"Well?! Someone answer me," the golden-eyed man demanded, as the soldiers began exchanging expressions of confusion.
Finally, the commanding officer stepped forward, and Effie took a little bit of personal joy in seeing the way he cowered like a dog now, when just moments earlier he had been drunk on power, throwing her body around like she was no better than garbage, and speaking degrading words to her face.
"We- we weren't aware of that, your highness," he dipped his head in submission. "However, despite that fact, you know we are under strict orders from the king. There are to be no trials. And no exceptions. We are to execute every last witch-"
"And how do you know with certainty that these two women here are even witches?" The golden-eyed man interjected sharply.
"Well, there was a witness, your highness."
"What kind of witness?" His golden eyes narrowed.
Kip... Effie's heart now filled with worry for the boy. She hoped he wouldn't get in trouble somehow because of all of this. He may have been the one who turned them in, but in the end he was just a child who's mind had been warped by the prejudices of the adults in his life. And if he grew up with any kind of critical reasoning, he would already have to live with what he'd done for the rest of his life. That would be punishment enough. He didn't deserve to be treated by these royal soldiers in the same way that Anise and Effie had.
"There was an adolescent, your highness," the soldier explained meekly. "A young boy who witnessed these women casting spells right here in this very building behind us. According to him, they had been using magic to heal, and that the medicine business was just a front for it. He also said that when they had caught him spying, they nearly killed him. But he barely escaped with his life last night, and came straight to the nearest guard to report the incident."
Effie searched the eyes of the man on the white horse, trying to figure out what he was thinking in that moment. Was he going to believe what the soldiers were saying? It was hard to tell. She couldn't find the answer in his emotionless eyes. And she didn't know why, but somehow she felt as though right now, her very life was balancing precariously in this man's hands. So when he spoke again, she held her breath.
"And you are just going to simply believe a child's account? You are aware that children are prone to fanciful stories and wild imaginations, aren't you soldier?"
"Well... yes."
Effie could tell that the commanding officer was now feeling very small and foolish under the agonizing gaze of those two, terrifying golden eyes. She could hardly believe that they were the very same pair of gentle eyes which had looked up at her in surprise when he reached out to catch her that day she'd fallen out of the tree.
"But it doesn't matter," the commanding officer went on. "As long as there is any suspicion whatsoever, our orders are to execute any witch on sight."
"So that gives you the right to drag someone out of their home, or place of business, and burn them to death on the street without trial? I do wonder how many innocent lives have been lost on suspicion alone in this wretched kingdom? And besides, even if these women were practicing magic, it doesn't sound as if they were hurting anybody with it. They were simply healing the people of the town. I see nothing wrong with that."
"It's not a matter of right or wrong, your highness. We simply follow the king's orders."
"The ironic thing about that," the golden-eyed man said, his voice as biting as ice. "Is that the king is not currently here. He's been away making peace negotiations with the kingdom of Flosphia these last few months. And as you know, that puts my brother and I temporarily in charge for the time being. So right now, you will follow MY orders. I may not be king, but I do have authority over you. And if you value your positions right now, and quite possibly your lives, you will untie these women from their pyres this instant."
"But your highness-"
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
"But-But," the soldier dared to continue. "If the king comes back and learns that we didn't carry out his orders..."
"The king will find out nothing as long as you all do as I say. However, I simply can't let you carry out this farce of an execution to completion. After all, that woman over there saved my life, so I'd rather not have to see her go up in flames."
'Yeah...' Effie thought with a grimace. 'But I was also the one that endangered your life in the first place, so I don't know why you keep saying that...'
"If it puts you more at ease," the man continued. "You can have these women locked up in prison for the time being. Just until I am able to have a conversation with father upon his return to Avanthia to sort things out. But until the king is back, no one is to lay a finger on either of these women, or that person may very well lose those fingers. Or worse."
Effie's brain stopped functioning in that moment. Had he just referred to the king as his father?! So didn't that mean this whole time... the man she had nearly killed... the man she couldn't get out of her head... the man who was standing before her now on a white steed... he was a one of the princes of Avanthia?!
