03.16.08

18: Jace Unbound

Posted in Pages at 9:55 pm by Alexandra Erin

With the miraculous knife in hand, Jace struggled to get it angled so he could cut through the ropes. It was a difficult task, as he could not see what he was doing and had limited mobility, but the ropes were old and the knife was remarkably sharp.

Before long, he’d freed his hands, and then it was a simple matter of getting his feet loose. He gave a low whistle, impressed with how well he’d acquitted himself. The hard part was over.

All he had to do now was figure out how to free the princess from her chains, get out of the locked cabin, off the ship, and safely away.

Sadly, fate did not seem to be dispensing convenient rings of keys with the same laudable punctuality as it had shown in providing him with a knife.

He investigated the clothes by the corner of the bed. There was an odd black shirt made of the thinnest cloth he’d ever seen, and a pair of dark canvas trousers with metal fastenings unlike any he’d ever seen. Its pockets contained some strange bits of metal: a handful of copper pieces that might have been coins if they hadn’t been round, and a pair of small, vaguely key-like things. He set them aside, thinking they might be useful.

There was another garment inside the trousers that he couldn’t identify, that was something like a thin cloth codpiece. The trousers wouldn’t begin to fit his legs, but the shirt looked like it might. He tried it on, then fastened the belt around his waist and sheathed the knife. It immediately slipped off his thin waist and fell towards the floor. He caught it, and put it over one shoulder instead. That worked much better.

The captive princess began making such sounds as she could beneath her gag.

Jace whirled around, putting a finger to his lips.

“Shh,” he said. “Do you want to get us… oh.” He grinned sheepishly and tiptoed over to undo her gag. “Sorry. I guess I could have done that a little bit earlier.”

“Who are you?” the princess demanded in what wasn’t quite the golden bell-like tones Jace had imagined for her.

Well, she was whispering. Maybe that had something to do with it.

“I’m Jace,” he said. “I’m here to rescue you.”

“Did that man send you here? Are you working with him?”

“What man?” Jace asked.

“The tall man,” she said. “The dark one. Tarnach.”

“No,” Jace said. “I mean, he told me where you were and he locked me in here with you, but I came on my own.”

“You fool,” she said. “You should never have trusted him. Now you’re caught here the same as me.”

“I’m free enough,” he said. “Anyway, I got this far… I just have to get a little bit farther. Can you swim?”

“I can fly,” she said haughtily. “Well, I could.”

“What happened?”

“They stripped my feathers.”

“You look like you’ve got plenty of feathers to me,” Jace said.

“Stupid groundling,” she said. “What do you know about it?”

“So, you really are a princess of the skylands?” Jace asked.

“Who said I was?”

“I’m asking!” Jace said.

“I’m nobody,” she said. She turned her face towards the wall. “I wish you’d go away.”

“Can’t do that while we’re locked in here,” Jace said. Now that he was loose, he looked around the room and saw what he couldn’t before: the lantern flickering in the window. It was a simple candle lantern, but it gave him an idea.

“Listen,” he said. “I’m going to light a fire.”

“Are you deranged? There isn’t a fireplace.”

“No, I mean, I’m going to start a fire,” he said.

Her golden eyes widened in alarm.

“Just a small one!” he said. “Right in front of the window. I’ll sit down in the chair and pretend I’m still tied up, and they’ll have to run in unlock your chains, and when they drag you out of the room, I’ll charge after and… I don’t know.”

“Get whipped and hanged for trying to burn the ship,” the girl said.

“It’s a thought,” Jace said. “Do you have a better one?”

“I’m thinking maybe I should take my chances with this governor of men.”

“You can’t mean that,” Jace said. “You’re no slave. Not like… not like real slaves.” He’d almost said “Not like me.”

“What am I, then?” she asked. “I’m not anything. Not any more.”

She sighed dramatically.

“Right,” Jace said. He examined the strange keys—if that’s what they were—and compared them to the locks on the shackles. They weren’t even close to fitting. “So, do you know who has the key to your shackles?”

“The man Montaldo put them on me,” she said.

“What did he do with the key?”

“I didn’t see. He took it with him when he left.”

“Then it’s probably either with him, or in his cabin,” Jace said.

“Or on the moon,” the girl said. “It’s the same distance, either way, when you’re locked in here.” She hummed to herself, a few bars of a sad, haunting tune. “Boy, are you really intent on rescuing me?” Her voice had changed, becoming more like what he had expected based on her beautiful appearance… but also sadder, like the song.

Jace nodded.

“Then I suppose we should get to it,” she said. “Listen very carefully to what I say, because once you start you will have to move quickly.”

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