ARRIVAL IN KORAT IN THE SHENDI REGION

2° part

Alika fell asleep holding the little princes close to her, Orlando the eldest held her hands, as if he wanted to protect her, she barely remembered the escape, she still had in her mind the fire that surrounded the tent, the screams of the people and the camels that trampled everything, the youngest Darian slept peacefully in the arms of his beloved slave, she was more than a mother to him, Alika had seen him born and raised him, for him it was like a game this new adventure that was nothing more than an escape with no return.

They left at dawn, the caravan led by expert guides accustomed to the desert sand, covered up to their feet by their long clothes, Alika took her place in the large basket on a camel, some men of the escort ran with their horses giving security to the merchants with their merchandise, when the sun was high in the sky and the heat unbearable, they set up a makeshift tent to shelter themselves from that burning fire, they would leave in the early afternoon after having eaten something.

Finally one morning climbing a dune at the top they glimpsed the mountains of Shendi, and in the afternoon, the forest, they would keep away from that forest infested by Panthers, and by Talunes tribes, no one dared to cross it, certainly they would save themselves many days of travel, arriving in Baku, then take the new road to Korat, but better to skirt the mountains.

They arrived at that city located on a seemingly insurmountable promontory, with its high walls and a narrow path, the merchants stopped at the port of Ship Rock, the natural port of Korat from there you could easily reach the large island of Landa with its small islands around, Alika did not leave the children even for a moment, she was too scared for the loss of her masters and everything she had, her clothes and her jewels that the mistress the Queen sometimes gave her, now she had nothing left only the hope of finding someone who would take care of the little ones and who would give them a bed and safe food over time.

The Commander of the guards could not believe that the oasis of the seven palms had been attacked and destroyed, when Alika explained to him that the children were the crown princes, he with a sign of respect accompanied the woman with the children to the ubar of the city a certain Marcus, who welcomed the children in the large reception hall, calling his advisors to understand how to do for the future of the children.

After many discussions on who and how, the Notary of the city sir Scorbius came forward asking to be able to adopt them as he and his wife had no children and could dedicate themselves to them, the Ubar Marcus, at first quite skeptical because the Notary and his wife were no longer so young, but then realizing that no one else was able to do it entrusted the little Princes Orlando and Darian to that small man of stature with white hair and dusty clothes in handling the archive papers and certificates.

Beginning a new life, Scorbius lived in a house blackened by time with dimly lit rooms, and a large room where his wife spent her time sewing and embroidering, now she would finally have two children to look after, it had been her dream since she was a child to have children, raise them, send them to school and see them grow up, and why not then have grandchildren underfoot when she was old, Scorbius spent most of his time in the Scribes' tower, in a room where he was often suffocated by papers and rolls of records and trades, often the little Orlando and Darian climbed up that tower, admired the work of their new father, sometimes helping him in arranging the scrools, and meanwhile time passed slowly and inexorably, the Children grew up well, learned to read and write and to fight with their peers in the small arena dedicated to them.

Sometimes Alika took the children with her when she went down to reach Ship Rock, the children loved to look at the ships at the docks, they admired those Captains armed to the teeth who came down the gangway haughty and strong, then Alika took them to the area where the fishermen had their houses, they looked at those fish for sale, begging Alika to buy some that they loved to eat, it was something new for them, in the desert there is no sea or fish, then after buying supplies from the market they returned happily to Korat, the ubar registered them as citizens with the name of Orlando and Darian of Korat, they were ready to become part of the city.

Everything seemed calm, the happy people worked and the port filled with ships with goods destined for the Oases of the interior of the Thahari, they had always thought that the city with its fortress was impregnable and unassailable but they were wrong, for some days new faces had been seen entering the city mostly damaged, but nothing could have foreseen what would happen, during a tournament in the arena, where most of the citizens were crowded for the party, some women who were none other than Panthers disguised as Ladies arrived at the small security gate that was not well guarded, for them it was child's play to overpower the two guards and open the gate where many Panthers armed to the teeth entered stealthily running towards the arena where they would have locked the healers and all the spectators inside, and then set fire to the houses and killed anyone who was in their way.what seemed like an impregnable fortress quickly became a pile of rubble.

Alika had a suspicion when she saw the women sneaking through the alleys, something in her mind kept her on alert, she never lost sight of the children, and when she looked out the door she clearly saw some Panther women running and setting fire to the houses, she did not lose heart, she took the children and dressed them in a hurry, also dressing herself in a short tunic, which could have been mistaken for a panther, she had taken some coal from the fireplace and had painted her face, taking advantage of a moment when the road was free she ran towards the small door that overlooked the slope of the promontory, she asked the children to be quiet, no one noticed her, in the confusion and screams of the citizens who were dying.

After going down that steep slope she set off across the fields towards the port, almost all the ships had set sail, there was still one left that was preparing to cast off the moorings, she screaming and praying arrived under that ship, begging and begging the captain to take her on board to save the children, the captain ordered her to be taken on board when they removed the gangway, taking her with the little ones in the hold, they would have taken her on board when they were in the high seas, when she was on deck she asked the captain where he was headed, he replied that they would stop at the Cos archipelago, load up the wine and set off again for the north, towards a village called Finnur fjiord, Alika was happy, she would return to her land, who knows if any of her family was still alive, but for now she just wanted to look after the children and help in the kitchen with the sailors' meals, tomorrow was within reach................