Chapter 37. Jailbreak

The guards were supposed to come with the morning. Unable to sleep, Julian had listened as the storm rolled through the small village all night. Once it was over, he knew his and Erika's time was up. The guards would come and drag them to the village square where death awaited them both.

But as the storm quieted down, the guards hadn't come.

From his cell he could hear the commotion above. People were shouting, screaming. The streets had descended into what sounded like absolute chaos. It was no wonder the guards hadn't come. They were probably pulled to deal with whatever was happening in the village. Julian wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not. On the one hand, he probably wouldn't die today, but there was no escape from this dark cell.

The lock on his cell door clicked and Julian immediately rose to his feet, chains rattling. A lone guard stepped into the cell. If he could get the key away from the guard, then just maybe he could make it out of here. He swung at the guard, hitting them just under the chin. The guard cursed and stumbled back.

"I guess I deserved that." Said an all too familiar voice.

"Dominick?" Julian asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

The guar lifted his helmet slightly, and it was indeed Navy Commander Dominick. He proceeded to unlock the shackles around Julian's wrists.

Julian stared at him disbelievingly. "What are you doing? Why are you helping me?"

Dominick sighed. "I'll explain when we're back on the ship. I just…I couldn't let this happen." He paused. "Do you trust me?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do."

Under the helmet, Dominick grinned. "The princess is on the second floor of the castle. There's horses saddled and ready to go in the stable. We're staggering our way back to the Siren and sailing out after sundown."

Julian nodded and was already half out the door when he stopped. "What about Erika?"

"Leave that to me."

...

Anneliese shuddered as the sounds of fighting drew closer to her window. She looked down at the little baby sleeping in her arms, blissfully unaware of the chaos happening around them. She had threatened to break the fingers of anyone who dared to come near her baby, her brother included, and it had been enough to keep people away from her room in the castle. Everyone but the guards, at least. They were a constant outside of the locked door in case Erika or Julian tried to escape and take her with them. Now, with whatever was going on outside, she was grateful for their presence. She looked down at her little girl again and smiled.

A loud thud came from outside her door. Anneliese's head shot up. There was a quick shout followed by another thud. The lock clicked and she gasped, holding the baby closer. She carefully reached for vase of flowers on the nightstand. The door opened, and she threw the vase. It missed whoever she was aiming at, shattering against the door, and sending shards of glass everywhere.

"Perhaps I should have knocked first?"

"Julian!" Anneliese gasped. He crossed the room and sat on the bed beside her, catching her lips in a quick kiss. When they broke apart, he looked down at the baby in her arms with wonder.

"Saoirse." Anneliese said quietly. "It's Irish. It means-"

"Freedom." Julian whispered, his eyes glassy. He kissed her again, deeper this time, and she leaned into it. He pulled back, resting their foreheads together. "Let's get out of here."

Anneliese smiled. "Please."

With that Julian scooped both her and Saoirse into his arms and walked past the fallen guards out the door.

...

With the Admiral's midnight visit, Erika had fully expected no less than a small army to escort her to the executioner's block. So, when a single guard unlocked the door to her cell she didn't even wait for him to unlock the shackles on her wrists before swinging her fists wildly at his face and dashing out the open door. She laughed as she raced through the empty corridors. If the navy was really stupid enough to let her escape so easily then she was going to take full advantage of that. She just had to find Julian-

Something heavy flew into her back and she toppled to the ground. She rolled onto her back just in time for the guard who had unlocked her cell to pin her to the cobblestone. He grabbed her wrists before she could swing at him again and… unlocked her shackles… She looked at the guard confused.

The guard lifted his helmet. Erika gasped.

Dominick.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"We're escaping." He said.

"We?"

His face flushed as he pulled her to her feet. "It's a long story."

Erika nodded. "Tell me later then. We have to go get Julian-"

"Actually, he and the princess are probably half-way to the ship by now."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I got him out first."

Erika stared at him for a moment. "You have a lot of explaining to do when we're back on the ship."

"I know."

Dominick led them out of the dungeon with little resistance. Apparently, he had arranged for the Siren's crew to run rampant through the village until sundown, drawing the navy's attention while he broke into the dungeon and rescued her and Julian. It was a simple plan, but it was clearly working. She was even more surprised when they reached the stable and there were several horses saddled and ready to go. He laughed at the look on her face and they rode towards the cove with the willow trees together.

They were the last ones to reach the ship.

Erika stood on the deck of the Black Siren as it pulled out of the cove onto open waters once again. She had just returned from below deck where Julian, Anneliese, and their baby were tucked away safely. The sight of her niece combined with the sound of her distinctly Irish name had brought tears to her eyes.

Saoirse.

Freedom.

She turned to Dominick, who had stood beside her from the moment they stepped back onto the ship. "Why did you help us?"

He stepped towards her, his hand coming up to stroke her cheek. "Because I love you, Erika."

Her eyes widened. "Truly?"

"Truly."

"I love you too." She said as their lips met and the sun set around them.