by L. Danvers
“Yes,” she said, squeezing her hands around the iron bars. “It’s me.”
He blinked, trying to decipher whether this was some sort of strange dream. “What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you.” She half laughed, half sighed in defeat. It was clear the rescue hadn’t gone as planned, but she was with her twin now. The first part of her quest was complete. Now she had to get him back to Vires.
“But...”
“The old woman... the hag that interrupted our banquet. Remember? Lillian and I spoke with her after you left. We went to bring food to the poor in the village, and she was there. She said she had the gift of prophecy, and she told us you were in danger. She said you wouldn’t return to the castle without my help.”
There was a long stretch of silence. Lillian, Gregory, Thomas and Merek shifted uneasily behind her, watching this awkward reunion. Phillip shook his head and said, “I... I don’t know what to say. You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I know, I know. But here I am. I did it. I found you.”
“And soon we’ll both be dead.” There was no lightness in his voice.
The others shifted again, and Phillip looked past his sister. His forehead wrinkled and jaw dropped. “You brought Lillian along? Daphne, what were you thinking?”
“Father would have had her neck when he discovered I was gone, and you know it.”
Phillip ran his fingers through his hair. His dark locks didn’t fall back down after he brushed his hand through them. The grease held them in place. She wondered what he’d think of himself if he were to see his own reflection. She imagined he’d find himself looking very unprincelike.
His eyes narrowed. His focus shifted to the other three people in the cage with Daphne and Lillian. “And who are they?”
“Oh, them?” She flicked her hand and tried sounding nonchalant. “They helped me find you.”
He folded his arms and scowled. “You’re telling me three strange men were perfectly willing to give up their daily lives to journey with you across the Acerbus Sea, through Proelium, across the Perdeus Ruins and all the way here—all out of the kindness of their hearts?”
“Well, not exactly.”
She wasn’t sure what to tell him. She couldn’t say they were outlaws. If they ever did get out of here alive, he’d be furious that she’d shared company with thieves. He was mad enough as it was.
All this time she’d pictured what their reunion would look like. It was what had carried her through this arduous journey. She had imagined the two of them embracing and her crying on his shoulder and telling him how much she missed him and what she had been through to find him. Instead, bars filled the distance between them. He pressed his face against the cool iron, getting as close to her as he could. “Then tell me at once who these men are and what they’re doing here.”
“What are you so upset about? I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
He could see the hurt in her eyes. He was her twin. He knew her better than anyone. The anger began to drain from his face. His expression softened, and his scowl was replaced by a gentle smile. “I’m sorry. I am glad to see you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances. I’m not upset with you, Daphne. I’m concerned. You’re my sister. I don’t know who these men are. For all I know, they could be criminals.”
Her breath caught. She hoped he couldn’t sense the lump in her throat. She had to come up with an explanation. Fast. “They’re from the village. Lillian and I sought their help. I offered them a reward in exchange for their protection. They’ve taken good care of us, I assure you.” She turned and pointed each of them out. “There’s Gregory, and that’s Thomas and that’s Merek.”
The three of them bowed to Phillip. She was surprised by their show of respect, but they knew better than to insult the prince.
Phillip nodded, looked back at her and sighed. “You know Father won’t like this one bit.”
“He’ll be happy to have us home. I know—”
They silenced at once upon the door swinging open. Daphne held onto the iron bar for dear life. The cage rattled violently with each step the giant took across the room. Lillian, Gregory, Thomas and Merek went tumbling about until they rolled against the bars and grabbed hold to secure themselves. Another giant entered. Daphne couldn’t have told the two of them apart if she had tried. They were equally repulsive with their exaggerated features and ugly scowls. Their breath was so strong and so rancid she could smell it from where she clung. Acid bubbled up her throat. She gulped, trying to think of anything but the urge to puke.
One of the giants pursed his lips and cocked his head, examining the cages. He raised a hairy finger. “Is ‘at?” he grunted.
The other gave a grunt of confirmation.
“We ‘aven’t seen ‘eir kind in years. Why’re they ‘ere?”
