DILLON

The gold-hilted dagger feels heavy in my hands. My grip is slippery from the blood so I wipe the blade on my suit trousers. Arellia watches me like a hawk, my every movement a morbid fascination or perhaps, a threat. She has yet to decide.

With my free hand pushed against the stone wall, I limp awkwardly towards the warden's chamber. My grip on the dagger is so tight that I am sure Arellia can see how my knuckles are white and trembling from pain. If she does, she says nothing of it. She says nothing at all. Every step I take makes me wince.

Despite the ruckus the prisoners make, it feels awkward here due to her burning gaze on my back. I take a few moments and let my eyes adjust to the light. Below me the warden lies on his side, body slumped over the threshold. I watch the blood trickle from his lifeless body, adding to the expanding deep, dark pool on the floor. His arm and hands have corroded, almost in the same way as the late king with poison on his lips. Almost.

I am reminded of how the red gem burned and ate at the skin on my palms, but now I am left with nothing but scars. His injuries are much more severe. His bones have melted, flesh disintegrated. How did this happen? I step over his corpse with great difficulty and head further into the room.

"I-I think there was poison on the blade…" Arellia says softly. I don't reply as I am not sure. Most poisons will leave a distinctive smell unless it is odourless. By the sheath at the warden's side, I doubt it is poison at all. If this substance can disintegrate flesh and bone then it could go through fabric and leather. I wiped the blade on my trousers mere seconds ago and yet nothing happened.

"What are you looking for?" Arellia asks when she silently catches up to me.

"Cloth and kells of any kind," I grunt and pant as I reach the warden's desk at the far end of the room. "And a weapon that is bigger than this sorry thing." I hold up the dagger and flick my gaze to Arellia. She flinches and looks away. It reminds me of Lux, the way she avoids my gaze. But her contempt for me cannot simply be lessened with a bottle of wine or a pat on the back. I doubt it can be lessened at all.

"Kells?"

"Kellans- your people's currency," I rummage through disorganised paper scrolls and feathered quills until I find a few copper and silver kells scattered at the bottom of the drawer. I flick a thin, rectangular silver coin at her. She catches it clumsily and her eyes widen.

"Yes, I know my currency! I've never heard it shortened like that before…" She flips the coin over and drags her thumb over the engraving.

"You've never seen coins before?" She does not answer me but merely examines the coin with great curiosity. Looking at her clad in commoner's garb, I almost forget who she is. With a snap of her fingers, she could get anything she wants. So why would she ever need to spend money?

"Why are you running, princess?"

"Because there is nothing left for me here," She fidgets with the coin and sighs. I don't ask further.

"We leave those gems, they'll be of no use to us." I nod at the scattered jewels on the floor. She opens her mouth but snaps it shut immediately. I watch as she steps over the warden's body with careful ease and snatches an embroidered pouch from the floor.

"Leave that, princess." Arellia looks at me, puzzled. "What commoner do you know owns a pouch of that material? It will be the death of us." She clenches her jaw, embarrassed but drops the pouch. When her eyes rove over the warden's body, she grits her teeth and clenches her fists but she does not recoil. She is much braver than I was. After my first kill, I stayed up all night vomiting and crying. I was inconsolable. It never gets easier, even now, you just become desensitised to the bloodshed. Who am I to say he was her first kill? Maybe she is just as wicked as her brother. Not that I mind, she’s the key to my freedom.

"What can I do then?" Arellia mumbles.

"Find cloth, any kind. We don't have much time." I don't wait for her to start looking before I turn to the wardrobe behind and rummage through it. It is filled with more paperwork, but on a hook to the right is an old, dusty cotton shirt. It is more than enough.

Soon after, we leave the warden's chambers in silence. My feet are wrapped tightly with clean cotton and on them, the warden's blood-stained leather boots. I move stiffly through the dungeons but the adrenaline gives me strength. The dungeon is large. Stairs spiral upwards into nothing but stone and damp hell. It takes all of my strength to not scream with each step. When we reach the stairs, Arellia runs past me. Frantically, she flicks left and right. But, there is no one. There are no guards. Only the cold stone and dim torches.

"Yhana should be here," Arellia whispers. I push past her impatiently and head right. After a moment, I hear her reluctant footsteps behind me.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asks. I shake my head and take a torch off the wall.

"Then we should wait for Ermund! Or Yhana!" She protests.

"Would have thought you smarter than that, princess." She stops abruptly at my insult, but I don't look back. I sigh.

