Unfortunately, the new theow selected to help Audrey never seemed to completely accept his new living situation. He constantly tried to talk her into joining up with him and run away. The fact that the two of them were allowed outside to tend to the sheep meant that they had an opportunity the others did not, he said.
Audrey didn't see the point in such talk. Even if they were able to get away, where would they go? There was no guarantee that they would be better off anywhere else. He took the hint, but then asked if she would report him, if he ran away. She said that would depend on whether she would have been able to stop him, and if she would be punished for it.
"I have no wish to take the fall for your stupid ideas. I have a good life here, why would I risk everything to go somewhere else?"
"Do you really consider this a good life?"
"Yes. Why don't you?"
"Because humans aren't supposed to be treated like animals! Or held against their will. Slavery is illegal in most of the world."
"And yet, here we are. Many of you keep talking about this, how things are better elsewhere, but how would you know?"
"You really don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"Life before we got here."
"I have always been here. All I know about the world outside is that it is dangerous and cruel, and we would be all alone. I was all alone, before the Lady found me, I was all alone. I know that much."
"You said you'd always been here, now you said the Lady found you?"
"I have always worked on a farm. The Lady took me in after my family died."
"I see. And you don't mind the fact that you are a slave?"
"I'm not a slave. I am a theow, and I am slowly gaining my liberation. There is a difference."
"Have you seen any theow actually gaining that liberation?"
"Yes, of course. Most of the churls started as theows."
"The churls are still working for the Lady though and owe service to her. How is that different from being a theow, other than being allowed to carry a spear? Do you want to carry a spear?"
"Not at all. But the churls are above us in status. Not all churls are warriors or guards. Several of the artisans, and the blacksmith are also churls."
The man didn't say anything else. Maybe she had finally managed to make him see sense.
It took many weeks, but the man, whom the Lady had named Æthelric, seemed to have been working on some grand plan for escape. Audrey didn't know what the plan was, but one day, when she was out with the sheep, Æthelric came up from behind and gagged her, before he tied her to one of the pen posts.
"I'm sorry about this, but hopefully, by tying you up this way, it is clear that you did not help us. I'm sorry that you couldn't see sense enough to come with us, but maybe one day, we can come back and free all of you." He gently sat Audrey down on the ground, on the inside of the pen where she wasn't visible from the stone walls, and then ran towards the gate.
Audrey at once began working her mouth to get the gag off. She had forgotten how unpleasant a gag was. In the distance, she saw a group of about 8-10 people, one of them with a spear, the others with various other tools that could be used for weapons in a pinch, running away in the distance. She thought one of them might be Kaneez. She had a rather distinct limp after so long in leg restraints. Audrey was surprised at how fast they were moving. And why was no one sounding the alarm?
She had a lot of time to think, as she sat there unable to move. The bleating of the sheep around her was the only sound, until the escape was discovered. Why were some of the theows so desperate to escape? What was it out there that could be better than what they could get here? Both Æthelric and Kaneez had seemed surprised at something she said. Did they know something she didn't? It sounded like they both had positive experiences in the outside world, but how did that mesh with the scop's stories about it? Perhaps not everyone there was evil. It was probably like here in the castle, some people were better than others. And it sounded like people weren't theows there. But what did they do to feed themselves, if there weren't theows to work the field? How did they decide what needed to be done and who should do it? The feeling she had had when she first had lost her memories came back. That there was something important that she was missing.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a lot of shouting. It seems the escape had finally been discovered. She tried to make a lot of noise so they would hear her and release her, but no one heard her over all the rushing of feet and the alarm going off.
As it turned out, the escapees had incapacitated more people than just her. The churls near the gate had been overwhelmed by the sudden attack by the theows. One of the churls was also in on it and had opened the gate for them. Æthelric had chosen the day he knew he would be outside, and thus it would be easier for him to see when the churls on the wall were inattentive, like when they got their mid-shift meal. He had sent a signal to the man at the gate, and he had sent it on and the group of theows had taken the churls by surprise.
Audrey wasn't the only one they had tied up, but she was one of the ones that stayed tied up the longest, as they didn't remember that she was out there. It seemed Arthur at first thought she had fled with the others and was relieved when he saw that she was still loyal. Because of that, she wasn't punished like the other churls that had let their guard down.
As Audrey had predicted, they didn't get very far. It wasn't even a full day before a team of Morcefres churls that had been left behind for just these events, had rounded them all up and chained them together, forcing them to walk in a long line back to the castle. Audrey saw the dirty, defeated-looking theows being whipped as they walked inside the gate. Audrey didn't want to miss what would happen next, so she hurriedly finished the last chores and made it inside just as the gates closed.
Artur may not be as bad as the Lady when it came to punishment, but he had still learned from her when it came to punishing runaways and those who had let them get away.
The captured theows were placed in the middle of the courtyard, with everyone else in a circle around them. The elite churls all had whips of various types and one of them had a noose.
"You never learn, do you?" Arthur said, with an anger in his voice that Audrey had never heard before. "I try to give you more freedom, and this is how you repay me? How could you do this to me?"
None of the theows said a word. Some of them were crying, others looked angry at Arthur. Kaneez was looking at the noose with her eyes wide. Was she hoping to be the one to be killed for this, or was she afraid to be hanged?
"By Woden, this cannot be allowed to go unpunished. At least most of you had the sense to not do violence on your way out. For that, I will spare your lives. All your lives, sans one." Here his voice turned deadly. It was almost as if it was Morcefres that was talking. "Unless you name who was behind this, we will do a lottery. One of you will be sacrificed to Woden tonight. The only question is who."
The escapees had gathered together in an ever-smaller circle as Arthur and the gang of churls came closer and closer. Some of them had already ended up on the ground, terrified of what would happen to them now. Kaneez was still standing, as were Æthelric. He stared defiantly at Arthur.
"This was my idea," he said with a defiant voice. "I recruited whoever I thought would want to run away with me. I have had enough of living like we are in medieval England. I didn't ask for this. None of us did. I don't care what you do to me. I know you will meet your end one day. Sooner or later, the authorities will find your little hideout and come for all of you. I only wish I could be around to see it."
"Is that what you think?" Arthur said with a glare. "Strange how no one has come for us yet, though we have done this for over a generation. But very well. You will meet your maker soon enough. Prepare the bonfire. We have our sacrifice. It isn't Blotmonath, but I think Woden will allow us an exception."
Audrey sighed. There went her competent helper. Who knew if they would ever find another theow with experience with husbandry?