“Fresian! Stop! You’re going to break my arm!”

  “Then it would behoove you to produce the key to my cell.” He replied calmly.

  “The key is on the wall at the end of the hall! You’d have to let me go for me to get it!”

  “That…is not going to happen.” Fresian said as he twisted her wrist a little more.

  “Augh! Stop! You’re hurting me!” She cried.

  “Then you’d better produce a solution in a faster manner if you don’t want the limb to become useless.” It was then that she heard the footsteps coming down the stairs. Hoxley’s head was pinned, but when she strained to look, she saw Morell round the last corner and step into view.

  “Hoxley? Hoxley are you down here?” He said before looking down the hall then moving in her direction. “There you are! Do you think we should-…what are you doing on the floor?”

  “Young boy, come here.” Said Fresian, causing Morell to look confused and scared.

  “Hoxley what’s happening?”

  “Get the key to my cell little, boy.”

  “Don’t do it!” Said Hoxley before her brother straightened her arm and began bending at back a little further “Augh! stop!” she cried, pounding on the door in pain. Poor Morell froze in place not knowing what to do. “Morell, he’s got my arm! Go get the others! Get Ignatius!” Morell was about to start stepping backward when Fresian’s voice split the air.

  “STOP RIGHT THERE, LITTLE BOY OR I’Ll kill her here and now!” Morell didn’t move but began to tremble and shake in place as he didn’t know what to do.

  “Hoxley, what do I do?!”

  “Do as i say or the faun girl dies before you can reach the stairs! bring me the key to my cell!” Morell began to shake and cry, his whole being strapped tight with worry and fear for her.

  “What do I do?” he asked her.

  “Go get Ignatius!” she commanded. Morell responded with a half stutter step to the rear when Fresian’s voice cut the air like a thunderclap.

  “BOY DON’T you ove a foot unless you want me to kill her! I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO GET THAT KEY AND OPEN MY CELL OR I’M going to start breaking fingers! THEN I’M GOING TO BREAK HER WRIST, THEN HER ELBOW AND THEN, IF YOU HAVEN’T GIVEN ME WHAT I WANT I’M going to break her neck and break every other bone in her body when i pull the rest of her through this tiny opening in the door like a rag through a ringer! get the key! do it now!...Three!”

  “Don’t do it.” Hoxley grunted as the grip on her forearm tightened. “Don’t let him out.”

  “Two! DON’T TEST ME BOY OR I’Ll split her like a twig!”

  “It’s okay.” Hoxley said as she looked Morell in the eyes. “It’s okay, just let him.”

  “One!”

  “Okay! okay!” Morell said with his hands up. “I’ll do it! I’ll get you the key! Just don’t hurt Hoxley!”

  “You should be walking more and talking less.” said Fresian. Morell rushed to the end of the hallway and the clink of keys echoed loud enough for Hoxley to hear. When he came back, Fresian’s face was partially visible in the small window which startled him.

  “If I let you out, you have to promise you won’t hurt Hoxley.”

  “Your bargaining posture is highly dubious, but agreed; let me out and your Hoxley will live another day.”

  “Please, no.” Hoxley whispered in defeat. “Morell, don’t do it.”

  “I’m sorry, Hoxley.” He said, “But I’ll get you out of this. I’ll tell the king what I’ve done.” Morell inserted the large brass key into the keyhole and twisted. Internal mechanisms of metal clanked in the dark. And before Morell could react, the door came bursting open, bludgeoning Morell in the face and hands, knocking him backward to send him sprawling upon his back. The door swung about, sweeping Hoxley aside on the floor like a pile of leaves. Her black-haired brother came stampeding out, narrowly trampling Morell in a cacophony of clattering hooves before heading up the stairs and out of sight.

