The Runaway King (The Ascendance Trilogy #2)

“There’s a pin in it,” I said between breaths. “Give it to me.”

“Let me do it,” Fink said. “You can’t reach the lock on those chains anyway.”

Fink widened the pin to its full length, then slid one end into the manacles locked around my wrists. He toyed with it until he found the lever he was seeking. With one careful push, there was a clicking sound and the manacles pulled apart. He next went to work on the ankle manacles, and when they unlocked he was very careful in removing them.

Free from the chains, I crumpled to the ground. It hurt to fall, but my good leg was too tired to lower me more carefully.

“What now?” Fink asked. “The lock is on the other side of the door. We’re still stuck in this room.”

I glanced up at the window, grateful for the first time that I had recently become so thin. Erick stared at me, incredulous. “Do you know where we are? More than a stone’s throw above the beach and nearly the same below the cliff top. There’s nowhere to go.”

Fink pressed close to Erick’s side and whispered to him, “Roden said he could climb.”

“Up a cliff?” Erick shook his head. “Maybe with two good legs, but not one.”

“Punch out the glass,” I said to Fink. “Then pray there’s no one below us.”

Fink held out his hand for Erick’s knife. Erick sighed loudly before handing it over. Then Fink grabbed the chair from the corner to stand on while he broke out the glass. We waited in silence for the sound of footsteps outside the door, but none came. Roden would want a big dinner. I was sure he was keeping everyone occupied.

When the window was cleared, I gestured to the chair on which Fink had stood. “Now break that. Don’t split the longer pieces.”

“A leg brace,” Erick muttered. “Yeah, that’ll make all the difference.” But he went to the chair anyway and began hitting it against the wall.

While he did, I asked Fink to remove his shirt and rip it into the longest lengths he could. Then I laid my head flat on the floor and closed my eyes. Roden was going to regret having done this to me; I’d make sure of it.

With one final hit, the last joints of the chair fell apart. Most of it came to pieces in unusable sections, but Erick was able to break away enough to end up with one straight piece of wood nearly as long as my entire leg. I told him to break it even more. I needed to bend my knee if I was going to keep my balance.

They did the rest of the work without any further instructions. Fink held a piece of wood both on the inside and outside of my leg while Erick tied the strips from the shirt as tightly as he could. I hated that I needed their help, all the while knowing this would’ve been impossible to do on my own. My leg still pulsed with pain, but once it was braced with the wood, it was more manageable than before. I stood and tested my stance on the floor. I made no effort to put weight on my injured leg, thankful that years of climbing and walking on narrow ledges had given me good balance and strength.

“Now scoot the table beneath the window,” I said.

“You’ve got no chance on that cliff,” Erick said.

“I’d rather fall from that cliff than wait here to be killed!” The fear I felt came out sounding like anger. “Now help me. Please!”

“You’re a complete fool,” Erick said.

“So I’ve been told.” I stared at each of them a moment and said, “I think I’ll be discovered before anyone comes here looking for me. But in case I’m wrong about that, you should come up with a story to explain how I escaped here on my own.”

“I knew I’d hate you before this was over,” Erick said.

“I’m sorry you do. You’re one of only a few people who I’d have preferred to like me.”

Erick looked down at his knife, sighed heavily, then held it out to me. “Take it.”

But I shook my head. “It’s your last defense. I’ve taken enough from you already.”

I sat on the table, then got to a standing position. I clamped my fingers around the windowsill, but there was no traction on the wall for my foot. Erick sighed again and pushed the table away, using his own strength to lift me until I angled my way through the window.

I paused to sit on the windowsill, with everything but my legs already on the outside. A cool breeze washed up from the sea below us, and I took that in with a deep breath. Erick had underestimated the distance, both to the ground and the cliff above me, yet the texture of the cliff wall was better than I’d hoped for. Vines and plants grew dense and well rooted, and there were many rocks and missing chunks of earth. I didn’t know whether I could make it to the top on one leg or not, but I thought it was a great day to try.

It only took me a short distance of climbing to willingly admit this had been a terrible idea. I hadn’t accounted for the added strain it would put on my shoulders and arms to compensate for my useless leg, and my leg that did work was screaming for relief.

Every inch I rose required a series of steps. First was to visually locate my next hold. Generally speaking, this wasn’t too difficult, and I planned ahead to be sure I wouldn’t find myself in trouble farther up. The second step was to reach for it with my lead hand, the stronger one that would keep a steady grip even if everything else failed. Then I used both hands to dig into the wall while I jumped to the next hold with my good foot. I found that I could use my injured leg temporarily for the jump. It hurt like the devils themselves had come to torture me, but as long as I moved quickly, it kept me balanced for the final step of moving my second hand into the new position.

A climb like this normally would’ve taken me only a half hour, but I was moving considerably slower than usual. The sunlight was inching away and with it, any hope I might have to survive the night. I heard the sounds of pirates moving above me, but luckily, none of them thought to look over the cliff wall for anyone. Most of them seemed fairly busy anyway, probably still in preparation for Roden’s dinner.

After an hour I was more than halfway up. Every muscle in my body ached and I was soaked in sweat, but I knew now that it was possible to succeed. So I forced myself to continue upward, letting thoughts of those I cared for most spur my strength.

I had to live. There were so many people I needed to apologize to, so many people I hoped to see again. Beyond that, it was strange to realize that I wanted to see Drylliad again, to gaze at the white walls of my castle and walk through its doors, where I belonged.

And so I continued to climb. There came a point when the anticipation of pain no longer deterred me from using my hurt leg. I still couldn’t put weight on it, but every other muscle now hurt so much I was willing to use it more for balance and stability. Besides, I had to hurry. If I was still here when it got dark, I had no chance of reaching the top.

The sun was only minutes from setting when my lead hand grabbed a rock lodged into the surface of the cliff. I hesitated a moment to be sure I was alone. By this time, the dinner seemed to have already started, so nobody was around. Apparently, Roden wouldn’t send someone to get me until after the meal ended. I hoped they had many courses left to eat.

With a final hoist, I rolled to the top of the cliff, where I lay breathless for several minutes before it occurred to me to continue moving. When it did, I could do nothing more than scoot beneath a bush. Every part of me hurt, with some muscles on my shoulders competing against the pain in my broken leg.