The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

-6-

POV: Charles

I wish I had a key.

Charles closed the door to his room. Even though his door left no space for peeking and it locked as soon as he shut it, he was wary of someone barging in. Sadon was the only one with a key to this room, which made Charles' situation worse. Even he didn't have a key to his own room. Every night Sadon locked his door as it stood ajar so when Charles retired for the night he couldn't sneak out after he shut it, and every morning Sadon unlocked the door to start work.

Sadon had never actually barged into Charles' room at night, but Charles thought the man would if he were paranoid enough.

Charles scoffed. Right, he's the paranoid one.

While listening carefully and keeping his eyes on the doorknob, Charles felt along the bottom of the cobblestone wall his bed was pressed against and removed a loose stone where he kept a blank journal and a charcoal pen.

He pulled the journal and pen out, wincing when they scraped against the stone floor, and sat on his bed facing the door.

Charles didn't pull his eyes from the doorknob until he opened the journal to the first page. He held his breath and listened. All was quiet. After a deep breath, he began to write.

"Fendrel was able to rescue another dragon recently, but I think I might have been the reason why this one was captured... Sometimes I'll forget which information humans usually know about dragons rather than something Fendrel told me, and I'll assume Sadon already knew something. When Sadon himself decided to go to the Hazy Woods, I of course was forced to join him. We saw the dragon king, and I must have said it out loud without realizing it. I don't think Sadon believed me at first, so I assumed I hadn't slipped up. But then, after we had captured him and brought him back to Sharpdagger, the realization that this wasn't a normal vapor dragon must have hit Sadon. He had a glint to his eye that I would have called child-like if I didn't know Sadon's murderous history, and the fact that he was holding a snapper as he spoke..."

There was a shuffling sound outside his room. Charles threw the journal and charcoal pen under his pillow.

No one came to the door. The noise didn't return. Everything was as dead silent as it had been moments ago.

Charles pulled the journal back out and jotted down one last thing.

"Thankfully, Sadon believed me when I said I didn't know the dragon king was real, only that I had heard of him in a tall tale from the village I grew up in."

Despite not having all his thoughts written out, Charles began his routine with every time he wrote in the journal. He undid the bindings that held the pages together, removed the page he wrote on, and stitched the rest of the journal back up again. He stashed the journal and pen in the hollow in the wall and fitted the stone in its place.

Charles moved to the fireplace in his room and used the written page as kindling, destroying any bit of evidence that may put his and Fendrel's lives in danger.

Even though he never kept his entries, it always felt better to write out his thoughts than keep them bottled up.

<~><~><~>

POV: Cassius

In the morning, the young prince of Sharpdagger strolled down the streets, his arms swinging loosely at his sides. A carefree smile brightened his face, but you would only tell by the crinkle of his eyes since the bottom half of his face was covered by a bland scarf to conceal his identity.

Cassius had forsaken his royal garb in the stable stall behind his prized horse, who he seldom rode. He was free to roam the streets of his city until sundown, when his father would send out guards to call him to supper.