Kidnapping the Prince

Kidnapping the Prince Installment XVIII

*** Picture on the side is Jason Dolley, the actor I chose for Ryan. Close enough?

Kidnapping the Prince Installment XVIII

When all of us had had enough rest, we packed our stuff and set off again. Ryan led us through the maze-like tunnels without any hesitation, and none of us questioned his memory although the fear that he might forget the way was like a shadow, ever present and intimidating.

As we traveled, Lucas gravitated towards the front of our procession to talk to Ryan, leaving Dan and me alone in the back with the lamp and the flickering torchlight ahead to lead us. At first it was awkward; somehow, after telling him everything, I didn’t know what to say to him, so we walked in silence. When an hour passed and Dan still hadn’t spoken, I began to grow paranoid. What if he decided he hated me? Or maybe my explanation made him want to hate me more. Oh goddesses, what if he hated all of us?

I huffed in annoyance and mentally shook my head as I crossed my arms firmly. All my thoughts seemed to flow towards him somehow hating me, and that was only going to make things worse. Hurriedly, I began a search for something we could talk about, anything at all, but somehow I couldn’t think of a single thing. Suddenly I felt like I’d never really talked to Dan before, and that was partially true; I’d only ever spoken to him as if I were a noble who knew about the sophisticated things he did on a daily basis.

Hours of awkward silence later, the tunnels began to change. Formerly, the walls had been a dark greenish-gray and the floors had been littered with debris and dust. Now, the stone tunnel was a reddish-brown, and slimy moss gathered in the corners around the thin layer of sticky mud on the floor.

“I think we’re under Lake White Ash,” Ryan called back to us when tiny rivulets of water began to trickle down slowly from the ceiling. I wrinkled my nose at the mud stuck to the bottom of my shoes and nodded in unhappy agreement.

“Let’s just hope the ceiling doesn’t cave,” Lucas said cheerfully with a large yawn and stretch. “We’d either be crushed or we’d drown,”

“What a lovely thought,” I muttered. I had been uncomfortable enough without knowing that we could die at any given minute. I liked being outside much better (preferably up on a nice, sturdy roof), not to mention the prolonged muteness between Dan and me. “Ryan, how much longer till we get to the Third Quarter?” I asked loudly.

“Judging from the fact that we’ve traveled for at least ten or twelve hours to get to the Lake, probably another ten or twelve hours at least,” he replied thoughtfully. “If we were to cross the Lake directly from the Divine Circle above ground, it would take us maybe half the time to get to the Third Quarter, so the tunnels probably lead us in circles occasionally.”

“Why couldn’t they have just plotted out the tunnels in straight lines?” I complained. “We’ve been walking for way too long, and I’m tired.”

“Me too,” Lucas grinned. “I say we stop for a while.” With that, Lucas plopped down on the muddy floor, looking like he didn’t plan on moving for at least a couple of years. Ryan seemed on the verge of protest, but exhaustion seemed to overpower his urge to keep moving.

Feeling my stomach rumble hungrily, I opened the basket of food Lucas had put down and pulled out a piece of hard bread. I tore of a piece with my teeth and munched it wistfully, thinking of the soft buns and sweet fruit at the palace.

“I can’t wait till we get back,” I said after I’d swallowed. “I would kill for some of her pies right about now.”

“I’d let you kill me if only I could have some of her cooking first,” Lucas snorted. “You have no idea how disgusting Locks food is.”