Inked

41

Farid had heard commotion all below his tower, but he was too far away to catch details, so he watched the half-asleep soldiers marching out of the castle and onto the training grounds. What was going on? Had another one died in his sleep? Had they finally caught the killer? 

With these questions came thoughts of Meggie, and Dustfinger, who he knew had never failed to cause commotion in the past. Farid thought again of what his life would have been like had he not been forced into Meggie's world, but all worlds without him ever meeting Meggie always ceased to be appealing to him, no matter his thoughts towards her now.

Devondria's usual guards were rushing around in a frenzy, passing orders or messages or questions along before running off somewhere else. From up here, they just looked like confused ants to Farid, and his curiosity made him want to pick the lock, find Soleil, and figure out why the castle was being turned inside out at this hour of the morning. 

There was running up the staircase, light-footed but urgent. Farid moved to the middle of the room as the door burst open, and Soleil rushed in, hair lifting with a static electricity that she seemed to carry with her. 

"Farid. Come with me." He didn't move. "Now," she reached out her hand for him but he didn't meet it. 

"What is happening? Outside, all the recruits are gathering...?"

"Enough, I don't have time for this, you have to help us." She closed the door behind her and sighed. "Farid-"

"Soleil," he mocked her tone. "Why can't I know what's going on? If I am forced to help you, I should at least be aware of the reasoning so maybe I can provide the information you need-"

She had grabbed him by the face, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Farid, dear, sweet Farid. You simply don't understand. We have been betrayed, infiltrated!" Her voice rose on the last word but she tampered her passion to continue, "The queen is in danger, I am in danger, and you can protect me. Do this for me, Farid. For me." She repeated the last two words over and over until they had lost all meaning yet had somehow transformed into Farid's entire world. 

They were all he could hear, and Soleil was all he could see. All he wanted to do was protect her. He had to, didn't he? "I have to protect you," he said, and his voice sounded far away.

Her expression softened toward him. She was satisfied. "Perfect. Now, find me the Bluejay. And," she added as an afterthought, "Don't let the witch girl leave the palace. Her Majesty is not done with her quite yet."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a mere half an hour after this conversation that Meggie and Mo climbed out of an old waste chute and began to scurry along the castle walls. They heard the commotion in the courtyard and had set a course for the complete opposite direction. This portion of the castle grounds appeared to be uncared for, overgrown and untidy. But, hidden in the foliage along the outer castle wall, was a hole in the stone just big enough for a shirking palace guard to sit and maybe relax or play some dice.

Meggie could not have written a better escape. She stood, crouched below a mass of moss and branches, to hug Mo one last time. "I promise I can help if I stay in Argenta, Mo. I can help you defeat Devondria."

He smiled at her and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I know you would take on the whole world for the people you care about, Meg. But I can't if I know you're not safe. Resa, your brother, Doria," she tried not to flinch at the name, "They need you to share some of that courage with them. Train there, not here. Fight there, not here. And I promise you can help us in Ombra even more so."

Meggie nodded, squeezing his hand before turning toward the gap in the wall. She leaned down to step through -

"How touching," a cold voice mused. Soleil was standing on the other side of the wall, an ugly sort of fire at her feet and Farid staring blankly ahead behind her. "Maybe you would like to recite another masterpiece for us in the dungeons, Bluejay." 

Meggie felt her wrists burn, and looked down to see a dull ring of sharp flames circling them. She tried to shake it off, but nearly collapsed at the searing pain that shot through her arms. Mo stepped forward to help her but convulsed violently as a spike of the dark fire hit him in the chest. 

"Not so fast, you two," Soleil chuckled smugly. "Her Majesty is dying to meet you." She motioned with her head, and Farid jolted into action. Walking behind the bound pair, he aimed his hands at their backs, the tips of twin flaming beams jabbing at them to get moving. 

Mo and Meggie were ushered this way into the castle, where they could hear the soldiers filing back in from outside as they traced a new, proper pattern through the halls, to a different staircase. Climbing down, down, the ever-present fire singeing their backs, they reached the dungeon once more. Meggie's eyes could not adjust to the darkness, but Farid's fire did not punish her as harshly for tripping or stepping into a puddle. 

The fire gave one last shove of its burning touch and Mo and Meggie collapsed into a cell together. It was more spacious than her previous one, but no less chilly and damp. 

At least we're together this time, Meggie thought morosely, dreading what would happen when the sun came up. 

Suddenly, after Soleil and Farid had left the dungeons, a voice croaked hoarsely from behind them in the darkness. They both jumped before recognizing the familiar gruffness of their favorite fire-eater. "Brilliant."