Neverquest – Part 116

Characters: Michelle, Mack, Jeff, Roy, Cara

Location: Outside the dungeon in Felwinter

Time: Day 5 – 3:32 AM

“My Scout senses tell me that the dungeon is just beyond that doorway,” Mack said, peeking his head around the corner. Jeff and Roy did the same.

The four of them—Michelle included—were crouched down in the shadows of a dark alleyway. The light of the moon was clipped by the bell tower of the castle, but they could see well enough to make out a guard standing by the iron door on the far end of the alley. She had her back to them, almost as if she was trying to read writing on the wall, and her sword rested plainly against her thigh.

“One guard?” Roy whispered, holding the leash of his frog. “Fort Knox, this isn’t.”

Michelle stood up. “No, but we’re not talking any chances.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to use my charm to get us in.”

“Oh.” Roy watched as Michelle stepped over him and the rest of the guys, staring up the threads of her ashen robe. “That’ll work. That’ll definitely work.”

Hearing footsteps coming her way, the guard twirled around. She looked a little nervous, with hidden sweat dampening the curves of her cheeks, and her fingers took turns brushing against the hilt of her sword. “Halt. Who’s there?”

“A friend,” Michelle said. She stopped a couple yards away, just in visible light, and showed that she was unarmed.

But the guard stood her ground, as shaky as her legs were. She was a young thing—six or seven years into her adult life—and she had snaky, brown curls that coiled down to her shoulders. “I don’t know you.”

“My name is Michelle. I have come for my daughter.”

“Your daughter?”

“Siarra.”

“Oh… You’re her mother?”

The girl didn’t look any more comfortable, but Michelle took another step forward anyway. “Yes. May I see her?”

“I’m terribly sorry, Miss, but your daughter…Siarra… She is to be executed in the morning.”

“What!? Executed?”

The guard looked up at her with something of pity and shook the curls of her hair. “I’m sorry. Queen Isabella has ordered it.”

“What has my daughter done to receive such treatment?”

“She interrupted the Tournament of Champions.”

Michelle stared at her, half in disbelief, even if Siarra wasn’t really her daughter. “You’re sentencing a little girl to death for interrupting a game?”

“I’ve done nothing, Miss. The Queen, she—”

“What’s your name, soldier?”

“C-Cara…”

“Sergeant Cara?”

“No…”

“Private Cara?”

“Just Cara is fine.”

Michelle took another step closer. “Well, listen here, Cara. I don’t know what’s going on in your Queen Isabella’s mind, but no daughter of mine is going to be executed over something so trivial. Now, please, step aside and let me speak to Siarra.”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I am not allowed to let anyone through.” But when Michelle didn’t budge, she swallowed hard and took a tighter grip on her sword hilt. Just in case. “Perhaps if you wait for my captain to return. Lucilla is a very fair lady, and if you just asked her—”

“I don’t have time for this, Cara. You will let me in to see my daughter now.”

“What?”

Rolling up her sleeves, Michelle waved her hand in front of Cara’s face. “I will let you see your daughter.”

“I will let you see your daughter,” Cara repeated. Her eyes were glazed over and she slowly began to release her grip on the sword.

“Good. Open the door now.”

Under Michelle’s spell, Cara’s hand moved towards her other thigh, where a ring of keys was dangling by a hoop that she easily undid. “I will open the door now.”

Michelle smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Cara. You can be quite understanding.”

“Wow, that was awesome!” Jeff cried out from the shadows. “You sure showed that guard a thing or two!”

“Huh? Voices?” Cara blinked, losing her concentration, and the key ring fell to her feet. She looked down at it and then up at Michelle. Jumping back, she unsheathed her sword and raised it to the sky. “What are you!? What did you do to me?”

Michelle showed her empty hands again. “I did nothing. You were going to open the door for me.”

“No! That was a trick. I saw you. You did something.”

“Sweetheart, I didn’t do—”

“S-stop it! I don’t trust you. You’re not a good person.”

“Cara, please… All I want is to see my daughter.”

Cara’s fingers remained steady. “…I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you say.”

“Nice going, idiot,” Mack hissed, pushing Jeff against the wall. “You screwed everything up.”

They watched as Cara continued to hold Michelle at sword-point and not a word was spoken. They had to hold their own breaths to keep from being overheard again.

“I didn’t mean to,” Jeff whispered.

“Shut up.”

“No, he’s right,” Roy said. “Idiots don’t mean to be stupid. They just are. Stupid is as stupid does.”

“Would you two shut your holes? They’re going to hear us.”

“Those voices…” Cara said, looking around. “What…what are they?”

Michelle looked innocent. “What voices?”

“Shhhh!”

“Those ones!”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“We gotta do something,” Roy said.

Jeff looked at him. “There’s nothing we can do. We’ll have to let Michelle kill the guard.”

“That’s a stupid plan.”

“Hey, if it works…”

“It doesn’t.”

“Look,” Mack said, grabbing Jeff’s shoulders. “You’re the Bear Baiter. Go create a distraction to lure the guard away from Michelle.”

“A distraction? I can’t do that.”

“That’s the only thing you can do, moron. That’s the reason Michelle couldn’t just wave her hand and walk inside.”

“So, are you saying I’m good at something?”

“I’m saying you’re an attention whore! Now, go be a hero.”

“That I can do!” Jeff said, puffing up his chest like an inflatable balloon. Then it popped when he got a look at the size of Cara up close. Even at her small stature, she was a breathing mammoth to him. He looked from her to Michelle and wondered what he could do.

“I want you out of here now,” Cara was saying, but her voice trembled and so did her body. “Whatever you’re up to, it’s no good.”

Michelle began to retreat, nearly stepping on Jeff. Luckily for him, the one thing he managed to do right was dive out of the way in time. Then he saw the key ring by Cara’s steel boots. Gathering up his small ounce of courage, he made a dash for it, throwing his body through the loop like a hula skirt and running with the keys flailing along behind him. They rattled against the hard cobblestone and drew Cara’s attention away from Michelle.

“Hey!” she cried, making a swipe for the keys with her free hand. But Jeff saw her oncoming shadow and veered to the right, dodging the clamp of her fingertips. “Hey now… Stop that!” She tried again, but the same thing happened.

“I’m open!” Roy called out. He appeared out of the shadows, bounding along on his mighty frog.

Jeff quickly worked the key ring over his head and twirled his body around, sending the keys spiraling through the air. Cara made another reach for them, but they passed through her fingers like air and landed around Roy’s neck. He nearly fell off the frog.

Panting, Jeff collapsed to his knees. “Whew… That’s enough exercise for today.”

But Roy was full of energy, hooting every time the frog circled Cara. He even took off his hat and waved it behind him like a flag as the keys dangled from his neck.

“This isn’t funny, guys!” Cara whined, but her attempts at catching them were getting worse with every moment. Once, she managed to touch the keys, but her fingers also graced along the frog’s back and she screamed as how slimy it was.

Strangely enough, Roy was enjoying that part of his ride.

“Make them stop!” Cara said, throwing her back against the iron door.

“Will you let me speak to Siarra?” Michelle asked.

Cara stared at her, still untrusting and still with vapors of sweat on her cheeks. “…Okay. Okay, I’ll let you see her.”