By Lexi Anders
I trailed the officers feeling a sense of dread. I shouldn’t have come at all, there was no point in this meeting. The cold dark halls seemed to go on forever as we twisted and turned. I imagined even without a lock it would be hard to make your way out of this place.
We finally made it to the cell and stopped outside. “Do you want us to come in with you?” the taller of the two asked me doubtfully.
“I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile which couldn’t have been convincing. A rather unimposing little man myself, about to enter the chamber of a supposed assassin, I could imagine why they might think I was the one in danger here.
“If you change your mind we’re right outside.” he opened the door and peeked in before beckoning me.
I stepped in immediately feeling the chill of the stone- no doubt aided by small barred window high on the wall, that let in an ocean breeze
“Alard, you came.” Heraklaides sat up on his bed, hopefully. He looked worse for the ware only a week later with his thin face, I wondered if they had been feeding him.
“Yeah, I did.” I said, warily.
He read my defensive posture and sank a bit.
“You think I did it too?”
“No, I don’t.” I disagreed, but said no more.
“You seem to . . .”
“Well, I came, didn’t I?”
“So you believe me? I don’t know how this happened- Mesfat and Iresi lied in court, I think they’re the root of this whole thing!”
“To be fair, you were caught in very suspicious circumstances.”
“But you know I would never hurt the prince! I’ve sailed with him a number of times, he’s a good man. I was supporting him in the midst of his brother’s political stunts!”
“Then why did you have the bloody knife in your hands, why were you there?” I asked, although knowing full-well.
“He asked me to be there- he sent a note-“
“And where is that?”
“I burnt it.” he said weakly. “Please, Alard . . . you’re an honest and good man. If you have any doubt about whether I did it, won’t you investigate on my behalf?”
I could hardly look at him. “Heraklaides . . . maybe it’s better for you to just be quiet.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you were framed as you say . . . what else would they do to ensure your silence? Just think of Cornelia.”
“How is she?”
“Heartbroken. Mesfat has been comforting her a lot.”
He glowered.
“No one wanted this, Herakledies.” I swallowed and pushed on, ΅Maybe you were just caught in your emotions once, maybe your memory isn’t so clear.”
“You’re turning back on me now? Fine, let me rot, but do look after her and my mother.” he entreated me once more.
I took the boat back to mainland as night descended. While I couldn’t have gotten off the island any sooner I wished that the boat ride would never end. What awaited me on the other side almost seemed more foreboding than the castle we left.
As soon as we reached the dock Iresi leaped up and came to me.
I gathered my bag calmly, doing my best to appear unperturbed.
“So how did it go?” he asked, with a slight undertone. I did my best not to read into it, but hurried off the ship keeping my eyes down.
“Oh, it was fine. He is a bit suspicious of you two, but he can’t know anything or prove anything. I tried to suggest that he really did do it out of his right mind, but he’s unlikely to really ever buy that. He’s a very self-righteous man.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it went so well. I was a bit surprised you went. I don’t imagine we’ll need to check up on him often, but if you would like to be the designated one you could, since he trusts you still.”
“Sure, no problem.” I agreed, “Although I probably have other things to do now . . .”
“True, we can finely live the high life.” Iresi laughed more relaxed. “What are your plans?”
“Well, you know me, I’m more for a quiet life than you heroic folks. If the king doesn’t notice me, that’s better in my eyes.”
“Haha, I guess we are a bit different. While I can’t understand it, I’m glad that you were willing to take that role, it made it much more convincing.”
“Yeah . . .” I shrugged.
“Right, well, I’m off to my mansion,” he winked. “Stay out of trouble, will you?”
“You know me.” I agreed, forcing a laugh.
As soon as he was gone I altered my course towards Cornelia’s house. Mostly because I felt obliged to chase Mesfat away, but I didn’t intend at that point to share my visit with her.
When I arrived Mesfat was, in fact, nowhere to be found. Cornelia looked bemused that I had come to her house looking for him.
