Tenebres Prison is a remote prison that existed on an island with only a long bridge to access it. The waters around it were so turbulent they could not use ships to get to it. Mages were used in its construction. It was known as a political prison where sons and daughters of countries were sent while their parents negotiated their freedom. Most of the time the parents were extorted and the children were never returned.

It was also used for other types of prisoners that had broken the law one too many times. The newest set of prisoners was being escorted through the lower-level gates. The magic rumbled as runes lit up a bright red. It looked like glittering ruby when sunlight hit it.

The other prisoners of the lower level were out in the yard getting what little sunlight came through the gray clouds that always seemed to hang in the sky. They began to crowd near the entrance as the carriages stopped. It was a fancier one which meant another conquest.

The door opened and a red-haired elf made his way out. He had anti-magic shackles around his wrists. He had to be about sixteen. “I told you to let that one go,” his blue eyes looked into the carriage. The guard chuckled and held his hand out.

“Don’t bother,” it was a soft voice as a small teen left the carriage. Her hair was touching her waist and it was darker than the night. Soft grayish-blue eyes looked around. “They will just use me as collateral to extort my father.”

“BUT JURIAN ISN’T PART OF THIS!” The elf hissed at her and he was met with a sharp look.

“Since when does greed care?” Simone watched as the guards hit Llywellyn in the gut but she didn’t react.

“That’s not how I thought you would react,” the guard that had offered his hand was chuckling. “Don’t even care that your lov–”

“He’s not my lover,” Simone looked at the man in his eyes and the guard hesitated. “He’s just a fool.” She stepped over his body. “Now, let's get this over with shall we?” She approached the one who she thought was in charge and looked up at the bulky man.

It was clear that the man didn’t know what to do with her. “Who are you?”

“Simone Auclair. Crowned Princess of Auclair. The only daughter of the king Jurian Auclair. Heiress to the Monte gold mines. You’ll find me rather useful if you leave me intact. If you don’t… I’ll be worth less.”

This girl… She knew her worth as a bargaining chip. She recognized there was nothing she could do for Llywellyn as he was the third prince… That and what they didn’t know about their relationship wouldn’t hurt them and Simone was playing that to her advantage.

“Well, well, well… We have a new VIP boys. You are a gir–”

“My value only matters if I stay intact.” Simone saw the door opening and she pushed past the warden. “It would be dumb of you to actually spoil me.” The girl was so small but it was her presence. The way she gave a sideways glance to the tyrannical warden as she spoke with confidence. “The amount you could get for me alone… Llywellyn the prince of Sulwal has become the bonus piece. If I were you I would treat me with the utmost caution.”

“Is that a threat Princess?” The warden went to reach for her harshly but stopped when he saw her disapproving look.

“No, it is advice as an adviser. The same as I would give to my father,” Simone shook her head. “Know your chess pieces, Warden.” She hadn’t even been told who the man was but she was able to guess from the way he held himself and ordered the others. He was either the warden or a ballsy guard with too much power.

“Take her to a cell by herself. We don’t need her to be spoiled,” the warden didn’t sound shaken but this girl knew how to play his game. She was absolutely right. They had ambushed the Sulwal carriage to kidnap the third prince and she had been the bonus piece. It was slowly turning around to the prince being the bonus piece. As Simone was escorted to her own containment cell the guards roughly moved Llywellyn and threw him into a cell with other prisoners. He was thrown rags and told to change. The prisoners who had been outside had already been moved inside after the show of power.

“Where is she?” Llywellyn was ready to fight and move as the manacles shocked him.

“Don’t worry about your precious princess. As this place was made to handle the male variety you can rest assured that she is being taken care of differently. Her value as a treasure is surely higher than yours now.” It was different kidnapping a third prince than kidnapping the sole heir to an entire kingdom. They had to move carefully around her. Auclair was a small nation but there had been stories about what they would do for their royalty. Their beloved princess. No wonder she held her head up high.

The elf prince complied and got dressed after being released from the shackles. The guards left him and he looked around at the other prisoners. “This cell has been engraved with runes much like the shackles,” he was talking to himself. “Where the fuck would they have taken her?” His eyes landed on two boys who didn’t look like they wanted to gain attention. “You two, if they wanted to hide a valuable prisoner where would they take them?”

