Shining Armor Page 11

  "The only problem being that there is no one left in line for the throne," Patrick pointed out. "The princess' impostor could take over. Who knows how terrible she and Warner could be?"

  "Not worse than what we've got now, surely," Alex mumbled.

  "Be careful what you say, Williams," Mason cautioned. "Anyone could hear you."

  "Yes, very well, sir," Alex sighed. "Captain, shouldn't you be visiting your beloved about now?"

  Mason scoffed. "She is not my beloved."

  Sophie watched them turn a corner and was about to continue down the hall when she heard Patrick speak. "Then why do you so often visit the lower dungeon, sir? She is the only one down there."

  Sophie paused to listen as Patrick and Alex laughed and Mason made a scoffing noise. "My duties include checking up on prisoners," he defended.

  "But Captain, the king sees Melody every day," Alex said. "It's unnecessary for you to visit as well."

  Sophie carefully followed the knights, hoping to hear something helpful. "Shut your mouth!" Mason exclaimed. "You know nothing."

  "On the contrary, sir. I know that every turn you've been taking has been leading towards her," Alex pointed out. Sophie peeked around the corner to see them continuing down the hall.

  "Perhaps he does so unintentionally," Patrick shrugged.

  "Perhaps I'll break your nose unintentionally," Mason threatened. Patrick and Alex laughed again and Mason halted. "Go practice sparring or some other thing out of my sight!" he ordered.

  "Are you heading to the lower dungeon, sir?"

  Mason put his hand on his sword hilt and the other knights laughed once more as they ran off. When the sound of their footsteps disappeared, he turned down another hallway. Sophie quickly followed him, doing her best to stay silent. She barely reached the corner in time to see him turn again, down a flight of stairs. She trailed after him for a while, finding that she recognized nothing in that area of the castle. Finally, he paused in front of a large, wooden door.

  "You have no reason to be nervous," he said, his voice almost too low to hear. He took a deep breath and opened the door. "Melody?" he called, stepping through and letting the door shut behind him.

  The door blocked out any response that might have been made. Sophie didn't dare follow Mason any farther. She resolved to wait until he returned. It struck her as odd that he had called Melody by her given name. Mason always referred to others by their surname or title and insisted that others do the same to him.

  Sophie wondered if, over the years, they had developed a relationship. It would be a difficult relationship, with her locked up and him working for the man keeping her. Though, Sophie had to admit that her own relationship with Warner wasn't easy either.

  When the door opened again, Sophie rushed to hide behind a large, decorative vase. She wasn't hidden very well, but, fortunately for her, Mason seemed too upset to notice. He stormed off, his cloak flying out behind him, and disappeared around the corner. Sophie hurried to the door and opened it. The room she entered was long and had several steel doors with barred windows.

  "I told you to leave, Lane!" a voice snapped from behind the door at the end of the hall.

  "Shh!" Sophie said, running to the door and peering through the window. A dark-haired woman was sitting on the ground near the wall, facing away from the door. Though she was five years older and looked much worse for the wear, it was unmistakably Melody Munday. "Quiet, or he might come back."

  Melody turned around and the chains on her wrists and ankles rattled against the stone floor. Sophie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Three straight, parallel scars stretched across Melody's left cheek. When she stood up, several other scars were visible as well. She had cuts and scratches and bruises all over her.

  "I don't believe it," Melody breathed. "You're alive?"

  "I'm more amazed that you are," Sophie said. "Are you all right? Should you be standing up? Is that your blood on the ground?"

  Melody looked down at the stains on the floor.

  "No to the first two. Yes to the third," she said. "How are you alive?"

  "Edric did this to you, didn't he?" Sophie asked, starting to work on unlocking the door.

  "That's not important at this moment," Melody insisted. "I believed you to be dead."

  "And I you," Sophie told her.

  "Ah, well, yes." Melody moved towards the door, but was held back by her chains. "I did." Sophie blinked in confusion. "But what happened to me cannot have happened to you. How are you alive?"

  "You died?" Sophie asked.

