Cicatrice

Chapter XII

QUEEN ESTELLE BELSHAW

Staring out my window at the dead of night, I knew tonight would be the night I would sneak out and see Eddie. I had planned an elaborate plan since noon as I watched Marguerite water the wilting roses. I would hide behind a disguise, perhaps a scarf and some sunglasses that were tucked away in the drawer and I would head out just after midnight after the guards would switch over.

Like clockwork, I watch from my window as the guard makes his way out the gate. There was about a ten-minute gap by the time the other guard had come to take over his shift, so I saw this as an open opportunity to escape my home.

Shutting my door ever so delicately, I wince at the sound of it locking. Tiptoeing down the marble, cold stairs, I sneak through the back wooden door that leads straight outside in the open. I hold a dim kerosine lamp in my hand, moving swiftly as I take in the fog of the late-night sky.

It was quite beautiful this time of night. For once I wasn't through the glass, looking in. I was in it. I never would have guessed that midnight would ever speak out to me, but it had. From the moons luminescence shining down on the pavement to the dead quietness and not a soul in sight, I could get used to this.

I walk aimlessly until I reach Prison Saint Michel where Eddie was being kept. With all of the outdoor lights shut off, I struggle to find the entrance until I make out a door handle. I believe I must have travelled around the building to a secret passageway.

I hold the kerosine lamp up above my head, taking off the hood of my maroon robe. I wander aimlessly in the secluded concrete walkway. The smell of body odour fills my nostrils, disgusting me. The ground sticks underneath my shoes, and I couldn't believe a place so wretched existed. I suppose I wasn't too used to this lifestyle. It was sickening. Only few individuals were held in this prison, one for high crimes, although Eddie only attacked a socialite.

My, how the mighty have fallen.

I pass cell by cell, inmates sleeping soundly on a mattress that probably felt like a brick to the skin. I move as quiet as a mouse as I search desperately for Eddie.

"Who's there?"

I hear a faint whisper from behind me. I turn to be faced with Eddie in a cell. Although its dark, the kerosine lamp makes out a faint glimmer in his diamond like eyes that looked tortured and confused. Letting out a small gasp, my heart drops to my chest. I had not expected to see him so suddenly.

"Eddie!" I gasp, tears in my eyes as I place the lamp on the floor, grabbing the rusty bars that hold us apart. "I thought I'd never find you," I whisper, or lips merely apart as we breathe heavily in sync.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing here?" he inquires as I fumble with the lock.

"I've come to rescue you," I announce in a faint whisper.

"Rescue me?" he hisses as I glance up to his glistening blue eyes that were filled with confusion.

He must of thought he were stuck here for a lifetime. Maybe he thought he wouldn't experience another Godforsaken day and see the sun with his own eyes - but here I was, saving somebody I never thought would need saving.

"Stand back," I warn, grabbing a metal bar and slamming the chains of the lock over and over again with all of my might. "Good lord!" Eddie hisses. "You are going to awaken all of the inmates," he mentions.

"You will, if you keep fussing like a marmot,"

The chain suddenly becomes loose, and with my might, it snaps off. I open the creaky, rusted metal door that kept Eddie in. With my heart begging me to follow him as if it were a magnet, I fall into his soft, but filthy embrace. It was the ultimate juxtaposition of us both as our bodies touched with one another - when the land meets the ocean.

"Who is there? Reveal yourself!" A guard booms with a thick French accent, startling Eddie and I out of our hug. I glance at him for a second, taking in his features as I grab his hand, bolting outside of the cell with him and sprinting down the hall. The guard chases after us, but I can't help but smile.

We outrun the guard and hide behind a brick wall nearby. As we catch our breaths collectively, I glance over at Eddie, who looked as equally terrified as he did entertained, his blonde locks in his face. We giggle quietly, and my heart, for once, feels full.

"That was quite the experience," he states.

I felt as if I were home as I hugged him tight before. Something just incredibly comfortable consumed me, nurtured me how a mother would nurture her newborn child - she would not let anything bad happen to them, even if it costed her life.

That's how I felt around Eddie.