Jungle Fever

Escape

Ohk so fans soooooo sorry about my super late update but life is becoming difficult. . . Tangled Webs update should be up before Valentines.

Escape

The guards spoke of my place in their deaths as if I wasn’t sitting behind them. They, just like the king and Chestnut, all thought I had some major role in conquering the island with Lucien at my side. Their theories, though ridiculous, were the only thing keeping me sane. They never looked directly at me for fear that I must be quite powerful for The Cursed One to have kept me alive and out of harm’s way.

Even though me and Mace weren’t on speaking terms, not only because my capture but because of his behavior, I couldn’t help thinking about him. His face and voice echoed through my mind leaving me on edge. With only him and Lucien on The Dark Side, what the locals referred to as our side of the island even though they were equally lit, I was left to wonder what happened, if anything had happened. Lucien and Mace weren’t enemies, but if Lucien was as bad as the commoners seemed to think there was no tell what he was capable of.

I stood up and paced the cell, careful not to step where I had saw Mace die. It had been three dreamless nights, three sleepless nights. I was going mad, everywhere I looked I saw Lucien, but I didn’t see the Lucien that I had known since crash landing here. I saw the Lucien that haunted my dreams, the Lucien the commoners whispered about in fear that if he heard them he’d come. He’d come and destroy them, turning their loved ones into his followers and then in turn watching as they killed recklessly. From what the guards spoke of he’d done something like that years ago before the king was old and gray before the queen past and with her the princess.

It appeared that once upon a time there was a princess, who didn’t talk to animals, didn’t have magical hair, and wasn’t hidden away in the forest awaiting true loves kiss. She sounded pretty boring to me, but from the way the guards told it she was loved by everyone and betrothed to Lucien, not The Cursed One.  The guards told this story, I felt, for my benefit seeing as they both knew the words almost by heart. Everything in their kingdom was perfect untouched by the rest of the world, safe and kind and just like a fairytale you’d tell your children to chase away the nightmares.

Lucien didn’t believe that he could permanently tie himself to someone he didn’t love especially knowing that his love, his true love waited. She was a peasant, loud and unruly, bluntly honest everything that the dear princess wasn’t. He wanted to run away with her to The Dark Side, apparently the title had come long before the legend of The Cursed One, but she wouldn’t go. Not because she didn’t love Lucien but because she didn’t love him alone. Her heart was split down the middle, the logical side claimed by Lucien and the risky side in the hands of another.

As Lucien fought for her love and affections, she fought for that of another. And this went on and on until Lucien reached a point where he realized no matter what he did he could not have her wholly. So he released her with little hopes that she’d come back to him. But his hopes weren’t long lived not too long after their separation and the royal wedding she was killed, murdered by the one she thought to be her true love.

It is said that on that day Lucien lost his last strand of humanity. On that day the darkness confided within his soul escaped wreaking havoc on the kingdom. Along with his followers, those of us who too have darkness in ourselves and were too weak to escape the call of his broken heart, he sought out vengeance, killing everyone who dared stray into his path. He found too late that reprisal wasn’t enough to fill the hole in his heart. He turned himself in to the king that same day and has been exiled since. The king along with those remaining humane persons was focused to execute Lucien’s followers, seeing as they wouldn’t rest without his command, including the queen and her daughter.

As interesting as that story was it had too many flaws for me to believe it. For one the king had aged about thirty years and Lucien was a total of what 19. Second there is no way one person could drive a noticeable amount of villagers to that point with only his pain. And third I was still having a problem believing Lucien was The Cursed even if he was born of light. I also didn’t get why they didn’t just kill him because if one person caused that much damage I’d kill him personally.

I looked up running out of things to say to myself only to find that both of my guards had fallen asleep, and Lucien had let himself in. “Dess, I’m so sorry. They never visit my side of the island,” Unlocking the cage, he continued, “What did they do to you?”

Stepping out I took my first breath of free air, “I thought you said there were no people on this island?”

“I said that to protect you. These people are insane,” he paused searching my face for doubt. He had to know by now I’d heard some stories, he must’ve been checking to see if my sanity remained. 

We exited the castle without trouble. Then we silently hoped from shadow to shadow until we reached the gates that would lead us to freedom. “Stay here,” Lucien said leaving me in the shadows before I had a chance to reply.

Lucien strode nonchalantly out of the darkness and into the path lit by moonlight. He stopped before one of the guards watching the gates, to be specific the guard who had found me wandering outside of Lucien’s cottage. The guards face went white upon his realization, apparently the story he had been told was complete with a description. “Open the gate,” Lucien said loud enough for both guards to hear.

They complied without hesitation. I wasn’t sure what made them do so. Was it their fear of him? Or was it the simple fact that he belong on the other side? Neither seemed to make sense to me. I assumed that they’d have some protocol for this event. He’d broken their barriers. He was on their territory and they acted as if it were normal. Maybe it was. Maybe they were the ones who let him in. “Dess, coming,” He called from the gate. He turned to the guards to mumble, “I was never here.”

***

We were back in his cottage as we had been three nights ago. But on this night I couldn’t sleep. No matter how much I wanted to be here with Lucien. Mace’s voice still wouldn’t leave me. “Lucien,” I whispered into the silent night. “Forgive me.”

He didn’t stir as I left. And for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I did so either. But something inside me wouldn’t rest until I saw Mace.