Chapter Eighteen: “Freedom”
Weeks went by. After another round of interrogation, the guards returned Petre to his cell. “Alene?” The child did not respond. “Alene?” He could see her look up, slightly before coughing. “Alene, you do not look well at all.”
She coughed again. “I-I’m fine.”
“You’re sick…”
Alene shook her head. “I-I’m alright… I promise…”
“Alene, you need help.”
She was about to answer once more, but the door to the cell block opened. Ubel stomped inside. He took one look down at Alene before opening Petre’s cell. “Carry that child. She is too sick to walk.”
“Where are we going?”
Ubel didn’t answer. He just opened Petre’s cell and then opened Alene’s. With that, he stomped out, leaving the door to the cell block open. The man seemed confused, but he came over and picked Alene up.
“Petre, wh-what is going on?”
“I don’t know.” He smiled down at her, “But we are leaving. I will take you to Ceolum.”
Alene smiled. “Finally…” The girl let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the man, in order to rest.
Petre walked out of the cell, holding the girl close. As they walked, they could see every single one of the prisoners had been let out of their cells. All of them walked out of the prison. Some leapt and cheered in joy, some ran out of the prison, and others walked out timidly as if they could not believe that they were really free.
Alene looked around and she could not believe how many people were in this prison. “How long have these people been here? There are so many of them.”
“Many have been here for a long time, some for longer than you’ve been alive.”
He hugged her close and continue to walk. They went out of the prison and up the sides of the rocky cliffs. Petre stopped, turning around to take one last look at the prison. “Wait…”
“What is it Petre?”
“Isa?”
Alene saw a man being led into the prison. He was a plain looking man, but he had a gentle face. The girl looked up at Petre, who stared at the man in shock. “Is that him? The king’s son?”
“Isa, what is he doing?” The man set the girl down on the ground and took off back down the hill. However, by the time he reached the bottom of the hill, Isa was inside the prison and the door shut behind him.
[Next Chapter: Petre and Alene wait for Isa to return, but Petre is causing problems.]