“He doesn’t live here, you know.” she leaned against the doorframe, braid falling over her shoulder.
“Hmm, so you say.” I said, turning to leave.
“Mesfat is a good man.” she retorted, “What have you done for me since all this happened?”
“What am I supposed to do for you, Cornelia? Ask for your good graces after what we’ve done to you? Although it seems you aren’t quite so bothered by the turn of events as one might have thought.”
“How dare you!” she cried. “You know I loved him, I would have died for him-“
“But you didn’t. And he’s in jail. I guess none of us were good friends to him.”
“If he hadn’t betrayed me- if he had done it for my sake, then I still would have followed him.”
I frowned. “You don’t mean that.”
“. . . No, but the man I knew wouldn’t have done such a thing. He would be faithful to his king.”
“Yeah . . . that was the man you knew.” I agreed with a sigh. “Anyway, I don’t want to see you spending so much time with him. Just because this happened doesn’t mean you should turn to the next man who comes along.”
“I’m not.” she snapped again. “Why do you act like I’m the one who betrayed him? Why are you still defending him?”
“Because he’s a good man.” I said, “And he shouldn’t be in jail.”
“You don’t think he did it?” she perked up.
Shoot. I should have known. She was leading me into this.
“I don’t know. I’m just saying . . . you shouldn’t work up your hope-“
“Why shouldn’t he be in jail then? You said it, not me.”
I could see I wasn’t getting out of this one, not entirely,
“He still claims to be innocent and I want to believe him.”
Then I explained how I went to visit him upon his request, and how relieved he was to see me, until I didn’t seem to believe him.
“Why didn’t you take me with you?” she said plaintively.
“What good would it have done either of you? The both of you will die of heartache the sooner you’re parted on good terms. Whether I believe him or not you shouldn’t give your heart back to him quite yet.”
“I don’t see how fair that is. Why do you get to trust him without any basis and not I?”
“I have less to risk in doing so.”
“So are you going to investigate? What leads do you have?” she asked eagerly.
I couldn’t tell her the man she had defended so shortly ago was quite involved. She wouldn’t know how to keep up her act. Nor had I truly decided which way to go in the matter. Was I actually going to revoke my decision? After sitting back and allowing everything to happen could I really undo it all? And would they herald me a hero for it? I should think not. And yet now that I had heard from the both of them it was harder to keep up my facade myself. I’m not much of an actor.
“I have nothing, Cornelia. Nor do you. So don’t go snooping around and get yourself in trouble.”
“I can talk to the prince again!” she suggested. “Perhaps he’s feeling better and can tell us about the note he sent.”
“Right.” I agreed hopelessly. “And I’ll search for an alibi again . . .”
“Thank you,” she embraced me, “I knew you were his best friend.”
I broke away quickly. “Don’t give me that title. Not now anyway.”
She frowned.
I strode away then before she had another chance at my fragile heart.
I then found myself before Heraklaides home, where I grew chasing him down those magnificent halls. Now in the darkness there was little inviting about the home, it was set off from the seaside town just enough to feel forlorn and forsaken, and the gate doubling my height stood imposingly to block access. I wondered how I ever got the courage to sneak in as a child. Well, I wouldn’t have it weren’t for his encouragement to.
I barely stepped forward to push at the gate when the butler Albert stepped out to greet me.
“Master Alard, you’re back late.”
“Yes, I was kept out . . .” Only now did I remember I was supposed to meet them for dinner. I had intended to decline, but procrastinated until I forgot.
“Well come in, the lady and lord have been waiting for you.”
He led me to the sitting room where the lady dosed and the lord read with a pair of spectacles at the end of his nose.
“Lord and Lady Jarret.” I nodded to them, “I have returned as you wish. I’m terribly sorry for the delay-“
“Ah, we were growing weary of waiting, but perhaps we would have gone to bed if it weren’t so wonderfully comfortable here. Come sit, we have news for you.”
“Yes?” I sat reluctantly.
