Chapter 44

Night didn’t come fast enough. I laid in bed, resting but making sure not to fall asleep, still letting my body gain back some of the weariness of the return journey. Rose helped with the staying away part, the Soulspeak still active for a good few hours past midnight if last time set the precedent.

She had wanted to warn our father about the change in his schedule, both from Hector and us, but I had elected to keep it to ourselves; the risk of being seen talking to him right afterwards felt too great to outweigh the benefit of warning him to at least be ready. She hadn’t taken the disagreement well and complained that it was an abuse of power, but I eventually argued her down and she conceded to wait until we actually made our move.

Christopher came back a little while later. He was about as talkative as he was during the meal, which was to say not very much. I wanted to ask him about what happened with Tabitha but didn’t. I think he’s still kind of beat up about Brontus, I thought.

“Well yeah, he actually liked the guy,” Rose replied. “…Sorry… I didn’t actually get to see him, but I guess that he wasn’t the worst here.” The magnitude of that understatement I chuckled at the irony of. We knew who the worst person at the base.

Looking back at Christopher left me feeling torn. The excitement he surely had for his first official mission was washed away in blood. He seemed content to continue not talking about it so I let it be, the two of us laying in our beds, staring at the long shadows that consumed the room, until he fell asleep.

I hesitated to get up. Not that I thought he would awaken with me; he seemed as tired as I felt. Rather it was the apprehension. So many times I had tried to push forward with what I wanted: I wanted to learn magic. Would this just going to be another half-baked mistake?

“It’s not about you,” Rose said as she scraped the surface of my emotions. “The past is something we can’t fix, but you’re doing this for him. So trust him, and trust me.”

I nodded, whispering a mental thanks. Standing, I carefully opened the door and crept down the hallways, taking the long way past the main doors then toward the cells, relieved to see that no one was around at this hour.

“Ren?” The guard stopped me, an arm blocking my path. It was Andor. “Hold on, I don’t think you’re supposed to be down here.”

I had hoped that it would be someone I didn’t know. Someone who would just let me pass. “I have permission from the captain,” I lied. I could see the keys on the ring behind him, where he would be able to easily stop me from grabbing them; a single key for all of the cells, it seemed.

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.”

“Well, if you want, I’ll wait here and you can ask,” I suggested.

He eyed me wearily. “Alright… but you better not move from this spot.” He quickly walked past me, down the hall toward Hector’s office, and as soon as he was around the corner, I grabbed the keys and sprinted down the cell hallway.

“Father!” I shouted as quietly as I could.

“Hmm… Ren?” He stirred, grunting as he woke up.

“We have to hurry.” I unlocked the door then his restraints, relieved that it was all to the same key. A bit of a security issue?

“Are you seriously complaining about that?” Rose grumbled. “Get a move on!”

Yep, yep! I helped my father up from his place on the floor, the chains falling away. I loosed the two massive weights that hung from his waist, letting the balls roll away so he could finally stand.

“This doesn’t seem like how a release should go,” he questioned, sounding concerned.

“We don’t have time for this!” Rose fretted, trying to urge at least one of us.

“It’s not,” I answered my father. “Just a little change of plans.”

Jard stood, stretching his legs. They creeked, audibly cracking along with his back as he wrung out the stiffness. “Couldn’t trust him, could you?”

I stopped, just for a second. He had said that so knowingly. “...You knew?”

He stepped past me, looking down the empty hallway. “Just because he didn’t come back to finish me off before didn’t mean he wouldn’t take the chance now. I’m sure he blames me that Lily left him.”

I quickly joined him outside the cell and we hurried out of the holding area. Andor was still gone and no one was there when we passed the threshold. I silently guided us as we ran to the main doors, just as empty as when I had walked the path in reverse. We rushed out into the moonlit night, sprinting through the cobblestone and grass outside, steering left toward the stables. It was open and I brought him straight to my mare, her chestnut brown flank easily seen in the night light. “This one, father.” I brought him around as I stroked her neck and she leaned into it, nuzzling my arm. I threw off the ropes keeping her in the stall and walked her out while my father got a saddle, strapping it onto her before hoisting himself onto it.

Neither of us spoke when we heard, “You know, Ren, I was really hoping I was wrong.”

We turned to the voice but didn’t need to see to know the speaker. Captain Hector stepped out from behind the stable as if he had been waiting until we were ready to escape. “Now, I’ll give you five minutes to explain yourself. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to conclude that you’re not as much like me as I thought.”

My blood boiled as he still tried to draw similarities not just between our circumstances, but our very natures. My father opened his mouth but I stepped up first. “I’m nothing like you, you horrible excuse for a person!” I screamed at my uncle. “You murdered my mother, threatened to execute me, and planned to do that to my father! Why would I want to be like you?”

Hector just tsked at me, shaking his head as he approached. “It’s time that you see the consequences of your truly stupid decisions.”

“Get father out of here!” Rose yelled at me as I turned to the horse, smacking it on the rear. It whinied, rising on its hind legs before starting to surge. My father looked surprised, trying to stop it but it didn’t slow, charging to gallop past Hector.

A single brush with his hand was all it took to bring the animal crashing to its knees.

The horse screamed, still alive but frothing at the mouth as it slid on its face. Jard was thrown from its back, tumbling. He groaned, struggling to get to his feet quickly, his time in captivity still wearing on his joints.

Hector looked between the two of us as if deciding who to deal with first. It didn’t take long as he spun on his heel and marched toward Jard. “Michael, I can’t say I’m surprised to see you on the ground again, where you belong. But don’t you think it’s getting old?”

It’s… Jard,” my father croaked as he stumbled a step back, still getting on his feet to meet Hector face to face.

“‘Jard’?” Hector laughed. “You chose an old fashion name like that?… Really, Michael, that’s so… stupid.” He calmed down, shaking his head. “Now, Michael, I am a man of mercy. If you come quietly, it will be a quick and painless death tomorrow, as planned. I’ll even let you go first, so you don’t have to watch Ren follow you right afterward.”

Jard’s eyes widened. “You monster!” he screamed, the cry raw and gutteral, as he leapt at Hector.

“NO!” “NO!” Rose and I yelled as our father took the bait. I ran but it was too late.

Hector caught Jard in his blind raging charge, grabbing his hair and spinning, forcing him again to the dirt. “Say hi to my sister for me.”