Hearts Return - Part 4
The Adventures of Immalaine & Rastellion of Bree
(Continued from Hearts Return - Dark Heart 2)
Later that evening, with the supper dishes washed and put away, Immalaine sits on the edge of her bed and looks around the small room that's become her cell. She closes her eyes and imagines what the sky outside might look like now - the dipping sun painting the sky in vivid shades of oranges, reds and purples. A sigh begins to escape her lips, but she stifles it.
Instead she focuses on her memory of Rastellion's face during their happy trip to Winter-home. A pang of longing fills her heart, and she reminds herself that his uncle had promised they'd return for her. She wondered if maybe, today, Mary had seen Ceolfred, when she'd been in town, or if yet another day had slipped past, slipped closer to the wedding, with no word of rescue. Chores had kept the girls from speaking privately all afternoon - that and Immalaine's ever present guard - but surely Mary would have given her some sign?
A commotion ad the door draws Immalaine's attention away from these thoughts. "No, you can stay out there," Mary's voice comes, tinged with irritation. "What, you think I'm going to sneak her out in my sewing basket, that I'd even want to?"
Immalaine's guard rumbles something not quite audible, and Mary barks a mirthless laugh. "Right, and maybe I'll tell the master that you're trying to catch a peek of his bride in her underthings?... No, I didn't think so."
She flounces in and shuts the door firmly behind her. "Useless lump," she mutters under her breath, then flashes Immalaine one of her odd broken grins, half shy, half conspiratorial. A red flush still covers Mary’s left cheek, a fading handprint. Immalaine saw that mark earlier, shortly after the servants had returned from errands in the village. Everyone knows what that means: displeasing the master. Everyone pretends not to notice.
Immalaine bites her lip, wrestling with the impulse to say something about it and, as she does, the other girl pulls the bridal dress from her basket. Immalaine looks at the garment with disgust, but she takes a deep breath and stands.
Mary motions her back down. "We finished the fitting last time," she whispers as she steps closer. "But your guard doesn't know that... and it's the only way we can talk in private." Mary lays the dress carefully on the end of the bed, "in case he looks in," she explains, then lowers her voice still more. "I saw that old man today - your friend's uncle."
Immalaine stares at the dress for a moment as though it would suddenly jump up and bite her, like one of the snakes in the grass back at her old farmstead. A brief silence passes before she realizes what Mary said, her head snapping up to stare at the girl as she asks excitedly, "You did? What did he say? Was Rastellion with him? How is he? Where are they now?" Immalaine rattles off quietly but with a desperate edge of eagerness in her voice.
Mary holds up her hands, and glances back toward the door. "Shhh." She moves to sit beside Immalaine on the bed. "We could only speak for a few minutes. He said he brought a few men with him, but nothing about your boy." She shakes her head. "I don't think he came. The old guy, though, he's here. He said there was no way to get to you - to us - not with the guards and all. Not 'til the wedding celebration. Then there'll be enough folks about that he can slip in with the crowds. That's when he's going to try to get us out."
Immalaine’s shoulders slump. "Rastellion ... didn't come?" she whispers, her voice filled with pain. She takes a moment to let it sink. "But Ceolfred's here?"
Mary nods. "Remember what the master said, about how I'm to help you change" - she waves a hand at the dress - "after dinner, before the vows and the signing. Your shackles will be off then. That's our chance. Your friend's uncle will take care of the guard, then we slip away out the back. Guests won't be expecting you for half a glass; we could be past the outer walls by then."
"So, we'll have jus' the briefest time to make our escape," Immalaine whispers, her brow furrowed as she thinks. "And in the meantime .. are we to do nothing?" Frustration pours off Immalaine like waves of heat rising from the cobblestones of Bree on a hot day.
Mary spreads her hands. "What else can we do? I've seen you looking around. Between the guards and those chains, we can't get you away on our own. And if we tried and failed? You don't know him as I do. He'd chain you in the dungeons and have the ceremony down there. No, one chance is all we get.”
Immalaine swallows at the image Mary describes and slowly nods in agreement. "You've the right of it. I know. Still, it's hard to jus' sit here an' do ... nothing!" Immalaine lets out a sob, burying her head in her arm quickly to stifle the sound.
Mary gives Immalaine a brief hug, then disentangles herself from the other girl. "Shh, you'll bring the guard in! I thought you'd be happy. We're better off than we were yesterday; we've got a plan now. Don't cry." She squeezes Immalaine's shoulder, reassuringly.
"I know, I only wish ..." Immalaine pauses, shaking her head sadly as she brushes away the tears from her face. "There's still mus' be something we could do. Anything. I don't know what but if Ceolfred's goin' to come in here and free us he might need our help." Immalaine picks at a strand of the old dress that's her uniform and goes over what Mary said about Ceolfred's plan.
Mary shrugs slightly. "Well, I'll think on it. If you come up with something, tell me; and I'll do the same." She rolls up Immalaine's dress and slips it back into her basket. "Now, to keep fooling that fat guard." She stands, basket in hand, and strides over to knock on the inside of the door. "We're done in here," she calls then adds to Immalaine, loudly, as the bolts are slid back and the door opened behind her. "Sorry about that, but the wrong sort of thread would show, and he’d see it. We'll try this again in a day or two."
The door closes with a heavy thud and the click of the lock. Immalaine lays back on her bed and stares up at a crack in the ceiling as her mind works over everything she's learned in her time there. 'There must be something I can do to help,' she thinks, her eyes drooping slowly. Her breathing slows, becoming steady and even as she drifts off to sleep still thinking about the escape plan Mary had laid out. Later that night, tossing in her sleep, she whispers Rastellion's name as tears escape from the corners of her eyes.
(Continued in Heart's Return - Part 5)
(c) 2015 by Immalaine and Rastellion