  "Were you able to hide before Warner found you?" she asked, ignoring Sophie's inquiry. "There's no way you could have escaped him if he found you."

  "He nearly killed me but he didn't," Sophie explained. "Now, answer my question."

  "Why did he not kill you?" Melody's eyes were wide. "Did someone stop him?"

  "He stopped on his own and ran away. Then Edric told everyone that I died along with the rest and kept me locked up. Now answer my question!" Sophie exclaimed, finally getting the door open. "If you died, how are you here?"

  "Oh, yes," Melody said as Sophie entered the small cell. "Sorry. It's hard to explain. Something… happened to me. I should start by saying that I am not exactly the Melody that you are acquainted with."

  "What?"

  "Five years ago, something happened to the Melody that you knew, and I woke up." She sighed. "I suppose there is no better way to phrase it. I think I always existed, but I wasn't fully conscious until that day."

  "Wait," Sophie said, backing away, towards the door. "Are you the same as Warner? You have two different minds?"

  "Warner explained it to you?" she asked. "Without trying to kill you?"

  "Uhh..."

  Melody looked thoughtful. "Did the other part of him die then?"

  "No," Sophie said. "How could only the evil part die?"

  "When Melody died, I was given complete control," Melody said. "I assume it works the other way around. If I had been in control when Warner… well, when I died, then Melody would be all that was left."

  "So… Warner did kill you?"

  Melody nodded and then looked down. "Yes, let's not think on it. It is not a pleasant memory. But what happened to Warner? Is he rid of the other version of himself?"

  "No," Sophie said. "He still has both parts." She looked at the shackles on Melody's wrists and ankles. "Are you… Are you the… evil part of Melody, then?" Sophie asked warily.

  Melody looked up. "I'm the other part," she said. "There is no evil part. We simply have separate personalities."

  "But then…" Sophie looked down. "The Melody I knew is gone?"

  Melody took a moment to respond.

  "Yes…" she said finally. "I'm sorry."

  Sophie didn't say anything for a long time, and she didn't look at Melody. She tried to process her feelings. She had spent the last few days thinking she would be reunited with her friend—her sister. It seemed that she shouldn't have been so optimistic. She finally looked up at Melody, who kept her head down.

  We still must get her out of here, she thought. Even if she isn't the Melody we knew, she doesn't deserve this. "We're here to rescue you," Sophie told her.

  "Who is 'we'?"

  "Warner and I," she said. "He's in the courtyard, distracting Edric."

  "Warner is with you?" Melody asked. "And he truly did not try to kill you again?"

  "Well, the good part of him is in control at the moment. The other part only forced himself out once, but Warner believes that won't happen again."

  "Hmm, let's hope he is correct," Melody said. "But the other part is the sorcerer magic, so he is powerful."

  "So then…" Sophie said, "are you a sorceress?"

  Melody nodded. "Yes, I'm Melody's sorceress magic."

  "Why have you not freed yourself from this prison?"

  "Edric suppresses my magic," she explained. "As long as I'm in here, I'm powerless."

  "I shall free you, then," Sophie
said, stepping forward and searching for a way to open the shackles. She tried to use telekinesis to unlock them, but couldn't figure out how the lock worked. "Hmm, I suppose I'll slice through them."

  Melody backed away, panic in her eyes. Sophie wondered if all of her scars had been caused by Edric's slicing magic.

  "I don't know if that's such a good idea," Melody said.

  Sophie smiled sympathetically. "I'll be very careful," she said. "And I'll only cut the chain. We can find a way to get the rest off after we escape."

  She took hold of one of the chains and began to focus on cutting through the metal. It was more difficult than she expected. She hoped no one else was planning to check on Melody anytime soon. She was sure that Warner would not lose to Edric in a sword fight. But Edric would certainly have an advantage if he used magic when Warner's was suppressed.

  "You can use magic as well, then?" Melody asked as the first chain was finally severed. Sophie nodded, concentrating on the second chain. "Royal magic, most likely," Melody continued. "Just as King Dane could." Sophie just nodded again. "I wonder how that works," Melody mused. "Does it pass down to every child? It can't, because Edric is simply a magician. Perhaps it only goes to the firstborn."

