CROWNS I: Of Desolate Hope | ✔

36. Jaessa

Jaessa heard heavy footsteps and the clinking of armour approach her cell. She tried to get up and walk to the bars but she couldn't. The iron shackles clasped around her ankles were excruciatingly painful. Who is it? Hopefully, breakfast for once. Jaessa tried to run her fingers through her mangy and tangled hair to try and look more presentable but it just wouldn't work. She then tried to clean out the dirt from between her toes and nails but it wouldn't come out. Jaessa was sure that she must look like one of those witches she had often heard about in stories as a child. 

As the footsteps drew nearer, it became apparent to Jaessa that there was more than one pair. It must be three people. A guard, Thom and Rian, maybe? She wasn't sure how she looked but she continued to try and tidy herself up in vain but there was nothing she could do about the cell. The floor was littered with splatters of mud with insects crawling out from within. In the corner of the room were two rags, one of which she guessed she was supposed to sleep on and the other to cover herself with on the cold nights but it wasn't enough. The warmer the day became, the more bitter the night was and although she could use both rags to cover herself in the night, there was nothing she could do about the sweltering heat which seeped through a hole in the ceiling.

Jaessa diverted her attention to the cell to her left which she could make out due to a sizeable crack in the wall. The man laying on the rags was elderly and had wispy white hair. He also had bags under his eyes and was always sullen. When she had first arrived after being taken from her room, the old man had told her everything about himself, right from him one of the leaders in the riots over a decade ago to partaking in the rebellion in the Blackfall. Although by law he was a terrorist, they both agreed on one thing in particular - the King was a problem. She wasn't sure how many days had passed or even weeks but the man had been unmoving in that same position for a very long time. She wasn't sure if the cell next to her was vacant but no one spoke or stirred and so she assumed it was. The old man had been the only one to talk to or properly see for that matter. She was truly alone save for the guard that kept watch along this side of the dungeons with his savage dog in the dead of night.

"Isabelle Murrow, Your 'ighness," said a guard, whose voice Jaessa had never heard before.

"You can leave us now, thank you," came a courteous reply.

Jaessa waited for the guard to leave and then looked toward the bars. Elation swept over her body like a wave. Rian! Finally! She attempted to move closer but the chains stopped her. "You came," she whispered, in delight and relief. 

"Of course, I did..." replied Rian, with a strained smile. "As soon as I found out."

"Are you here to tell you me that I'm free to go?" she asked, expectant, her voice hushed but mellow. "You don't understand how dreadful it's been here. There's no one down here, it's so quiet and...I'm by myself." Jaessa's voice tapered and dissipated.

Rian checked over his shoulders and leaned closer to the bars. "I am so sorry for what happened to you, Jessica. This was all my idea, I'll make it up to you."

"By releasing me?" she asked, beaming.

"Uh no," whispered the prince. "By breaking you out."

"What? Why?" asked Jaessa, downcast. "You're the prince. You can set me free can't you?"

"I can't remember. My father doesn't know that it was I who put you up to the job," he replied, embarrassedly. 

Jaessa shook her head vehemently. "No, you will not break me out," she declared in a hushed tone. "You'll make my case worse! That sounds like one of Thom's stupid plans. Surely, by now I've been scheduled for a trial or something. In fact, I don't even know if they know my name."