Back in the dungeon, the words of the crazy man in the next cell had just rung loud and clear. But as no one immediately responded, he continued.
"Either I'm a bear's uncle or Borit's got something massive on him. Only thing that can make a man not defend himself when he is wronged is because there's something greater he is protecting. Must be some girl from the sound of it..."
"Borit has Sage?" Ethyn looked at Silver with a pained expression. "I assumed she would go back home."
"The Commander did threaten Sage, but if he had her, I cannot see a situation where he would not have happily paraded her in front of me. And it was a passing threat to gauge my reaction. When I didn't respond how he wanted, he moved on to a more potent target." Silver looked away dejectedly.
"If you mean me, I can take care of myself," Ethyn began to argue.
"My sister. He threatened the princess." Silver banged his head against the wall. Without the cloak to shield him, the cold of the wall felt like ice against his forehead. Being underground, it was probably the only cold place in the entire castle.
It felt like his heart.
"Oh," Ethyn felt guilty for doubting his friend.
"He knew who Haven was. Somehow Borit found out that she was the princess. If I don't cooperate, he will kill her and blame you. I wasn't allowed to talk to Rose or say anything that might implicate the Commander. Even giving over Borit's communication was a risk..." Silver hadn't wanted to make Rose look like a fool, but he also hadn't been able to disclose all he knew.
The Guardian had chosen a middle ground. Unfortunately the evidence had not been enough to sway the king.
"I don't get something though. How did he even capture you?" When Ethyn had seen the Guardian after he was taken into custody, Silver's gag had already been in place. This was the first time they had been able to speak candidly.
"I left Rynnlee nearly a week ago..."
"Rynnlee! I went to Rynnlee once. That was before Iost my mind though. Maybe I left it there. You didn't happen to see it lying around did you?" The man in the other cell asked hopefully.
"No," Silver answered. It was easier to respond simply than to ignore the man.
"Good food in Rynnlee," the man mumbled. "You may continue."
The Guardian took a deep breath. "As I said, I left home days ago. Sage and I had finished deciphering that document of Borit's and were coming this way. But on our journey, we came across some men in a field that should not have been there. Men of Lakyle. Soldiers. They were planning to kill an entire company of soldiers and the farmer on whose land they were squatting.
"I was able to warn the farmer and rescue his family, but I was too late to help the soldiers in time. I was drugged alongside them. The next bit is a blur, but I think they kept drugging me. It seemed like a long time. I did try to escape once, but I was still too sluggish from the drugs to be any good.
"At last we arrived at the castle and Borit threw everything he had at me to get me to comply. He threatened you, Haven, Sage, even the king. He knew all the right buttons to press." Silver could feel all the doubt and regret that were his companions for years creeping up into his consciousness. Maybe, in the end, he really was useless.
"It isn't your fault!" Ethyn could read the defeated look on his friend's face. "None of this is your fault. If anything, it is mine."
Silver looked at the knight, confusion on his face.
Ethyn sighed. "If I hadn't wanted to become a knight, Borit wouldn't have been able to hold me or Rose over your head. Connecting the dots between you and Her Highness would have been nearly impossible if I hadn't been roman--"
The knight quickly shut his mouth. Silver's eyes flashed. The Guardian straightened his back and stared intently at the Ethyn. "Finish. That. Sentence."
Ethyn gulped. He realized he might die in this cell and not by Borit's hand. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. After considering any way to get out of telling the truth, the knight dropped his head, defeated.
"I tried to fight it, I really did, Silver. I wanted things between us to be purely business like you planned. I wanted to honor you and her. I wanted to make you proud..." Ethyn paused.
Like the situation, his words had come out a jumbled mess. He needed to be understood. Ethyn looked at the cell across from him. The prisoner there was still sleeping soundly. Ah that he could sleep and awake anywhere but here! But there was no escaping his situation.
The young man looked at his friend squarely in the eye. "The princess, she is special. I know it, and so do you. At first I thought we could just be friends, but I have found that notion to be impossible. I find her presence... intoxicating."
Ethyn immediately saw Silver's face darken, and he realized that he had chosen the wrong word.
The knight held up his hands. "I don't mean I want to take advantage of her. I mean I always want to be with her. Her laugh and smile—I can never get enough. I want nothing more than to make her smile; to see her face light up. I know I could never deserve her, but she makes me want to be better."
Silver leaned his shoulder on the wall, his lips pressed so thin that they disappeared.
"Does my sister know you feel this way?"
"I believe she does." Ethyn winced as he heard the Guardian's knuckles crack.
"You…believe?" The words came out through Silver's gritted teeth.
"Well, I told her how I felt. And then I kissed her…a few times." Ethyn ducked. He was sure a fist would come flying in his direction.
"What?!?" Silver could not contain his emotion.
"Prisoner and Princess sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" The lunatic taunted.
Straightening, Ethyn pressed his head against the bars. "You know you spell pretty well for a crazy man," he spat.
"Don't blame me. It's all the fairies. I only repeated them," the voice cackled, "What did I spell, exactly?"
"Nothing." Ethyn beat his palm against the bar before turning back around. "I know you don't like it, Silver…"
"You don't know the half of it…" the Guardian's chest heaved.
"But there…there is nothing you can do to dissuade me from wanting to be with your sister. I love Rose." It was the first time he had spoken the words aloud. Did he believe them?
Yes, he did.
And Silver seemed to believe he meant them as well, for his face became quite serious. Every muscle in his body tensed. "After all we have been through together, after all I have done, you went behind my back and courted my sister?"
"May I remind you that if you snap my neck now, you'll have to smell my rotting corpse until the guards eventually return," Ethyn struggled in the confined space. There was nowhere to run.
"We can agree on one thing," Silver said menacingly, "you don't deserve her."