“We know you’ve been facing some hard times recently, what with the debt and whatnot . . .”
“And you’ve always been like a second son to us, even if you were the one who turned our son into an adventurer . . .” Right, like that wasn’t already in his blood.
“So we wondered if you wouldn’t like to be included in our family?”
I choked. “But- Heraklaides-“
The father glowered. “Is no longer our son.”
“We already wanted to offer this to you before everything happened,” Lady Jarret hurried on, “But it seemed ill-timed in the midst of everything. Now we don’t feel right waiting longer since it seems you must be hard-pressed even still.”
I was glad to be sitting down now, for I could have well fainted otherwise. If I hadn’t felt guilty enough before, certainly now I was a wreck. “My Lord, My Lady, this is the kindest thing you could offer me, but I most certainly couldn’t accept. I would feel I was taking the place of your dearly beloved son.”
“We thought you might say that. But please, think it over. We have no one else now. I fear even sweet Cornelia wants nothing to do with us.”
“For now at least take a measure to pay your debts.” they insisted.
I trembled. “I cannot. I shall not. Please, allow me leave.”
“But, Alard-“
“You cannot call me a son to you when your own son is languishing away. And I cannot be called even a relative for my hideous treatment of him.” with that I stormed out of the house determined to rid myself of my torment.
Whence I encountered Mesfat round the corner.
“Ah, Alard,” he sank his claws into me as he hugged me tightly. “I’ve missed you, my friend. You’ve had a busy day, haven’t you?”
I could only half stammar a reply. “W-well, not so much.”
“No? It seems like the only ones you haven’t managed to visit today is the royal family. Shall I escort you there now?”
I hadn’t decided exactly where I was going, but now I more intentionally angled myself away from the palace. Did he hear me with them? “It would be more unnatural if I didn’t see my old friends, don’t you think? Do you need something from me?” I began to walk past him carefully keeping my steps even and my heart steady. He turned and walked along with me in silence for a ways. I felt like a mouse being batted by the cat. He knew. Of course he knew. I hadn’t even done anything and it was over. He was quick to tie up loose ends.
“I just wondered if you cared to tell me about your day. We ought to catch up after all.”
“Well . . . you know I went to visit Heraklaides, he’s miserable and confused. Now I’ve listened to his call once I’m the picture of a faithful friend who didn’t want to give up yet.” I pulled out my list of excuses. “But what can I do if the truth is the truth and he won’t even admit it? It would be one thing if he were repentant after all . . . And I came looking for you afterwards and got sucked into a little conversation with Cornelia. She’s struggling with the last flickers of hope, but I can’t be the one to snuff them out. And I forgot I was supposed to meet the Jerretts so here I am now, still playing my part. Soon enough I’ll have to give up on him and then everyone else will follow suit.” I said, wondering if I spoke too quickly.
“The perfect actor aren’t you?” Mesfat chuckled with eyes narrowed.
“When the occasion arises.” I ducked my head.
“I have a bit of a favor to ask . . . Could you visit Heraklaides again and give him this?” he produced a small box.
I took it silently and flipped it open to see a simple silver ring that glistened in the nightlight.
“Cornelia wanted to give it back to him.” he smiled gaily. “I think it should be sufficient to lay his concerns to rest.”
“Of course it will . . . and she just now gave this to you?”
“We just spoke,” he agreed. “She wanted to give it to you after you left, but couldn’t find you. Perhaps she’s finding it easier to move on than you might think.”
I wondered what she was up to. Could this ring have some kind of secret message hidden in it? Mesfat seemed too pleased with it- he must not suspect anything malevolent, but I knew she still had hope in Heraklaides. I hid it in my pocket, she could be trusted at any rate.
“I’m glad to hear. I’ll deliver it as soon as I can.” I continued on, feeling more relieved than before. Mesfat let me be. Perhaps she had some sort of plan in the works. If she could solve this then maybe I needn’t bother. Although if she did solve it I would be the one thrown in prison . . .
