Free Blind to Men by Chris Lange Page B

the time for discussion."
    He pivoted to stand face
to face with Kylor and order his guards with a grand movement of his arm.
    "Take him to the
keep!"
    As much as she wanted
answers from her father and king, her heart skipped a beat when the four men
escorted Kylor out of the room. She could not let him go. She would not be
separated from him.
    Hastily bowing to King
Harfayn, she brushed past him and started following the guards outside. But her
father's incredulous tone stalled her.
    "Where do you think
you are going?"
    If she wanted to save her
guardian, infuriating her new sovereign wouldn't help much so she turned round
dutifully.
    "Wherever Kylor
goes, I go."
    He must have perceived
her determination because he didn’t add a single word, nor attempt to stop her.
He simply stared.
    Without knowing him, she
gathered he would comply with her wishes, for the time being. Maybe give her
the night to compose herself and to reflect on her newfangled position. But she
also feared he wouldn’t waive.
    She followed the silent men
surrounding Kylor along wide, cold corridors to the base of what looked like a
big watchtower. They came across so few servants while they walked that she
figured the prisoner was taken to his doom through the back way.
    Her breathing had gone
harsher when they finally reached the top of the winding stairs that seemed
endless. Once the guards had locked them up in the keep, she turned toward her
protector.
    "I’ve never been
inside a prison but I imagined it differently."
    Situated at the top of
the castle tower, the single, round room was rather bare. Three high and narrow
windows gave it a deceptive air of freedom. The place looked a bit more
habitable after Kylor lit a few candles. With an encompassing gesture, he
smiled at her.
    "The keep is a place
to confine noble men who have gone astray or shown signs of disloyalty to the
crown, but it's not a prison. The murderers, thieves, and traitors are taken
underground, beneath the fortress."
    "What’s beneath the
castle?"
    "The dungeon."
    The name alone sounded
dreadful and ominous. Although she'd have followed Kylor down to the dungeon,
she had the distinct impression that the keep remained a much better place
considering their present situation. Probably more comfortable. She wanted to
inquire about her father but for the moment, her main concern was her guardian.
    "Why did the king
have you arrested? You’ve done nothing wrong. What's going to happen to
you?"
    He unfastened the belt
holding his sword, dropped it on the floor and gently took her hands in his.
    "I won't lie to you,
Anya. I'll be hanged in a few days."
    She panicked, a knot of fear
settling in the pit of her stomach, sweat breaking on her forehead.
    "Kylor, what are you
saying?"
    "I'm sorry I have to
be so blunt, but such is my fate."
    "Why?"
    She gripped his hands
like a drowning man in marshes hanging on to roots and long weeds.
    "You can’t die
because you broke the curse. It was a good deed."
    "And had you been
any other woman, I wouldn't be in trouble."
    "I don’t understand.
What's wrong with me?"
    His jumbled emotions
shone in his eyes as he squeezed her fingers and spoke with fervent tenderness.
    "Oh, gentle Anya, you're
perfect to me. Unfortunately, you're the king’s daughter."
    "So?"
    "So any man not of
noble blood who deflowers a woman of royal blood is punished by death."
    She could only stare at
him, unsure of the meaning of his assertion, yet recognizing ineluctability in
the tone of his voice. Fighting back tears, she took a long breath, unable to
discern if she felt crushed, sorrowed, or just rebellious at such meanness and
unfairness.
    The man she loved had to
die because he’d saved her. Such injustice didn't seem possible and she
wouldn't let it go without fighting. But first, she needed to understand all
the facts.
    "Kylor, what's
deflower? Has it got anything to do with picking flowers? Because you never
picked flowers for me."
    A prisoner about to be
hanged he