Despair and Melancholie
Chapter Four: The Aggressive Prince
"You really never left for all those years?"
Sethe and I had retreated to another street corner, where he interviewed me about my life. After his spite towards me had faded, I realized that he was genuinely interested in my plans, and he desperately wanted to join me.
"All my life, I lived in that castle. All my life, until… a few days ago." What surprised me the most, and what was the hardest to comprehend, was that it had scarcely been a week since my world had come crashing down and I had to escape from my home in fear for my life.
"What are you planning to do next?" He asked me, expectation in his voice.
I ran a hand through my golden hair and sighed, "Crystaline and I were planning to set sail towards Itinere Cordis soon, possibly today or tomorrow. We don't know that much about the kingdoms there, though. We need to learn which places we would be welcome."
Sethe's eyes lit up, "I've been there!"
"Really?"
"Well… I've been on the coast. I was on a ship that passed through one of the kingdoms; I don't know the name, but…. I knew someone who lives there."
I could tell there was something he was trying to hide from me. The hesitation in his voice forced me to inquire that there was something strange about him, and I wondered about his past.
"Where are you from? How did you get to Glade?" I asked.
He took a breath, preparing himself for what I guessed was a long story.
"Well, I was born in Canaerion." Immediately, I questioned him. Canaerion was an island very far from here, somewhere off the coast of Itinere Cordis, "It was me, my mother and my sister, Lilia. We lived there for a long time, until… we were attacked. One of the kingdoms in Itinere Cordis attacked us and took over," I supposed he didn't know the name of that country, but I did. Allairre, the largest kingdom in Itinere Cordis, which now controlled more than seventy percent of the entire country, had once tried to take over, and attacked many surrounding nations, "My mother was afraid for my sister and me and hid us away on a cargo ship that was leaving the port in Canaerion. My sister and I never saw her after that day. I was ten and she was eight."
His eyes had grown sullen, and I knew this was painful for him to recall, "We hid in that ship and it docked in Itinere Cordis the next day. My sister and I got off and tried to find work wherever we were so we could find a place to stay. But no one cared about two orphans where we were, and we decided to go back on the ship when it left again to find somewhere new. That day, my sister didn't return to the ship, and I never saw her again after that. But the ship sailed across the sea to Glade, and I lived here ever since. Please, I need to go back to Itinere Cordis to find my sister. I know she's still there after all these years."
Of course I wanted to help, "Do you have any idea where to begin looking?"
"No. But I've heard many stories about a girl who lives on Itinere Cordis; she sounds just like my sister."
I hated to be contrary to his beliefs, but it seemed very unlikely that this random girl could be his sister, "Why do you believe it's her? And who is she?"
Sethe turned to look at me, his face was determined, "They call her the Red Maiden."
Immediately I stopped him. This boy obviously had no knowledge of the history of these lands, or he would know much more about this Red Maiden. She is the highest governor of Allairre; she is replaced every fifty years by her predecessor, who chooses any unwitting lovely girl off the streets to substitute her. But, being the ruler of a terrible place like Allairre meant that their ruler would have an equally cruel and cold heart, and the Red Maiden was described of being just that. She was titled the 'red maiden' because of her gruesome deeds and the blood that had been shed under her regime. It was something mysterious and strange, the disappearance of one maiden to replace the other, and the sudden change in their pure hearts into cold killers. I had to explain this to Sethe.
"Sethe…I'm afraid you're very wrong. The Red Maiden is… the least person you would ever hope your sister would be."
He looked at me strangely, "What do you mean?"
"The Red Maiden rules over Allairre and she is said to be evil and cruel. She's seen the deaths of hundreds of people, and has the blood of many innocents on her hands."
His face changed slowly into disbelief and something that looked like anger, as if he believed this person to be his sister and by explaining what I knew I had offended him. I felt sympathy for him. If his sister truly was this Red Maiden, then there was likely no chance he could even meet her.
His eyes dropped and he bowed his head. What I said upset him, because he had his heart set on believing this to be his long lost sister. I put my hand onto his shoulder and tried to soothe him, until he responded to me.
"Well, we'll just have to see her and find out." I saw a glint of courage in his eyes, and smiled. This boy reminded my much of myself, the strong sense of morals and inability to give up. I believed in him.
I grinned at him, and he did the same back at me, "We'll be leaving soon, I suppose. You can follow me to the inn as we pack our things." I stood and Sethe did the same. And we started towards the inn, turning the corner into the marketplace when I stopped suddenly. My heart could have stopped.
Standing a few yards in front of me was, without a doubt, one of Valinothe's soldiers, speaking to a citizen. There was no doubt in my mind it was about me, and I was proven right when the citizen noticed my presence and pointed me out in the crowd.