Well, maybe delivering the ring would be all it took to show I was on their side the whole time. I had sat the fence before, I had stood still as they pulled me in both directions. It could be the only way I made it out of this.
I nursed these thoughts, suffocating the accusations that I was taking the easy way out. That things could still go poorly and undoubtedly would as a righteous man suffered and I would still be caught anyway. Certainly those kinds of thoughts could be put to rest for now. There was a chance that it would all sort itself out.
I awoke the next day feeling more at peace than I ought to have.
I took the ring out and turned it over again- still finding no secret message, before I put it on my own finger. I didn’t want the guards confiscating it for any reason.
It was noisy in the inn’s dining hall, but quieter than it had been the last couple weeks. Less gossip to talk about since the prince was doing better, this contributed to my positive feeling about the day. If the prince made it through such schemes then anything could happen.
I ordered my breakfast and was enjoying a moment of peace, listening to the bickering around me without being involved in it. My coffee warmed me up and I closed my eyes for a moment, wondering if I couldn’t go back to bed for another minute.
A cold hand touched my shoulder shocking me into reality. I jumped, spilling some of my coffee. A man laughed and sat down next to me.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
It took me a moment before I recognised him.
“S-sire,” I began to rise.
“Shhhh,” he quieted me, pulling his hood further over his face. “I need to talk to you, Alard, can we go to your room?”
“I-I actually have to catch a boat soon . . .” I stammered.
“As do I, this will only take a moment.”
I nervously agreed and downed the rest of my coffee. What did he know, why was he here? To see me of all people? We had spoken maybe once- did he remember me from my time working in the palace? Or had he seen me the day of his assault-? But I didn’t come anywhere near there, all I did was open the doors- I could still claim innocence-
I had to keep a blank unassuming face on . . . sure I could be nervous, but only because I was speaking to the prince. Only a natural uncertainty.
Prince Conner settled down on a chair and wearily pulled off his hood when I shut the door. He was practically bald other than his short beard and a scar ran from above his forehead down to his cheek. I avoided looking at it and focused on the eye that wasn’t framed.
“So, you’ve been to see Heraklaides? How is he?”
“Erh, suffering his just punishment, sire.”
“Now, come on. I know you’re friends. He often talked about you. I’m on your side, I know he didn’t attack me.”
“You remember?”
“Well, no. I was drugged after all. But I know him, he’s a good friend of mine. Anyway, I need your help going to see him, he’s one of the few people supporting me, so I can see that getting both of us out of the way was advantageous. I should have seen it coming, it’s obvious now, what else would they have done?”
“So you’re going to free him?” My joy again felt warranted. The prince, of all people, could save my friend.
“I’ll do what I can anyway, but I figured if you found a way to visit him once, I can accompany you as an assistant or something.”
I frowned. “They won’t let just anyone come in.”
“No one has really seen me since the accident.” he grinned, gesturing to his appearance, which was quite different than what I used to know- his floppy hair and clean cut face reversed on top of his grizzly scar. If that weren’t enough, he pulled an eyepatch from his cloak and put it over his good eye for certain measure.
“They’ll think you’re a pirate.” I laughed a bit.
“But I have a cravat.”
I squinted, “Okay, if I’ve gone to question him again- what are you there for?”
“To intimidate him.” the prince crossed his arms, glowering.
He really could have passed for one of the collector’s who came to me demanding money if it weren’t for the ridiculous fancy clothes he was wearing.
“Then let’s buy into the pirate look.” I went to my chest and pulled out some different clothes for him.
When he was done I was satisfied that he looked like the sort of person who was technically doing legal business, but wasn’t afraid of pushing those limits.
“Okay, now hurry up, we don’t want to miss the boat.” I ordered, setting in my mind that I was his employer rather than his subject.
“Indeed, I believe we have a fair shot at this.”
I grimaced at his language, “Maybe don’t talk. Or only say direct statements.”
“I’m not in character yet!”
