The King's Lover

Chapter 19

           

    Ryder couldn't stop fidgeting.

    His knee was bouncing up and down, or his fingers were tapping out a beat on his knee, or he was pacing as well as he could. He got several dirty looks from the guards patrolling the hall, but they left him alone—if he wasn't trying to escape, he wasn't worth any time or energy.

     He kept the bag of food underneath his creaky cot, shoved in the back corner as far as it could go. He wasn't too worried about anyone finding it—the guards were usually too busy with him when they came into the cell to bother looking around.

     When night fell, it was even worse. He was constantly staring out the window, looking for his brothers. He knew he shouldn't let himself hope that much, since they might not be able to make it, but he couldn't help himself.

    They were later than they'd been before when they had come the day before, but they came, both of them with large bags slung across their backs and wide grins on their faces.

     "Hey, Ryder," Valin said casually, sitting down outside the cell like they'd met on a street corner. "How're you doing?"

    Ryder couldn't help the relieved smile that came to his face. "I'm fine," he said. "Better than fine, actually."

     Taryd peered through the bars before reaching out and poked Ryder on the cheekbone. Ryder winced—his brother had poked one of the nastier bruises he had. 

     "You're still doing shit, admit it," Taryd said. Ryder sighed, holding on to the wall with one hand.

    "I was doing almost not shit before I got assaulted by a damn hooligan," he said crossly.

    "Call me a hooligan again and I won't give you what I brought," Taryd challenged, slinging the bag off his back.   

     "And what did you bring?"

     Taryd opened his sack as Valin shrugged his bag off. "Bandages, fresh water, a washcloth, a bar of soap—"

     "More food, a blanket, a new pillow, and even more food." Valin looked up with a crooked grin.

     Ryder shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. "You can't—I don't have room to hide all of that."

    "Sure you do." Valin's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward. "You just behave, and they'll never need to come into your room or beat you up again."

     "Also, I brought a large stone," Taryd announced, hefting a big, square rock. 

     "Wow," Ryder said. "A large stone."

     "Here." Taryd set it in front of him, and Ryder had to stand on his tiptoes to see what Taryd was doing. His brother lifted the top off of the rock and then turned it sideways to shove it through the bars on the window. Ryder caught it before it hit the ground and was surprised at how light it was before he noticed that it was hollow—a box. A box made to look like a large stone...or like the stones of his cell.

     "Put that under your bed with all your stuff inside, and no one will suspect a thing." Valin winked as Taryd handed Ryder the lid of the box.

     They quickly passed the rest of the supplies through the bars, all of which Ryder hid in the box. All of it fit, and when he turned back to the window, Valin was holding a few blank pieces of paper and a pen.

     "What's this for?" Ryder asked, taking them from his brother.

     Valin reached into his back pocket and drew out a folded piece of paper. "I assume you'll want to write back," he said, handing Ryder the letter.