The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

12. Alec

     "She's not gone," I whisper, staring into the fire. I'm sitting on the ground and hugging my knees to my chest, thinking about what I just read. I came home from the bakery barely half an hour ago when I saw a piece of paper nailed to our front door. Ben was asleep when I got home and he's still asleep. There's no way I'll be able to tell him about what happened to Milena, any kind of bad news could worsen his condition.

     Milena's been arrested. Nothing makes sense, why would she be charged with theft? She'd never steal anything, I just don't believe it. Apparently, Niall couldn't believe it, either.

     He fainted as soon as he finished reading the paper, and he's still out. I look up at him, laying on the couch. Sighing, I rub my eyes and sniffle. The King's Watch demands us to be present at the hanging. They're gonna hang my little sister and I can't do anything about it. Stupid fucking King's Watch. They don't belong with the village's Watchers, they work for the King. Our Watchers wouldn't have thrown her in the dungeon, they would have let her go. They focus on the important things, like if there is a threat to the safety of the village. The King's Watch just walks around and throws as many people in the dungeon as they want.

     There has to be some way to stop this, I'm not going to let them hang my sister. Maybe I can break into the dungeon or something...no, that wouldn't work. The dungeon is below Skye Palace, I'd have to sneak into the palace and try to find my way to the dungeon without getting caught.

     I think I can find her on the day of the hanging before they get the rope around her neck, and we'll run. Milena, Ben, Niall, and I will run as far away as we can. Maybe we can take a carriage to Alba. It's the closest kingdom to us, we could probably find a nice home there. It would take a few weeks to get there, but it's our best chance. We'd have to go through the dangerous Toulon Woods, but that's a risk we have to take.

     "A-Alec?" I hear, and I turn around to see Niall rubbing his eyes. He looks around, confused. "What happened?"

     I sigh. "You fainted," his eyes widen. Then, he realizes that the piece of paper is still in his hand, crumpled up into a ball.

     "Lena..." he whispers. He struggles to sit up, and he lets out a sob. "She's-"

     "No, she's not," I interrupt him, and he furrows his brows. "She's not going to die."

     "But, I don't understand," he admits, wiping a tear off of his cheek with his sleeve. "It's not like her to commit theft, what could she have possibly tried to steal?"

     I shake my head, "I don't know."

     "Do you think it's a misunderstanding?" He asks. "I mean, there isn't anything I can think of that-" he gasps and widens his eyes.

     "What?!" I frantically ask. He mumbles something I can't understand. "Niall, what is it?"

     "The elixir-for Ben," he gulps. "That's the only thing she could have tried to steal."

     I exhale and think about that for a moment. "Why would she try to steal it? She told me we'd be able to pay for it soon."

     He shakes his head. "I don't know, but that's the only thing that makes sense. We can't let them hang her."

     "I know," I agree. "And I have a plan."

     His face brightens. "Really? You know how to save her?"

     I nod. "We'll sneak her out right before the hanging. Since it's out in public, it shouldn't be hard to find out where they're gonna keep her after they take her away from the dungeon. Then, we make a run for it."