Dragon Dust

The Great Escape

Nymphera had managed to drag Dorian back inside the castle to his mother. Queen Artemis was more than grateful to see her son alive. His grim appearance did not surprise her, considering the recent events. She would have never guessed anything else. She had no knowledge of Bianca's kidnapping or the potion that Dorian ingested the night before. That is until Nymphera told all.
"Dorian's curse did not happen last night!" Nymphera blurted out. "That must be why the Mistwalkers invaded! It's something to do with Dorian's curse!" The rest of the family had just arrived in the throne room when Nymphera explained all of this. Dorian became outraged with his cousin. His mother turned to him with eyes like fire.
"Do you even want to talk about why the curse didn't happen last night? Clearly something happened in order to break your curse by some miracle or something else is going on and we want to know what," Artemis demanded. Dorian rolled his eyes, because he knew he couldn't get mad at her. It was his stupid decision and she was right to insist on the current circumstances of his curse.
"A gypsy woman in the city gave me a potion, okay!" he admitted. Artemis was struck with shock. Then she got angry.
"What!?" she nearly shrieked. She found it hard to believe that Dorian could be so careless.
"Yes, and her granddaughter, or at least I thought it was her granddaughter, read my palm too and told me my future. She warned me of a trap and that Bianca would be taken. Then the old gypsy woman came back and gave me a potion that would last three nights. Tomorrow night is my last night and then it's back to the curse! The old gypsy woman turned out to be Thysadine! he explained.
"Dorian, you could have been killed! What if that potion had been poison! What if it is poison and it's killing you slowly!? If you're not more careful you'll be getting laid out in a black coffin, awaiting your place next to your father!" she shouted.
"Don't bring up father like this!" he demanded. Artemis would still not let up. She wouldn't stop until she was sure she'd knocked some more sense into him.
"I have to, before you completely destroy his memory! And then you'll have regrets!" Artemis continued. Dorian's blood began to boil. Demetrius rolled his eyes in frustration and sat down.
"We're gonna be here a while," he mumbled. Dorian glared at him briefly. His sarcasm was offensive to him at this very moment. He was already in enough trouble with his mother, he did not need his cousin's antagonism.
"Shut up, Demetrius!" he snarled. Queen Artemis pulled him back and even Queen Meinwen stepped in between them.
"Enough Dorian! You allow him to irk you and then you fight and when you fight it only makes things worse!" Artemis explained. Dorian didn't want to hear any of it, but he remained where he was.
"Because he's a spoiled little brat! He thinks because he's a rich, privileged prince he can do whatever he wants!" Dorian shouted.
"And what do you think you are, Dorian!?" his mother shouted at him. He didn't care about his logic at the moment, he just wanted to turn the attention on someone else. He huffed with frustration anyway. It was time to stop arguing and go rescue Bianca.
"We have to go save Bianca!" Dorian insisted. Then he waited for a rescue party to form and stand with him to go on the journey to win her back from the Mistwalkers. The situation was going along better in his head, than what was actually occurring. Queen Artemis took an exasperated breath and stared into thought for a moment.
"Guards!" she called. The guards that were available showed up before their Queen at attention. "Take my son to the South Tower and be sure the door is securely locked."
"What!? No!" Dorian shouted. It was too late. The castle guards had already seized him and started pulling him in the direction of the South Tower. He tried wrestling himself out of their grasp, shouting at the top of his lungs. Dorian knew why his mother ordered him to be locked away in the South Tower. To protect him. He also knew that he needed to go out and fix the mistake he had made. He would be king in two years time. He needed experience. The people of the South needed to trust the heir to the throne and it were as if no one knew who he was because of his being forced into hiding due to his horrible curse.
Dorian was shoved into the tower, the door firmly locked behind him. That didn't stop him from pounding his fists against it. He shouted at the guards through the door, ordering them to let him out. It was useless though. They were gone and far out of earshot. Dorian assumed he was just wasting his energy. He ran across the room to the barred window and tried to catch a glimpse of outside. He could see as far as the Cassidy mountains, but no sign of the Mistwalkers traveling across the valleys and hillsides heading North.
He sat down on the cot provided and tried to conjure up a plan of escape. Dorian was usually skilled at planning to sneak out at night, mostly by himself, occasionally at times with one of his cousins. Dorian's mind was flooded with anxiety this time and it was hard to concentrate. He laid back and as he stared up at the ceiling, his mind began to calm. He thought of Bianca and the night before. Dorian was glad to find out her feelings for him were equal to his feelings toward her. He felt stupid for just laying there while she was in the hands of his enemies. He kept thinking to himself; 'Just sneak out and go.'
