“And that is why you wanted me brought here? To explain all this to me, to make me understand?”
“No. That is why thy sister asked thou to come. I brought thou here for another reason entirely.”
“And what is that?”
The wizard looked up at them, his expression revealing a hint of amusement. “To help me escape.”
No one said anything. Myron took the moment to sit down on the stone bench behind him and whispered to Hadrian, “You were right. Life outside the abbey is much more exciting than books.”
“You want us to help you to escape?” Royce asked incredulously. He held out his hands and looked around the black stone fortress. “From here?”
“’Tis necessary I am afraid.”
“’Tis also impossible. I have gotten out of a number of difficult situations in my time, but nothing like this.”
“And thou art aware of only a small fraction of the measures used to contain me. All thou sees art the walls, guards, and the abyss. There art also magical forces at work. Magical locks art on all the doors here, just as ’twas on the door through which ye entered the gaol. They disappear upon closing. ’Tis the same enchantment on the bridge ye came across. Go look and ye wilt find it so. ’Tis no longer there. ’Tis not invisible—’tis gone.”
Royce raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Alric, I need your ring.” The prince handed it to the thief, who climbed the steps and disappeared into the tunnel. He returned a few minutes later and gave the ring back to Alric. A slight shake of his head confirmed what Hadrian already suspected.
Hadrian turned his attention back to the wizard, and Esrahaddon continued. “Still, ’tis not the most serious of the barriers in use here. Perhaps ye saw the runes which line these walls? They create a powerful magical force protecting the stone from magic or physical damage. These enchantments create a magical barrier. Inside this field, no new magic can be cast, and the passing of time is suspended. It is why I have lived for so long. None of ye has aged a second since ye entered this cell. Due to the field created by the runes, what ye perceive as a singing noise, ye will not get hungry or thirsty, or at least not more than ye were when ye entered. Ye will not become sleepy. Ye wilt remain just as ye art. ’Tis really quite remarkable all the trouble they went through to contain me.”
“I don’t believe you,” Alric challenged.
“Put a hand to thy chests. Ye wilt find the lack of a beating heart.”
Myron inched his hand across his breast and let out a tiny squeak.
“And with all these obstacles, you expect us to help you escape?” Hadrian said.
“I am counting on it,” the wizard replied with an impish grin.
“Although I am dying to ask how,” Royce said. “I am even more compelled to ask why? If they went through this much effort to seal you here, it seems to me they might have had a good reason. You’ve told us what we came to hear. We’re done. So why would we be foolish enough to try and help you escape?”
“Because ye hast little choice in the matter.”
“We have a great many choices,” Alric countered bravely. “I am king and rule here; it is you who is powerless.”
“Oh, I will not be the one stopping ye. As ye understand rightly, I am helpless, a prisoner with no ability to do much of anything. They were very careful to ensure my subjugation. ’Tis the guards who will stop ye. When thee call for them, they wilt not come. They can hear ye. They hath heard every word we hath spoken. Just as they killed your father, they wilt also kill you, Your Majesty.”
“But if they are listening, they also know I am not the heir,” Alric said, the courage in his voice melting away.
“They cannot be sure if thou art or not. It wilt not matter to them. They wilt not take a chance. Besides, now that I told thee of their secret, they wilt never let thee leave—any of ye. Thee wilt be imprisoned here, just as I am, or they wilt kill thee outright.”
Alric’s concern showed on his face as he looked first to Hadrian and then to Royce. “He may be right,” the thief said quietly.
Concern turned to panic, and the prince began to shout commands for their release. There was no response, no sound of the great door opening nor of approaching protectors to escort them to the exit. Everyone except the wizard looked worried. Alric wrung his hands, and Myron stood and held onto the rail of the balcony, as if letting go would allow the world to spin away from him.
“It was a trap after all,” Alric said. He turned to Royce. “My apologies for doubting your sound paranoia.”
“Even I didn’t expect this. Perhaps there’s another way out.” Royce took a seat on one of the observation benches and assumed the same contemplative look he had worn when he was trying to determine how to get inside the prison.
Everyone remained silent for some time. Finally, Hadrian approached Royce and whispered, “Okay, buddy, this is where you tell me you have this wonderfully unexpected plan to get us out of here.”
“Well, I do have one. But it seems almost as frightening as the alternative.”
“What’s that?”
“We do what the wizard says.”
They looked down at the man casually seated in the chair. His robe looked a slightly different shade of blue now. Hadrian waved the others over and explained Royce’s plan.
“Could this be a trick?” Alric asked quietly. “The clerk did warn us not to do anything he said.”
“You mean the nice clerk who took away our bridge and refuses to let us out?” Royce replied. “I am not seeing an alternative, but if any of you have another idea, I am willing to hear it.”
“I’d just like to feel my heart again,” Myron said holding his palm to his chest and looking sick. “This is very disturbing. I almost feel like I’m actually dead.”
“Your Majesty?”
Alric looked up at the thief with a scowl. “I just want to say, for the record, as far as Royal Protectors go, you’re not very good.”
“It’s my first day,” Royce replied dryly.
“And already I am trapped in a timeless prison. I shudder to think what might have happened if you had a whole week.”
“Listen, I don’t see we have a choice here,” Royce told the group. “We either do what the wizard says and hope he can get us out, or we accept an eternity of sitting here listening to this dreadful singing.”
The mournful wail of the music was so wretched that Hadrian knew listening to it would eventually drive him mad. He tried to ignore it, but like Myron, it brought forth unpleasant memories of places and people. Hadrian saw the disappointment on his father’s face when he left to join the military. He saw the tiger covered in blood, gasping for breath as it slowly died, and he heard the sound of hundreds chanting the name “Galenti!” He had reached his conclusion. Anything was better than staying there.
Royce stood and returned to the balcony where the wizard waited calmly below. “I assume if we help you escape, you will see to it we get out as well?”
“Of course.”
“And there is no way to determine if you are telling the truth right now?”
The wizard smiled. “None whatsoever I am afraid.”
Royce sighed heavily. “What do we have to do?”
“Very little. I only need the king to recite a simple bit of poetry.”
“Poetry?” Alric pushed past Hadrian to join Royce at the balcony, “What poetry?”
The wizard stood up and kicked his chair to one side to reveal two stanzas of text crudely scratched into the floor.
“’Tis amazing what beauty ye can create given time,” the wizard said with obvious pride. “Speak it and it wilt be so.”
Hadrian silently read the lines brightly illuminated by the beam of the overhead light.