Five Years Later
I curl against Philippe, shivering slightly in the cold of the cell.
He looks down at me, the iron of his mask scraping the stone wall behind us. "Today marks six years that we have been here."
I let out a quiet sign. We must be doomed to spend the rest of our lives here.
Philippe seems to know what I am thinking, he takes my hand in his own, caressing my palm gently. "We will leave here. I know it."
Suddenly we hear keys in the lock of the cell door, we both jump to our feet, my shackles clanging together loudly.
The door opens and a great big man waddles in. His dark brown tunic falls strangely around his buldges.
"Grazie, grazie." He nods towards the guards who had opened the door for him. They quickly close it behind him.
The large man then turns towards us, look us both over with bright mischievous eyes. Philippe recovers quickly.
"It's my confession day." He states kneeling down, looking expectantly at the large man.
I kneel down next the Philippe, folding my hands in my lap and bowing my head. However, the large man of God says nothing.
"I'm sorry you've never seen me before. I must shock you." Philippe states sadly.
I look up to see the large man shaking his head, "I am a friend. I am here to help you."
He lifts up his tunic, I quickly turn away in udder horror. Seconds later I hear a soft thump as something hits the floor.
"What are you doing?" Philippe asks.
"It is your escape to freedom."
I turn around, "What?"
My eyes fall on a body lying at the large man's feet that looks exactly like Philippe, mask and all. A scream escapes my lips and I scramble back, getting caught on my shackles and I hit the floor.
"Who is this?" Philippe steps in between me and the body.
"He is you," the man replies.
Philippe turns to me, kneeling down.
"This is a gift from God. We should take it. We have kept faith and held onto hope and now we should take the chance," Philippe takes my hand, his fingers running across the cuffs of my chains.
I just nod, this is an opportunity that we cannot let pass us by as we may never get another one.
Philippe turns back to the large man, "What do we need to do?"
"You will hide underneath my tunic just as I hid the body. I will inform the guards that you dropped dead from plague, encourage them to set the room alight and none shall be the wiser," the man explains.
Philippe nods, thinking over the plan. "What about Lavena?"
"I do not think I will be able to carry both of you," he shakes his head.
I feel my heart break in my chest, it was too good. Of course, he can take only one.
"Go, Philippe, you should take your chance," I encourage him.
"No, I will not leave you here. Not now, not ever. I made you a promise, and I plan to make you several more when we are married." Philippe turns back to the man, "If I go, she goes. I will not leave here without her. Figure out a way."
The man sighs, "I was afraid of that... so be it then. Come and hide my boy. Lavena, you must act as if he is actually dead, then you must begin to portray symptoms of plague. I will convince them to let you leave to serve the rest of your short life in the monastery."
A few moments later everything was in place. "Are you ready?" He asks. I nod.
I begin to wail, crying my heart out over the dead body of the fake Philippe.
"SIGNORE, SCUSI, SCUSI! SIGNORE! SIGNORE, SCUSI!" The man yells.
The door bursts open and the two guards storm in. The man starts talking quickly in Italian, explaining what happened. I continue to wail loudly over the fake body.
One guard translates for the other, "He says he fell stone dead as he was reading him the mass. How could he just keel over?"
He explains in Italian faster than I can catch.
The guard translates again, "He says the prisoner had a fever, like the priest."
"Plague? They brought plague in here?" The other guard asks, horrified.
I begin the cough uncontrollably.
"Get him out of here! And her too! Let them take the plague back!"
The large man slips out for a moment then comes back with a torch. He instructs the two guards with grand gestures accompanying the Italian.
"He says burn it or we will all get plague." The guard translates.
"He's right!"
The large man that hides Philippe grabs me by the arm and drags me out of the room. I scream when they light the room on fire, just to keep up the act. Then I dissolve into another coughing fit, trying to cough on every guard that we pass. I may not actually have any plague, but they all deserve a good scare.
The other two guards escort us through the prison screaming, "Stay back! Plague!"
Finally, we arrive at a small boat. In the boat sits two other men in rags. I get shoved into the boat first. The two men look at me strangely as the large man steps in, rocking the boat back and forth.
Once the man carrying Philippe motions, the two shrug and begin to row out of the prison.
Moments later I see the entire night sky for the first time in six years.
YOU ARE READING
The Man in the Iron Mask and the Girl in the Iron Chains
Adventure(Inspired by the movie 'The Man in the Iron Mask') He was imprisoned unfairly and enclosed in an iron mask. She was forced to care for her lover in the dark Bastille. Then, six years later, a miracle occurs. They are broken out of prison by three h...
