The Final Days of Springborough

“Nothing better have happened to my sister,” Thomas said, walking directly behind the two captives, Brynn and J.J.. “I will kill anyone that so much as harms a hair on her head.”

The group was silent, other than Thomas, who felt like he had to appear brave through rhetoric as they all advanced toward Springborough in the storm. Although Thomas felt secure, he still kept his eyes to their left, the part of the forest that held the hidden village of Fortis, where there was a collection of people who wouldn’t mind keeping the prince hostage, and wagering for a ransom. Who knows if they would be scared off by his collection of armed guards, or if there was too many of them to fight off. Either way, he felt, if they did find a way to get him back, it wouldn’t be easy for him to escape, if at all.

So, he kept one eye on the trees, and the other on the children (who were roughly the same age as him) walking in front of him.

“Are you of Springborough?” Thomas asked. “Are we heading back to where your parents are? Are they in my kingdom?”

“No,” J.J. stammered through wet lips. “We’ve never been residents of Springborough.”

“Never? I find that hard to believe. Most people have that are around here. You two are too young to be nomads, unless you’re orphans. Are you orphans?”

Orphans were children that didn’t have parents, and just the mere question was enough to anger the both of them. For they had parents whom they loved very much, whom they missed very much, and they would be incensed if anybody tried to deny their existence. Brynn felt her younger brother tense up at the Prince’s question, and she reached out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing as hard as she could so he would feel it. And he did, and he settled.

“We have parents, your highness,” she said, speaking for the both of them, “they went off on an expedition, and we haven’t seen them since. My brother, Jonathon James, also has returned from a trip, just now.”

“Oh really? From where?”

“I went on a ship, out on the waters of Cornwall.”

“That’s right. You were looking for The Lost Kingdom of Gambrille. Isn’t that what you said?” Thomas said, recalling J.J.’s words back at the docks. “Find it?”

Prince Thomas smirked, knowing full well, through his teachings, at least, that the Kingdom of Gambrille was a myth, that anybody who believed in it, must believe a lot of the fairy tales children were told as kids as well.

“Not yet.”

The Prince didn’t laugh, not like J.J. expected him to, nor did anybody else. The young pirate believed that maybe the royal family had some sort of secret information on the whereabouts or the mere existence of their family’s forgotten land, or maybe they were just being respectful to him, and not laughing, knowing that it would anger him. Why, he had just told them they he had been on an expedition to find such a place, and to laugh at him would be a huge insult. But, would it matter for people of the Kingdom to insult a hut-dweller such as him?

Either way, there was no reaction to his confession, and the group of guards, the Prince, and the captives stamped their prints into the mud, and made their way through the storm.

“Your highness,” Corson half-whispered over the storm. “Because of the storm, and because of the people of Fortis, I do believe as soon as we make it back into Springborough’s walls, we should consider fortifying the outer walls, and locking down the entire kingdom. At least, until, the storm passes.”

Brynn and J.J. couldn’t help but to eavesdrop, especially because it was the first different kind of conversation either of them had in such awhile. Kingdoms and royalty weren’t the type of things they regularly were around.

“You think the people of Fortis mean to attack?”

“Maybe. I’ve never seen such daring as to kidnap a Prince.”

“Kidnapped?!” J.J. exclaimed, but Brynn hit him with her elbow in his ribs.

“They don’t know my parents are missing, Corson. To attack the castle would mean suicide for such a small village.”

“Even so,” the man named Corson responded, “it is better to be safe than sorry; to be fortified rather than susceptible. And besides, with this storm, there are no merchants on this path. Nobody will notice we have closed the gates.”

“Very well. As soon as we get in, have your guards make the necessary arrangements to secure the perimeters. I wish you to come with me, though, with our friends here into the castle, so we can see what has been going on with my sister.”

“As you wish, my Prince.”

Jimmy walked next to Brynn, his hands clasped in front of him like he was wearing the same chains that bonded her and her brother, even though he was free to move around as he pleased. Every once in a while, she would steal a look over to him, and he would look back, and they would smile at each other. There was no need to talk currently, as it would just seem she was crazy to every one else, and if Jimmy could change the physical world to untie them, where would they run? One of the guards had her bow and quiver of arrows in his possession, and would certainly, probably, know how to use it if he had to shoot them in the back as they ran away.

“You want to tell me how you got my sister’s anklet, girl?” Thomas asked, an angry undertone in his question.

“I told you, she gave it to me.”

“You didn’t cut it from her?”

The question seemed so absurd to Brynn that she didn’t answer, choosing silence instead.

“You say you were never residents of Springborough,” Corson started, his tact a little more charming. “But were you ever of the Village of Fortis?”

“Yes,” J.J. admitted. “But no more.”

Corson and Thomas shared a look.

“I believe you overheard us talking earlier, that the Village of Fortis had taken our Prince here hostage. The Queen, who was residing in the woods near the Village has gone missing, and now you two, with the missing Princess’ anklet around your ankle, who used to be residents of the Village- we stumbled across your path…”

“I can see why you are thinking the way you are. I share your hope that the Princess is unharmed and safe back at the castle so that we can settle this. I wish to talk no further until we can make this a reality.” Brynn said, more sick of conversation than she ever remembered being.

Thomas continued to watch the woods, hoping not to see anything.