“Leave the guards at the top to me,” Armannii said with a smirk on his face.
Armannii hovered next to Diomedes, the bars of the cells still separating them. “Not the worst plan in the world, Didi. Unless you can’t pick the lock.”
Diomedes grunted as he continued bending the bracelet back and forth as he had been for the last few minutes. It was close to snapping, and then he would use it to pick the lock on the cell door.
“Have you ever picked a lock before?” Forrest asked, watching Diomedes with careful eyes.
“A few times.”
“Where’d you learn how to do that?”
With a snort, Armannii beamed at Forrest. “He learned from a friend of mine.”
“So why don’t you do it?”
“Great question, Forrest. I never bothered to learn because that’s what the open rune is for. That, and I want to see if His Royal High Horse can still do it.”
The dungeon was silent again as Diomedes continued to work the band back and forth. The bracelet was made out of a thin metal wire, and if he could only get it to break, it would make the perfect lockpick. At least he hoped it would.
Snap!
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Diomedes said, a grin spreading across his face. He stood up from where he’d been crouching and tilted his head side to side, eliciting a crack. He bent one of the ends of the wire up so he could use it to lift the seized pins inside the locking mechanism. The other side he bent at ninety degrees, intending to use it as the lever to turn the lock.
Looping his hands around the bars of the door, Diomedes felt around for the keyhole.
“It’s to your left, down a bit. There,” Forrest sad, nodding when Diomedes’s pointer finger found the indentation.
The keyhole was farther than he had anticipated, and the only way he could reach it with enough room to jostle the broken bracelet into the hole was to press his face against the cold vertical bars surrounding the lock panel. His cheek hurt as he leaned closer to the door.
“No!” Diomedes shouted when the wire fell out of the lock and hit the ground with a high-pitched clink. He let out a roar, slamming the palm of his hand against the door over and over again. “No, no, no!”
“Calm down, Didi. I’m sure you can still reach it,” Armannii said, voice level.
“With what?” Diomedes pointed to the makeshift lockpick, which was a little over three feet away.
“Use this.” Armannii undid the belt around his waist, handing it through the bars to Diomedes.
Kneeling down on the uneven floor, Diomedes gripped the belt with one hand and tossed it out with the other one. It was too far to the right, and he reeled it back in for another shot. The second time it went too far to the left. But after a few more tries, it landed exactly where he had hoped, and when he dragged the belt along the dingy floor, the broken bracelet came with it. Pressing his face against the bars, Diomedes reached out of his cell. A smile crossed his face when he felt the metal between his fingers.
“Thanks,” Diomedes muttered, handing the belt back to Armannii when he stood up.
“Be careful not to drop it this time, Didi.”
Diomedes gripped the wire tighter as he reached out and had Forrest direct him back to the keyhole.
The end of the makeshift lockpick went in, and Diomedes made sure not to let go of it again. He moved the top piece up and down, getting a feel for where the pins were.
“I know you’re concentrating, Didi, but I can’t help but laugh because it looks like you’re giving that door a big old hug.”
Diomedes rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop the smile from crossing his lips. Having spent so much time with Armannii over the last six years, he had grown to enjoy the feeling of adrenaline racing through his body, something the elf had brought out during the risky adventures he took Diomedes on. Though there was nothing heart-stopping about picking the lock, the pressure of getting Forrest out before his execution and before Maisy lost her battle to the illness left his fingers tingling.
“Well?” Armannii asked after several minutes.
“I’ve gotten two pins unstuck, but I think there’s still at least another three,” Diomedes said, his eyes closed in concentration. Every time a pin lifted, he felt a slight click against his cheek. But the bracelet continued to get stuck, making the process go slower than he had anticipated.
An hour must’ve gone by before he felt the last pin lift. Turning the bottom of the wire—the part that was bent at ninety degrees—Diomedes held his breath.
Click.
Unable to hold back the relief racing through him, he let out an exasperated laugh. He pulled his cell door to the side. Freedom had never felt so good. Well, except for the stiff muscles that cried out when he moved.
“Well done, Your Highness,” Forrest said, clapping his bound hands. “That’s impressive.”
“Impressive, but I’d rather not wait another two hours for you to get our cells open,” Armannii said, nodding toward the ring of keys on the wall near the staircase. “So if you wouldn’t mind—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Diomedes traded the broken bracelet for the keys and freed Armannii and Forrest in a matter of a few minutes.
“Thank you,” Forrest said, rubbing his wrists, which were raw from the cuffs. “How do we leave the castle?”
“I’m working on that plan too.” Diomedes scratched the back of his head. “There will be two guards at the top of the stairs to the dungeon, and then our best bet is the servants’ entrance.”
“Leave the guards at the top to me,” Armannii said with a smirk on his face.
The second guard at the dungeon entrance collapsed next to the first. Armannii shook his hand out, frowning.
“He had a thicker neck than his buddy’s.” Armannii’s voice came out whiny, and Diomedes chuckled as he peeked around the corner.
The large arched windows let in plenty of light, and the wide hallway opened up in front of him. Pillars supported the peaked ceiling every six feet down the side of the corridor opposite the windows.
“It’s clear,” Diomedes said.
“Again, I could’ve told you that,” Armannii responded, stepping out past Diomedes. He blinked in the afternoon light shining down from the windows as he waited in the middle of the corridor.
Forrest was the last to emerge into the hallway, and his eyes darted side to side. He wrung his hands out over and over again, and from the looks of it, he was shaking. His eyes had dark circles under them that hadn’t been visible until he’d stepped out into the light. His entire appearance was haggard compared to how Diomedes was used to seeing him. Despite working on the small plot of land he and Camile owned where they grew most of their own produce, there was more than the usual amount of dirt on his tunic and trousers. He lacked his normal scent of fresh grass and berries, which was instead replaced by a musty scent similar to the dungeon they’d just left.
“All right,” Diomedes said, his voice low in case there were any other guards within hearing distance. “You two take this hallway”—he pointed to the right—“find the bag, and leave through the servants’ entrance. You know what kind of medicine Maisy needs, right?” he asked Forrest, who nodded. “Good. Then both of you go to the healer. Armannii, take the money, get the medicine, and get it to Maisy. Forrest, stay out of sight. When you take the medicine to her, tell Camile to pack up. I’m sorry to do this to you, but you’re going to have to leave.”
“I expected that,” Forrest said, a sigh escaping his lips. “But I’m thankful for your help nonetheless. We’ll start somewhere new. Maybe up north.”
Diomedes nodded his head in approval. “And someday, when I’m king, you’ll be welcome back to town.”
“I look forward to that day.” Forrest shook Diomedes’s hand. “What about you, Your Highness?”
“I’m going to go grab a few things from my room, then I’ll meet you in town.” Diomedes checked over his shoulder, though he knew Armannii would alert him if there was anyone nearby.
“You’re sure you want to do this? You could just stay here and—”
“And what, Armannii? Get in trouble for sneaking out of the dungeon and joining my family for dinner? I’m coming with you,” Diomedes said, shaking his head as if it could get the thought of staying out of it.
“And then?” the elf asked, raising an eyebrow. It was clear by his steely expression that he did not approve of Diomedes forsaking the castle.
“And then we end this war.”