The Bandits of Infinity Forest

Chapter Seven

I slowly open my bleary eyes as the door clangs shut.

Sa'an looks at me guiltily. "Sorry," he says, "it was supposed to shut quietly."

I sit up, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Forget it," I grunt. I'm grumpier than I mean to be: I'm still shaken by the vivid recurrence of my past.

Sa'an sits down next to me, patting my back as if he understands something's bothering me.

"We got your horse," he grins.

My heart leaps, but anxiety curdles in my stomach, "Is she okay?"

"She'll live," he nods, "but she'll need a week or two to heal. Just," he pauses briefly, "you might not have that long, so I've got the best farrier in the land working on her, now it'll be four days at the most."

I'm so delighted I hug him. "Thank you, Sa'an!" I say. "Now," I jump up excitedly, forgetting all worries, and begin to pace the small room, "what's the plan?"

I stop when he doesn't reply, "What's up?"

He clears his throat nervously, "Do you—would you mind if I tag along?"

I hesitate for a moment, taken aback, then plunge in. "I guess you can come," I say, "but, why?" I still don't completely trust him.

"If Father and Mother find out I've helped you," he answers quietly, "at the very least I'll lose the throne. That's not so bad: it will go to my sister, Liliana. She's of the same mind as me, and would be a good ruler. But I will probably lose my life."

I stare at him in shock, "They would kill their own son?!"

He grimaces, "Yeah."

I think about his predicament. "But, if we both disappear, won't it be pretty obvious that you helped?"

"Sure," he smiles painfully, "but they won't be able to find me, will they?"

I think about the vast expanse of trees that stretches on into infinity. "No," I grin, "they won't."

I suddenly remember something. "One problem, though," I say, "your father has spies spread through our ranks, they'll tell him about you—and your whereabouts."

He jumps up instantly. "I can deal with that!" he says, and rushes from the cell.

He comes back in the evening.

Standing up I peer through the bars to see that the beggar's napping again, snoring peacefully.

"What'd you do?" I ask Sa'an as he unlocks the door.

He chuckles, "During lunch I just complimented Father on capturing you and asked how he did it. And since I'm his heir and was interested, he told me everything. And also..." he grins and flourishes a piece of paper from out of his pocket with evil looking scrawls on it. "He wrote down their names, so I can remember them and help him occasionally!"

I laugh, and we sit next to each other, leaning against the wall, as we review the list of names.

I'm surprised to see 'Jeff Riley' heading the list. "So that's how the scoundrel was the only scout to survive," I growl under my breath. I had wondered about that.

As I continue through the list, Sa'an grows silent.

"Got any siblings?" he asks, much too casually.

He knows, I think, and say: "Used to."

"What—" he swallows, "What happened?"

I try to answer but my voice is gone. Eventually I can't bear it and bury my face in my arms. It's too hard: reliving those moments, telling him what his family's done to mine, explaining what he must already know.

Sa'an awkwardly pats my back as I breathe deeply, trying to control my roiling emotions.

"I'm really sorry, Jedi," he says softly, "I love her dearly, but if I could, I'd reverse everything."

I feel a small glow of gratitude, but say nothing.

Suddenly I tense as he continues. "She knows who she is, Jedi, she knows who you are."

He pauses.

"She calls you 'J' occasionally."

I raise my head and stare at him in shocked wonder. "How does she remember?" I croak brokenly, "she was only a year old!"

Sa'an laughs shakily. "I don't know," he says. "I told her the truth when she was about three—under pain of death, you understand—and she's been more eager for news of you than me, and a thousand times more anxious!"

I hug him. "Thank you for everything you've done for my family," I say.

"It was—is— my pleasure," he replies.

"Actually, I'd better be going now, I don't want to arouse suspicion."

He rises, and leaves the cell with a whispered, "'Night."

Not long later the warden makes his rounds, and I eat the bread and fall asleep feeling happier than I have in a long time.