Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

14.

Ailbhe didn't know what it meant when there was a knock on her cell door. It wasn't wash day. Nobody had come to see her in over a week although she was beginning to lose count of the days.

None of it made sense anymore. The way the lawyers promised Ailbhe that Tommy had a plan, the way they all were kept separate and Ailbhe wasn't allowed to see anyone not even Polly who was kept in the same prison, the way Ailbhe was put into an adult's prison despite being a minor. She was told she was a political prisoner; an agitator and she was being treated as highly dangerous, a threat to public safety. That was why she was beaten with a baton when she first arrived, why she was fed as little as possible and only allowed out of her cell to bathe once a week. Irish were treated like dogs in that prison, especially those on sentences because of political crimes. But Ailbhe wasn't an agitator, or an activist. All she had done was work for her family, trust her family.

"What's going on?" Ailbhe asked, standing up from her bed and standing against the wall. She had learnt not to struggle, not to resist. It only prolonged the beating.

"Come with us" the prison guards snapped, approaching Ailbhe and snapping the handcuffs firmly into place.

They pulled her out of her cell, pushing her to walk along the corridors that were filled with women who had been arrested for their political uprisings.

As they reached a two way corridor that was split down the middle with bars like a cell, Ailbhe realised people were coming against them, in the opposite side of the corridor.

It was a woman, being forced to walk on by two prison guards and she was calling her name.

"Ailbhe!" She shouted, starting to struggled against the prison guards, to strain and get a better look at the girl.

"Polly!" Ailbhe cried out, recognising the woman she had been raised by.

Tears sprang to the corners of her eyes when Polly saw her. She knew they were being kept in the same prison but the lawyers had told her that Ailbhe was being kept in solitary confinement because she was an Irish republican agitator. Polly had told them this was bullshit but rules were rules and they believed Ailbhe to be a dangerous criminal who was on trial for treason. Ailbhe had been spitting cross when she heard this. It couldn't be treason against the crown when they weren't her monarchy, when she wasn't British, she had told them but they didn't listen.

Polly looked her up and down, realising how unwell she looked. She was pale and thin, much too thin to be healthy and her hair was tangled and dirty looking. Polly had been fed twice a day. It was utter swill and Polly couldn't stomach it most of the time but it looked like Ailbhe wasn't even getting that. Her clothes were threadbare and old, her face streaked in tears that cleared a path through the dust that clung to her face. She looked as though she was being kept underground, like miners coming out of the caves for the first time in days.

"Pol" Ailbhe cried, struggling to turn around and catch another glimpse of Aunt Polly, to be sure that it was her and not a cruel trick her mind was playing on her. She was becoming used to those. The way her mind fooled her, made her think she wasn't alone in her cell and that someone was speaking to her through the bars in the window.

"Shut up and keep walking" the guard snapped, grabbing Ailbhe's shoulder roughly and pushing her onwards.

"What's happening? Where are you taking us?" Ailbhe asked, desperate for answers.

"You are getting out, Mr Shelby got you pardoned" The guard told her, dragging her along when her feet weren't moving quick enough.

Her feet began to fail her, her body collapsing from weakness and relief. She was getting out, they were releasing her, finally knowing that she was innocent. Even if she didn't feel it anymore.