Effie had heard about the princes before. But only briefly. Prince Torin and Prince Reign both resided in their father's castle of Avanthia, though they hadn't made many public appearances during their father's reign. Especially not in her small town of Evanore. So she'd never had the chance to lay eyes on either of the princes until now. Or at least she thought she hadn't. And anyway, what on earth was a prince of the four kingdoms doing in Evanore now of all times? And what had he been doing out in Moonshadow forest the day she first laid eyes on him?
Effie was so dizzy at this point that she didn't even react to the prospect of being thrown in prison, and she could scarcely comprehend the next words out of the prince's mouth, although those words spelled her salvation.
"Are you deaf, as well as dumb? I said take those women down immediately! Or would you like to find yourselves tied to those pyres in their stead?"
"Y-Yes, your highness," the soldier finally conceded.
And just like that, Effie and Anise had escaped their date with death.
-------
Dawn had broken, and the morning sun bathed the land in the warmth of its rays. The city of Evanore was stirring; farmers, bakers, shop keepers were all waking up, and bustling about their busy days as they always did each morning. But Effie wasn't there to see it this time. Through the barred windows of the cramped, little prisoner wagon, all she could could see was the edge of Evanore slowly shrinking away from sight until nothing but road and forest filled her view.
Her body still ached deeply from the rough treatment of the soldiers, but she hardly noticed the pain above the deafening roar of own thoughts. The full force of what had just happened finally hit her like a wrecking ball. That realization that she had managed to escape one harrowing crisis, only to be thrust straight into a new on had, her on edge.
Effie and Anise were currently on their way back to Avanthia, a city they'd barely escaped from with their lives many years ago. That fact alone was terrifying enough. But this time, they were arriving as a prisoners.
'Prisoners...' Effie mouthed the word, not liking the way it tasted on her tongue.
She was going to be locked up in prison, likely to be tortured or left to rot. How was this a rescue? If this had been that prince's idea of saving her, then she wished she'd never met him in the first place. Because in this moment, she was beginning to think that burning at the stake may have been a more merciful outcome after all.
Anise, on the other hand, seemed largely unbothered by all of it, which was somehow even more unsettling. The older woman seemed too hung up on the whole situation with the prince to fully grasp their own, dire situation. At least, that's what Effie thought.
"I still can't believe that the person you saved was none other than one of the La Croix princes," Anise was gushing.
"Yeah... I can't believe it either," Effie replied dryly.
"I don't see why you're so indifferent about this. I mean... it was the prince! One of the king's own sons took our side against his wretched father and his horrible men. That's... unheard of. It's groundbreaking. And it's thanks to you."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that yet, Aunt Anise. I mean, in the end he's a La Croix after all, isn't he? And anyway, just look where we are right now. We're being carted off to prison. I'm not sure we can so easily trust that the prince is on our side just because he stopped the execution. Who knows what kinds of horrors await us at the palace dungeon?"
"That may be," Anise said with a small smile. "But we're alive, aren't we? By some miracle, we're still alive."
"Yeah... for now anyway," Effie scoffed. But the world seems hell-bent on killing them, so it was hard for her to say for how long...
She stared down at her hands which had been re-bound in front of her, this time with much more care. But the skin was still red and raw from the rope she'd been bound with the first time. The prince had made sure the soldiers re-did their bindings in a much more comfortable manner before having them crammed into this horrible little wagon that jumped and skittered over every little bump and pothole in the road, causing Effie to bang her head on the ceiling nearly every time.
She wasn't certain if this prince was friend or foe. Was he he an ally or an enemy? She really hoped that the latter wasn't the case, but she was finding it too hard to trust. No, she couldn't trust him yet. Not after everything she'd been through. Not after all the people who had turned their backs on her. She decided she'd be cautious for now until she knew if she could trust him.
The wagon traveled on for a while, and soon, the city of Avanthia came into view. It was a familiar, horrible sight that churned Effie's stomach inside of her. She never thought in a million years that she would ever return to this place of horrors.