I spared a glance to Sethe who looked worried, and told him to stay put. The soldier became wary and approached me slowly, speaking, "Prince Desperaux Melancholie, you are wanted for escape by the military of Gale. Come peacefully and we will not use force-" I ran quickly and slammed my body against the soldier, drawing my sword. He drew his and swung it at me, though I caught his arm and released the blade from his hand. Swiftly I threw him to the ground and held my sword to his face, trying my best to ignore the startled crowd.
"How many others of you are there? Where are they! Tell me!" I shouted at him, threateningly holding my sword to him, "How many!"
"Th-There are ten of us…on a ship at the dock.." He muttered through clenched teeth.
"What has Valinothe done to my family?"
"They're being held prisoner by Valinothe….he plans to execute you all together…"
Fury overtook me, and I cried out in rage. Standing, I took Sethe's hand and ran as fast as I possibly could towards the inn and away from the people who had just seen this horror. I burst in the door to see Crystaline gathering things.
"P-Prince Desperaux? What's wrong? Who is this?"
"This is Sethe, quick Crystaline, we have no time! Valinothe has soldiers here to find me, they're already docked in the port, we must go now!" I cried out frantically, barely giving her time to process the information until I started to grab all the scrolls and maps and put them together, "Crystaline, we are in more danger with every passing second, let's go!"
The situation set in and she reached for the scrolls as well, giving some to Sethe to hold, as I gathered up the last of my things. Putting the money in my pocket, we didn't bother to speak to the innkeeper. Instead, we rushed out the door, arms full, with our sights set solely on the docks. Luckily, they weren't far and I didn't look back once. My heart almost stopped for a second time when I saw a group of three or four soldiers standing closely to our ship, with theirs docked adjacently.
"Stop!" I said to Crystaline and Sethe, and we stumbled to a halt as the soldiers came into view. I brought them behind some ship to hide momentarily before saying gravely, "Listen to me carefully, I need the two of you to be ready to run. Hold the scrolls and stand here until I signal you to come. I'm going to hold the soldiers back while you get onto the ship. Be ready to cut the ropes as soon as I say so. Any one mistake could let them catch us."
"Desperaux! You're so outnumbered, how do you know you can stand a chance against four of them, and what if more come?" She questioned frantically.
I smiled and sighed defiantly, "You underestimate me, Crystaline," I smirked, "You'll see. Now stay calm and listen close."
She spared one more quiet call of my name as I unsheathed my sword and crept out slowly, staying as close to the side of the ship and out of sight as I could. I drew in a breath.
God, I beg You, give me strength.
With a few more steps, their eyes caught hold of me, but before they could shout an order, I let out a fierce, "Hyaah!" Bringing my sword up, the sound of clashing steel was intensely loud and resounding. My sword struck faster, and pushed one of them stumbling back. Swiftly I turned around, sword swinging outwards to defend against their oncoming attacks, my back to our ship. I gave a glance to Crystaline, and took a few warning steps away to lead them with me as I cried out, "Now!"
The soldiers' eyes shot to my emerging comrades, but I drew their attention back to me with a loud yell again as my blade landed against their steel armor. Suddenly I felt a pair of arms clad in metal try to seize me from behind, but I was too fast. I pulled the weight of the soldier over my shoulder in such a way that he crashed into one of the others. In the split second that they landed to the ground, I heard Crystaline call my name from the deck of the ship.
"Prince Desperaux! Now!" She cried. Looking back to the two struggling on the ground and my one remaining adversary, I fueled my strength with fury. With one last battle cry, I lifted my blade high over my head and struck it down upon the soldier's armored head, sending him to the ground. The entire thing only lasted a minute or more, yet it felt like forever in my mind. The calculative destruction that I had caused fueled through me a sort of righteous fury. I drew in another heavy breath and leapt onto the ship, with my adrenaline rushing I yelled to Crystaline and cut the ropes holding our ship to the docks. The wind quickly caught the sail and pushed us out to sea.
The trip out to sea was one plagued by worry. A fear of seeing the Galean ships on the horizon in search of me. But by the grace of God, they were not spotted. As nighttime shaded the sky in a deep indigo, our course for Itinere Cordis was set, and our ship swayed calmly with the sea on its way. I was relieved to be able to relax, and watch the stars and moonlight paint the sky in beautiful colors with the sunset. I stood, facing the sea with the cool air blowing against my face. Deep in the back of my mind I prayed that we would be able to arrive safely at our next destination. I would have to study the maps and customs of all the small colonies on Itinere Cordis, just to be ready. I stared out into the horizon, fearing what was to come.