Justice for the Forest-Beasts

Chapter Eleven - In Which the Twins Visit Rain

As slowly and quietly as possible, the twins got out of bed. They crept across their bedroom, and Estelle slowly opened the door, letting Lucian close it gently behind them as they entered the hallway. They snuck down the grand staircase, through the hallway, and down the stairs to the basement, where they entered the dungeon. There was no way to avoid guards there, so the twins no longer bothered to sneak. Estelle figured it'd be more suspicious for them to be caught sneaking than being caught walking normally. The twins' footsteps seemed to echo throughout the hallway, and Lucian was making sounds of discomfort, after having to hold in the sounds all the way through the rest of the castle.

The twins looked around at all of the gloomy cells. Inside most of them, prisoners sat or lied down on the cold, stone floor. Many of the prisoners had heavy, metal chains and restraints, which prevented some of them from being able to position themselves comfortably. The prisoners hardly had a way to tell the time, so many of them were wide awake. Few cells were empty, with no prisoners in them at all. A guard sat in the center of the dungeon hallway, with a book in her hands despite the dungeon's darkness. Estelle recognized that the guard was Philomena.

"Hello, soldier," Estelle greeted Philomena, "Please, excuse our appearances. Do you know which cell is holding a bird-beast at the moment?"

"I do, yes." Philomena stood up, folding the corner of one of her pages and placing the book down in her chair. She led the twins down the hall and gestured to one of the cells, "I have not been given orders to stop anyone from visiting them, but please do not stir up any trouble."

"Of course. Thank you very much," Estelle said as Philomena returned to her chair.

The twins hurried to Rain's new cell, grabbing onto its metal bars and peering inside. Rain was lying on the floor, fast asleep. Xe breathed slowly, xyr shoulders rising and falling ever so gently. Xyr wings and wrists were bound, but xe didn't seem to be chained to the wall or floor.

"Hey, Rain, wake up," Estelle said softly. There were quite a few more attempts before Rain finally awoke. Xe sat up and looked up at the twins with sleepy eyes. When xe suddenly realized who was there, xyr eyes lit up and xe grinned.

"What time is it?" Rain asked.

"It's a little past ten," Lucian signed.

"We have a Guard keeping us from leaving our room now, so we had to come down while she was asleep," Estelle explained.

"Oh, wow," Rain said, "I am sorry."

"It's not your fault—we're the ones that snuck out! Actually, I'm sorry that you're always getting locked up in the dungeon."

Rain chuckled, though it hardly sounded genuine, "Not too bad," xe told her, "New and different." Xe looked around and patted the stone floor gently, before sighing and seeming to deflate.

"You won't have to deal with it much longer—we're going to get you out of here. I don't know how, yet, but we will," Estelle said.

"Is the light lady still with you?" Rain asked.

"Light woman?" Estelle was surprised by xyr blunt description, and it took a moment before she realized who xe meant, "Oh, Harriet! I'm not sure where she is. We haven't seen her around, and I wouldn't put it past the Queen to fire her for what she did."

Rain frowned, "I hope she is okay."

"I'm sure she is, don't worry," Estelle assured xem, "I doubt Samara would banish her or anything, and I'm sure she'd easily find work elsewhere. Perhaps not in the kingdom, but I've heard that the farms to the east are quite busy this time of year."

"I guess so," Rain said simply.

"So, we're not going to get Rain out now?" Lucian signed. He didn't seem like he really wanted to be there. Estelle herself was tired, and her bare feet stung with the same coldness as the dungeon floor. No wonder the guards down there were always dressed in so many layers.