Welcome to a new chapter and thanks for your messages ! Angie, you are so right, Varian needs to come to terms with what he has done, and even with himself in general. It will be a long, painful way, so that means... more angst, more hurt/comfort and more to the story! :)

Chapter 6

Arianna was pacing with impatience. She had to be sure not to come across the King again. But she also had to get out of that room and find Varian. She had waited for some time – and it seemed an eternity – but she still was unsure it would be safe.

She started to check the trunk in Eugene's room, feeling a bit bad for the young's man privacy, but she needed something to go around the castle. She was mentally slapping herself for not thinking of that before though. She could have easily taken something from her own clothes.

Despite Eugene being on a journey and having taken some of his stuff with him, the trunk was still quite full. Full with fancy shirts, nice doublets and different pairs of stockings, some with colours that had her make a face… She tenderly remembered that Eugene grew up with nothing, and one of the first things she saw him do when he settled down with them was to try on and get as many different outfits as he could. It's probably natural for someone with his background to amass as many things as possible to make sure that the changes in his life were real.

She was about to give up when she saw some black woollen cloth amidst the fancy colours. She grabbed it and pulled out a long cape. It was perfect. As it was summer, Eugene didn't bother to take it. She threw it around her shoulder and put the hood on. Ready to sneak around in her own castle, it was like "Darianna" was back.

More cautiously than the previous time, the Queen made her way to the stairs leading to the cell. At the top of these, Phil the guard was standing, still on duty and getting bored again. When he saw the hooded figure, he gave a start, and then said :

"Oh, did you forget something ?"

Arianna was puzzled. What was he talking about ? Anxious not to reveal herself, she decided to let him think she was whoever he thought she was, nodded her head beneath the hood, and made her way down.

"Rude" Phil thought. He briefly wondered whether he should hand over the keys again, but since he hadn't heard any request, he just let it be, keeping watch. He had no idea that the person who had just gone downstairs in the hooded cape was not the one he saw earlier…

Nigel had indeed left the prison cells a few moments before, after dropping an unconscious and injured Varian in his cell. He wasn't much concerned about the boy's condition, but more about the one of his stocking. After Ruddiger bit him on his lower leg, some blood was showing on the white silk. This was something that could betray him.

Blessing the long cape he was wearing, he walked hastily to his own chambers to get the wound cleaned (no doubt he would get an infection from that horrible beast, he thought) and change his stockings before he had to go back to the King.

Arianna wrinkled her nose at the change of temperature and smell as she went down and down. She could feel the dampness, as well as the typical scent of places that never saw the sun and would never get fresh air. Feeling sick that a child would be a prisoner in a place like this, she passed in front of several cells, most of them empty –Corona was a small and happy kingdom, and outlaws were not that numerous- searching for the one where the young alchemist was kept.

She reached to last flight of stairs, the one that lead to the lowest floor. Come on, Fredric, she thought, how dangerous could a fourteen years old child behind bars be ?

There were not so many guards altogether though, the Queen noticed. After the events from the day before, the King had made sure that most of them were allowed to rest. The Captain himself, who was injured during the attack from Ruddiger, transformed with a potion of Varian's invention, was still bedridden.

"Here for another deal, are you ?" came a deep voice that pulled Arianna from her thoughts. She stopped and looked into the cell where it came from, her face still hidden. Two men were there, sitting on the beds, elbows on their knees and head down.

The one who spoke didn't wait for a reply to continue, his voice holding more anger than mere taunting like before :

"Well you can forget it. Next time, you get your own hands dirty, you rat ! Serves you well for threatening us !"

The Queen couldn't help but let a gasp escape from her throat. The Stabbingtons raised an eyebrow at the same time, the second brother still mute. Something was not right.

Sudden realization hit the Queen. What happened here ? Did it had something to do with… ?

She turned her head to face the hallway she hadn't explored yet. She took a step forward, before breaking into a run. She had a very bad feeling.

Her hood flew off her head as she ran faster, her breath hitching. She was frantically checking on her left and on her right for the cells. Empty, empty, big nasty guy, empty…. Come on, Varian, where are you ?

At last, she stopped in her tracks, when she saw an odd shape in one of the cells. The first thing was that it was lying on the floor, in the middle of the room, barely lit despite the daylight, due to the very small and high window with bars. The second thing that startled her was that it was somebody, somebody very small and lanky like a twig. And the whole body was very still, lying in an awkward position. Varian.

He was on his back, his legs and arms randomly sprawled around him. His head was lying on the side, away from her. She couldn't see if his eyes were open or closed, but the fact that he wasn't moving at all and in such a way sent her over the edge.

"Varian", she screamed as she took hold of the bars with both hands. "Varian, talk to me !"

No answer. Instinctively, she reached for the door to open it, but it was locked. Of course.

"No, no, Varian !". She started to panic. He was lying there, as if he were dead.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a movement. She started to feel a bit relieved, until she realized it was the boy's raccoon. The little animal lifted his head and, recognizing the lady who was in the lab before, ran to the door, making anxious chittering sounds.

"I must go and get the keys. Please stay with him. I'll be back as soon as I can." She said with her hands around the animal's face from across the bars, without knowing if the loyal raccoon could understand. But at that moment, it seemed she had no one else to turn to.

She ran all the way back, passing in front of the Stabbington brothers again but didn't slow down. Varian needed help, and fast. That was all that mattered.

Phil's surprise was immense as he saw the Queen coming up the stairs to him, breathless and eyes wide with fear. How could she be here ?

"I need the keys. Go and get the court physician, quickly !" She was speaking with an urgent tone that said it was not in his interest to argue. He handed the keys to her, bewildered, and ran off.

Arianna finally made it back to Varian's cell and took the keys to open it. There were so many, and in her haste, she didn't think of asking the guard which one she should use. She tried several ones, hands trembling, the waste of time unbearable, before the lock finally worked. She opened the door and ran to the unconscious form.

"Oh, Varian. Please wake up. Please !", she whispered, her hands hovering over the broken body, unsure of what to do. What if moving him made things worse ? Leaning over, she managed to see his face. His eyes were shut, his mouth slightly open, but the most scaring feature was his paleness. His head and face were also bleeding, making the contrast even stronger.

Without waiting to see if his chest rose and fell, she bent over to press her ear against his chest. She waited anxiously for a heartbeat. His breathing was barely noticeable. But it was there. A faint heartbeat. He was still alive.

Tears starting to form in her eyes, the Queen sat up again, and pressed her hand against his forehand. She couldn't feel the soft warmth she was hoping to find. Was he in some sort of hypothermia ? Or was he already starting to… ?

She undid her cape and covered the boy with it. He was way too cold. She shuddered as she could feel something next to her : the raccoon was coming back to his place, next to his friend. No doubt he had the same idea in mind, and that brought more tears to the Queen's eyes.

"Thank you" she whispered, and she took one of Varian's hands in her own and squeezed it, hoping to get a response in return. But nothing came. She held their hands close to her mouth as she whispered through her tears :

"Hold on. Please hold on. I'm here and I'm not letting you go. Please stay with me."