“Look.”
The giant drew closer and bent down. His bulging eyeball peered at the humans through the cage bars. Daphne wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. They all froze, unsure of what to do. Unsure of what was coming.
“Can’t be.” The giant looked from them to his friend.
“The one on ‘is own has the crest o’ the Monstrous One an’ everything.”
Monstrous One. At that, Phillip and Daphne locked eyes. They both understood. The giant was referring to their great-grandfather. It was startling to hear someone speak of him in such a manner. Most only talked of him in the highest regard, but of course the giants would have seen the events at the Battle of Gargantem differently than the rest of Vires. They had been defeated that day. While the humans saw it as a glorious triumph, the giants were bitter about their loss, which didn’t bode well for the group, being as that Daphne and Phillip, King Cedric’s descendants, were their prisoners.
“An’ who are the others?”
“Does it matter? They’ll all be in our bellies by supper.”
They clutched their protruding stomachs and guffawed. Gusts of their putrid breath met the humans’ noses. Even in the dim light, Daphne could see Lillian’s nose scrunch up. She wondered if the giants could smell themselves. They each pulled chairs from a table that was larger than Daphne’s entire bedchamber back at the castle. As soon as they sat, though, one of them grunted and asked the other to get up and open the window. He flung the shutters open, and finally Daphne could see the room. It had been so dark before that she’d had no sense of where they were. She knew they were in a lair, but now she could see that it had been carved into the limestone mountainside. Shelves made of tree trunks and limbs lined the wall. Upon them sat trinkets of the days of old. Items so ancient they must have been from before King Cedric’s reign. She supposed the trinkets reminded the giants of the days they were free to roam, before they’d been banished.
The ground gave another quake, and a new giant appeared in the doorway. He wore a crown made of evergreen limbs. Daphne wondered if it was uncomfortable to wear as it looked. Regular old crowns were clunky enough. The king of the giants lingered there. He was bigger than the others. More muscular. More intimidating. He flashed his chipped teeth and asked, “Where’re the ‘umans?”
Together, the two giants pointed. Daphne and the others hung onto the cage bars while he stomped in their direction. She didn’t know how much more of this her heart could take.
He bent down so that his enormous head was level with their cage. His skin—what she could see of it around his overgrown beard—was blotchy and aged. Overwhelmed by fear, Daphne was about to turn away when something caught her eye. A gold chain hung around the king’s neck. And attached to it, a ruby. She bit her lip, trying to keep from shrieking. That was the ruby Phillip had been sent to recover on his quest. There it was, right in front of them. She wished she could reach out and grab it, but even if she were brave enough to try, it wouldn’t do any good. It was secured by a golden clasp. There was something hanging beside it, too. She squinted, observing the strange shell-like shape. There was something familiar about the col
or, though. It was deep, though transparent at the same time. She had to stop herself from gasping when she realized what she was looking at. The legends were true. It wasn’t a shell. It was a scale. A dragon scale. From her great-grandfather’s dragon.
The king gave their cage a nudge. She lost her grip on the bar and went tumbling into Thomas. The giant licked his lips and said, “Supper can’t come soon ‘nuff.” He stood tall and turned to the others. “Ya know, I was jus’ a babe when The Monstrous One brutally murdered my father ‘nd uncles. I’ve been dreamin’ of my revenge since I was a lad. Course we giants can’t exactly get into Vires unnoticed. Never would’ve imagined his bratty li’l descendant would come right to me.”
He gave a hearty laugh, then he ordered the other giants to follow him. There was a collective sigh when the door latched behind them.
Chapter Sixteen
“Did you see that?”
Phillip rubbed the back of his head and stood. “See what, Daphne?”
“He has the ruby.”
Phillip looked at her like she’d gone mad. “What good does that do us now? We’re trapped.”
Gregory cleared his throat. He took a step in Phillip’s direction, pressing his finger to his lips while he thought. He gave his mouth a couple gentle taps and said, “We will have one chance—albeit a slim one—to escape.”
