Chapter Thirty

Breakout

VALLOKEN

It was a small comfort at least that although Peggy and himself had been taken down to the dungeons below the palace, their hands had been cuffed in front of them and not behind their backs. Val rubbed his jaw tenderly. The blow that Bjorn had landed across his face had sent stars flitting across his vision and the ache simply wouldn't leave. He was convinced that the Blood Mage had measured his strength so that the punch just came short of fracturing or breaking his jaw. Sadistic bastard.

"Still hurts?" Peggy called from the cell next to his. Bjorn had been more cautious this time, careful to put his two prisoners apart in separate cells.

What kind of question is that? Instead of retorting in exasperation, Val just nodded as he continued to nurse his jaw.

"Quiet in there." A Southern Isles guard rapped aggressively against the steel bars of Peggy's cell.

Peggy snarled softly at him before retreating away from the bars, and lapsed back into silence as the guard slowly walked back to the dungeon's exit to continue speaking with his companion.

The general had also assigned two guards to watch the prisoners, choosing not to underestimate his opponents this time. But without Talya's sorcery, it was going to be virtually impossible for them to get out of their cells anyway. Unless, of course…

Val glanced over at Peggy, who also happened to be looking at him. Her eyes went over to the dungeon's exit, which was nicely located at a blind spot where the guards could not directly see them. As her eyes flicked down to her wrists, he followed her gaze. She was slowly reaching into her left boot, pulling out a small silver lockpick. Giving Val a tight smile, she subtly began to work on her cuffs.

Nerves getting to him, Val watched as Peggy's fingers moved deftly and precisely to free herself from her cuffs. He was impressed and relieved that her efforts made absolutely no sound, a testament to her stealth and accuracy in manipulating the lockpick. The spy's face betrayed no hint of whether she was succeeding or failing, up until the cuffs gave a tiny click and loosened.

Very gently, Peggy stuffed the cuffs into her pocket and checked to see if the guards had noticed. Val naturally did the same, and was glad to see that the guards were complacently happy to just stand by the door and chat. They hadn't noticed a thing.

Peggy's fingers moved quickly, placing the lockpick on the stone ledge in between their two cells. Snatching it up instantly, Val sat on the lockpick for a moment, heart pounding in his chest. Perhaps it was so loud that even the guards could hear it. If they did, they gave no indication as they continued to laugh over some joke.

He exchanged another glance with Peggy. He knew that she was aware that he wasn't a spy like herself who could escape from his restraints. So why had she slipped him the lockpick? Subtly, she jerked her head at the little panel of her cell door.

Of course. Val grinned at her and began to move slowly to the cell door till he leaned against it inconspicuously. Lockpick in hand, he raised it up to the panel and wedged the thin instrument in between the gap. He pried the panel open slowly and set it aside to study the electrical wiring. Unlike traditional prisons, the Arendellian dungeon had been given a generous upgrade, complete with a security system that could be digitally manipulated - given that the prisoner had immense experience with electrical engineering or was a tech geek. Fortunately, Val was both.

This time, it was Val who worked quietly and deftly with his fingers albeit his hands were still cuffed, periodically using the tiny lockpick to aid him in handling the many wires which crisscrossed the circuitry of the security lock. All the while, he could see Peggy watching him from the peripheral of her eye. At a quick glance, it seemed that she was mimicking him, working on her own panel with yet another lockpick.

Val found himself impressed - as usual. The spy was a quick learner, apparently. He disconnected the last wire from the circuit board and inserted one of the green ones into its place. He felt the door's mechanism shift ever so slightly in his hand and a smirk broke out on his face. It'd worked.

He waited a few more seconds for Peggy to finish up, and she gave a nod of confirmation that her door was unlocked too. Both hands still cuffed, he placed them on the cell door. The guards were complacent all right, complacent enough that they hadn't checked or patted him down for weapons before they'd tossed both Peggy and himself in the cells. His knuckle dusters were still in his pocket. And it was going to cost them.

Clearing his throat, Val lifted his voice. "Excuse me!" He called out in a desperate tone. "Excuse me! Help! Please!"

The two guards came round the corner, evidently annoyed at being interrupted from whatever deep conversation they were engaged in.

"What's going on?" One of the two guards asked gruffly.

"We need help. Please." Val said cryptically, purposely pressing himself close to the cell, with both hands holding the door shut. From the corner of his eye, he saw Peggy do the same.

"Let go of the bars and step away." The guards began to walk closer to their cells.

"No, please. You don't understand. You have to help us." Closer…

"We won't say it again." The other guard warned, both of them stopping outside the two cells. "Get bac-"

Val sprung forward with all his might. The steel door slammed into the guard directly in front of him, causing him to reel and backpedal in a daze. His left hand went awkwardly into his pocket and drew out the knuckle dusters. Hurriedly putting the weapon on before the guard could recover from his shock, Val put his entire weight behind his blow. He drove his fists into the guard's stomach and saw droplets of saliva fly as the man doubled over. Without hesitation, Val threw himself into the guard's midsection, driving him against the opposite cell. There was a resounding crash and the guard went limp.

Stepping away, Val allowed the man to slip to the ground in a heap, and felt his heart thumping violently in his chest. Somehow, his clumsy attack had succeeded. He turned to see how Peggy was doing, and wasn't surprised to see that she'd handled her opponent with grace and precision.

She had the guard in a chokehold position with his head in the crook of her elbow, and he was clawing away futilely to break free.