We arrived at the ship as they were packing the last of the supplies, food and other equipment for use on the island.
“I have fare for myself and my associate.” I gave the coins to the ship captain.
“Going to visit that scoundrel again? What’s the deal?”
“Just trying to tie up some loose ends in the investigation.”
“Yeah? Anything I can help with? I knew him, you know. We sailed together now and then. I thought he was a respectable fellow.”
“Well . . .” I shuffled, wondering what sort of questions I should have prepared. “I know where to find you and may ask you a couple questions after.”
The captain accepted this and no one really mentioned the prince, but stayed a healthy distance from him. For his part, he had a hard time keeping his mouth shut and looking intimidating.
I began to feel rather sick however, I was normally well at ease out on the water so maybe I was nervous. Either way the short trip seemed to last an eternity as I tried to keep from throwing up.
When we arrived on the island it was around noon and the prince seemed to be taking in all the details, studying the walls and layout. I supposed he had never been here before, it was only for the most heinous criminals after all. But the way he looked at everything three times . . . was looking suspicious. To be fair, looking out of one eye does tend to limit you a bit.
I nudged him a bit, and he took the signal to look more detached and uninterested.
The guards once again led us through the halls and I fidgeted with the ring on my finger. The prince noticed, but didn’t say anything.
We came to the cell again and this time the guards didn’t seem worried about me- not with my tall, ferocious companion.
Heraklaides was pleasantly surprised to see me- but wary of my friend.
The prince however, was excited and immediately offered him a hug- and Heraklaides held him back.
“It’s me!” the prince took off the eyepatch with a grin.
“P-“
“Shhhh,”
“Conner!” he stood up and the two exchanged a hug even as it made Heraklaides wince sorely. “I’m so glad you’re doing better my friend. When I sent my message I didn’t really expect you to come visit! Did you remember who did it to you then?”
“No,” the prince shook his head, “But I’m sure it wasn’t you.”
“And you came back, did you change your mind?”
“Well . . . I suppose so.” I agreed. “But I think it’s dangerous for me to investigate so I’m not sure what to do. I also have this for you,” I pulled the ring off and handed it over.
Heraklaidas took it silently. “D-did she say anything?”
“She doesn’t think you did it even though she’s acting like she does.”
“Yeah, she came to talk to me about it.” the prince agreed.
“For some reason she gave this to Mesfat who gave it to me to deliver. I guess he must have convinced her to do it to send some kind of message and crush your hope. I thought maybe she hid something on it, but I can’t seem to find anything.”
“Huh,” he took it and turned it over himself. “I don’t see anything anyway . . .” he slipped it on his own finger.
“Well . . . then did you bring what I asked for?” he asked the prince.
“Yep,” he pulled out a box of matches and pulled the belt off his waste.
He opened the box just a crack and found two matches inside and the rest was some gunpowder.
“What are you doing?” I wondered.
“Well-” he kept his mouth shut. “You’ll find out soon.”
“Do you want help reaching the window?” the prince asked.
In a moment we lifted him up, to overlook the cliff below.
“Okay,” he said, contemplatively. “Well, this may go well, or it may go terribly.”
“What more can we do?”
“Not much” he said, “Unless we figured out who really did it.” He glanced at me as he replied and I looked away.
The prince sighed. “I really don’t have much idea- though I figure my brother hired someone to do it. Unfortunately, for him you stopped me from bleeding out before the job was finished.”
“Well, you were only part of the equation- they wanted both of us gone.”
I felt my stomach twist again and leaned against the wall.
“Hey- are you alright?” they asked.
“Yeah,” I sat down on the bed.
“You’re red.” they felt my forehead, but everything was spinning and I didn’t notice it too much.
The prince flipped his eyepatch down and went out to get help.
The next thing I was aware of was waking up in the middle of the night with a terrible backache. I looked around and found the Heraklaides sleeping on another bed nearby chained to it. The prince slept in a chair between us. I felt much better, but was pretty disoriented. We weren’t in a cell anymore; it was a hall full of beds and a few other sleepers nearby.
