Blaire's Pov
Jamil did not like the idea of us breaking the rules because despite the fact that he was the most outgoing of all four of us, he also happened to be the most rigid. Weird combination, right? But with the two of us on his case, he had no other choice than to join us in our prison raid. I had returned my mother's bunch of keys before she would notice they were gone but that was only after I had removed the keys to the dungeon. With their help, I had been able to secure more supplies which was more extensive because Jamil insisted I bring a gift or something as an act of goodwill to the other prisoners. According to him, bringing something for one prisoner, especially when it was against the rules, would make the other prisoners mad which might make them pick on the prisoner or worse, report the prisoner just to spite him. The simple cure to that, is to bring something for them as well. They would be pleased with the thoughtfulness and voila, all would have been saved a lot of trouble. Dusk came quickly this time unlike the previous night when it seemed to have rolled on forever and soon, it was time. They helped me bring the package to the palace and by package, I mean, food, drugs, first aid materials to tend to his wound which would no doubt still be healing, and well, food again. It was a dark, moonless night which could be interpreted to mean two things. One, the moon so favored our mission that she decided to reduce our chances of being spotted by not showing up or two, the moon was so disgusted by our act that she decided to not be a party to it. Jamil seemed to think it was the latter because he was quiet the entire way, not even bothering to make any of his trademark jokes. As agreed, Jamil would keep watch inside the palace, by the row of steps that led deep into the heart of the palace where the dungeon was. Ulo would continue with me till we got to the entrance to the dungeon where he would keep watch as well and be ready to help if anything went wrong. Their precautions made me wonder if they didn't know I had come alone the previous night. Not that I was complaining though. I inhaled as I clutched the package to my chest with one hand and with the other, held the blazing torch before me. Unlike the upper area of the palace that always had torches burning every few feet, this place was absolutely dark. So dark you couldn't even see your arm if you placed it before your eyes without any light. "Just call out to me if you get into any trouble, okay?" Ulo whispered, his arm never leaving his sword as he unlocked the heavy gates. I nodded although I didn't really see how anything could possibly go wrong after all, I was only a lady who was performing the regular task of bringing her friend help when he needed it the most. Walking into the dungeon, I half expected the long corridor to start boiling over with the cries of desperate men. Instead, I was met with silence that was so overwhelming, it made me uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I flashed the torch either way as I moved, trying to figure out if they had suddenly winded up dead overnight. Not that I would mourn them though but I found the silence to be extremely unnerving. In the silence, I could hear the squeaking of rats and the scurry of tiny feet. Maybe not so tiny. I wondered how big their rats grew in here without being curbed and all. I thought about running into one of them and it was enough to make me shudder. I made my way to Indrik's cell which I now knew by heart from having spent time, painstakingly looking from cell to cell for him the other night. I brought the light close to his door but he was nowhere in sight. At least, not in my line of sight which was very limited by the way. "Pssst!" I hissed and waited without getting any response. "Indrik!" I called again without any change. I panicked as I wondered what had happened with him. Fiddling with my waist, I hurriedly extracted the key and unlocked his door before dashing in, half expecting to see the worst. I was relieved to find that he was okay, just sleeping. If that could be called sleeping. He was curled up in a ball by the far wall of the room and must have been straining a muscle or two because he was groaning heavily in his sleep and Indrik never snored. As before, I was hit by the stench of an unhealthy mix of endless damp, rot and a third element that I could not place a name too but was worse than the other two combined. My heart twisted as I bent and shook him awake. He groaned, muttering those words that manage to slip through your mouth from the world of unconsciousness as he roused. It took a moment for him to focus and see that someone was standing over him with a torch. When he did realize, the speed with which he sat up both amused me and hurt me especially because I could see he hadn't noticed it was me. From the look of fright that flickered in his eyes under the torch, I could tell that he had had more to worry about than damp floor and huge rats. "It's me, Blaire." I whispered and was glad to see him relax slightly. This relief was premature though as I saw a look of urgency cross his features. "What are you doing here?" He rasped, his eyes flitting. "What do you mean what am I doing here? Of course, I am here to take care of you." "You shouldn't have come." And as though to confirm his statement, the entire dungeon suddenly grew alive with voices.Indrik's PovI had been hoping that Blaire would take my advice and not return. So, what if my fellow prisoners had made their threat good and informed the guards? They had no proof to show that it really was her who had come. I could easily have convinced the council into buying that it was someone else. At worst, they would have worsened my punishment but at least, she would have been saved. But all of that went flying out the window or in this case, iron door as I looked up at Blaire, her tender face framed by the flickering flames. "You shouldn't have come!" I groaned, knowing that there was no escaping the clutches of the prisoners now. Obviously, I was not the only one who realized this as they all started to speak at the same time. As expected, they had all made illogical requests. Like asking me to help break them out of prison or to help them speak to the council to offer them some leniency. Like I would be here if I had that much power. I told them as much and they had pai