"Where did you stash our stuff?" Peggy asked, tightening her grip.

The guard choked, his frantic struggles getting weaker. "Prison inventory."

"Thanks." Peggy adjusted her grip and the guard slowly faded into unconsciousness. It took less than a few more seconds before Peggy simply let go and the guard tumbled forward face first.

"Messy," Peggy glanced at the man Val had taken down. "But effective I suppose."

Val shrugged. "I'm no fighter."

"They stashed your backpack and my weapons in the inventory. Do you know where that is?"

"I think so. But first," He stretched out his wrists at Peggy. "Do you mind?"

Peggy grinned and set to work freeing Val. Within the span of ten seconds, Val was free and he nursed his wrists, thin red rings around his skin from where they'd been pressed tightly.

"Thanks." Val dropped the cuffs disdainfully on top of the guard Peggy had choked into unconsciousness. He looked up at the cameras in the corners of the ceiling and scowled. "We should move now."

###

Escaping from the dungeon took little more than a little rewiring of circuits and skulking about, and then they were back at the ground level of the palace, with Val's tablet back in his possession, and Peggy's weapons back where they belonged. There were so few soldiers patrolling the palace, few enough that it'd raised a red flag in Val's mind. After some pondering on the way up, one thing had become apparent to Val, quite possibly the one thing that Bjorn was hoping no one noticed. The general's forces were stretched incredibly thin trying to maintain their hold on the kingdom.

"Where to next?" Peggy whispered as they darted behind another wall after ascending the stairs.

"West wing. It's not much further." Val said in a low voice, checking the hallway that lay in front of them. A guard was pacing the floor with his back to them.

"And where exactly are we going?"

"Communications branch. Our army set up a station in one of the rooms for ease of communication. So that we can see first hand what's going on in case of a crisis." Val grinned. "Or in our case, getting an emergency call out using the official Arendellian broadcast signal."

A look of realisation crossed Peggy's face. "You're going to contact Arendelle's allies."

"That was always the plan." Just not the way he'd imagined.

"Good." Peggy peered out at the hallway again. She pulled out her pistol and screwed a silencer onto the barrel. Taking aim at the guard's back down the hallway, she pulled the trigger. Val winced, but the sound was little more than a zip, and the man fell forward.

Val and Peggy ran quietly to the end of the hallway, and began dragging the man into a side corridor where the body was less likely to be spotted. Then, Val led the way down another corridor which took them to the West Wing, where the communications room was located discreetly at the very corner. A pair of guards stood outside the door, rifles in hand and speaking to each other.

Putting a hand to her lips, Peggy pushed Val behind the wall where they were both out of sight.

"You think the General will do it?" One of the soldiers said.

"I hope not. Operation Røyk's going to be a waste of our time. We didn't come all this way and-"

"He better not." The first soldier growled. "I missed the Kolvärg festival to be here. The General better not be wasting our time and effort."

"Quiet," The second hissed. "You don't know if he might hear. Do you want him to squash you like a bug before you can make it back home?"

So apparently even Bjorn's own men were afraid of what the Blood Mage was capable of. It wasn't exactly surprising. Val glanced at Peggy, who nodded at him. She ducked out into the open, raising her pistol at the same time and pulling the trigger twice. The two soldiers dropped and Peggy signalled for Val to come out from behind the wall.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought this was a broom closet." Peggy said in a low voice as she began to pick the door's lock.

"That was the idea. But looks like Bjorn was sharp enough to notice." Val watched as Peggy unlocked the door gingerly and opened it. They slid into the room and shut the doors behind them.

Leaving the lights off, Val navigated through the dark room. He'd been in here only one other time, and that was when the Southern Isles had just begun their invasion. He remembered the tension here in this room as intelligence personnel shouted reports and frantically scrambled to relay new commands to the Arendellian Royal Air Force and the Fleet. It was so…quiet now.

"You know what you're looking for?" Peggy asked, her voice still low.

"Yes."

"Make it quick. It won't be long before someone finds our two dead guards outside." There hadn't been any blind spots to stash the two bodies, unfortunately. "We'll need to move fast."

Nodding, Val found the console and station he was looking for and dropped into the seat. It felt like he was once again in his element at last, and he booted up the system. A faint light from the monitor illuminated their immediate surroundings, casting gentle shadows behind Val and Peggy. Bypassing the system security was a breeze, and he was already searching for what he needed before Peggy could ask what he was doing.

"Found it." Val said. The digital map in front of him showed two different spots on the map, marked and labeled with two different sets of coordinates and frequencies.

"Molcorra and Einsfelt." Peggy read off the screen. "You sure they'll be willing to get involved in this conflict?"

"They're our allies."

"There's a difference between being allies and actually lending help, you know."

"You don't need to remind me." Val muttered, and hit the record function on the screen. "This is Prince Valloken of Arendelle." He began in an urgent tone. "I'm reaching out because we are being held prisoner in our own land. I repeat, Arendelle has been attacked. The Southern Isles has the kingdom locked down and our army has been incapacitated. We need military support to flush the invaders out. Please, we are counting on our allies to send aid as soon as possible."

Peggy remained silent as Val finished sending the emergency message to the allies. "Do you think they'll come?" She finally asked.

He looked at her for a long moment. "I hope so." Val said quietly, turning back to the screen.

"What are you doing?"

"Molcorra and Einsfelt aren't our only allies." Val pulled up another broadcast channel. "By now Talya must be making her way back here after hearing Bjorn's ultimatum. She needs to know where we are."