I went to the door and struggled to open it with my stiff fingers. The torches blinded me as I opened it and I barely reacted in time to stop the attending guard from flying at me.
“Ah-! I just need the bathroom.”
He relaxed and pointed me in the direction.
I must have been sick and we were here overnight. I stretched feeling one arm particularly tight. There was no way off the island until the boat came again tomorrow. But then . . . the prince didn’t leave- wouldn’t that worry people? And Heraklaides- why let him out of the cell? Maybe he was sick too.
I came back to the room and found them sleeping still, but I was done sleeping- feeling rather nervous and concerned. I shook the prince awake.
He grunted and batted me off before waking up fully. “Right, you both got sick.” he stretched and checked on Heraklaides- though we only saw him slightly in the moonlight streaming from the high windows. “Hmm, he’s still got a fever and breathing shallowly . . .”
“I could ask for a nurse.” I said.
“They don’t have a nurse,” he replied. “We asked for one for you, but they just gave you some medicine and made you lie down. And only when I was very intimidating did they give anything to Heraklaides. I think they have the opinion that anyone who dies here deserves it, so why bother?”
“Oh . . .” I said sadly.
“But now that you’re better- that’s only one body we have to carry out.” he grinned.
“Huh?”
“We’re going to profit from our unexpected stay. Do you know how to lockpick?”
“Err . . . yeah?” I didn’t want to admit it.
“Okay, get him out of this and be ready to carry him.” Conner handed me a couple picks and didn’t give me time to ask anything else before going to the door and also startling the new guard there.
I turned to Heraklaides- well what else was there to do? I didn’t know what to expect and it might happen fast. I took the tools and went to work on his wrist which I now noted was swollen. In fact, from his shoulder and growing as it went to his finger, everything was slightly swollen. I frowned and took his hand, which looked ready to pop where his ring squished it.
I thought occured to me and I tried to pull the ring off. It was too tight now. I put his hand against the cool stone wall for a minute and looked around me. That wasn’t going to do much.
I saw an oil lamp near the door and brought it back with me. I took the chimney off and fidgeted with the base. After a moment I took some blankets from nearby and muffled myself as I broke the glass. Taking some of the oil and I put it on Heraklaides finger and worked the ring off- a process I imagined would have been painful if Heraklaides weren’t asleep.
I looked at the ring, and even in the darkness I could tell its color had shifted from shiny silver to a matte black.
I cursed Mesfat. He did something to it. I threw it and turned back to unlocking Heraklaides. After he was freed I wondered what I ought to do . . .
I tried waking him to no avail. Should I leave now rather than be implicated in whatever was coming?
PkSKSOHSOW!
An explosion rocked the building and I fell against the wall as everything seemed to tilt. I heard yelling and panicked voices and went to the door. Guards ran past, ignoring me. The prince also appeared and darted in the room.
“Okay- so here’s the plan. Get out of here.” he grabbed one side of Heraklaides and I the other. Or I tried to anyway, the height balance made such a task rather difficult. I felt the building shift underneath us and staggered a bit more.
“What did you blow up?” I wondered.
“Just a couple kegs of gunpowder. Pretty irresponsible to store here if you ask me.”
“What about all the other prisoners and guards?” He must be crazy.
“The building shouldn’t collapse,” he insisted.
The ground shifted again and we slid to the wall. “You were saying???” Our world was now shifted and while the stairs were right there it would be hard to use them since they turned into our slanted wall. I could reach the window now by walking, but the bars wouldn’t make it a good escape route. We were stuck trying to climb and drop down the stairs.
“You first.” the prince commanded and gave me a lift up. I rested on the guardrail, holding carefully to the bars. The building shook again and I almost fell off. We were all going to die here. Why did I let myself get dragged into this?
“I’m going to lift this nut and you pull him the rest of the way.”
