Varian's Tale: A Tangled Fan Fiction

Chapter 2

The guards brought down food. A piece of bread, a hunk of cheese and a cup of water. I didn't have much of an appetite, but I was definitely thirsty.
“Eat fast,” the guard ordered.
I raised an eyebrow. The guards had never told me how to eat before.
“Then make yourself presentable,” he continued. “You have a meeting with the king.”
“The king?” I repeated, intrigued. “Why would the king want to see me?”
“Guess you'll find out,” the guard said. “Now hurry up.”
I rolled my eyes and ate a bite of the cheese, which was hard as a rock, and maybe two bites of the bread, which was stale, then drank all the water, which, thankfully, didn't have anything floating in it.
The guard came into my cell and hauled me to my feet, then put a pair of shackles on me. I scowled as we met three other guards outside the door to the dungeon. The four surrounded me as we made our way to the throne room.
My eyes wandered around the halls, taking in everything. Every window, every door, every possible way out. Eventually, we made it to the throne room, with its towering ceiling and thrones at the end. The room was huge, my house could have fit in there.
The king was at the far end, by the thrones, waiting. I followed the guards down through the room.
“Your Majesty,” one of them announced. “We brought Varian.”
“Good,” King Fredric said. “Wait outside.”
“But sir-” the guard was cut off.
“Wait outside,” Fredric repeated. “He won't be going anywhere.”
Hm. We'd see about that.
The guard nodded. “Yes sir,” he said as he and the three others left the room, leaving me with the king, alone.
“What do you want?” I demanded as soon as I heard the doors slam shut.
The king glared. “I won't have that kind of disrespect, Varian,” he said.
“Oh, I'm sorry, your highness," I said, purposely using the wrong word. “Did I forget the pleasantries?”
“Varian, I-”
I cut him off. “I don't want to hear it,” I said.
“Varian,” he said, coming closer to me. “You have to trust me-”
“Right, because you're so trustworthy,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Oh, how's my dad doing? You have checked on him, haven't you?”
“Varian, due to you causing a panic, I-”
“I'll take that as a no then,” I said. “Breaking promises, must run in the family.”
“Varian!” the king snapped. “Listen!”
I rolled my eyes. “Help my dad,” I said. “Help my father get out. Do something!”
“I am doing something,” he said. “I'm doing what I can. You have to trust me.”
“I'm not so sure I can do that anymore,” I said.
The king put a hand on my shoulder in an almost fatherly fashion. I flinched away. “Varian,” he started.
I didn't hear the end I slammed my shackled wrists against his temple, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. I gasped. What had I done? I'd just attacked the king. I had to get out of here.
I looked around the room. The doors would probably be guarded, so that wasn't an option, but, there were windows. I hurried over to the windows and looked out. It was my only option. I didn't have another choice. I had to get out of here. Now.
I looked for a latch, and when I found it, opened the window. A bone chilling wind blew past me, blowing my hair out of my face, clearing my mind a little. I glanced back at the king who was still out on the floor. I looked back out the window and took a deep breath, then, I jumped.
I landed on the ground hard, but got up fast. The guards would probably find out that I was gone soon, and I wanted to be as far from the castle as possible when that happened.
I made my way out of the castle as fast as I could without raising any attention. Pretty soon, I was out of the castle and making my way down the backstreets of Corona. I needed off the island. I needed to get to the mainland. I wanted to check on my dad, but I knew that wasn't the best idea. They'd be waiting for me.
Very slowly, I made my way towards the bridge. It was about the only way I knew off the island. I made it about a quarter of the way across when I heard shouting.
“There he is! Get him!”
I looked behind me and saw a group of guards running after me. I panicked and ran. The guards pounded after me, shouting at me. Ordering me to stop, but I didn't. I didn't respond, I didn't look back.
“Oof!” I cried, tumbling to the ground. I looked up, and in front of me was Cassandra. She bent to grab my arm, but I rolled out of the way and onto my feet. I looked behind me and saw the guards getting closer. I was trapped.
“Varian,” Cass said. “Stop running. They'll let you explai-”
“No!” I shouted, climbing onto the bridge’s railing. “Goodbye Cassandra.”
Realization dawned on her face. “Varian, no!” she cried, rushing towards me, but it was too late. I had jumped. Jumped over the side and into the water.
An icy cold darkness engulfed me, my shackled wrists dragged me down. I kicked hard, hoping to be able to get away from the bridge and towards the shore of the mainland. I kicked and flopped like a fish out of water, and eventually, my head broke the surface.
I took a gasping breath and struggled to stay afloat. I wasn't too far from the mainland. I kicked as hard as I could in that direction before my head went under again. I kept kicking in what I hoped was the right direction until I felt dirt and rocks underneath me. I planted my feet and pushed myself up. I broke the surface again and was wading in water about waist deep.
I trudged to shore and when I got there, I looked out towards the island. I could still see the bridge, but it was tiny. I highly doubted anyone could see me from there. For now, I was safe, from the guards at least.
I suddenly doubled over and started coughing. I coughed and coughed until the bread and cheese from earlier came back up and I couldn't cough anymore. I wanted to curl into a ball and sleep, not move, but I couldn't. I had to get away from the shore.
I forced myself into an upright position, and took a deep breath. I hadn't noticed how cold it was. I hugged myself the best I could with the shackles still on, and stumbled into the forest. A few minutes later, I fell over and started coughing. I couldn't stop. I curled into a ball and coughed until I couldn't anymore, but this time, I didn't get back up.