Alaesa stepped toward the guarded dungeon, looking up at the armored soldiers. “I would like to speak with my grandfather,” she said to them instantly before they could nudge her along.
One of them chuckled. “He is off limits right now, young lady.”
“He deserves final rites,” she replied.
“What do you suppose we throw you in there?”
Before she had a chance to figure out a response, another man from the shadows said, “Leave the girl alone. She can visit him if she so pleases. But mark my words, it will be the last time you ever see him.” The man was the Captain of the guard, Kyrt Blackwell, the one who arrested her grandfather. She blinked away any tears, and headed through the open gates where two more guards led her downstairs towards the dungeon.
The guards stopped at the third to last dungeon towards the end, with one of them opening the gate for her. “Prisoner, you got a visitor. You only have five minutes. Use it wisely.” The cell definitely had a strange iron rust smell to it, but she couldn’t tell if it was blood or metal actually rusting. The only thing in the cell was a bed, and a bucket, along with uneaten food on a tray laying on the floor. A small barred window was the only source of light in the dark jail cell, and even then, it did not even come close helping against the dark.
“Alaesa?” her grandfather said, lifting his head. His grim expression changed into a brightened smile.
She hesitated walking into the cell, finding it strange to see him in a dungeon in the first place. “Grandfather, I… I came to see you.”
“I’m surprised your parents allowed you to visit me.”
She shook her head. “They don’t know I am here.”
He raised an eyebrow, and then gave her a warm smile. “Turning into a rebel already, are we?” he said, and chuckled. His smile soon faded, unable to meet her gaze. “I am just sorry you have to see me like this. How is crossbow training?”
“Well,” she replied. “Very well, actually. Father says I have to learn how to stay still better. It’s… different from a bow and arrow.”
“Are you enjoying it?”
“I prefer reading about herbs,” Alaesa said. “I am being sent to a school that specializes in training healers.”
“That’s wonderful news!” His face glowed, the smile brightening up what was other wise a darkened room. “You will enjoy it, and you know so much about the subject. It’ll be good for you.”
Alaesa took his hand and squeezed it gently, abruptly changing the subject of the conversation, “I am not letting this happen to you.”
“There is nothing you can do,” he said. “I made my choice.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Sit down next to me,” he said, patting the cot he sat on. “You will one day make a choice, as I have done, that will have dire consequences. It may not be to the extent of what I did, but you will have to make one, and it… will definitely be hard.”
“When will I make this choice?”
“I don’t know. Could be days, weeks, months, or years from now. I am no fortune teller.”
She continued holding onto his hand with a firm grip. “I could help you escape,” she said, but he shook his head. “Why?”
“I can’t let you,” he said, gently. She released her hand from his. “Not only could you end up executed alongside of me, think of how devastated your mother and father will be. Is that what you want?”
“No, it’s not…”
“Live your own life, Alaesa. Don’t worry about me.”
“You got two minutes!” one of the guards shouted from outside.
She didn’t know how she would get him out of the dungeon, but she had to try something. “Who wants to see their loved ones burning alive?”
“I suppose nobody does. It will be painful, but I did what I had to do.”
Alaesa took a step back from him. “And die for it?! Why?”
He patted her on the shoulder, while she looked down onto the dirty floor. He wouldn’t listen. Why? Why did he not want to live? Her father would do nothing, and now, neither did her grandfather. “You’ll understand when you are older. Much older, perhaps.”
“You… won’t even do it for me?” she asked.
Her grandfather let go of her shoulder, not speaking for the longest time. She waited for his response patiently, even as the end for the visit drew nearer. Alaesa rubbed her hands together, the draft from outside blowing in between the bars of the tiny window. “I am doing this for you,” he replied at last. She heard the loud armor rustling toward the cell, knowing her time was already up. “For your freedom.”
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