There was a twinkle in Phillip’s eye. A spark. In that moment, he no longer looked like a shadow of himself. This was the brother Daphne knew. “What are you suggesting?”
Gregory, Thomas, Merek, Lillian and Daphne gathered at the side of the cage beside Phillip. Gregory shared his plan. It was risky. It would be a long shot. But it just might work. It wasn’t like they had an abundance of options anyway. It was this or accept defeat. King Cedric never gave up and neither would they. They would take any chance for escape they could get.
Lillian, however, wasn’t as confident about the plan as the rest of the group. She slipped away when she thought no one was looking. Her arms were folded, and her head was down. She stared helplessly at the floor. Daphne removed herself from the group, leaving the boys to tinker out the plan, and she caught up with her. The princess put her arms around her friend and gave her a hug. Moments passed before Lillian pulled back and said, “I’m scared.”
Daphne struggled to find the right words. What could she say to offer her comfort? To offer her hope? She had every right to be scared. Lillian was no fool. She knew how much danger they were in. Instead of trying to convince her otherwise, Daphne decided to be honest. To let her know she wasn’t alone. She took Lillian by the shoulders and looked into those big green eyes, which were wet with tears. “Can I confess something?” Daphne said. “I’m scared, too. Terrified. I am so sorry I put you in this situation, Lillian. This is all my fault. I should never have forced you to come with me. It was a selfish thing to do. I’d take it back if I could, but I can’t. Like it or not, we’re here. Sometimes you just have to deal with the cards as they fall.” She let go of her, drew her shoulders back and raised her chin. “But we have a choice. Do we accept the hand we’ve been dealt? Accept certain death? Or do we fight back?”
Lillian trembled. “I’m only a maidservant.”
“Never say that again. Do you hear me? You are so much more than that. You are the truest friend I’ve ever known. You’re a better person than I am. Remind yourself what you have to live for. Think of your parents. Think of Hadrien. Think of your life back in Vires. Think of your future. And think of me. I need you to do this one last thing for me, my friend. Can you do this for me?”
Lillian gulped. “Yes, my princess.”
They spent the afternoon perfecting the plan. Light faded with each passing hour, and with time they gained confidence that they would indeed escape. Eventually, the tension lightened enough that they could laugh together, which came as a welcome release. They couldn’t allow fear to consume them. They could crumble under its weight, or they could weaken it. They chose the latter.
But the lightheartedness they felt vanished when one of the giants thudded back into the room. He carried in his hand a black cauldron. Water sloshed from it with each stomp. He heaved it toward the fireplace and secured it there above a pile of wood. In minutes, a fire burned beneath it. Daphne tried reassuring herself of their plan, but it did little to lessen her nerves. She worried what Lillian was thinking, but she had faith in her friend, even if she didn’t have faith in herself.
The giant slipped a satchel off of his shoulder and turned it upside down over the cauldron. Onions, carrots, celery and spices splashed into the bubbling water. The giant took a long sniff. “Almos’ suppertime.”
He only had to take a few clumsy steps across the room to reach the group. He retrieved the massive key from his pocket, the one twice as big as the humans, and he forced it into the lock on Phillip’s cage. He opened the iron door, reached his hairy hand in and took Phillip out. The prince grunted. He disappeared into the giant’s fist.
The giant dislodged the key from the lock, then he shifted to his side and stuck it in the other cage. Metal grated against metal. Daphne’s eardrums felt like they could burst, and the sound was so awful she would have welcomed the relief from the noise. His massive fist reached for them, and they were shrouded in darkness. They jostled about as he scooped them. Daphne’s face was smashed into someone’s backside. Someone gasped for air. The giant swung his arms back and forth, thumping his way back to the boiling cauldron.
There was an overwhelming sense of heat. Phillip gave the signal. Together, the six of them bit into the meaty flesh of the giant’s hand. He released his fingers and screamed, sending the humans tumbling to the floor. They crashed into it, and it was a wonder they survived the fall.