  "Warner said that Ella is going to be a sorceress," Sophie said as she began work on the third chain.

  "Ella?" Melody repeated. Sophie moved on to the final chain. "Who is Ella?"

  "Oh, she's our daughter," Sophie said, slightly bashfully.

  Melody looked shocked. "You have a daughter?" she asked. "With Warner? You are still together?"

  "Not exactly," Sophie said as the final chain dropped to the ground. "We… uh… it happened before… everything."

  "Oh? When?" Melody looked excited and she hopped forward and took hold of Sophie's hands. "Was it the night of the spring banquet? He wasn't in his room or the medical wing when I went to see him. I didn't see him until the next morning..."

  Sophie blushed. "You're more impertinent than the old Melody," she said, looking away.

  "And by then you were engaged, so—"

  "Yes, it was then!" Sophie interrupted. "May I remind you that this is your brother we are speaking of.

  Melody wrinkled her nose. "You make a decent point. Let's think on this no more and leave this place." The girls hurried out, checking to make sure the hall was empty first. "Everything looks quite different now."

  Sophie did her best to remember which way led back to the courtyard. She was wondering if Warner and Edric were still fighting when she heard the clashing of metal on metal. She and Melody ran out into the courtyard to see Warner, defending against an attack. However, his opponent was no longer Edric, but Mason. Sophie looked around, but her uncle was nowhere to be seen.

  "You don't understand," Warner grunted, shoving Mason away.

  "I don't believe a word you say, Munday!" Mason shouted, attacking again.

  Warner dodged. "I will not fight you."

  "Then surrender!" Mason snarled.

  "I can't do that, Mason," Warner said. "Please, allow me to take Melody away from here."

  "I'll never let you near her!" Mason lunged forward and, once again, Warner raised his sword to block the attack.

  "Stop!" Melody shouted, limping forward as quickly as she could.

  Both men looked over in surprise.

  "Melody?" Warner breathed. "You are alive."

  "How did you free yourself?" Mason demanded. "The king is on his way to your cell. When he finds out you've gone—"

  "Are you all right?" Warner asked, running to her. He hugged her tightly, but pulled back when she gasped in pain. He lifted his hand to her scarred cheek. "Your face is—"

  "I am all right," she said. "And Sophie let me out."

  Mason glared over at Sophie. "That's not the princess," he spat. "She's an impostor."

  "No, she's not," Warner and Melody said in unison.

  Everyone looked at Melody. "How do you know?" Mason asked her.

  "She isn't using any magic," Melody said. "If she was using disguise magic or anything along those lines, I would sense it."

  "But—"

  "Lane, listen to me!" she interrupted.

  "Lane?" Warner repeated with distaste. "Since when do you call him by his given name?"

  "Warner, be quiet. Now is not the time," Melody said. Warner narrowed his eyes at Mason, but stayed quiet. "Now, listen," she continued. "Very much has happened between the four of us—good things and bad things. Recently, it's been… mostly bad. But, you must understand, it is all because of me. You cannot blame Warner."

  No one said anything for a long moment as they all stared at her.

  "Melody," Warner said slowly, "I'm the one that—"

  She shook her head, silencing him. "No, I caused everything," she said. "I made your sorcerer magic develop a consciousness. I tried to fix it by using sleep magic, but that only made things worse."

  "Wh-what?" Warner stammered. "You did that? How?"

  "Wait," Mason said, confusion seeming to make him forget about his fight with Warner. "You can do magic? And Munday is a sorcerer? I thought he was a magician." He glared at Warner. "This means you've been able to do magic for a very long time."

  Warner ignored him. "Explain what happened. Why would you—How did you—"

  "We don't have time for long explanations," she insisted. "We must leave before Edric returns."

  "I cannot allow you to leave," Mason said, raising his sword towards Melody.

  "Lane…" she said pleadingly. "Don't do this."