"We stop, we die. So, we keep moving." The hallways get maller the further we go, but the stench of sewage and rot grow stronger the further I head into the darkness. We are close. Arellia follows me through a long series of turns, going downwards until we reach a tunnel with a light at the end. I am panting and sweating. The ground is slippery from waste. I hear Arellia gag behind me. I turn to her and hold out my hand for the keys, but she hesitates.

"Not gonna need them where we're going." I cock my head to the gate. She surrenders the keys after a moment. I unlock the gate and then throw the keys along with the torch into running sewage.

"I can't leave them."

"You can and you will." I grit my teeth. "You've made it this far, if we turn back, we will both die." I take her silence as agreement and trudge through the filth.

"Take my hand, you may slip." I reach out a hand behind me but she does not take it. I squeeze my eyes shut from the light when we near the exit. The smell of fresh humid air and flowers makes me feel almost euphoric. The end of the tunnel leads to a large clearing. It is murky and muddy, surrounded by rocks and trees. In the distance, I see rolling hills and farmlands. I see freedom.

To my right, I notice a woman in a servant's garment. She is alone.

"Yhana!" Arellia sprints past me and into the woman's arms. But, the woman looks afraid. Her eyes are red and blotchy from tears. Her hands shake and she flinches from Arellia's touch. Something is wrong. It feels too easy that we have escaped without resistance.

"Arellia!" I storm over, grab her arm and pull her away from the woman. She yelps. I do not have the luxury to be gentle. Judging by the rustling of leaves from the trees and odd shadows behind boulders, I know we are in a trap. I pull her into me and hold her tight against my chest. I unsheath the dagger and bring the blade to Arellia's throat.

"Let me go! It hurts!" She sobs lightly. I feel her panic. But, she does not know the fear I feel exposed, injured and surrounded by armed guards.

"You'll get hurt if you keep moving, stop. Your Yhana has brought us into a trap." I scan the clearing, the rocks and the trees. Stationed there in the darkness are Arellia's imperial guards.

"Drop your weapons, if you do not, I will kill her!" My skin glistens with sweat. I hope they do not call my bluff. I cannot afford a slip-up, not now. The sun has barely risen over the horizon and yet I feel warm all over.

"Don't touch her!" Screams the servant, but she does not move. She looks to the tree to her right. From the brush, I hear a clacking of hooves and clanking of armour as Vasilis leads his black mare out from the shadows. I feel Arellia tremble against me. His golden armour glints in the sunlight. He holds up a hand and his guards step forward from the darkness, bows and arrows in their hands.

I step back and pull Arellia closer to my chest. The dagger digs into her skin, but not hard enough to draw blood. In my peripheral vision, I see a guard draw an arrow to his bow, hear the string stretch then, the arrow flies through the air and lands near my feet. I flinch and pull Arellia to the side. My heart thumps wildly in my chest.

"You'll risk harming your princess if you keep doing that."

"Do not harm them." Vasilis' voice booms throughout the cleaning. He nudges his horse forward and smiles down at us. But, his eyes don't meet mine. He stares amused at the blade at his sister's neck.

"What do you want mercenary? Is it not enough that you murder my father but now you want my dear sister's life, too?" I laugh and watch as his face twists into an ugly emotion. I make a small quick cut on Arellia's neck, just enough to let a trickle of blood flow. She hisses softly but doesn't say a word.

"Your horse, or she dies." The guards are riled up, gritting their teeth and growling at me like wild animals.

When Vasilis jumps from his horse and hands me the reins, I let out a breath. But, it feels almost too easy. I watch Vasilis as I climb on and pull Arellia up after me. He stands perfectly still, a smirk etched across his face. Something is wrong, but I don't care. The horse whinnies and kicks at the mud in discomfort.

"Bring him!" Vasilis bellows. They drag an old man from the shadows and kick him to the ground along with the female servant. Arellia's arms tighten around me. Her breath hitches.

"Vasilis, please! Do not hurt them!" She cries.

"When you conspire with traitors, you must pay the price," Vasilis smirks as he grabs the woman by her hair and with a blade in the other, Vasilis hacks at her neck until her head dislodges. Blood sprays and I hear the man scream.

"Fuck!" I grit my teeth and turn the horse, kicking at its side until the mare goes into a gallop. But, it is too late because next, the man begins to screech. I hear the sound of steel against bone. Arellia wails. I hold her arms to my body, afraid she will jump.

"Don't look!" I kick the horse again. We speed through the clearing, but not fast enough. Blood taints the air as we ride out into open fields.

All I hear in my ears is the sound of Arellia's cries as I hold her hand tightly in mine.