Daphne’s bones and muscles screamed in pain, but she pushed through. Lillian was beside her. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Daphne didn’t know if she was in pain or scared, or both. All she knew was that she had to be there for Lillian. She flung Lillian’s arm over her shoulder and helped her to her feet. The six of them took off running.
Meanwhile, in his confusion, the giant backed up against the cauldron. Scalding liquid spilled from its side. He clutched his backside and roared in pain. The smell of his putrid breath spread throughout the room.
Daphne and Lillian were at the back of the group, trying their best to keep up with the boys. Merek was limping, and Thomas was clutching his right arm. They had escaped one giant, but there were many others within the lair. They had to get out fast.
One by one, they ran under the base of the closed door, ducking so that their heads wouldn’t bang against the aged wood. They bolted down the hall, unsure exactly of where they were headed, huffing and puffing with each quick stride. Daphne ran a little slower than she was able, so as to keep by Lillian’s side. She was proud of her friend. The girl who thought of herself as nothing more than a maidservant had just evaded the clutches of a giant.
Gregory and Phillip led the way at the front of the pack. The two of them were in the best shape, not having been injured, or at least not as badly as the rest of them, by the fall. But Gregory came to an abrupt stop, and Merek ran right into him. Phillip turned around, realizing the group was falling behind. He rushed back to Gregory and flung his palms out by his sides, wondering what was going on. Gregory pointed to an open doorway to their left, and Phillip peered inside. The girls caught up to them, and they saw, too.
There he was. The king of the giants. Fast asleep in his chamber.
Gregory jerked his head toward the king, and he gave Phillip a devilish grin. Phillip’s mouth curved into a smile. This was his chance to steal the ruby and complete his quest. Daphne was torn. On the one hand, it would be an embarrassment to the kingdom to return home without the gem, but was it worth risking their necks after they’d just escaped from being turned into stew? Daphne wasn’t so sure.
Phillip and Gregory tiptoed inside, and the others followed. The prince scanned the room. Light from the afternoon sun
spread throughout the room, drawing attention to the thick layer of dust that was ever-swirling inside. The dust tickled Daphne’s nose, and she fought back the urge to sneeze.
They froze. Giants stomped down the hall. They were searching for the humans.
Lillian grew pale, and Daphne tried to give her a look of reassurance. If things worked here like they did back at the castle, the other giants would only wake the king as a last resort. First, they would try to find the humans themselves. The king’s chamber was, in all likelihood, the safest place to be. Assuming he didn’t wake up.
Thomas raised his chin and peered upward. He pointed to the bed with his right hand, grimacing as he did so. The movement exacerbated the pain in his arm. The others came to where he stood to see what he was showing them. Atop the bed, around the king’s neck, was the gold chain that held the ruby. If they wanted to steal it, they were going to have to climb.
Phillip and Gregory decided they would be the ones to get it. Lillian didn’t protest, of course, and Thomas and Merek preferred to hang behind with her. While they were always up for adventure, climbing while injured wasn’t on their list of priorities. As for Daphne, she had come all this way. She wasn’t about to hang behind now, not when she could help Phillip succeed in his quest.
The three of them walked the perimeter of the bed, trying to figure out how to get up there. It was hard to believe the difference in scale between them and the giant. They were no bigger than the wooden, claw-shaped foot of the bed. Getting up to the top was a daunting task, but one they were determined to accomplish.
When they reached the opposite side of the bed, they found the corner of a fur blanket dangling from the side. The tip of it touched the ground. The blanket was a peculiar mismatch of colors and textures. Daphne imagined, being as big as they were, the giants had sewn the furs of numerous animals together to make it.
Phillip scrunched the fur up in his hands, gathering enough fabric for him to have a steady hold. The sharp lines in his face were accentuated by the way his grit his teeth when he pulled himself up off of the floor. He was slow and careful in his climbing. Daphne had enough fur blankets to know they were slick. Phillip managed to reach the top, though. He hoisted himself up and over the bed. His head popped up over the edge, and he peered down and gave a signal for the next person to climb.
