Isabella's pov
Several days later, we were sailing along when Alek James' ship appeared on the horizon. When he approached the side he had a grim look on his face and I could tell something was wrong. I stepped forward and addressed him solemnly.
" Mr. James" I began "how nice to see you again, how is it going?"
"Not well I fear" his voice cracked, and then I noticed something
"Where's Kaden" I demanded
" Well" Alek sighed and kicked at the ground "he's gone" he said finally, looking at the ground, there was a loud intake of breath from my crew
"What the hell do you mean he's gone?" I felt my eyes filling with tears
" The queen's got him" Alek said "When we were coming back, we were surrounded and then," he choked back a sob ":they took him" Alek half whispered "we were getting along so well.." he turned and walked away, but before he was out of sight. He turned around and tossed me a sack, then he was gone. I opened the bag and found a folded map. When I opened it, I found it was marked with several things including the prison for regular criminals, Greg Turnbull's farm, the last place Alek saw Kaden, the palace and one more that was unnamed. I gasped in shock, this was everything we needed to find Kaden. The only problem was, we were about five weeks of sailing away from any of those places.
The first spark of hope i'd had was gone as fast as it had appeared. I was sitting in my cabin soon after when William, Cutler and Teegan knocked on my door.
" What was in that bag" Cutler asked
"Does it matter?" I sighed, I was exhausted and did not want to go through another one of their lengthy investigations.
"Yes" Teegan said, she was very direct, with everything. I tossed it to her,
"Take it, look, whatever you want, just give it back." I sighed, they left, but for some reason I wanted them to come back. Maybe, I just wanted company, I couldn't be sure, I just hoped, that Kaden was okay. Wherever he was…
Thalia's Pov:
I was worried, yesterday, Luke gave me a note written on a sheet in something that looked like blood. It was disgusting. Apparently, the little boy, Kaden something, had thought up this insane plan for them to escape. It contained many complicated parts and was full of what if's among other things. I had a huge role in it as well, I had to acquire some red berries so they could make a paste. They were going to pretend they had the plague, and escape from quarantine, which I thought was ridiculous. How they would do that, I had no clue. The good thing was, they were going to take me with them so I could be with Luke. Currently, I was in the kitchen, and Marie, the cook was fetching the berries. Tomorrow I would bring them to the prison, and at 11pm, we would be out of here. Hopefully. We couldn't be sure that the fact they had the "plague" would be discovered in time for them to ensure their escape. When I got the berries, I stuffed them in my bodice and headed to my lessons with my younger brother, Jason and my cousins Nicolas and Beatrice. Mr. Veltom was not happy with my late arrival, and took it out on everyone in arithmetic. That night, I didn't sleep well, I tossed and turned the entire night and finally gave up on sleep, and headed to the prison. It was a long walk and I was freezing, but I made it. When I got inside, the guards questioned me, but I easily evaded them with a bribe. I arrived at their cell and passed the berries through the bars, to my disappointment, Luke was asleep and it was Kaden who greeted me.
"Thalia" he said
"Kaden" I said
"Thank you" He said, but then met my eyes and I was shocked, in his eyes, I didn't see the innocence that was normal for a child of that age. I saw pain of someone who had seen horrors that no one should see. It was as though he had been broken down over and over but had finally risen up past it. I nodded, and turned to leave.
"Remember, 11pm, tomorrow, find your way outside to the gates" Kaden said
"Got it" I said "Goodbye"
"Good luck" he said, at the moment, I wasn't really sure if I liked him or not, if I trusted him. All I knew was that he was my ticket out of here, even though he was little, he was clever. Well, I hoped, if not, our plan was doomed, and I was stuck in the castle for the rest of my life. When I got back to my room, I layed down until I fell asleep. The only thing I could do was hope.