Captive Rebel

by Erin McDermott

  After taking that moment to express my unrelenting anger at an inanimate object, I moved onward to the men’s quarter.

  Quickening my pace, I was standing in front of Charles’ door in no time. The wooden door loomed over me, almost tauntingly. It took me a moment before I could muster up enough courage to knock against it. After what seemed like an eternity, I gave it a few light taps. The sound of each knock seemed to boom and reverberate in my mind. I darted my eyes left and right, being sure I woke no one up.

  No one opened their doors. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Unfortunately, Charles did not open his door either. I knocked several more times before attempting to open it on my own. Of course I was taking a chance hoping it was unlocked. To my pleasure, it was.

  Or was it displeasure? A rebel spy, who was on the cusp of one of the rebels most crucial missions, should be intelligent enough to lock his own door when he slept. He should consider himself lucky that I was the welcomed visitor tonight and not someone else.

  “Charles.” I whispered. No response. I took several small steps forward, blinded by the darkness. “Charles.” I whispered once more. Still, no response.

  “He’s with Fanny. You’re out of luck, girl.” His roommate mumbled, half asleep. I let out a curse. He was always with her. Even with the looming threat of Ariston, he was spending his night, more than likely, in Fanny’s room. Ariston’s sister’s room. While he was sweet, he often managed to be a complete fool.

  However, I did have to thank Charles’ indecent reputation for keeping his roommate from wondering why I was even in his room in the first place. To him, I was just another girl looking for some company late at night. It did well for my cover.

  I silently sneaked back into the hallway. Ian’s room was only several doors down. Lucky for me, he opened his door almost immediately after I knocked.

  “What?” He sharply asked, his dark stare nearly put me in distress.

  Nearly.

  Ignoring his much too evident frustration, I pulled him out to the hall. It was better to talk outside, where his roommate could not hear us. “Ian, they already know there are spies in this palace.”

  “And how do you know that?” He tauntingly asked, still irritated.

  “Apparently, a missive was sent this afternoon from Ariston. Ian, he knows. He knows we’re here.” I said, recalling my conversation with Alice. “Oh, and he might return sooner than we originally believed. At least that’s what Fanny says.”

  “Fanny?” He asked harshly. Only Ian could find a way to yell forcefully while keeping his voice at a whisper.

  I nodded.

  He cursed under his breath and kicked at the wall. I winced, hoping no one heard. After clenching his body for much too long he said, “We’ll have to get Charles and go.”

  I bit my lip before nervously admitting, “Charles isn’t in his room.” He stared at me wide eyed, clearly baffled. I explained it all by saying one word “Fanny.”

  He nodded, immediately recognizing Charles’ situation. “We could wait until morning.” He began.

  I had to stop him from mustering up any plan that did not involve leaving tonight. “No, I’m almost certain Fanny already knows it’s us. We have little time.” I recalled the knowing look she gave me earlier in the night.

  He cursed under his breath before saying, “Very well. We will just have to leave without him.”

  I was taken aback. While I wanted to leave that night, I could not imagine leaving without one of our own. “We can’t leave without him. We need to find a way to find him.”

  “And risk Fanny seeing us? Not a chance.” He easily blew off that idea.

  If I left without Charles the guilt would eat me alive. We needed a boat and a captain to leave this island. We only had one boat and one captain. It was a one time ride to freedom. If we left without Charles he would never have a way out. He’d be stuck on this island with no escape.

  “Listen Marylyn, if we leave without Charles there’s a chance he won’t even be caught. Ariston only saw me while he was in captivity. Not any of you. So, I’m going to go to that boat. Whether you decide to come with me or not is up to you.”

  Without another word Ian turned his back to me and marched down the hall. I fidgeted with my steps, unsure whether or not to follow. I watched, distraught, as Ian distanced himself from me. Could I live with this guilt?

  Ian’s body reached a corner in the hall and turned, disappearing from my sight completely. Suddenly, I felt very alone. If I let Ian take the boat without me, I would never have a way off this island. There was a possibility I would never see Ma and dad again. I knew they were waiting for me. Somewhere. I just did not know where. But I would know soon enough.

