Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

14.

Ailbhe paused though, the guard had spoken about just Ailbhe.

"What about Polly? Where are you taking Polly?" She asked, finding strength she didn't know she had and digging her heels into the ground and grinding to a halt.

The guards struggled, pulling Ailbhe along until they lifted her off her feet and were carrying here further away from where she had seen Polly.

"Elizabeth Gray is to be hanged for her crimes against the Crown in an hour" The words echoed in Ailbhe's ears, ringing out and she felt her blood run cold. They were going to hang Polly for killing the man who raped her, who tried to have her boys put in prison and tried to have Tommy killed.

Ailbhe had to be dragged, kicking and screaming to the gates of the prison. She was beaten with the baton across the shoulders and legs until she stopped screaming for Polly, for a lawyer, to speak to anyone in charge. Buckets of cold water were thrown on her until she was deemed clean enough and the clothes she had worn when she was arrested her given back to her. They hung loosely off her frame now she had been starved and deprived of proper food for weeks.

All but shoved out of the gates and back into liberty, Ailbhe fell down onto her hands and knees outside the prison. She scrambled to her feet, trying to grab her things when she felt hands on her arms, trying to help her to her feet. She shoved the hands back, jumping away from whoever dared to touch her.

It was Tommy. He was there, waiting outside the prison with a car and standing with Ailbhe's pardon in his hands. He was waiting for Polly and his brothers too but was waiting for their pardon. It would come down to the very last minute.

"You're alright, it's alright Ailbhe. I'm getting you all out. Look at me" he tried to calm her down, tried to approach her but she shoved him away. She put her hands up in front of her, making sure he kept away from her. She didn't want anyone's hands near her, not when she felt so weak tired, not when she was marked with bruises and scrapes.

"Don't fucking touch me" she shouted, making Tommy pause. He can't ever remember a time where Ailbhe had shouted at him. She had a temper, they all did but she never lashed out at Tommy. She listened to him, obeyed and trusted him. But that was before he had betrayed her and the rest of his family's trust.

Tommy couldn't ignore the changes in her. She had been taken in as a minor, same as Finn therefore Tommy had hoped they would be treated more leniently until Tommy could get them pardoned. He had been furious to find out that because of the nature of their crimes and the seriousness involved, they were both put in adult prisons and put through the system as adults. Whatever innocence and childlike joy Ailbhe had in the past was gone now.

Ailbhe had lost a considerable amount of weight, the warmth and kindness in her face had seemed to be sucked out of her. The joy and sparkle that seemed to always have been in her big green eyes was gone. Tommy felt guilt wash over him as he realised that it was his fault, he had done this to her.

He stood back, his hands up where Ailbhe could see them so that she could be more comfortable. Her eyes filled with tears and her hands pricked with blood from where she had cut her hands on the gravel but they were the least of her injuries. Tommy could see the marks around her wrists and could assume she had ones to match around her ankles where she was restrained.

"Ailbhe I did everything I could to get you out" Tommy promised her, keeping his hands up "The others are being released as well"

He looked at her, knowing she was changed.

"Where are my brothers? Where is Finn?" she asked, her hands shaking from the cold and the shock.

Tommy looked around nervously. He didn't want to discuss any of this in the open. They weren't safe out here. It was too risky.

"They're alright, they're being released this morning, just come with me and-" He tried to reassure her but she ignored him, interrupting him.

"I didn't belong in there Thomas" she cried, tears sliding down her face that she didn't bother to wipe away.

She had seen the life she could have had if she kept going down this dangerous road with her fellow countrymen and women. She had also seen the situation for what it really was, one that Tommy had landed her in.

Tommy froze. Ailbhe never called him Thomas. To her, he was Tom or Tommy. He was someone she trusted and loved, someone she admired and respected. Tommy was her brother. He loved her. He protected her. He always did what was best for her. But that was bullshit. And she didn't think about it like that anymore, she was done.

"Just come with me, we'll go home and sort all of this out." He told her, pulling open the car door.

But she stayed frozen where she was. She shook her head, pulling her coat tighter around her as she couldn't keep the cold out of her bones anymore. She had been cold for weeks now.

She felt the tears dying on her face from the wind as she turned away from him, walking away from Tommy and ignoring his shouts of her name. She couldn't even look at him.