  His angry expression faltered. "I have no choice."

  "You do have a choice," she argued. "You don't even have to unlock the chains now. You simply have to step aside."

  He looked pained. "These are my orders, Melody. What would you have me do?"

  "Say that we escaped," she said.

  Sophie wasn't sure if she was imagining things or if Mason actually looked scared. "He'll kill me," he said. "If I let the three people he hates the most escape…"

  "Then come with us," Melody suggested.

  "What?" Sophie asked.

  "No," Warner said firmly.

  "Warner—" Melody sighed.

  "No," he said again. "He can't come with us. He may lead Edric to us. He obviously cares less about your safety than about upsetting his king."

  "That's not true!" Mason protested, lowering his sword.

  "Then why has she been imprisoned here all these years?" Warner demanded.

  "You let her stay down there and be sliced up by Edric," Sophie said, crossing her arms.

  "And you never thought to let her go?" Warner asked.

  "I tried!" Mason exclaimed, his voice breaking. "He kept the keys hidden. I tried to find them. I tried to force the locks. I even tried to convince him to let her go free. And, when that didn't work, I tried to get him to at least stop torturing her. But I shouldn't have said anything. At least back then he only went down there once per week instead of every day!"

  He dropped his sword to cover his face with his hands. The metal clanged loudly in the silence. After a very long moment, Warner spoke.

  "Don't ever drop your sword," he said, picking up the weapon. Mason looked over as Warner held the hilt towards him. "Don't let your guard down. What if someone were to attack you?"

  Mason snatched his sword and stepped away from Warner. "You are not Knight Captain anymore, Munday," he snapped. "I don't have need for your advice."

  "I'm only trying to keep you alive," Warner said. "Speaking of which, if you believe that Edric will kill you if you let us go, you should run. We are leaving, and you cannot stop us."

  "You won't try, will you?" Melody asked. Mason looked at her helplessly. "Lane," she said, stepping towards him. His sword hung limply at his side and he made no move against her. She put her hand on his chest and looked up at him. "Please."

  He hung his head and gestured to the gate with his free hand, letting out a sigh. "Hurry.

  Twenty

  The
Truth

  Warner was exhausted. His arms hurt and he had a severe headache. He found himself actually wishing to sleep, but was too busy fleeing. Sophie walked ahead of him as he carried Melody on his back. He knew she would not be able to walk very far, and carrying her was faster than using the wagon.

  Sophie promised to heal her once they were far enough away. They had to be sure they were safe from Edric before they stopped. Warner had been shocked when Mason had let them go, but he wasn't going to complain. Fighting Edric had been more difficult than expected. Warner was better with a sword, but Edric had not shown any mercy with his magic. The many slices covering Warner's arms and face had nothing to do with blades.

  It wasn't worth fighting him, other Warner said.

  We freed Melody without Sophie dying, Warner thought. Anything would have been worth it.

  Ugh, other Warner groaned.

  "Are you all right, Warner?" Melody asked. "I can walk if you need me to."

  He shook his head. "I'm all right," he said. "You cannot walk this far with your injuries."

  "You're injured as well," she pointed out.

  He shushed her as Sophie glanced back at them. "I am all right."

  "We should be able to stop soon, shouldn't we?" Sophie asked. "I can heal you both and we can decide what to do next."

  "Once we get outside of the central kingdom, we should be safe," Warner said. "Merely half an hour if we keep up this pace."

  "What if Edric finds us first?" Sophie asked, seeming worried.

  "He won't," Warner assured her. "I placed an anti-seeing spell on us."

  "Besides," Melody said. "Lane will find a way to hold him off." Warner scoffed and rolled his eyes.

  Another pointless fight, other Warner complained. And you didn't even kill him.

  I don't want to kill him, Warner reminded his darker self.

  Your attitude towards him says otherwise, other Warner said.

  I want him to stay away from Melody, Warner grumbled.

  Kill her then, other Warner suggested. Then you won't have to worry about it.

  "Not another word," he growled.

  "What?" Melody asked in surprise.