  “Sorry Charles,” I whispered to myself, hoping Hades heard my apology. “Please forgive me.”

  My decision was made.

  Chapter Four

  Our daring escape from the palace turned out to be more of a casual stroll. Every guard we passed doubtlessly believed Ian and I were nothing other than two lovers taking a walk in the gardens together.

  The uncertainty I felt earlier over whether or not to leave Charles was dwindling. I fiddled with my necklace, remembering my parents. “I had to do it. For you, ma and dad,” I whispered to the green lady resting on my chest. I had hope that the rebels would finally allow me to reunite with my parents after this mission was completed. This mission had to be the key to freeing my parents after the pain Mike’s mistake put us through years ago. Hopefully, our debt would finally be paid. I missed my family so much.

  A single road connected both sides of King’s Land. A village rested on the far end, just over the island’s central hill. Ian and I walked beyond the castle walls and to that road with surprising ease. Our escape was so effortless it worried me. Could we really be this lucky?

  We created quite a distance between us and the palace when we heard hooves stomping in the distance. My heart raced. I knew we had been too lucky. “Should we worry?” I panicked, looking at Ian.

  Ian came to a standstill, placing his hand in front of me to stop me. He stared down the path for several moments before saying, “Several horses are approaching. Come with me.” He reached for my hand and led me to the side of the road. “Here.” He commanded, pulling me behind a low bush.

  I looked at him wearily, not daring to speak. He placed a finger over his lips, indicating the obvious. “I know that.” I mouthed. Did he really believe I was going to talk while Allegiant men rode by?

  We were right to be cautious. It was unusual for anyone to be out at this time. Never mind a group of people on horseback. Considering the sound of approaching horses was coming from the direction of the village, these people were headed toward the palace. I could only wonder what reason anyone would have to arrive so late.

  I hid deeper in the underbrush while the men on horses rode past. Many of them had familiar faces. I recognized them from my time working in the palace. One man, however, stood out above the rest. He towered over the others and had blue eyes as light as snow. A chill swept through my body when I noticed a deep scar running from his hardened eye to his upper lip. Wisps of blonde hair tickled his face, hiding his scar for brief moments. He had seen pain, no doubt. It was visible in his scar, but camouflaged by his dead stare.

  After the men passed Ian spoke in a whisper. “That was Prince Ariston.” He explained.

  Puzzled, I asked. “The blonde one? I knew he was coming back soon, but I didn’t predict it would be this soon. Are you positive it was him?” I counted our blessings for deciding to leave exactly when we did. However, we were not free from danger just yet.

  He looked out to the distance when he said, “You never forget the face of a man you’ve tortured.” It was quiet for several moments as the reality of the situation hit me.

  “You… you tortured him?” I never thought of Ian as someone who could do such a thing. The idea frightened me. Ian’s eyes, already dark as midnight, somehow appeared muc
h darker. “A story for another time,” He said, “We have to go. They’ll be looking for us soon.”I gave a slow nod. I wanted to press him for more information, but I knew Ian was not much of a talker. I always assumed it was because he didn’t have many eventful stories to tell. Charles, on the other hand, always had a story. Thinking about it, Charles’ stories were not entirely eventful, he only thought they were. Ian, however, seemed to have kept a lot from us.

  I planned to hear his stories one day, now learning that he actually had stories. I would commit to hearing every one of his secrets. Eventually.

  Before following Ian, I took a moment to look back. We stood on top of a hill, which had a stunning view of the palace below. It rested on land that extended out to the ocean. Moonlight illuminated the surrounding water, which glistened against the palace’s towering walls. Somewhere in there was Charles. He would soon wake to learn Ian and I left, abandoning him.

  Hopefully we were far gone by then.

  “Come on!” Ian called once more before running off. I chased after him. We no longer had time to casually walk down the path. Because of Ariston’s return, we had to go, quickly.

  So we ran.

