"Alright, down you go." The soldier dragging me along opened a wooden criss-cross gate in the floor. I let out a scream as he proceeded to fling me down it. The fall wasn't long, but I landed on the grey stone bricks with a bang. The man laughed at me laying there in pain. But soon his laughing was interrupted by another voice.
"I say! You there! Let me out! I've already told you! I'm not a spy; I'm a bard! I swear, I had no idea who owned this castle! I was merely passing!" I lifted my upper half up to see this older man chained to the other side of the cell. He had whitish hair with grey eyebrows. He wore a yellow shirt with brighter sleeves and a red cape. Around his neck was a harp of sorts. Both his wrists were chained to this wooden fixture just above his head. The poor man looked like he'd been down here a while. It didn't register that I was down there with him right away, as he continued yelling to the guard. "You can't keep me down here! I am a famous artist! I…. I… Oh, by jove…." Only then did he take notice of me on the ground. I meanwhile, gawked at him with horror and disbelief.
"Oh my god!" Immediately my feet leapt into action, jumping up in a flash and rushing over to the man. All my attention now went to his shackles. "I say, are you alright?" "Fine! Need to get these off," I desperately searched for any weak spots I might exploit in the iron and wood. "What's your name?" He asked me. "They might be listening," I replied in a whisper; my fingers were still fiddling with the locks. "Are you a princess?" There was a hint of hopefulness in his voice. "No… Yes! I have to get these off you somehow!" I wasn't really listening to what he was asking me. These chains were set tight by the looks of it.
"What on earth are you doing in a place like this, princess? Did he steal you?" "He wants to keep me because I can turn into a dragon," I absentmindedly explained. The bard's face lit up. "You can?! Well, why don't you turn into one now and free us?" An audible gasp left my lips as my hands paused for a moment. "I can't do that! This cell is too small to fit my dragon body and I'm liable to hurt you. No, I can't transform in here," with that I went back to fidgeting with his chains. I let out a low groan as I tried prying one open, with no success. Growing more irritated, I looked down at my right palm. "It's too slippery with this on," the bard watched me unwrap the piece of torn shirt tied around my hand.
The bard's whole expression altered entirely when he saw the strange marking on my right palm. I blinked back up to him as he gasped very loudly. "Great scott! That's the emblem of the late king!" "Who?" My eyebrow raised confused. "The great king of Prydain: King Rhydderch Hael. That's his personal insignia on your hand." "It is?" I glanced down to it ponderingly. "He's the one who built this castle and brought Prydain into its golden age! Or at least until that fiendish Horned King took it over. King Rhydderch Hael came here from England, you know." "He did?" The wheels in my head began to turn.
"I say, how did you manage to get that? Are you related to his majesty, by chance?" "Uh, no. I got it after…. after I uh…. pulled a sword from a stone." "Pulled a sword from a stone? Well, by jove…." The wheels kept turning and turning inside my brain. My eyes wandered out into space for a second as I contemplated. "Where did Arthur put the sword after he pulled it out from the stone?" "In the old king's tomb, though he wasn't buried here in England."
"The late king…. Where is he buried?" "Oh, his tomb's underneath the castle. Why do you ask?" The bard inquired. My gaze scrolled around in a thoughtful manner again; I bit my lower lip still thinking. "Underneath the castle? Where underground actually?" "Why, I'm not sure. The castle's teeming with corridors and tunnels right below the floors. Legend tells that they all lead back to the great king's tomb eventually." "Tunnels? You mean there are tunnels beneath us right here?" I pressed. "I should think so, yes," now it was the bard's turn to be perplexed.
I stood up, carefully inspecting the bricks comprising the floor. It was hard to see any exact details thanks to the dull light coming from a torch right above our cell. But it was enough light for me to see where I was stepping. I began knocking on each slab with my feet, listening for any sort of hollow or echoing sound. The bard kept watching me utter confused. "I say, what are you doing, princess?" I didn't answer, keeping on with my search. My heart leapt for joy at this hollow tap coming off one of the bricks near the back. It was one of the bigger ones in the cell, but it definitely didn't have anything underneath it. Excitedly I raced back over to the bard so to talk into his ear.
"I found a brick that'll open up to the tunnels. It's pretty set in but I'll work at it and pull it up." The bard's lips stammered. "Oh, but my dear, none of the tunnels lead outside. In order to prevent looting, the king had them all sealed up, you see." I mulled this over for a minute, only to decide it didn't matter. I shook my head and looked back at the puzzled bard. "I'm still going to break it loose and go down to the king's tomb." "But… but why, princess? What possible reason could you have for wanting to go down into such a creepy place?" "Look, we need to escape from here and in order to do that, I need to get you out of those chains." "But what does that have to do with anything?" My eyes shown right into his as my lips flattened to a straight, serious line.
"Because I'm going to get us a sword."