Prince Aldric Thorne's Arc

Chapter 7 of 8

He had told Owen to move, and now Owen was moving, and Aldric had no answer for what came after the door. The bell would ring soon. The corridor beyond ran in two directions. Aldric did not know which way was out. He did not know which path led to freedom, and which to his downfall. And he did not know what a prince in a torn tunic did in a castle full of men who wanted him under their control — either laid out on a bed or in the ground. He had planned the throat and the chain. He had not planned the next step. "Wait," Aldric said hoarsely. Owen paused, hand on the wood, watching Aldric the way a man watches a dog he isn't sure of. The dagger was still up. Aldric's arm shook from holding it. "Which way?" Owen tilted his head. "Left goes to the yard. Right are the stairs down to the kitchens. The yard has two men at the gate. Stairs have one cook and a locked door." "Do you have a key to the locked door?" "No." Owen paused. "But I have a knife for the cook." Aldric almost laughed. It came out as a short breath. He had been ready to open this man's throat a minute ago and now he was leaning on him to think. Owen continued, "Past that door, there’s a cart that goes out at first bell. Carries bread crates. The driver drinks. I've watched him a month." "And after the cart?" "We slip into the woods above the river. I have clothes stashed there. Coin too. And a pair of horses at a farm I paid last week." He stopped. He did not add why he had paid, or when he had decided. Aldric understood that the plan had not been made for him. It had been made for Owen, and Owen was opening it up now to fit two. Aldric's mouth was dry. He wanted to ask a dozen things. He did not have time for a dozen. He picked one. "If I say no… If instead, I decide we go through the courtyard to see the king, and I plead my case..." Owen's face did not change. "Then you die by noon." It was not a threat. It was the answer to the question. Aldric felt something in his chest let go and something else tighten. He had spent the night measuring a throat. He had not spent one minute measuring what came after. Owen had. That was the whole difference between them in this cell, and it was enough. Aldric made himself stand straight. He willed strength into his trembling limbs. The ring the noble had pushed onto his finger caught the grey light. He pulled it off and dropped it in the straw. "Alright, we go through the kitchens," the prince declared in a voice far more steady than he felt. "The yard will have more guards arriving by first bell." Owen nodded once, but his eyes still rested on the princeling. Again, Aldric could not read them. "Here," Owen finally said, after a long moment. "You cannot walk the hall in that." He pulled off his own guard cloak and held it out. Aldric took it with his free hand. The wool was warm from Owen's back. He put it on. It covered the tunic and the marks on his wrists and the blade against his leg. Owen looked him over and adjusted the collar so the white hair tucked under. His fingers briefly lingered, smoothing the fabric into place, before the guard stepped back. "When we go out," Owen said, "walk behind me. Keep your head down. If someone speaks to me, you do not answer. If I draw, you run for the stairs." "And if you fall?" "Then you run anyway." Aldric held the guard’s eyes. He had trusted no one since he was seven and he did not trust Owen now, at least not fully. However the moment for wavering had passed. He’d made his choice when he’d let Owen go. Still, the prince felt more at ease with a bared threat on his lips and a blade in his hand. He brandished the dagger. "If you turn on me, I swear I’ll put this under your ribs before you finish the turn." "I know," Owen replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of the guard’s lips. Aldric wondered what on earth that was for. The knight opened the door. The corridor was empty. Somewhere above them a bell began to ring, slow and even. Aldric pulled the cloak close and stepped out of the cell behind Owen. The iron door swung shut on the wet floor and the empty chain, and for the first time in twelve days he was walking without a wall in front of him.