“You must put out the candle and use the wax to seal your ears,” the girl said. Jace started to reach for the lantern. “Wait,” she said. “Not yet. If somebody notices the candle is out, they might come to replace it, or to investigate. You must hear the whole plan first, and be ready to move. You’ll have to be quick. Do you understand?”
Jace nodded.
“Good,” she said. “You must tie the cloth around the back of my head so it looks like I’m still gagged, then plug your ears with wax, and then take the chair and throw it through the window to get their attention…”
“I thought we didn’t want their attention,” Jace said.
“We do, just not before we’re ready,” the girl said. “You must hide yourself under the bed as soon as the window is broken, far enough back that they won’t be able to see you from the window, and you must not come out until the men are on the floor.”
“The floor?” Jace echoed in confusion.
“Yes,” she said. “The flat thing you stand upon.”
Jace gave her a dirty look.
“I know what a floor is,” he said. “But what do you mean? What’re you going to do?”
“What I must,” she said. “It is my hope that they will try to move me, thinking this cabin is not secure. They will have to unlock my chains in that event. If not, you will have to search them for keys. It may be that the same key which opens the door will also open the shackles, but that seems a bit too much to hope for.”
“So did finding a knife,” Jace said. “I do not think it is your fate to remain here.”
“One miraculous occurrence does not guarantee another one,” the girl said. “If you cannot find the key, then there is nothing further for you to do. You must flee and save yourself.”
Jace shook his head.
“You are a fool,” she said. “But I know this already. Very well. Put the gag in place.”
Jace did.
“Now do the rest,” she said. “Remember, take the candle and stuff your ears, then throw the chair through the window and hide, as quickly as you can.”
“I am capable of remembering what people said a minute ago,” Jace said.
He went over to the small table beneath the window, opened the lantern, and blew out the candle. He broke off the softened top end and pushed the soft wax into each of his ears while it was still warm. He looked at the girl for approval. With her mouth covered and his ears blocked, he couldn’t hope to make out what she was saying but the expression in her eyes was eloquent.
“All right, all right!” Jace said, probably a bit too loudly. He grabbed the chair by its back and threw it at the window, diving for the cover of the bed before it even hit.
He pressed his body up against the wall of the cabin, where the darkness was the deepest. Deaf, he could not hear the door opening, but he saw the moonlight spilling in and the dark shapes of men’s feet. Six of them. Rather, six feet… three men. Two of them were the governors’ soldiers. The other looked to be a sailor, from his bare feet.
Jace tensed when the sailor came over to the bed, but he did not look under it. He seemed to be leaning over. Was he unlocking the princess to move her? He turned around to face the soldiers. One of them stomped his foot emphatically. Was there an argument?
If there was, it was over almost as soon as it had begun. Three pairs of legs turned to face the bed, then began to sway… and then, just like that, all three men were down.
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