Chapter 14 - Two Prisoners Meet

Andres stood for a moment, feeling completely alone. He heard the door slam above him, covering the hole from which he’d been lowered. The noise of the clanging door seemed to reverberate for hours. And once the noise faded away, Andres was enveloped in complete darkness. He squinted up toward the ceiling, hoping to see some semblance of a ray of light shining through. But there was nothing. He held his hand up in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. He could see nothing.

This was, as you can imagine, a very unpleasant experience for Andres. He hated total darkness. The only times he spent in the dark were at home in his bedroom at night, but Cable was always there with him. Now he was alone in a musty dungeon with no hope of escape. He didn’t even have a snack in his pocket. He didn’t know when, or if, he would ever eat again. Being alone was bad, but being alone and hungry...well, that was really bad.

Andres figured he’d try and figure out what kind of place he was in. So he took one step forward. His right foot immediately landed on something squishy. He knelt down and felt something furry under his foot. He moved his hand to the right and felt a tail. Yes, he’d stepped on a rat. He was afraid that might happen. He whipped the rat through the air and almost immediately heart a splat on a wall. Well, if the rat wasn’t dead after Andres stepped on him, he’d surely be dead now.

Suddenly Andres didn’t feel much like walking around. He’d probably just end up stepping on more rats, and besides--in the dark, all places pretty much look the same. So he just sat down. It was a cobblestone floor of sorts, and it was very uneven. He wasn’t sure how he’d ever be able to sleep on it. Oh well, at least Slumbutter was kind enough to give them some kind of surface for the dungeon. It could have been dirt.

Andres then began to mull over his strange encounter with the lady. What was it she said when he first got there? Cantankerous, ornery rebels never ever repent. What was that supposed to mean? Andres knew what “ornery” meant, because his parents had used the word often to describe him. But he had never heard of the word “cantankerous” before. Still, he was pretty sure it had to mean something bad. If he ever saw Cable again, he’d ask him. Cable knew all those long words.

The odd thing was, even though the lady had said something that might be kind of mean, she was not a mean lady at all. In fact, she’d been very nice to him. Why would she call him an ornery rebel at the same time that she was trying to help him?

Then Andres thought of the other things she’d talked about. She seemed to constantly repeat herself. She had said “remember many things” a few times. Why did he need to remember anything down in prison? Maybe she just figured that he needed something to keep his mind occupied while he starved to death. That was kind of her.

And what was the business about someone being “carried on our new eastern road”? That was the strangest thing of all. She’d said that Andres’ heart was there. No, she was wrong. Andres’ heart was not anywhere in this horrible place. It was back home. He just wanted to be back home.

At this point, Andres started to cry.

It was a silent cry, because he didn’t dare to make much noise in the darkness. Besides, he didn’t figure that it would make much difference if he cried very loudly. No one would hear him. And even if someone did hear him, they certainly wouldn’t care. In the silence, Andres’ tears streamed down his cheeks and onto the floor.

Whooooo...whooooo...

The hoot of an owl suddenly pierced the silence. Andres immediately stood to his feet. He’d heard that call before. It was the call that had summoned them on their quest four years ago, and it was the call that had directed them every step of the way. It was the call of the messenger of the High King. And that call--that simple call, here in the depths of Dor-ko’s prison--gave him a spark of hope.

Andres waited for a moment and listened again. This time the call was gentle, and off to his right. He stepped on more rats as he slowly made his way toward the sound. He felt around, expected to run into the wall at any moment. Finally he felt what he’d been longing for--the feathers of the messenger. Andres immediately squatted down and hugged the mysterious messenger. It was perhaps the most comforting hug that he’d ever experienced.

A faint glow then started to emerge from the owl. Andres immediately let go and took a step back. For the first time, there was light in the dungeon. It was not a bright light, but it was enough for Andres to see his surroundings. The cell was a perfect square, about 10 feet on each side at the bottom. However, the stone walls sloped toward the inside of the room as they went up toward the ceiling. It didn’t take Andres long to figure out why. The slope would keep anyone from being able to climb their way out.

Andres then looked at the floor. He counted about 25 rats lying down, apparently dead. That was strange. Andres figured this place must be rat heaven--cold and wet and dark. Why would they be dead?

Then he saw why.

In the corner of the room lay the body of a man. At first, Andres thought he might be dead. But as he stared at the man in the faint glow of the owl’s light, he saw his chest rising and falling. Somehow, the man had managed to find a way to sleep in this horrible place. In the man’s right hand was a little stick. That evidently was the implement of destruction that had been used to snuff out the lives of the rodents.

Andres turned toward the owl. The owl, however, didn’t even look at Andres. His face was turned toward the man in the corner. Andres, who was remarkably observant for a 14-year-old boy, quickly got the hint. He carefully stepped over to where the man lay. He squatted down beside the man and gently shook his shoulder.

The man, whose face was grimy and covered with a grizzly beard, sniffed a couple of times. Andres thought that was odd. The man then started talking without opening his eyes. “Babes, is that you?” he asked, still apparently asleep. “That smell...oh Babes, it’s been so long...”

Andres took a step back. He certainly hadn’t expected that reaction. “Uh...I’m afraid my name’s not ‘Babes’,” he said. As he spoke, the man slowly opened his eyes. As he did so, the light of the owl disappeared. Once again, Andres was enveloped in blackness.

“Hey, who is that?” asked the man, now apparently wide awake.

“Uh...my name is Andres,” replied Andres.

“Where did that smell come from?” asked the man. Andres heard the man stand up, and then he felt the man wrap his arms around him. He heard more sniffing. “That smell...I would recognize it anywhere! That is the smell of the perfume that my girlfriend always used to wear. Who are you? Where did you get that smell?” There was great urgency in his voice.

“Look, sir, I can’t imagine that I’ve met your girlfriend. As I said, my name is Andres, and I was...”

“Prince Andres?” asked the man. “Are you Andres, the son of King Maximilian?”

“Well, yes, not that it makes any difference here,” answered Andres.

“Those wretches have captured you too, eh?” asked the man, somewhat rhetorically. “Well, it must be because they’re trying to lure your father here. Well hey, it sure is nice to have some company. But tell me, where did you get that smell?”

Andres had almost forgotten about the spray of perfume he’d gotten before he was dispatched to the dungeon. “Some lady treated a wound of mine after I got to the castle. It was kind of strange. She called me a ‘cantankerifous ornery rebel’, or something like that, which seemed like a mean name. But she didn’t have a mean face. She actually seemed kind of helpful.”

“What did she look like?” asked the man.

“Well, all I noticed was that she had long dark hair. I don’t really notice much about girls. She seemed pretty enough, I guess.”

Andres’ words were followed by a few moments of silence. After that, Andres thought he heard some sobs coming from the man. It was a muted cry, but powerful. Andres immediately felt badly. “I’m sorry, sir. What did I say?”

“She lives!” cried out the man at the top of his voice. “You have given me the best news I’ve heard in four years. She lives!” Then Andres felt the man give him a great hug. After the emotional embrace, the man spoke once more. “I’m sorry, but I forgot to introduce myself. Prince Andres, my name is Gregorex. And I am so glad you are here.”