Cabin Arrest

“... just cast a revival spell?”

“... cast a revival spell in this economy?”

“We can't just leave…”

“... too valuable…”

“... head on a spike…”

“Traitors, the lot of them…”

I awoke to the rhythm of an up-and-down bobbing motion. The constant back-and-forth caused me to drift in and out of consciousness. Gihri stood there, looming overhead, silently scolding me for something I had no awareness of. I was laying in a bed and judging from the bobbing motion, was on a ship back to Freehold.

“Your Highness…”

“Do you have any idea what you've just done?” the elf prince asked me.

“Not particularly, no.”

“I put a magic seal on the door,” he explained. “Nobody can get in or out unless I say so. Had to. I needed to keep the angry mob out.”

“Angry mob…?”

“They're accusing you of murdering Queen Rini,” he continued.

“I did not…”

“The Islander Queen and five of her guards were found dead in your vicinity.” If I hadn't known better, I would have thought Gihri's eyes were about to set me on fire at any moment. “Her blood was found on your clothes. Do you really expect me to believe it wasn't you?”

“She had six guards,” I answered. “A Lago soldier…”

“Watcher's eye, Zikatta,” Gihri groaned before plopping himself against the door. “You really mean to tell me one of her sworn swords killed her? He was the one who told us you did it.”

“What did he say?”

“He said you and her were conspiring to attack the Elf Kingdom once the war ended,” he answered. “She refused to go along with it, and that's when you started attacking -”

“You're stupid,” I told him, fighting through the remnants of the sleep spell to do so. “Dear gods, are you stupid. I know I failed to protect her, but murder?”

“I need you to be honest with me,” Gihri continued, still slouching against the door. “Regicide is a very serious crime, and half the world wants your head on a bloody spear. The gods won't be nearly as kind.”

“That's if the gods are even real to begin with,” I replied, struggling to breathe as I found the words. “But I did not kill Queen Rini. Why would I kill my allies?”

“Of course I know you didn't do it, Zikatta,” the elf prince answered as he picked himself up from the floor. “I just needed to play it up for the angry mob.”

“You believe me?”

“No, I don't… of course I believe you,” Gihri whispered so as to not attract attention. “I have to. It doesn't make sense. But there are a lot of people who would not mind seeing you dead.”

“If you believe I'm innocent, then tell them I'm innocent,” I replied. “They will listen to you, won't they?”

Gihri sighed, “I wish it were that easy. But the Islanders and the other royals demand justice. If anyone were to just declare you innocent, it would look too suspicious.”

“So you're saying I have to go to trial,” I said as I sat up in my bed.

“That is what the law demands, yes,” he replied. “I'll do my best to secure your freedom, but Islander law is clear on this. If a man is accused of killing the monarch, he shall be put to trial. If he is found guilty, he shall be drowned.”

“Great…”

“What happened, actually?” Gihri asked. “I'll need your full story for when the trial begins.”

“I asked her to meet me in the village at night,” I explained. “She brought with her six guards. We talked about launching an attack against the Demon Lands. She tried talking me into becoming the next King of Neshi, and she even flirted with me a little.”

“That does sound quite like Rini,” the elf prince admitted. “She proposed to my father once, about twenty years ago or so. He had to tell her the truth, that he was already married.”

“We were attacked by a Lago warrior,” I continued, struggling against the tears as they began forming here. “He was very strong in water magic. First, the guards, then me. Finally…” The words struggled to come out. “He cornered the Queen and jammed his sword through her. He pushed her onto me before leaving.”

Gihri stroked what little beard he had before making his way to the door. “You're a lot more valuable to our cause alive, so I'll have to put you under house, er… cabin arrest in the meantime,” Gihri told me as he opened the cabin door.

I turned to notice my sword had disappeared. “Wait!” I shouted. “What did you do with my sword?”

“I have it stored in a safe place,” he answered. “We don't need you trying to escape while we're in the middle of the ocean. Don't worry. This door is magically sealed. Nobody can come in or out without my permission, and I have a servant stationed here to give you your daily meals. Trust me.”

He closed the door, resealing it and preventing me from leaving. Great… It wasn't the worst thing ever, could have been a lot worse. As Gihri promised, his servant provided me with all the meals I needed. The room I was put in, which took me an entire day to realize was an Elven ship, even came with a personal toilet so they didn't risk exposing me to people who might have wanted me dead.

Still… It would have been so easy for these people to just understand the truth. Sure, I could have done better. I could have been a better fighter. I could have asked her to wait until tomorrow morning. Oh, there I went again, stewing on my failures. I had plenty of time to do that on the journey back to Freehold.

My friends were allowed to converse with me through the door. It was how I learned that my son Rikkos decided to join us in our quest to defeat the Demon Lord Ayya. He told me he wanted an opportunity to make me proud.

“I assume your mother tried to stop you,” I said to him.

“She did,” Rikkos admitted.

“What did you say to her?”

“I had to do it,” he replied, “for her, for everyone.”