Another boy answered him, “Even if Xeik and Lewis knew where they were… Your princess is probably taken somewhere else. There’s never been a girl here before.”

Llywellyn rubbed his nose, “Fuck.” Rubbing his face the elf looked like he was thinking hard. “She wasn’t even supposed to be in Sulwal. Jurian is going to be so pissed. I should have told her no.” He was now gripping his hair and angrily rubbing his head. “Come on Llywellyn. It won’t be that long of a trip. The flower fields are just outside of fucking Sulwal Llywellyn. PLLLEEASEEE.” He was frustrated. “Father won’t notice I’m gone.” He was saying all of it in a mocking female tone.

“Shouldn’t you be worried about yourself?” The boy as Llywellyn would come to find out was named Darren.

“Ah,” Llywellyn thought about it. “I’m not worried about myself. Simone is more fragile than I am. She’ll play her part though.” It was an odd turn of phrase but the elf gave them a smile. They must have had a plan after they got caught.

Two days later Llywellyn was escorted from the prisoner but he was making a scene. “No! Why aren’t you releasing her first?!”

“We can get so much more from Auclair. Your father has paid up but refused to pay for the Auclair princess,” the warden was smug. “So Prince Llywellyn… You are free to go but the princess stays here.”

Llywellyn got a look on his face, “I swear to the fucking gods if you do any–” The guards knocked him out to carry him away. The smug look on the Warden’s face never went away. They almost never released someone this fast… The princess of Auclair had been sold out for the release of the Sulwal prince. After all, she was only his friend not his fiance.

That being said, it wasn’t like the princess hadn’t been listening and watching. She had been taken to somewhere below the first floor. It was cozy and she found herself drinking tea with the warden now. “Now Princess… You must understand–”

“Why would the king of Sulwal release me?” Her soft eyes looked up at the warden as she sipped her tea. “I’ve no use to them. The elves really don’t like anyone outside of their race after all. His father never approved of our friendship. His mother, bless her, was the one who was best friends with my mother. The death of the first queen of Sulwal pretty much ended any political affairs we had. I’m more of a blemish in his eyes. Holding his son Llywellyn back.” The harsh words made the warden laugh.

“Nobles are cruel creatures.”

“Mortals are cruel creatures,” Simone blew on her tea. “Noble or commoner. All motivation that one has will tilt in either direction on the mortality scale. There is no gray area normally.” Her fingers caressed the cup. The warden was taking good care of her only because he had no idea how to handle a female prisoner. Their worth was tied to their looks and their purity. Which meant… not being rough with her and putting runes of protection where she was instead of guards. “The king of Sulwal will move the way I’ve predicted. I imagine once Llywellyn’s brother takes over he will beg for my assistance.”

“How so?” The warden was interested in the girl’s thought progress.

The princess smirked a bit, “Because with this one single move Lores just destroyed his trade routes. It is not always the large kingdoms that hold all the power Mr. Xander.” There was mischievousness in her eyes. “I am not so dumb to leave my future up to how large my kingdom is. There are more than one way to skin a pig. The trade routes that I’ve so delicately helped to make all tie back to Auclair. A way… to make sure things stay in check.”

“…How old are you?” The warden was impressed.

“Fifteen,” the girl finished her tea and put the cup down. “Sixteen this winter. My fiance will be announced after my birthday but…” She hummed. “Maybe I should sell him out to you?” It devolved from there as she sold out the man who made her angry. If anything that should have been the queue that the warden needed. As soon as she leaked the information the warden and most of his personal guards left the prison. Jerome Croix was a prince that was marrying into a large kingdom. Perfect for extortion.

Once Simone knew she was alone which wasn’t hard to figure out from the commotion she made her move. There was no way they weren’t going to extort her father too death for a long time before her release but until then she had at least bought her momentary freedom with her knowledge. Her knowledge though could be quickly outdated if she remained.