Blaire's PovHaving treated Indrik's back, I handed him a jar of water which he gulped greedily. I grimaced as I watched him. He had never been one to joke with his belly and now, he was restricted to eating only once in a day? Keeping this in mind, I had packed lots of energy food like legumes and whole grains. I watched contentedly as he gulped them down. Soon, he was done and he grinned his thanks. A fuzzy feeling consumed me and suddenly, all of the stress was worth it. "I'll just go attend to the others." I muttered half-heartedly. Even in the semi-darkness, I could see his eyes grow darker but I had to, for his sake. Picking up a sackbag, I headed out. Reaching the first cell that was not his, I was hit in the face by a horrible stench. A mix of dried sweat, rotten food, and a whole lot of other things that I felt much more comfortable not thinking about. "Hey!" He drawled and it took everything in me to not kneel over and puke all over his face. His breath stank like rotten
Ulo's PovI stepped away from the door, my heart simmering with rage. I wanted to punch something, rip something or just cause damage. I hated myself for having let her go in alone. What was I thinking, letting her go into that dangerous place all on her own. Sure, she would have wanted to see Indrik but I should have gone with her. Maybe then, whatever had happened wouldn't have. Seeing her like that l, so weak and vulnerable got me feeling so mad and useless. If only I knew who had made her feel like that, I would have gone to them right now and hacked them into a million pieces. "What happened with her?" Jamil asked, gesturing toward the shut door. "I don't know!" I snapped, starting toward the backdoor. I wouldn't be able to sleep now. All my tiredness and exhaustion from earlier had vanished in the wake of my anger. "Come on, Ulo. Not you too!" Jamil groaned as he came after me. "Something definitely happened in there to shake her up that bad. What....""Listen, I don't know,
Luna's PovI was going crazy. Or, that was how my mind wandering aimlessly made me feel at least. Never in my life had I been this holed up. After the breakfast turned interrogation session, I had remained in my room doing nothing other than sleeping and thinking, none of them doing me much good. I had managed the entire day inside my room and now, I felt I was going to go out of my mind if I did not get out. A major reason I did not want to go out was because of the two people that were just waiting to hack off my head. That and the fact that I was still a very unliked stranger but eventually even those were not good enough. I looked out the window and saw the moon glowing not so brightly overhead and thought about going out to the backyard. However, I had barely opened the door when the three friends came bustling in. I was in no mood to get into another fight so I simply stepped back into the room however, before I could shut the door, I noticed the usually very composed Blaire lo
Luna's PovMy ears must have grown beet red with the amount of blood that rushed to my face from the embarrassment of being caught spying. I had turned my back on them to take in more of the environment and now, I couldn't bring myself to come face to face with him again. What would I tell him? I had sneaked after them to avoid dying from staring at my room walls all day and night? They were going to have me hanged without a doubt. "Luna, it is you!" He repeated like I hadn't beaten myself up enough and I desperately wished the ground would open up to swallow me whole. I imagined the two men glaring at me with hatred and felt the blood pounding in my ears. I jerked when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around slowly wishing that I could just turn invisible. "What are you doing out here this late at night?" He questioned and I noticed with relief that he did not have a resentful look in his eyes. "I don't know. I just stumbled here, I guess." I tried to sound uninvolved but t
Blaire's PovI woke up feeling rather disoriented, a feeling that was becoming more and more of a norm with me. I blinked as I sat up on the bed, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. It took about fifteen seconds for the memories to come rushing in. I looked at my hand where that man had grabbed me last night and shivered involuntarily. The grime was all gone as were the bruises but I could still feel the clammy hand on my arm, pulling me against my will. Sunlight streaked in through the open window and I moaned in pleasure, glad to be reminded of my freedom. I got out of bed and saw my image out of the corner of my eyes. The sight was enough to make me draw closer to take another look. My hair looked like a snake had made a nest on one end and an eagle on the other. Sometime in the night, they had discovered each other and had an epic battle which left me looking like, well, take a guess. I brushed my hand through it absentmindedly until I heard a faint knock on the door. I ignor
Blaire's PovI paced around my room worriedly as I tried to remember if I had cleaned up after myself yesterday. I remembered opening the doors to the dungeon and Indrik's cell but I could not remember if I had shut them before leaving. I ran to the small bedside shelf and opened its lowest drawer. In there, lying peacefully was the bunch of keys that opened the dungeon. I almost exhaled in relief when I realized that the keys could be removed without locking the doors. If I by any chance had not locked the door after me then, Indrik would be in trouble without doubt when the guards came for patrol. The fear of Indrik getting into more trouble courtesy of me was a horrible weight that was pressing heavily on my shoulders. What made it even worse was the knowledge that I could not go to confirm it, not now at least, without making everything worse. Much worse. I was still pacing anxiously when a knock came on my door. I panicked, wondering if Indrik had already been caught and they we
Luna's Pov"Do you always eat together?" I asked Jamil as we made our way toward the palace gates. Seeing three members of the council sitting together had made me slightly uncomfortable but luckily, they had not seemed to even notice my presence. Despite my discomfort, there was someone who their presence seem to unsettle even more. Blaire. Throughout the meal, she had spent all her energy focusing on avoiding her mother's gaze. I had looked around, wondering if anybody else noticed the awkwardness but either they all pretended not to notice or they considered it perfectly normal as everyone focused on their meals. If there had been any doubt, the way Blaire had ran off once she was done proved it. Shortly after her, Ulo had left as well, then Leon. I suddenly hated that I had asked for so much food. I had been feeling extremely hungry when I had arrived but now, knowing that three very suspicious eyes were fixed on me, the food suddenly lost its taste and became drier than a desert