“And she just let you?” I asked. “I'm impressed.”

“She had no choice, really. She did make me promise I would return home in one piece, though.”

I chuckled a bit. “That does sound like your mother. She told me the same thing when I went off to war. Did you bring the cat with you?”

“Delilah is below decks asleep. I told the elf that I would not join without her.”

“Good lad,” I told him. “The wiamiu are dangerous, but she's clearly bonded to you. She could be useful.”

Neither of us spoke for a while after that, though he lingered on the other side of the door. I heard him carve away at something with a knife, possibly a small log. While he focused on that task, he asked me, “Did you do it?”

“Of course not,” was my answer, knowing fully well what he meant by it. “Rini and I were… well, I don't want to say friends, but I think we were getting there maybe. Still can't believe it happened.”

•

Giorg took the opportunity to give me reading recommendations for when we got back to Freehold. “Tell me, have you ever read The King Who Conquered the Heavens?”

“If I did, it was probably somewhere around forty years ago,” was my answer. “Something about a king who was betrayed by his court, the church, his best friend, his wife.”

“All of the above,” Giorg replied. “All at once.”

“All of the above and all at once,” I agreed. “No wonder I never paid much attention to that story.”

“My people have a saying,” Giorg told me, “a warrior must sharpen his mind as much as his sword. I think more reading might do us both a lot of good.”

I sighed, “I'll keep that in mind for when we get back to Freehold.”

•

Hilami tried several times to get the servant to let her slip a healing potion through. The servant told her several times that nobody was allowed in without Gihri's permission. I even told her a couple of times that I had no injuries that needed to be healed. Nothing worked. She would just try again later.

“I don't recognize this elf prince's authority over me,” Hilami complained. “This man is my patient. Allow me to heal him.”

“Milady, I assure you,” the servant insisted, “all you have to do is ask Gihri for permission. It's for Halliyah's own safety.”

“The only thing good for his safety is this elixir,” she answered. “Let me in or I'll find a way in myself.”

“Just ask the prince for permission, by all the gods,” I at last told her. “You're making a fool of yourself by refusing.”

“Foolish men…” Hilami whined as I could hear sulk away from the door.

•

Finally, Ipas visited me once during the journey, in the middle of the night while most everyone else was asleep. I assumed she came for an explanation for what happened to Queen Rini. I certainly owed her one. Though seers weren't supposed to have political loyalties or swear fealty to anyone, Ipas was still an Islander. Rini was still her queen. Gods, why did it have to be me? It was as if such an incident was specifically targeted in order to frame me.

“I'm… I'm sorry about what happened to Rini,” I told her. I reckoned I swallowed some tears along the way. “I…”

“Why?” she asked through the door. “You weren't the one who drove a sword through her back.”

“I could have done better,” was my immediate response. “I talked her into meeting with me at night. Had we stayed during the daytime, more people would have been able to help. Just another failure to add to my long list.”

“You really need to stop doing this to yourself,” Ipas told me, the tone in her voice shifting to act more authoritative as she did so. “You're slipping back into your woe is me persona, and it's not helping you at all.”

“Even so,” I replied, fighting back more tears. “I imagine when I'm finally allowed to die, my heart will be too heavy to even enter the First Heaven. I should have known it was him. A Lago tried to kill Giorg while we were at Freehold. I should have been able to connect the two…”

“You had no way of knowing someone would betray her,” she answered. “Just know that a lot of people know you're innocent. A lot of people think you did it. It will all come down to who gets appointed to be your judge.”

“Can you see what happened?” I asked. “With those stones.”

“I cannot,” she admitted with a hint of disappointment in her voice. “The gift of sight only allows us to see what's happening right now.”

I sighed, “As long as I have lived, I've never seen someone so powerful in water magic. None of us stood a chance against him. Can you see him right now?”

“I can, but I'll need to perform the ritual. I'll need a name as well.”

“Sinos,” I whispered, hoping she could hear me. “Or at least… that's what the Queen and the other guards called him.”

Ipas performed the gift of sight ritual by setting up her stones in her special little pattern. Once she chanted her prayer, I could see the light of the stones from under the door. Whatever she saw must have shocked her because I heard her shriek in horror through the door.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“It's him,” Ipas whispered with urgency. “He's headed this way.”

“Hide,” I told her sternly, “and pray to whomever will answer that he's not looking for you.”

I heard her sneak away from the door, though there were some creaky boards along the way. A much louder set of footsteps followed closely, the stomping sounds of a man's boots accompanied by the grinding sound of bronze against wood. It was him, judging by the horror in Ipas’ voice. I kept quiet, half assuming he was looking for me and hoping he would not find his target. The other half of me thought he might have been after Ipas. Whatever happened next was entirely up to her.

A small puddle formed at the bottom of the door. As if it had a mind of its own, it crawled towards me. I had seen this trick before at Kanett. It was Sinos, indeed; he had found me. The puddle slowly collected itself and the water became flesh once again.

“Giomas aro,” Sinos told me as he reached out for my hand.