  Hoxley collected herself and shakily moved herself to her hooves, her right arm massaging the strained muscles of the left that had been twisted and agonized. The clop of her approaching hooves upon the stone offered no solace to Morell who clutched his nose with both hands and moaned into them. She knelt next to him and tried to get him to move his hands so she could see where he was wounded but he fought her as he rolled in agony.

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  “Come on,” she encouraged him. “Let me see.” When he finally relented, he pulled away his hands to reveal a bloody nose that had painted his mouth, chin and some of his neck. Even his lip was split where the door hit him.

  “It hurts, it hurts.” He mumbled as he turned his head to the side and spit blood across the floor. A bubble of blood inflated itself in one of his nostrils.

  “You shouldn’t have tried to bargain with him.” she said, pulling him close and using the bottom of her shirt to dab away some of the blood. “I tried to warn you.”

  “I couldn’t let anything happen to you and he was going to hurt you.” Said Morell looking up, tears retreating to the outer corners of his eyes and down the side of his head. When the tears were gone, he could see again. His eyes finally focused on her face as he looked up. “I’ve done something terrible, haven’t I?”

  “You did nothing but try and be brave.” She said, hushing him and wiping away more of the crimson. “No one could ask for more.”

  “But what if he hurts others?”

  “Then the consequences will be more dire for him. Come, get up. We have to leave.”

  “My mouth hurts.”

  “It can hurt along the way. Let me help you up.” Hoxley stood and pulled the boy to his feet. He wobbled to one side until she steadied him. Morell look at the slicked crimson on his hands and tried wiping it off on his pants.

  “I’m sorry I let him out, Hoxley.” He said again as he watched her rotate her arm at the shoulder. “I didn’t know what else to do. Is your arm injured?”

  “Not too terribly.” She said, wincing as she massaged the muscles. “He only twisted it some. It’ll heal with time and rest. Where are your things? Gather them so we can leave.”

  “They’re with the others.” Just then, Ignatius came storming down the stairs with sword in hand.

  “What’s going on down here?” he demanded. “A centaur just went barreling through the castle and nearly trampled us!” Morell said nothing but looked to Hoxley for an answer

  “It’s nothing.” she said, straightening the boy and guiding him back toward the stairs. “Perhaps a bad apple.”

  “Nothing?” he asked with surprise. “That bad apple was several heads bigger than all of us combined!”

  “It doesn’t matter now.” She said, pulling the witch along as the two passed.

  “It doesn’t matter? Your arm is bruising and Morell’s face is covered in blood!”

  “We’ll discuss it when we’re not beset on all sides by soldiers. We must away.” Ignatius took one last cautious look down the corridor to make sure no one else was coming out.

  “I am all the more confused by this day.” He said to himself. “Let us hope it doesn’t get any stranger.”

  The trio returned to the others, finding them all with their packs, ready to go. By this time, more of the nobles were rousing and starting to sit upright or even stand. They all looked dazed and confused, as anyone would be for the circumstances. Surprisingly, Atticus was carrying the broom with Robert hanging from it. Upon seeing Morell’s face Siouxsie rushed to his side and began spitting on her palm and fingers to clear some of the blood away. She tried her hardest to help, but in all honesty, she was doing a better job of smearing it all over his entire face than getting it clean. As off-putting as the gesture might have been to the others, Morell didn’t utter the slightest objection.

  “Hoxley, we’re out of time.” said the prince.

  “Agreed.” She nodded. “Everyone, gather what you need. We’re into the wild once again.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t come with you.” Said Princess Cassandra.

  “Perfectly understandable.” Said Hoxley. “You must tend to your parents and your kingdom.”

  “I owe you so much for rescuing me from the desert.”

  “Anything you owe was repaid by carrying us through the night out of Woodford, Princess. We might not have survived long enough to get ahead of the fire if not for your help.”

  “Then allow me to show you a way out.” The shadow offered. “There’s a way out through the back of the castle that’s not well known. A secret passage that should allow you to move on without being noticed.”

  “We’d gratefully accept such a passage.” Said Ignatius.