“You seem pretty relaxed for someone who's going to lose their balls tomorrow,” I commented with a smirk.
“That's because I'm not gonna lose them,” he said confidently.
“You're in denial,” I said solemnly.
I’d probably have been in denial too in his position. What was a man without his manhood intact?
“No I'm not.” His eyes slid to mine. “My gang will come for me before dawn.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked, more curious than anything else. Didn’t much matter to me if one thief returned to the streets. I was a dead man walking anyway. At least my balls would be unscathed when I was put in the ground. Small comforts and all that.
“Yeah,” he said with such certainty that I was sure he was telling the truth.
I nodded slowly. “Alright.”
“Easy as that? You believe me?”
I shrugged. “I'm good at judging people. And I've heard what The Forty are capable of. Seems you're a luckier man than me in this life.”
His eyes glittered at my words. “Always was lucky. Sorry mate.”
I reached a hand up to rub my neck, thinking of the hangman's noose which would no doubt break it tomorrow. Better it did than me choking for a few long minutes. Quick and painless was about all I could hope for in my execution. Guess that was why they'd spent a few days torturing me first. A man of my size would almost certainly get his neck broken when the lever was pulled. Gasp. Snap. Done. Why was I starting to think I’d wasted all those years being a straight-edge warrior?
Should have got laid more...
Aladdin watched me for a moment before shutting his eyes.
I drifted back toward the wall, deciding how to spend my final hours. Repenting? Screw that. I had zero remorse for my crime. If there was a face worthy of dying for it was the Princess's.
I wondered what she thought of being looked upon. She probably despised me for it. I'd crossed a line that was drawn by the Emperor himself. And she'd been so sheltered all of her life I doubted she had much of a mind of her own. She was a walking talking advertisement for the kingdom. A living rulebook. And I knew all about that. I also knew that it didn’t stop me dreaming of bigger things sometimes. Things beyond my station. Things involving the Princess who I had no right in fantasising about.
In your dreams, Cassian Lazar. You’d have to be ten times of a better man and have a thousand times the wealth to be worthy of her.
What did the Princess Rapunzel dream about at night..?
I dragged my mind away from her, focusing on my family instead. My mother had raised me alongside my seven sisters. In a world where women were supposed to be beneath men, I'd certainly never felt above any of them. In fact, my mother had taught me to respect and covet women. Something my training in the Royal Guard had attempted to beat out of me. But I'd held firm, though my revolutionary thoughts had to remain quietened in the face of my job. Seeing my old Captain had stirred up some uncomfortable memories though.
“Shirt off. Back to me, Lazar,” Captain Marik had ordered. “Ten lashings in penance for your impertinent tongue.”
The strikes were cold then hot then wet when the blood came. Always in that order. Each one harder than the last. Pain was a mirage, Marik had taught me that. He’d been wrong; it’s not an illusion, but you can train your mind not to feel it as keenly.
I'd joined the Royal Guard to follow in the footsteps of my father. He'd died defending the palace in the rebellion at the turn of the century. My mother told me he'd lived his whole life in the name of Osaria. He’d loved his country as did I. And she'd always taught me to try and live by his example. Which I had religiously. Day in, day out. Twelve years.
“Why not take a wife, Lazar?” my fellow guardsman had once asked me. “It’s like having a live-in whore who does your housework.”
I’d broken his jaw. Ten lashings every day for a week. Worth it.
In Osaria, taking a wife meant owning her. And I'd wanted to defy that by refusing to follow that path. The Emperor had been making so much progress towards changing such things before Gothel had stepped onto the scene. She was a heartless fiend who seemed to have no compassion for women despite her own gender. Whatever her motives were, I knew it wasn't in the interests of anyone but herself. It enraged me more than anything else that I would die in this pitiful world before seeing Gothel overthrown and my country soaring to greatness.
No one had batted an eye at the way the city had changed since that heathen’s arrival. Maybe most men were quietly glad the laws hadn’t been changed in women’s favour. Maybe they wanted to remain above the opposite sex. But I still hoped there was goodness to find in some of my countrymen. That when I passed from this world, maybe someone would fill my place and fight against Gothel's tyranny.
If she got her hands on that strange lamp, what the hell was she going to do with it?
I sighed wearily.
Damn I hate losing at life like this. Am I really giving up? Cassian Lazar, royal guard, man of his word, lover of his kingdom.
Now you’re just a complete failure.
When I was a boy, I'd sworn to help make Osaria great one day. Was that dream really going to die in the clutches of a noose?
A clash of steel caught my ear followed by a loud grunt.
Aladdin bolted upright with a wide grin. He turned to me, his eyes shimmering with all the strength of a man who knew he truly wasn't fated to have his manhood forcibly removed.
The door across from our cells flew open and my heart beat a little harder as three men crept in like dark shadows. I didn't need to see any more of them to know they were part of The Forty. No one else could have gotten this deep into the royal dungeon.
“Balthazar! I could kiss you right now if I wasn't worried I'd get some of that Countess's moustache in my teeth.” Aladdin clutched the bars as he gazed out at his friends.
“Screw you,” growled the man I assumed was Balthazar. They all had neckerchiefs pulled over their faces so I couldn't get a good look at him even as he stepped into the light of the nearest torch. “If you want out of that cell, you better start grovelling.”