He hoisted Heraklaides and I weakly took his wrists, one of which was harder to wrap my little fingers around, then I used my feet in the rail rungs to get leverage. On the last pull Heraklaides blinked and weakly opened his mouth. “What’s going on?”
The prince jumped, caught the ledge easily and pulled himself up.
“We’re in the southern tower right? We must be resting on top of the northern tower right now.” the prince said. “I wonder how many more explosions until it reaches the northern tower.”
“How much gunpowder was there???” I asked bewildered.
“If we’re lucky maybe the guards will stop it from getting that far.” he shrugged and jumped off to the next layer. “Lower him down!” he called up.
Heraklaides awkwardly tried to comply but with his swollen arm and unclear mind it was almost more dangerous. I kept a tight hold of his wrists until Conner grabbed him.
The next set was easier even though I was more tired. Now the heat, the smell of smoke and the ashy stone gave solid evidence to the explosions- as if we weren’t aware of it before. I coughed feeling my lightheadedness from earlier sweep over me again.
Finally, we dropped down and found the entrance door was just out of reach on the right hand “wall”.
Without much more discussion the prince hoisted me up to it and I looked out. We were currently off the ground by about 6 feet, with the other end of the tower still digging in the ground. Someone had expertly crafted the stone here, at least it hadn’t collapsed in on us and killed us.
“Can you pull yourself out?”
“Yes,” I swung up to rest on the door frame, “but I’m not sure I can pull him up, there’s nothing to gain purchase.”
“If you can just hold him for a minute I’ll jump up and take him the rest of the way.” the prince said, already lifting him to me. Heraklaides offered his arms dumbly and didn’t protest as his face met some of the ashen stones. I gripped tightly with my legs, trying to dig into the stone.
In just a moment he was up and took Herklaides from me. I finally dropped down onto solid, even ground and Heraklaides landed after me- bringing both of us down. He whimpered a bit and I looked over him carefully- he shooed me off.
The prince joined us in a moment and then we were left on the beach wondering what to do. There were guards pulling buckets of water up and running back and forth, but none of them paid much attention to us, they probably couldn’t even see who it was.
Another explosion came from inside and the northern tower tipped over.
Heraklaides now stood up on his own feet, looking dizzy and unstable.
“Where are we? Did it blow up?”
“Yep,” the prince dragged us to the water’s edge and I numbly followed. We waded around the island till we were behind the castle. There sat a small schooner.
“Okay, this is it.” the prince said, plopping Heraklaides in there. “Think he can make it?”
“No!” I protested. “He’s clearly not in his right mind.”
“But if we go with him and they’re looking for us later they’ll know we were responsible.” the prince said. “This may be a good mask right now, but if they go around asking for someone with a scar I’ll be found out pretty quickly.”
He was right. The prince couldn’t be caught for doing something like this . . . but I could.
I pushed the boat off and got in.
“I’ll find you on mainland somehow.” I said with a bit of a question in my voice.
“We’ll clear everything up.” the prince promised.
“Right . . .” I wasn’t so certain, but took my oars and paddled anyway. We were now fugitives, but I guess that’s better for him than being behind bars forever. I looked at him as I paddled. He was barely staying upright and had a wide-eyed look, like a baby seeing everything for the first time.
“Are you doing, okay?” I asked him, paddling.
He focused back on me. “You- you saved me?”
“Erh, I guess so? With Conner. Mostly Conner.”
“Oh, you’re not so bad after all. Was I wrong- you weren’t part of the plot?”
I didn’t answer, but hoped he would forget he asked anything
“You did, huh? And then you had a change of heart.” he looked off into the distance thinking.
Then we were quiet again. And I rowed in the dark, leaving the island’s light as we came into the darkness, until all we heard was the soft splashing and both of our breathing. And I wondered what was going to become of me, but . . . I didn’t feel so bad about it anymore. At least I would earn my sentence. I chuckled to myself. The water quickly swallowed the sound. And I kept rowing.
Octopencil 