A Crowned King (Complete)

Chapter 30

There was a steady dripping noise from down the hall, echoing off of the stone walls down the long hallway. It was the dripping sound that brought him too. Mako groaned heavily and winced, pain shooting through his body. He reached up and clenched at his ribs. The lightning that filled his body at that movement...there was only one answer for that. Broken ribs, several of them. 

Great, the Prince thought to himself even in his agony. Just fucking great. 

That was the last thing he needed and he knew it. Any chance he might have at escape would be hampered greatly by an injury. An injury could slow him down and he couldn't afford to be slowed down in a case like this. It was one thing to be in a county jail, but a national dungeon was a whole nother thing. This place could mean his death and he damn well knew it. 

Mako opened his eyes, looking around the room. Obviously he was in a cell. That much was quite clear from the thick iron bars that kept him locked inside of the rather small ten by ten room. It was dark and dank, the floors as well as the walls made of cobblestone. There was a small cot in the corner which was infested with lice and a latrine hole dug in the other for him to piss and shit in. It wasn't the most glamorous situation he'd ever been in, but he would learn to deal with it as long as he could. He might be a Prince and future King, but he had never been spoiled in his life. He wouldn't whine over his conditions. 

The Prince moved to his knees and gasped out in pain. His broken ribs were really going to be a problem if they were causing him this much pain just from moving. He needed to escape, but he wasn't sure how to go about doing that. More than that, he knew that he couldn't escape on his own. Even if he managed to get himself free, he would have to find his companion and get her out as well. There was no way that he could leave Winter. He just couldn't. He loved her and he wouldn't leave her behind. No matter what. 

It would still be a matter of finding her though. That was going to be the tough part. 

It was still hard for Mako to believe what was happening, but he would have to wrap his head around it eventually. It was reality and it wasn't going to change anytime soon just because he might want it to. The King of Galtea had been deposed and likely imprisoned somewhere in his own castle. Because of that, the Lord Steward who had served the King for years was now in charge and was leading some kind of army against Star. There seemed to be more to it than that. He could sense it, but he couldn't figure out what the motive was without the man telling him or finding some scrap of evidence towards what it was. Something that he wasn't going to get down here. 

Which brought him back to the fact that he needed to escape. There was no other way around it. No one was going to march in and save them by the sharp edge of a sword. He was going to have to save himself, Winter, and hopefully both Nations from war if he could possibly do all of that. 

"Magnus help me." Mako prayed out loud when he realized the enormity of the task ahead of him. He started to feel a little overwhelmed and he dropped his head, closing his eyes. He was unsure if he could do this. It was one thing to investigate his father's killing. It was another thing to escape capture, assist his love escape as well, and stop a war before it claimed thousands of lives. 

"Who's there?" called a tired, gravelly voice from further down the hallway. His head snapped out, looking out the bars. He hadn't realized that there were others down here. He'd thought that he was the only prisoner. He hadn't heard anyone moving around so he'd assumed he was alone. He was wrong apparently. "Why are you here, son? Why are you calling on the Father for help?" 

The Prince winced as he got slowly to his feet. He did his best not to make a noise to show his pain as he moved to the bars and he looked out. He could see nothing in the other cell across from him, but it was likely the voice was coming from further down anyway. He doubted his guards would be stupid enough to put two prisoners directly across from one another.