The Rugged Edge

Chapter 35: Crumbling Bonds

Hope came in the form of loss
when I found the rugged edge.
I gave up and soon was tossed
in caves of misery.

. . . . .

I sat frozen in the dark with my wild thoughts for what seemed a very long time indeed. Then I looked around.

I saw that I was in a large circular room, empty of anything but dust and mold. Cobwebs hung from the arched wooden ceiling and the air smelled old, like the insides of the barely-opened chests in the cellar. There were four tiny, barred windows, and the moon's unearthly glow was all the light I had. In the middle of the room was the trapdoor, shut tight and locked.

It took me another few minutes to realize I should try to escape. I was too lost in shock to think about it, but when I did, I rose to my feet and looked around.

Investigation revealed that the lock could not be picked, considering I had nothing to pick it with. However, the wood was very old and the metal on the hinges rusted.

It seemed that the room was bare, but after a while I noticed that there was a place where the ancient stone wall crumbled. I came close to see. The stone easily came out at my touch, and it was a place where it wouldn't hurt the tower's firm structure very much.

I picked a large stone and carried it to the trapdoor. There was nothing for it but to break the wood or the hinges... anything.

I tore at the trapdoor with the stone for what seemed a long time before it gave away. The ancient wood seemed to crumble like dust and the whole trapdoor fell apart.

I climbed through, leaving the broken stone on the tower floor, and then proceeded to run down the infinite spiral staircase.

I found it wasn't infinite, as I finally reached the bottom. I didn't stop to think: I knew where I wanted to go.

I ran down the closest stairway, which happened to be the southwest defense tower. I sprinted down, ignoring the chaos that encircled me, although I recognized it was there. In my shock, I'd forgotten about the infiltration.

A battle seemed to rage around me. Only three rebels fought against about six guards, but they fought well. I recognized Rueben, Jacqueline, and Myra.

"Eloise!" shouted Myra, whom I had barely ever talked to, though we'd met.

I ignored her. I kept running, through the sword clatter and the disarray, down the long stone staircase until I reached the first floor.

"Ise!" someone shouted, as if in a panic. It took me a second to realize it was Geraint, having joined in the battle.

I looked back to see that his face was a mix of relief and confusion when he saw me. But then I only kept running.

"Where are you going?" he called.

I ran through the Great Hall - also a mass of turmoil - and down the narrow hallway to the kitchen. Bessy stood there with a huge wooden spoon that she seemed to be using as a club, and she shouted to me, too. Yet I ran out the back door, past Bessy's dead roses, past the well, and climbed the wall.

Over it I went. No one was on it, although wild shouting could be heard from the defense towers in both directions.

I'd never climbed it so fast.

I ran through the tall, overgrown grass, my feet seeming to fly over the air.

As I ran, I didn't realize that I had no clue what I was doing. He wouldn't be in the woods. No one would be in the woods. He would be in Rokenfort, fighting his way to Collum.

And there was no reason whatsoever for my belief that he had killed Giovanna. The chaos from the castle seemed to have followed me and rested in my mind. I was being ridiculous.

But I only kept running, running towards the camp.

When I reached it, which seemed to be in a single breath, there was no one there. In a flutter of a second I realized how ridiculous I was.

Everyone was either in the castle or at Runa.

And then I saw him. Wild yellow hair, that horrible smile, gleaming grey eyes that looked almost yellow. He was completely alone, standing next to the firepit where no fire flickered. The darkness seemed to cover the earth like a veil, but I recognized him anyway. The lion.

He was watching me, smiling madly.

"And what are you doing here, little princess?" taunted Rufus.

"You killed my mother!" I shouted instantly.

Rufus looked somewhat surprised, but smiled all the more. "Ah! Of course. But however did you find out?"