The runes of protections she knew were double-faced. The warden wasn’t that dumb of a man as she etched reverse runes on one side and then the other as well. The magic didn’t fade but was merely veiled. If she couldn’t fully escape she could undo what she was doing here.

She had been playing around with the room in her spare time. Finding one of the ceiling stones was a hidden door up. The magic shimmered in the main cell where the other prisoners were as the door flipped open and Simone pulled herself up.

“Huh?” Darren looked at her as she dusted her dress off and walked over to the cell door to look at it. “Um… Hey Lewis…” Simone hadn't heard him as she was slightly bent over with her finger under her chin in thought staring at the lock.

It was supposed to be an easy haul.

A trio of boys had found themselves an easy mark; a grand airship that was visiting the small village of Ilya. It was Darren who had scouted the job; a quick in and out taking everything that they could carry, and sell it all on the black market in the next town over for a tidy little profit. From there, they could start a small guild in one of the larger towns, and live the good life as they ran the place.

Xeik had no issues with this plan. It was his leadership that had gotten them this far in the first place, and he knew that he could easily guide a small guild into something great.

It was Lewis who had the issues. It was supposed to be easy, but even that seemed like almost too much work. In the end, though, Xeik and Darren pressured his lazy ass into starting the prep work for when the airship would arrive.

As expected, the airship docked and the entorogue of servants and nobles disembarked. From here, only a skeleton crew of staff would be aboard while the nobles wandered about Ilya in awe of the ‘rustic’ life that the peasants lived. They would only be in town long enough for the airship to restock and refuel, and they would be on their merry way.

It was Lewis who made the initial move. Despite his initial apprehension, he lead the way as they jumped from the docks onto the main deck. He looked around, checking to see if anyone had seen or heard them. Nothing. He motioned for the other two to follow, and they made their way into the main hold.

Darren had been right on the money. There were stacks of gold and silver bars in the hold. Lewis and Xeik grabbed a few of them, and placed them into their sacks. Darren picked up quite a few more than the other two, knowing that he could handle the weight.

“All right, we got what we needed,” Lewis said as he started to leave.

“No…we check the rooms too. Jewels are worth a lot too, and they’re much lighter,” Darren said with a grin. “And papers. People will pay a LOT for information.”

Xeik clicked his tongue. It was risky, but the payoff might be worth it. “Fine…we go. But at the slightest hint of trouble, we bail.”

The silver haired boy gave an annoyed look to Xeik and Darren, but he was the skill of the group, not the brain. “Fine.” The trio made their way through the airship with ease. There were barely any patrols, as most of the leftover crew were too busy relaxing and partying while they had the chance.

The first nobleman’s room they found had a few trinkets that seemed worth something. The next, to their surprise, had nothing. A noble in title only. The third, though…

“These papers…” Lewis was reading over them. “They’re land deeds and titles. This one was planning on selling property…”

Xeik grabbed them. “Great. We can sell these on the black market for quite a bit. And…” A word caught his eye. “Wait…something doesn’t seem quite right with this. The wording…” His eyes widened. “This isn’t land, Lewis. These are people…”

A sudden voice behind them startled all three of the boys.

“Oh dear…what do we have here? Some rats have come aboard…” The nobleman had returned, his muscle already in the room.

“How the hell did they-” Lewis tried to move, but one of the guards slammed him against the wall.

“Guess we’ll just have to exterminate them.” The nobleman snapped his fingers. Or, at least he tried to. The nobleman looked at his hand. And then to Lewis. And then to his guards. “I thought…I…I thought…”

Something sweet was filling the room. Soon, the guard’s grip on Lewis lessoned, and they both fell to the floor.

“D-damn it…” Xeik tried to say as everyone blacked out…


—



It had been a week since the boys had been taken to Tenebris Prison. It had been in error that they had been captured alongside of the political figure they were after, and so they were given low priority. After all, even the prison needed a few extra hands of labor.

The first few days were rough for the boys. Not only were they trying to survive the prison, but Lewis had chewed both Xeik and Darren out for their ‘plan.’ They never should have gone after the airship. They should have left when they were ahead, but the greed of the two had convinced Lewis to keep going.

And now they were going to rot in a prison for the rest of their lives.

