back on the treaty,” Marlon answered.

“We never got word of that,” the same guard said; he was obviously the head guard because the others just looked clueless.

“That’s why I’m here,” Marlon told him, stepping closer to him.

The guards were a bit taller than Marlon, but Marlon was stronger and could take them all down at once if it came down to it.

“I’m here on behalf of the king. He can’t be bothered with minor tasks such as this. As the highest-ranked nobleman, I made it a point to help him at all costs,” Marlon told him.

The guard just stared at him, he still wasn’t sure if he believed Marlon or not.

“Why’s he going back on the treaty?” The guard asked.

“Backlash from the commoners” Marlon answered, he wasn’t breaking. “They find it to be unfair that they aren’t allowed to hold slaves.”

“Why does the king care about what some commoners have to think?” The guard nearly laughed.

“Because the commoners make up most of the kingdoms. If they refuse to do the work, we aren’t much of anything, now are we?” Marlon told him. “The king is doing what is best for everyone. We don’t need these slaves to be held up on farms. We need them doing real work alongside the commoners.”

The guard pressed his lips in a firm line as he processed the lies Marlon was feeding him.

“If you don’t believe me, allow me to link the king and we can speak about this together…” Marlon said; he was hoping the guard wouldn’t fall for his bluff and actually want to speak with the king.

the guard thought about it for a moment, and then he looked nervous. If Marlon wasn’t bluffing and they disturbed the king for something like this, it would be the guard’s heads that the king takes. That wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.

“How do you expect us to release them? Do we just open the gates for them?” The guard asked; his voice sounding strained with nerves.

Marlon was pleased with himself for convincing the guards to go along with him.

“You unlock their chains and open the gates, and I will lead them to where they need to go,” Marlon answered. “I know exactly where the king wants them.”

“Unlock all their chains?” The guard asked.

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing. Yes, all of the chains,” Marlon answered.

“What about us?” The guards asked.

“You need to clean up the mess from the slaves. That’ll be at least a few days’ works. You will be rewarded handsomely for all the work you do. Then, you’ll need to report to the king for your next tasks,” Marlon explained.

He would deal with that once the time came; he was hoping they will win the war and the king really will want to release the slaves. Or they all die trying.

After another brief pause, the guard turned to the others and nodded toward them. Marlon sighed out in relief but tried to hide the relief on his face.

Marlon entered the farm and watched s the guards made their rounds to each of the slave shacks; one by one he could hear the latching of the locks and chains; each of them falling to the ground in a thud. There were no sounds of commotions or anything; they were all terrified to speak. They thought this was some kind of trick.

Marlon didn’t blame them for thinking that and he knew they weren’t going to trust him. But he was hoping once they saw and spoke to Kamala, it would ease some of their tension.

Slaves began emerging from the shacks; they squinted their eyes to adjust to the new lighting and walked slowly towards the open gate; they were all hesitant.

Some of them looked at the guards as though the89089y were expecting to be stopped or beaten at any given moment, but the guards held back. They wouldn’t look at the slaves in return; they kept their heads up and allowed the slaves to walk past them in an orderly line.

Some of the slaves got a glimpse of Marlon and they looked uneasy. Marlon noticed how young most of them were. They were definitely underaged, which was the point of the farm in the first place. They were meant to be under the age of 18, that way they can train to be proper slaves for when they are ready to go to the royal and noble homes.

“Do you need help transporting them? I don’t see a transport cart anywhere,” One of the guards asked Marlon.

Marlon shook his head.

“I can handle it; I have a cart a few miles north from here I can use if things get out of hand,” Marlon answered without looking at him.

There were no more questions after that; there must have been hundreds of slaves that began gathering around outside the gates. Marlon looked at all the terrified and dirty features, trying to provide them with some kind of light and comfort.

He gave the guards one last look before leading the sales through the woods. They all walked slowly and cautiously, joined together. They looked around skeptically, wincing as their feet dug into the hard dirt and twigs. Once they were far enough away, Marlon stopped walking and turned toward them. He made his way to the back of the crowd to be sure that no guards were lurking around. When he didn’t hear or smell any outsiders and turned back toward the slaves.

He was honestly surprised that none of them ran off; he wouldn’t have blamed them for doing so and he wouldn’t have stopped them. But he knew they would be curious as to why he was releasing them.

“I need to be honest with you all,” Marlon announced to the crowd of slaves. They looked uneasy, but they listened to him carefully. “The king didn’t order for you to be released.”

Soft murmurs escaped from the crowd; a couple of young girls began crying as fear overcame them. They thought Marlon was taking them into the woods to kill them.

“I know you are all young and aren’t able to fight. But I need your help to voyage through the villages and grab as many slaves as you can. Have them join us in this revolution,” Marlon announced.

The murmuring began to quiet down some and now they were all staring at him confused.

“There is a war approaching the kingdom at sundown tonight; a war to end slavery. I want as many of you on my side as possible. Together, we can end the torture brought upon you!”

Now, their mouths were just gaping open. They were so confused, and they weren’t sure if they believed Marlon or not.

Before Marlon could say anything more, Kamala emerged from the woods. She stood by Marlon and watched their jaws nearly unhinge and reach the ground in utter shock.

“Kamala?” Some of them murmured as they stared at their former shack mate.

“I don’t know if I fully trust this white wolf. But I know he speaks the truth when he says there’s a war coming. We need to fight, and we need everyone to fight with us. All hands-on deck. I, for one, and willing to die to end this slavery bullshit,” Kamala told them.

They all looked at each other, uncertain and nervous.

“However, if you don’t want to fight; we understand. I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to fight. You can take that opportunity to leave. Regardless, you are free to go. You have been freed from the farm. What happens to you next, is entirely up to you,” Kamala told them. “I hope that I can count on some of you to stay by us and fight alongside this revolution. But if not, I understand as well.”

There was silence; after a brief pause, Marlon noticed some of the slaves took off. Actually, more than half of them left. Kamala looked sad at their departure, but neither of them stopped them. They kept their words and held back. But the ones that remained straightened their backs and stared back at Kamala.

“We are with you, Kamala,” one of the women said.

Kamala smiled her gratitude at her and nodded once.

“What is it you need us to do?” A man asked, also stepping forward.

“We are going through the villages on our way back to the king’s kingdom; that’s where the war is taking place. On our way through the villages, we are gathering more slaves and more people to fight with us. The stronger the better, but we will take any help we can get…” she announced. She continued to stare around the faces of her peers and landed on a couple of girls that were too young to be able to do anything. She frowned and compassion crossed her face. “I advise that those of you who are under the age of 13, stay behind. Find shelter and safety somewhere. I won’t deny you if you want to fight with us, but I advise you find safety.”

Marlon thought that was fair and agreed with her.

“So, are we going to fight?!” Marlon asked, raising his fist in the air.

After a brief pause and everyone looking amongst each other, they finally turned to him and raised their own fists in the air. One man screamed as he took off towards the villages, and the others followed in pursuit.