Loving a Thief

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

I walked down to the dungeon. Two guards were standing in front of the door. They had bags under their eyes. It was obvious they were tired. I recognized them as guards who would help Arianna and trust her.

“I would like to visit Princess Arianna,” I said.

“Okay,” said the guard on my left, yawning.

He took keys off of his belt and opened the dungeon door. The door scraped along the floor and its hinges creaked as it opened wide enough to step through. The smell of human excrement, blood, and rotten food overwhelmed me. I felt the bile rise unto my throat. I thankfully was able to swallow it down. I followed the guard down a short hallway. He stopped abruptly and I ran into him. He unlocked the door to a cell. The light from a nearby torch poured into the room and landed onto a figure in the middle of the floor. I looked closer. It was Arianna! I ran to her side and knelt down.

“Are you alright?” I asked after I kissed her.

“For present circumstances, yes,” she answered.

I hugged her tighter. Then I saw something stir in the corner. I looked up and strained my eyes to see. “Fredrick?”

“Surprised eh?” Fredrick replied.

“I thought you went back to your hometown,” I said.

“Apparently everyone did. I was arrested for helping Nikolas steal the taxes,” Fredrick answered the unasked question.

“Is it time?” whispered Arianna.

I nodded.

“What about Fredrick?” she asked.

“I only made arrangements for you, dear. Fredrick, I’m sorry. If I had known I would have done something for you, but…”

“It’s alright,” interrupted Fredrick. “I will be fine here. Just get Arianna away from this place.”

“If you’re done visiting now, we have to go before the guards change shifts,” said the guard by the doorway.

Arianna and I stood up. I took her hand in mine and kissed her on the cheek. She turned a light shade of red. “I love you,” I told her.

“I love you too,” Arianna replied.

We followed the guard back to the front door. “God speed,” wished the guard.

“Thank you, for everything,” said Arianna.

I led her up a staircase and down a short corridor. This castle is like a maze. Luckily, Arianna has lived here all her life and knows where to turn. We got to a corner and stopped. I looked around the corner to make sure no one was there. So far, we’ve been safe. But that could change at any moment. I saw a guard standing at a door. The door we have to go through. I took a rock out of my pocket. I was afraid something like this would happen, so I put a couple rocks in my pocket to cause a distraction. I threw the rock at a window at the other end of hallway. The glass shattered into a million small pieces. The guard rushed to the window and looked around. We quickly tip-toed out the door. Darkness covered the ground. I was thankful for the darkness to hide us. We carefully, and quietly walked towards the loose rock in the wall, making sure we were next to the wall, hoping that it’s shadows would cover us further. We soon reached the loose rock in the wall. I pushed the rock aside and an opening was made.

“I won’t be going with you,” I whispered to Arianna.

“They will know you helped me escape, Henry. You’re not safe here,” replied Arianna.