It was then that he heard something just outside the door. Dorian sat up and looked across the room toward the source of the sound. He watched the gap between the door and the floor for the shadows. Someone was definitely there on the other side. He could hear muffled voices talking lowly to one another, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Dorian waited anxiously for the door to open and when it finally did, there was Demetrius and Tiernan, knelt down on the floor still, from picking the lock. Demetrius looked up at him and sort of rolled his eyes.
"What happened to your angry magic?" he asked.
"You!" Dorian snarled. He jumped off the cot, grabbed Demetrius by the scruff and pulled him into the room. Tiernan reached for Demetrius to stop it all from happening, but he wasn't quick enough. The two wrestled against each other while Dorian kept his cousin in a strong headlock. They grunted, pulled each other's hair, kicked each other's shins and almost blew the entire rescue.
"Dorian, let go of me! You're going to get us all caught!" Demetrius demanded. He shoved his cousin off of him and pushed him into the wall. Dorian became infuriated and got in Demetrius' face, then raised his arm. His telekinesis finally became strong and he choked his cousin and lifted him into the air. His eyes changed and he began to shake with anger. Demetrius was losing air. Tiernan panicked and let go of his strongest power to break them apart.
"You idiot! Don't you see we're trying to sneak you out of the castle to go after Bianca!?" Tiernan shouted. Dorian gave up and Demetrius' wheezing was the only thing that could be heard in the silence.
"Your love for her is making you careless, weak and vulnerable," Tiernan pointed out. Dorian knew his cousin was right, but he couldn't help it. He heaved a heavy sigh and sat down on the cot, lowering his forehead into his hand.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked helplessly. He hated this whole thing. His heart was broken and it was destroying him.
"Don't let this weaken you," Tiernan warned. "Bianca is your goal now, just think more clearly, make smarter decisions. If not for your parents, then for Bianca." Dorian looked at Demetrius, who was glaring at him while still protecting his neck. Dorian's shoulders relaxed and he looked down at the ground in defeat.
"Dorian, you can't go on with being the hero all the time. Look at you, you're under a curse. Don't you think it's time someone rescues you?" Demetrius asked. Dorian looked at him again.
"Well doesn't that sound embarrassing?" he argued. His cousins groaned with aggravation. Dorian was just as aggravated as they were.
"What if it's Bianca who is destined to save you from your curse?" Tiernan suggested. Dorian turned to him.
"Do you think she's alright?" Dorian asked. Tiernan gave him a sympathetic look.
"I don't know, Dorian," he admitted. That answer didn't sit well with Dorian though. He accepted the fact that his two younger cousins were rescuing him from a tower in his own castle. In fact, he was grateful for it because he realized he probably wouldn't have been able to even break down the door, given the several tries he made immediately after being locked in.
"What's the plan then?" he asked. Tiernan and Demetrius glanced at each other. Tiernan helped Demetrius up from the floor and checked the outside of the door.
"Fortunately, the guards are still out cold. If we rush out now, quietly, we should have enough time to get to the stables," Tiernan explained.
"Yeah and we'll have to avoid your mother," Demetrius added directly to Dorian. Tiernan gestured for their attention and the three princes slipped out of the tower and down to the stables, ducking behind pillars and statues on their way to avoid the eyes of the castle guards and their parents. When they finally arrived at the stables, the place was heavily guarded. Dorian gritted his teeth with frustration and shoved Demetrius.
"You didn't think to drug the guards in the stables too?!" he whispered angrily. Demetrius shrugged. Dorian began to regret his decision to go with his cousin's ingenious plan to escape the castle. He could imagine his mother's punishment already.
"Mom's going to kill us," Dorian said quietly.
"Aunt Artemis is not going to kill us. The Mistwalkers might though," Tiernan said. Dorian and Demetrius both looked at him uneasily. Tiernan could sense their piercing eyes. He turned to them. "Well it's more likely."
"Would you just shut up and come up with a better plan?!" Dorian snapped. With that, Tiernan did shut up and began to observe the stable for each of the guards. He even accounted for any of them that would be outside of the stable and how to get out of the castle gates. In the midst of his thinking process, Demetrius' little brother, Crispin, showed up unexpectedly.
"You're going off on an adventure, aren't you? I want to come," the ten-year-old insisted. Tiernan turned to find the youngest of them hovering over him. Dorian silently sighed with aggravation and rubbed his forehead briefly. Demetrius was immediately annoyed.
"Crispin! What are you doing here!?" he whispered angrily.
"I want to come! You guys never include me! It isn't fair!" Crispin complained almost a little too loudly. Demetrius huffed, feeling the pressure of his little brother not staying out of trouble weighing down on him.
"You're too little and it isn't safe," he answered. Crispin shoved him hard, as little brothers do. Demetrius reeled back to push back harder, but Dorian stopped him.