Their arguments, though, turned into merely existing and surviving together. They had no plan for escape. They didn’t even know where they were. All they could do was band together and survive. Xeik had lost his spark to lead, realizing that it was his fault they were in this mess. And if anyone could have come up with a plan, it would have been him.

But it was on the eighth day of their capture that a rather interesting thing happened. A noble girl, around Lewis’ age, appeared in their cell block.

Lewis stared at the girl for a moment as she walked over to the cell door.

Xeik was just in disbelief over the whole thing, and wondered if they had all gone collectively crazy.

“Lewis,” Darren said as he pointed. “Xeik? Are both of you just going to stare?”

Xeik seemed too shocked, but in the end shrugged it off. “She can leave if she wants…it’s not like we can do anything about it.”

Lewis sighed, and stood up, walking over to her. “What are you trying to do?”

The voice of the teen scared Simone as she jumped. Her head had been in the clouds as she turned to look at him. Tilting her head she was looking to formulate the words. “I’m going to pick the lock.”

“But we tried that,” Darren grumbled at her. “It’s not going to work.”

“It’s not a normal lock just anyone can pick,” Simone batted her eyelashes at Lewis ignoring Darren for a moment. “It needs a magic tool of sorts…” She reached up to her hairpin and pulled as the rest of her hair fell down. There seemed to be an inscription in it as she bent the hairpin and fiddled around with the lock until it popped. “See?”

“Okay, but why the hell do you have that?”

“…Just in case?” Simone answered easily enough as she swung the door open. “Most of the guards have left for whatever they were going to do. The others are so complacent it looks like they don’t bother much with the higher floors.” She pointed up. “So… I’m going up. Figuring a way out from there should be easy but if I had to guess they probably have an airship or such docked at the very top from the way the building is shaped in the back. A place like this would have a way of distributing food from the top to the bottom instead of the other way around. Like a magic chute,” Simone did some weird motions with her hands. “Something like that shape…”

Darren looked utter lost, “Okay but the hairpin…”

“Has… a cancellation rune on it. If you overload rune magic with another rune of the opposite attribute most of the time they stop working. It’s super easy…,” Simone fumbled around her pockets and showed them a handful of them. “They started poking my head so I put them in my pockets. Does that answer your questions?”

Darren had no choice but to nod. “Okay, but how will you avoid the guards?”

“…Not get caught?” Simone tilted her head. “You’ve never been kidnapped before have you?”

“WHO THE HELL GETS KIDNAPPED THAT MUCH THAT THEY HAVE A PLAN?!” Darren was now pulling at his hair.

Simone put her hand up with a blank expression. “My name is Simone,” she very carefully took her skirts and bowed to them. “And I’m breaking out now. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Lewis watched as she ‘picked’ the magical lock, and crossed his arms. Magic was not something that the boys had any real experience with. Xeik was the only one who had a few basic spells under his belt, but it wasn’t anything special or useful, merely party tricks. Darren seemed to be losing his mind over the whole thing, but Lewis saw this as an opportunity.

The silver blonde haired boy walked back over to Xeik and dragged the disheartened boy to his feet. “Let’s go,” Lewis demanded. “Get your shit together…”

“But why?” Xeik asked, looking at Lewis, and then the girl. “It’s not like we can get out. And she’s not gonna make it either.”

“Hey girl,” Lewis said. “Can we follow you?”

Simone shrugged. “I won’t complain.”

“And if we work together, we stand a better chance!” Darren added in. “Her magical lock thingy, and our smarts.”

Lewis gave Darren a knowing look. “You mean Xeik’s smarts. You’re as dumb as a doorknob, and I’m not much better.” He smacked Xeik a little, and pulled him towards the gate. “Tell me where to go, and I’ll scout ahead. Shouldn’t be too difficult to stick to the shadows on this floor.”

Simone stopped what she was doing and loomed over Xeik, “Are you a god?”

“Wh-what?” Xeik looked at her.

“Are. You. A . God?”

“No…”

“Then how do you know I’m not going to make it?” Simone watched him. “I’ve been in places with tighter security than this.” She waved her hand. “Kidnappings happen when you are a king’s only child.”

