Bedtime Adventure

Part 4

"What! Saphir is really a prince!" Alyssa exclaimed, shocked by the twist.

"Yes, now let me tell the story."

"These are William and Anne of Germany. They kidnapped me earlier on, but-" Saphir began.

"I should have known. The only reason you would be away for so long is if you were kidnapped. You're lucky that you were able to make it back home. As for the pirates, I shall take you to the king to see what your punishment shall be," Jacob interrupted. Jacob took the wheel of the ship and drove it to the dock. Finally on land once again, everyone was brought to the castle to figure out what everyone's fate would be.

"Your majesty, your son has finally come home after being kidnapped by William and Anne of Germany," Jacob announced as he entered the throne room.

"Welcome home, my son. Did your captors harm you in any horrible way?"

"No, in fact-" Saphir began.

"Good, and because I don't want them to hurt you or kidnap you again while they are here in England, you shall stay in your chambers until it is safe once again."

"But-" Saphir began as Jacob started to take him to his room. So Saphir was placed in his room alone, and Jacob left, locking the door on his way out. "Jacob, when can I leave my quarters?" Saphir asked, wanting to make sure his newfound friends were going to be alright.

"Not until your father allows you."

"Well, will you at least tell me what they are going to do with William and Anne of Germany?" Saphir added.

"I'll let you know as soon as I can," Jacob responded.

Desperate to hear what would happen to the pirate siblings, Saphir paced his bedroom floor for what felt like hours. Luckily, while it felt like hours had passed since Jacob left the room, it was only twenty minutes until the head knight returned to the chambers.

"Your highness, I'm back and now know the fate of William and Anne of Germany."

"Tell me immediately. Is everything going to be alright?" Saphir asked, the fear in his voice noticeable even through the wall of the room.

"Luckily for England and the royal family, William and Anne of Germany have been sentenced to death by hanging for kidnapping the royal prince," Jacob answered.

"How is that lucky? Sure they kidnapped me at first, but they're not bad people! As time went on, I realized that, and they don't deserve to be killed!" Saphir yelled even though Jacob had left already. Depressed by what would soon happen, Saphir went over to his bed and laid down on the midnight blue blanket, which usually felt good after a long adventure on the sea. This time, however, he may have well just been lying on the cold, hard floor for all the comfort it brought.

"Seriously, Zachie. First, it was with dead pirates and now killing Anne. What is it with these obsessions?" Kayla asked, annoyed at how this was the second time Anne was good as dead.

"Listen, girls. If you keep interrupting me, this story is never going to finish."

Wanting to help his traveling companions escape before the execution, Saphir went to his closet to pull out his makeshift rope of shirts he had outgrown. He tied a sleeve on a post near his window with a rope and sword in tow and escaped. He quickly made his way to the jail that held all the prisoners about to be executed.

"Anne, are you in here?" Saphir asked once he was at the cell that was containing her.

"What do you want to do with a pirate that's about to be executed, your highness?" Anne responded bitterly while turning to look at him through the small barred window of her cell. However, when she turned to look at him, Saphir noticed that she was not wearing her eye patch. What caught his attention even more was that the eye typically covered by the eye patch looked completely fine. Because of this, Saphir was silent for a moment.

"What are you staring at?" Anne said, breaking the silence of the night.

"Sorry, I'm so used to seeing you with the eye patch; I thought you were missing that eye. This is the first time I've looked into both of your eyes," Saphir explained, lost in her emerald green eyes, which looked more watery due to the tears she had been shedding.

"I only wore it to look threatening. Since the end of my life is coming soon and I've been defeated, I didn't see why to wear it. As for you, I can't believe I trusted you when you were going to have me killed from the moment you met me."

"I know what I said at first, but that's because I didn't know you, and after all the time we spent, I realized that you weren't what you seemed at first."

"Why did you fail to tell us that you were a prince?"

"At first, I was afraid about what you were going to do to me, so I didn't want to tell either of you. Later, when I realized that you were good people, there were moments when I was thinking of telling you, but I never did with all that was going on. Anyway, I came to help you escape."

"How are you going to do that? There's supposedly no way to escape this place."

"If I find a way to remove the bars in the window, you could slide out of here," Saphir exclaimed as he took out his sword and started to cut the bars away.

"Prince Saphir, what are you doing out of your room, and why are you attempting to free the prisoners?" Sir Jacob asked from behind.

"How did you know I would be here?" Saphir asked, surprised at the unexpected visitor.

"You're not very good at hiding your tracks," Jacob answered while showing the outgrown shirt-made rope.

Unfortunately for Saphir, he was taken back to his room now with the window locked as well, and the bars on Anne's window were fixed once again.

After a long and restless night, Saphir finally heard the sound of his door being unlocked.

"Your father would like you to be present at the hanging of William and Anne of Germany," the servant who opened the door explained. Hoping his idea he had come up with the night before would work, Saphir was led out of his bedroom to the hanging platform where everyone was waiting.

"William and Anne of Germany, you have been convicted of kidnapping Prince Saphir and holding him against his will. Therefore you are sentenced to death by hanging," King Christopher announced as the guards placed the nooses around William and Anne's necks.

Realizing that this was his last chance to save the day, Saphir stepped forward and interrupted the hanging before the trapdoor was sprung.

"Your highness, what are you doing?" one of the guards asked, surprised by the young prince's interruption.

"I have something to say that I've been trying to say since I arrived back to England!" Saphir exclaimed to the guard. He turned to the crowd and explained the whole adventure he had experienced with the pirates over the past week. As time went on, he realized that they weren't horrible people. "And because of that, they don't deserve to be killed and should be set free," he concluded.

"Don't forget the most important part of that speech," Kayla interrupted.

"What's that supposed to be?" Zachary asked, confused about what his sister wanted now.

"He tells everyone that he loves Anne!"

"Also, after all this time, I realized I had a feeling that I haven't felt for a very long time. Anne, you're one of the most amazing people I've met, and I love you," Saphir continued as he walked over to Anne and removed the noose from her neck, and untied the ropes on her wrists.

"You know, your highness, I can't help but say the same thing about you," Anne replied as she pulled him down to her level to kiss him.

"You know what? It was better before," Alyssa said, mildly cringing at her brother's attempt at narrating a romantic scene.

"And so, William and Anne were spared the noose and pardoned for their crimes. So along with Saphir, they were able to live out their lives as a wondrous adventure. The end," Zachary concluded, relieved that the story was finally over.

"Thanks for the story, Zachie. We love you," Alyssa said while snuggling in her bed with her stuffed dog toy.

"Will you tell us another one tomorrow?" Kayla asked while hugging her unicorn plushie.

"I sure will," Zachary answered as he closed the bedroom door.

The End