"Fighting with each other isn't going to get us out of the stable, it's going to get us caught!" Dorian seethed through gritted teeth. Demetrius pulled his arm away and Dorian turned back to Crispin. "Your brother is right. You're too little and it's too dangerous."
"But maybe he can still help," Tiernan suggested. He gestured for them to huddle close together so they could all hear his idea. They did so and listened intently. "Crispin, you may not be able to come with us this time, but we do need your help to get out of here. Aunt Artemis won't let Dorian leave so he can go rescue Bianca from the Mistwalkers."
"What am I supposed to do?" Crispin asked. Demetrius was already catching on to what Tiernan was thinking. He smirked to himself when he figured it out.
"What you do best, little brother. Rat us out," he said. If Crispin alerted the guards that Dorian was trying to escape somewhere on the other side of the castle, that would give them enough time to saddle the horses and take off. Once Tiernan explained the plan clearly and made sure Crispin understood, their convenient little accomplice jumped into view of the guards.
"Guards! Guards!" he cried. They all turned and looked at him. "Prince Dorian is trying to escape the castle! Queen Artemis sent me for you! He was seen near the East courtyard!" Every guard broke into a run, exiting the stable, toward the false escape route, leaving the place completely unguarded.
Once it was clear, Dorian, Demetrius and Tiernan came out from hiding and ran to their horses, quickly strapping on saddles and bridles. Crispin kept watch at the doors for them. Dorian's heart pounded as he rushed to make his escape.
"Did you at least pack supplies?" Dorian asked his cousins as he strapped the bridle to his horse.
"We can get supplies at my castle! No one's there, nor do any of the servants know what's going on and since we're getting a head start-"Tiernan began to explain.
"You didn't think to pack supplies!?" Dorian shouted.
"We were trying to get you out of here as quickly as possible!" Demetrius argued. Crispin turned to them from his post at the doors.
"Guys you're running out of time! They're going to figure it out any minute!" he warned them. Dorian buckled the saddle and mounted his horse. He looked over at his youngest cousin.
"Thank you Crispin," he said. The boy still looked disappointed, but he shrugged his shoulders and waved them on.
"Go on! Get out of here before they see you!" he shouted. Dorian kicked his horse to go and the three princes bolted out of the stable.
"TELL BIANCA I SAID HI!" Crispin shouted after them. They raced for the gates to get outside before the guards could catch them. The commotion and the thundering of the horses hooves caught everyone's attention and turned the guards on their tails.
They just made it through before the gate keepers could get the gates closed to lock them in. They weren't free just yet. They still had to get out of the city. Dorian's heart pounded and his body rushed with adrenaline. He made it past the gate. He kicked his horse harder and leaned forward for faster speed.
Demetrius and Tiernan kept in pace with him. They caught sideways glances at each other as they terrorized the citizens. Each one smirked knowingly and focused on their goal. The guards were already far outrun. The edge of the city got closer and Dorian felt the hope rise in his chest that he would be successful.
Out of nowhere, the wheel of a cart broke and caused it to tip over and spill all the contents out into the street. Dorian was not letting anything stop him though. He braced himself for his horse to jump and he did. Demetrius and Tiernan nearly stopped, but they saw Dorian's determination and followed through right behind him. They raced on until they were too far to be followed.
The horses finally slowed down to a walk and the princes caught their breath. Amethyst then soon came swooping over their heads. Dorian looked up and held up his arm for her to land on.
"There you are girl. Where have you been?" he said. She cooed and, as usual, draped herself over his shoulders. Demetrius sidled up next to Dorian.
"Now, where are we headed after the West Castle? I think Widdershins Hollow is too obvious and this must be some kind of trap, Dorian. You've already fallen deep enough into their trap by taking that potion-" Demetrius began.
"Don't start acting like you know better than me!" Dorian cut him off. Demetrius was only worried and concerned for his cousin's safety. He knew this was no time for games. Dorian was thoroughly embarrassed though for falling into such an obvious trap and it angered him. His intention was to fix his mistake on his own and be respected for doing so.
"Clearly at this moment in time I do, Dorian! I for one, would have never taken that potion!" Demetrius snapped.
"You've never been under a curse, Demetrius, and you've never been in love so I can't expect you to understand," Dorian argued.
"I know there's more than one out there and I avoid having my heart broken! It's too exhausting!" Demetrius explained.
"And that's the reason why no one stays with you for more than twenty-four hours!" Dorian argued.
"At least I have a good reason! Look at you Dorian, you're a complete wreck!" he accused. Then they were silent for a few moments. Demetrius sat there waiting for an answer.
"One day you'll learn what it feels like to have the woman you love most taken away from you," Dorian said. He rode ahead of Demetrius and focused his thoughts on Bianca.