Simone took out her handkerchief and unfolded it. “I have the first three floors drawn up.” It was in blood and lightly done with what looked like a needle. “I only briefly got to see the floor plans as the warden bragged so I could only fully memorize the first three levels. We are right here where the x is… I found out that’s where the hole is leading from my room down below. So we can position ourselves on the map right here.”

She showed Darren and traced a pathway with her fingers. “If we get to the window on the same side as where I believe the airship dock is we can climb up the side of the building.”

“How… Do you know that?”

“Oh… because I broke into your cell days ago and went back down after I locked it back up. It wasn’t the right time to make a move,” she gave Darren a smile. “We’ll have to be careful though. It’s pretty slippery from the salt water but you can use the cracks as a stabilizer with your fingers. I got halfway to the second floor before I ran out of time.”

Darren was in shock that the girl had already been in the cell before with them, and he looked to his companions. “Can you believe this!?”

“I mean…I thought you knew,” Lewis replied with a deadpan look. “It was pretty obvious.” He was being completely serious.

“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO FOLLOW HER!?”

“Why would I? I saw her tinkering with the lock, figured she’d fail, and I went back to sleep,” Lewis replied with a bored tone. “She must have walked out right afterwards.” He was being dead serious.

“BUT WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?” Darren demanded. “WE COULD HAV-”

“Giant tower prison. Where exactly were we supposed to go? At least she has a plan,” Lewis replied. “It’s not my fault you didn’t notice her. Even Xeik noticed her.”

“WAIT, YOU DID!?”

Xeik nodded.

Darren looked down in disappointment. “So it was only me?”

“Pretty much,” Lewis replied as he walked past Simone and into the corridor. “Ok…so we just head this way, then…” He darted off down the hall, and disappeared around the corner. There were sounds of a struggle, and he appeared moments later. “Guards are out. Let’s move quick before someone else comes…”

Darren merely grabbed Xeik, far too overwhelmed with the sudden happenings.

Simone looked back at Xeik and Darren before darting off with Lewis. “Follow me, I can show you the way up. If we can make it to the fourth floor it is abandoned pretty much. We can hustle food from the second and third floors and wait until the fourth floor to recuperate. This is going to be rough on our bodies. We absolutely cannot stop until we reach our destination.”

Darren looked conflicted, “How do you know about the fourth floor?”

“I played poker with some of the guards and got them wasted?” She tilted her head. “They are actually pretty horrible guards that get left behind… I’m pretty terrible at poker too… I lost my earrings.” She showed her empty lobes and chuckled.

They climbed up the sides of the building to the second floor. Simone was almost better than they were at it. She nimbly found all the nook and crannies for her fingers as she looked out into the roaring ocean beneath them. There was a look if only for a brief second of adventure that lingered in her eyes. She pulled herself inside a window and held her hand out to Lewis.

“We need to locate food and perhaps bedding. I don’t know what is on the fourth floor.” She paused still holding onto Lewis’s hand. “Simone. My name is Simone. We’re accomplices now.”

The climb was brutal for the trio, but they had the stamina to see it through. Lewis took Simone’s hand as she helped pull him up to the fourth floor. Lewis turned back and held his hand out for Xeik and then Darren. Once the whole group had a moment to rest, Lewis took time to introduce himself.

“Lewis,” he responded as Simone mentioned her naime. “This oaf here is Darren, and that’s our fearless leader, Xeik.”

“I am not an oa-”

“Darren, light the torch on the wall there,” Xeik interrupted. Grumbling, Darren did as he was asked, and light illuminated the room.

An ocean breeze cut through the rather large room. It wasn’t quite as large as the cell that they had been in, It was spacious enough for all of them to exist if needed with only one exit. The door seemed sturdy enough, but there wasn’t a lock. In the corner were a few scraps of wood that looked to be from a broken chair.

“Kindling,” Lewis said as he walked over to the wood.

Xeik nodded, “Darren can stay here and set things up as we bring supplies while guarding Simone here…”

“That means you and I are scouring supplies then,” Lewis replied. “Got it.” It seemed like he was ready to go. Finally, he had something worth doing.