  Several hours later we found ourselves on the other side of King’s Land, looking out at an entirely different body of water. Dawn was approaching and the people dwelling within this village would soon wake up. I wanted to be on the boat and off the island before anyone noticed us.

  Just ahead of me was a brick dock with our antique metal boat, the Conqueror, bobbing against it. The boat was unique. It’s captain, Jarvis, noticed it in the ruins of a city one day and found a way to bring it back to life. It was much different than the usual wind powered wooden ships that sailed these waters.

  I was all too anxious as I waited to get on Jarvis’ boat. Ian had me wait outside the village inn so he could retrieve Jarvis. I felt as if I was waiting an eternity. In all probability it was only a short wait. I could have been waiting only two minutes. It didn’t change the fact that time seemed to slip by slowly.

  Finally, I heard the groggy mumbles of Jarvis. “Ya’ll better not be lying when you say they’ve become suspicious of us. I’ve just been woken from a nice slumber and I’m not at all happy. Not at all.”

  His grey beard was in disarray and blue circles highlighted his sunken eyes. He was a miserable man and a drunk. I could easily imagine what he had been doing on this side of the island while we were working in the palace.

  “We’re not lying. Now are we ready to get this boat going? We needed to be off this island yesterday.” I said, irritated.

  It was hours since we saw Ariston make his way to the palace. He had hours to inform his men and form a team to retrieve us.

  Hours.

  We should have stolen a horse.

  Sluggishly, Jarvis made his way to the dock. I quickly bypassed him and jumped onto the Conqueror. Standing on the boat rather than Allegiant land felt entirely too soothing.

  Ian walked on after me. Jarvis continued to take his sweet time.“I’ll stand watch.” I said as Jarvis stumbled on board. I moved to the bow of the boat and peered at the hilltop in the distance. I waited to see if there would be movement on the path, which was partially hidden by trees. All I noticed were leaves whipping in the wind. Nothing else.

  I looked to the village, where elongated shadows emanated from the buildings. It was a fine reminder of the rising sun. I looked around the water, noticing something unusual floating in the distance. It almost looked like a bobbing head.“There’s someone in the water.” I pointed to what appeared to be a woman.

  “It’s just a sea nymph.” Ian said, brushing my words away as if they meant nothing.

  Sea nymph? I never knew there were such thing as sea nymphs. I assumed they were only myths.

  But before I could press Ian for more information I noticed movement on the path.

  I leaned over the edge of the boat, attempting to gain a better view. There it was - a horse galloping toward the village. I held my breath, squinting to see if there was any more movement hidden within the trees.

  There was.

  Actually, there was a lot of movement. There must have been over a hundred horses rapidly approaching the village. I felt as if my heart was going to burst out of my chest. “Uh, guys…” I stammered, not removing my eyes from the scene unfolding in front of me. “We have a bit of a situation here.”

  Ian stood next to me, his breathing was relaxed. “Time to go.” He said, all too passively.

  I looked at him, perplexed. “Are you even scared? They’re coming after us.”

  He cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing. He walked over to Jarvis and whispered something in his ear just before the boat’s engine roared to life.

  Ignoring Ian’s indifference, I continued to panic. Running to Jarvis I asked, “How fast can this thing go?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Those men ain’t even at the village yet. We’re the only docked boat anyway. What are they gonna do, grab an imaginary boat and chase after us?” He laughed mockingly.

  “Thanks Jarvis. I appreciate it.” I replied sarcastically and walked away.

  The water below the boat churned to life. Finally, we were off. I watched as we distanced ourselves from the island, and as the men came riding into the village. They were too late.

  Thank the gods.

  From a distance, I could see Prince Ariston ride ahead of his men and halt at the end of the beaten down dock. I could feel his menacing, unforgiving glare directed at us. I looked over to Ian, who was staring back at Ariston. His face was void of emotion.

  “So Ian, how badly did you treat Prince Ariston?”

  He glanced my way for only a quick moment as he said, “Badly.”

  Judging by Ian’s serious demeanor, I knew we were against a determined Prince who sought revenge.

  We were far from safety.