Chapter 18

It had been an entire day since Brandon had left Drystan and the others in the vacant rooms somewhere in the castle with the orders to ‘stay put’ and ‘keep quiet’.

The first was hard for Drystan to follow whilst the last was hard for all of them to follow.

Especially when Thomas was doing nothing but praying aloud in the corner as he rocked back and forth on his ankles.

“Oh please,” Iagan closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging, as he gripped his axe with a tight grip, “Let me kill someone,”

“You heard what Brandon said,” Drystan sighed, resting back against the wall with his eyes closed as he tried to think about what Izzie would be doing right now, “We stay put and wait for his call,”

“I don’t do well with waiting,” Dermot agreed as he played with one of his many daggers, flicking it between his fingers before he let it fly across the room, aiming for the wooden chair which occupied no less than five other daggers he had thrown previously.

“Well, what do you want to do!?” Drystan was exasperated; he wanted nothing more than to run out of this room and find Isadora but he knew he couldn’t, “Colt had control of the entire kingdom; what hope do we have without Brandon’s help?”

“What hope do you have with Brandon’s help?” Dawn chuckled from where she was tied to the chair that Dermot was currently using at target practice.

Facing the wall, Drystan couldn’t see her face but he knew she was smiling.

“Shut up!” Iagan and Jarred snapped together.

Jarred was slouched in the corner looking darker than usual with his hat tipped down over his face and Drystan could have sworn that he was sleeping if he hadn’t spoken.

“Colt just doesn’t have control of the entire kingdom,” Dawn spoke softly and low, “He has hundred of men at his disposal and almost all of them are in the castle,”

“Why, is Colt afraid of something?” Iagan chuckled, “Like me when I get my axe in his neck?” Iagan gazed lovingly at his axe, running his fingers over the sharp blade.

“Colt isn’t afraid of everyone and he’s loyal to his men,” Dawn snapped.

“Oh like you, you mean? He swapped you in for a better warrior the moment he met Isadora,” Jarred had a sly grin to his face as he saw how her face fell at the memory of that fact.

Drystan grinned at Jarred for his comment.

“Isadora is just a pawn,” Dawn sat up straight and faced the wall again, “she’s nothing to nobody.”

“She’s something to us,” Dermot growled as he threw another dagger into the back of her chair, aiming just below her shoulder blades.

Drystan noticed how she flinched.

“Despite the attitude,” Iagan raised an eyebrow in appreciation, “She’s one of us . . . whether she likes it or not.”

* * *

Izzie felt something cold on her lips when she opened her eyes to see the prince pouring water between her dry lips.

For a moment she simply let the cool liquid drizzle down her parched throat when she remembered what had happened and hit out him, forcing him away as she frantically searched for her weapons.

“What did you do to me!?” Izzie looked around, backing herself up against the wall; she had only ever believed in the power of what a human could do for themselves.

She had fought God at every turn and now it was truly possible that she might have met the Devil himself.

The Prince; a handsome man despite his dark deeds with his thick hair and ebony eyes, smiled at her, “I wanted to have a word with you,”

“You can have your words with my sword in your throat,” Izzie stumbled to her feet and gazed around her surroundings; they seemed to still be below the castle if the brick room was anything to go by, “Now . . . where is it?”

“You can have your meagre instrument back-”

“-meagre!?” Izzie snapped, getting her sense of self back.

“-once we have finished our conversation,”

“What conversation?” Izzie growled, “All I hear is you talking,”

Dressed in tight leather breeches and a flimsy cotton white shirt she couldn’t help but notice his fit figure as he walked around the room with an air of superiority and she instantly wanted to knock him back down to her level.

She still didn’t know how he was able to make her fall asleep so fast or how he appeared to come out of thin air but she had to believe that there was a logical explanation to it.

“Where’s Marianne?” Izzie grumbled, “I’d like to hit her too,” She narrowed her eyes as she looked around the room but the traitorous maid was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s with Colt,”

“Colt?” Izzie snapped her head back to look at the Prince, his eyes boring uneasily into hers.

“Yes, Colt,” he started to pace in front of her, “The man who, at this moment, is sat on my throne and feasting with his merry men,”

“I’d hardly call them merry,” Izzie raised an eyebrow and sighed but it stung a little to think that he wasn’t even looking for her; if he was feasting then enough time had passed with her not there for someone to be worried.

But Isadora had learnt long ago never to trust anyone.

The Prince was staring at the ceiling as if Colt and his men were directly above them, “He shall pay with his life for this betrayal; only royals sit upon that chair and once I have dispatched of my tedious father I shall have my chance to rule,”

“Then why didn’t you just do it?” Izzie snapped, “Why wait for all of this,” she waved her arms about at their situation, “You have . . . magic,” she struggled to say the word because she still didn’t believe in such things, “Why not just take the throne?”

“Oh, my dear girl,” the prince chuckled darkly, lowering his head to gaze at her.

Izzie gritted her teeth at being called ‘girl’.

“You don’t see anything, do you?” he scoffed, “You go around killing my men but you don’t see what’s really going on at all!?” He let out a loud roar of laughter before his voice turned serious and he gazed at her with a dead-set eyes, “Come, I’ll show you.”

* * *

“You need to come!” the inner door was thrown open to their small cubby hole to reveal Brandon.

He looked frantic as he looked over his shoulder, waving them out.

“What’s wrong?” Drystan rushed to his side and gazed out into the empty hallway; the fresh air a joy after being trapped with Iagan.

That man let out some of the worlds most unholiest of smells and sounds when he slept.

“It’s the King,” Brandon panicked as he stepped back to let them out, “Come, come! We must hurry!”

Drystan looked back into the room as Jarred and the others joined him on the outside and looked upon Dawn; she was looking up at him with trust and belief that he would let her go.

“Drystan?” Dawn whispered, her eyes wide and shining in the candlelight.

“Shut the door,” Drystan ordered Iagan, still watching Dawn as she started to perceive what was happening; he was locking her away.

“No- No, Drystan! Drys-” Dawn’s screaming voice died out at the stone door was sealed and shut leaving her trapped inside and tied to a chair.

Drystan had to save Izzie and couldn’t be worrying about Dawn; he would be back to let her out when everything was over.

“Let’s go,” Drystan turned, unsheathing his sword and ignoring the strange looks the others were giving him.