Wings

25: Did Faith Let Me Down / Or Did I Not Have Enough?

NPOV

Track: Flying, Cody Fry

Our first warning should have been the prince becoming quieter at the door. Like a canary who loses its voice, Luke stops trying to kill me.

At first, I assumed he would probably just be back at the door in a minute, so I continued letting Will get me situated on the bed, letting his hands flutter over me, checking over my wounds quickly and preparing me to be treated by Dr. Chase. And I continue trying to pretend that things are the same as before—that nothing has changed even though there's now a deep, dark divide between us.

Him betraying me is not the most important thing though—really, I should have expected it from the start—so I keep my mouth shut and let him work.

But that semblance of peace only lasts a few minutes because after Luke stops wrestling the door, we hear less the a minute later the front door open—that can't be good, no one should be visiting the doctor this early in the morning.

Mr. Chase speaks first, loudly and clearly, probably trying to give Will the signal that we should be running or hiding or both: "Your Majesty! We are honored to be in your presence. Are you injured, do you require—"

Immediately, Will stiffens beside me, and dread fills my stomach. I only just got here—how did the king track me down so fast? I should tell Will to just kill me before the king gets a chance to do it—I'd rather die by literally anyone else's hands. Jesus, I can't run like this. I definitely can't fly like this. I hate being unable to escape—I've always been good at keeping myself alive. It's the only reason I got this far. But surviving when I can't even move on my own, and the king seems to know all my next moves? Shit.

"I'm only going to say this once, so for once in your miserable life, Luke, you better fucking listen and answer honestly. Where is the Monster?" the king demands, and Luke gives some nonsensical response as the answer.

Will is trying to move as quickly as he can without making a sound. He reaches for me, and I nod, so he picks me up like he has been, and I can hear the quick, quiet breaths he takes as he pulls me close.

He creeps toward the window, avoiding boards on the floor that must creak. He's looking at the distance between us and the door like it's insurmountable, like it's the tallest mountain in the world—

"You had a simple mission, and you fucked it up again," says the king from the other room. "I had to send Clarisse to follow you to make sure you wouldn't run from the mission, and what do you know, you run away to a village—and then the Guardian goes missing!"

He doesn't know I'm here, then—not yet, though he must suspect. The only reason he found us was because Clarisse followed him here—but she would have been walking back towards the castle or reporting to the king by the time I arrived, so if we do this right, nobody has to know I was here. Nobody important, anyway—nobody who will use it against me—

No. I have to stop thinking like that. Anyone here could use this against me, anyone could turn. It's only a matter of who has the ability to use it against me—Prince Luke is clearly dealing with some sort of problems with his mind, so perhaps I'm safe from him at the moment. Mr. Chase probably can't without incriminating himself—I'm in his house, after all—which perhaps clears Annabeth by extension, assuming they have a good relationship. The others though...if they manage to come up with a lie about their involvement in this, they could turn me over again.

Will gets us to the window. He sets me down gently, and I try to stay upright while he gets the window open. He moves as quietly as he can, and I glance up at him just as the morning light hits his face just right to make his hair so beautifully golden—