Another YouTube Fairytale: Matt's Life In Hope Square; Book 1

Chapter 14 - A Promise

Matt snuck around the corner, finding himself lost in the village, when he bumped into Virgil. "You scared me!" Matt said, laughing. "What are you doing out here? Come to get the book back?" Matt was smiling. Clearly, despite their earlier argument, Matt was just as happy as ever to see him again. 

But Virgil couldn't bear to see Matt smile like that when he knew what was going to happen next. He had to shut down that smile and bring it to reality, as much as it hurt. "Matt, Mark knows you're out here." He said. Just as expected, his smile fell. "I... I told him, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I was just angry."

Matt was silent for a little while, before finally speaking up again. "What did he say?" There was a clear quiver in Matt's voice, but he was trying to hide it, and doing so fairly well. 

Virgil took a deep breath. "He... Matt, I'm sorry, he-"

"I'm getting banished, aren't I?" Matt said. "I'm going down to the dungeons, where the Daggers are going to kill me." 

"No!" Virgil grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "No, you're not going to die. You're curious, remember? That's why you're the smartest person in Hope Square. You will find a way out, okay? I know you can." 

Matt tried to smile again. "Wow, and I thought you were bad at pep talks." He said with an air of fake amusement. Another thing Matt could do; a brave face. The guy was a good actor. "What can I do?"

Virgil thought for a second. "Okay, Matt. You have to swear never to tell anyone, okay?" Virgil said. Matt nodded. "You know this flower ban? No flowers in the whole kingdom because the queen was killed in a garden? Well, I've been breaking the law this whole time." 

Matt gasped. "You have a flower?" 

"My family developed it before I left home. I took one of the seeds with me, but it's bloomed now. Right before you go, I'll give it to you." He said. "I've been in the dark long enough to know that the little light a flower brings can melt the ice off of a person's heart." 

"Melt... what?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

Virgil rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I dunno, something my dad used to say. Anyway, I promise I'll be there to give it to you. Think of it as a lucky charm while you're down there, okay? To keep your heart from getting icy." 

"This... really doesn't sound like you." 

"Having to send your best friend to his death kind of puts things in perspective." Virgil said. "Speaking of which, it's almost dawn. We have to get back soon." 

Matt looked up towards the castle. "I never even got to see her again. I told her that I'd tell her that nursery rhyme." 

Virgil placed a hand on Matt's shoulder. "You'll tell her. When you leave the dungeons unscathed." 

Matt sighed. "You're right." 

Matt and Virgil walked back home, talking about anything they could, almost to distract themselves from anything. Virgil was willing to listen to anything, as long as he could hear what Matt would never be able to tell him again. Because no matter what he had said to Matt, Virgil knew the truth. 

Matt would die in that dungeon.