“Grovelling?” Aladdin spat. “I don't grovel. And I know you'll let me out either way because the only reason you're here is because Egos wants me.”
One of the other men elbowed Balthazar aside, moving forward and raising a large crowbar in his hands. “You two can sort this out in the ring, we don't have time for your bitch fight here.” He pried Aladdin's cell open with a groaning of metal and the door swung wide.
I gazed at Aladdin longingly as he stepped out of his cage, a free man; something I wanted to be with all my heart.
Adrenaline surged through my veins and a hundred thoughts sped through my brain at once. I darted forward, gazing out at them in a crazed hope.
I don't want to die!
“See ya.” Aladdin saluted me and desperation built in my chest so keenly that I couldn't contain it.
“Wait!” I called as they headed toward the doorway.
Aladdin glanced back, a slight frown lining his features. “I can't carry dead weight even if I might like you a bit.” He held a hand over his heart. “Really, it's been nice. Sucks you gotta die. But that's how the cookie crumbles.” He turned away again and my mind wheeled to the only thing I had to offer. They were thieves. What more did they want than treasure? And I knew where a whole hoard of it was hidden. I didn't give a damn about money, but I did care about Gothel reaching that lamp. And if I could get to it first – destroy it maybe-
“Wait a minute,” I commanded in my most authoritative tone. The four of them halted, seeming surprised by me ordering them about as if I had the upper hand here. But I did. They just didn't know it yet.
“I'll give you thirty seconds, no more,” Aladdin said, folding his arms.
I glanced at the other men who I didn't trust one bit, but Aladdin had something about him which I did trust. He was honestly dishonest. He knew what he was and he owned
it. And I had a feeling that meant he’d give me this one opportunity to save myself.
“There's a cave beyond the Lyrian Desert, it holds a fortune even The Forty couldn't spend if you had a thousand years to do so. If you free me, I'll take you to it.”
Balthazar spat a laugh. “That sounds like the ramblings of a desperate man lying to get out of his cage. Come on, Al.” He clapped a hand to Aladdin's shoulder, but he shrugged him off.
“Go on,” Aladdin urged and hope swarmed into my chest.
“Gothel showed me it. She offered me a deal to get out of here. Only men can enter the cave – must be magic. But I won’t do it because I despise her.” Not the entire truth, but telling these scoundrels about a mysterious lamp that held some sort of power that even a sorceress desired was not a good idea. Especially considering I was going to destroy it the second I got my hands on it.
“Right, so you're saying there's some mystical cave with all the treasure a man could ever want and you’re gonna refuse to go to it and choose to die instead? As if anyone's that noble.” Balthazar chuckled under his breath, but I didn't pay him any heed. I stared at Aladdin, willing him to see the truth in my eyes.
“Actually, I think this guy might seriously be that damn noble for some reason,” Aladdin said, moving to the edge of my cell.
I heard a shout out in the passage beyond the door and tensed, knowing I had mere seconds to convince Aladdin to take me with him.
“Leave him,” Balthazar hissed.
“And what if he's telling the truth?” Aladdin shot at him. “You wanna explain to Egos that we turned down an opportunity to get our hands on all that treasure?”
One of the others murmured something about taking me and I thrust my hand through the bars.
Aladdin stared at it like it was a poisoned arrow.
“A handshake,” I said firmly. “Man to man.”
Aladdin cocked a brow, releasing a breath of amusement as if he wasn't about to be surrounded by a hundred guards if he didn't make a decision this instant. He gripped my hand, shaking it firmly then snatched the crowbar from his friend and jammed it into the lock. A loud clunk sounded and the door broke open.
I darted out into the passage and the others eyed me warily. I straightened to my full height despite the act causing a flare of pain in the wound on my side. They were looking at me like I was a threat and I was more than happy for them to believe it.
Aladdin snatched a couple of blades from his friends, tossing me one.
I caught it and Balthazar jerked his head toward the doorway. “Go ahead. Prove yourself.”
I weighed the blade in my hand, considering my options. I was armed, but I was also outnumbered. So it was better to stick with the enemy for now.
“He's not gonna go do it,” one of the men snickered and I clutched my blade tighter.
You underestimate what I'll do for my kingdom, shitbag.
I gritted my teeth, muscling my way through their ranks and taking the lead into the passage beyond the door.
The sound of heavy footfalls sped our way and I ran forward to meet them. A bunch of prison guards were no match for the royal forces. I'd been trained throughout my teens to be the best fighter, the fiercest bodyguard the Emperor could want.
I met a turning and jammed my back to the wall, waiting.
One breath.
Two.
I am made of steel.
The first guard darted around the corner and I caught him by the neck, throwing him against the opposite wall with a loud crack that left him unconscious before he could release so much as a yelp. The fury of the fight blinded me as another guard came at my back and two more swarmed at Aladdin’s gang.
Hands gripped my shoulders and I was heaved backwards. I swung in the guard’s arms and my gaze caught on Aladdin as he leapt into the air, coming down on the man with the force of a hurricane, slamming the hilt of his blade into his temple. I suspected killing a guard wasn’t worth the life sentence it held for these thieves. And I might have been a dead man walking anyway, but I was above killing for the sake of killing.
Aladdin threw me a wink before taking the lead and I fell in line, following him into the depths of the dungeon.
“Left here,” Balthazar hissed and Aladdin took his instruction, darting down a corridor where the torches had been snuffed out.
Balthazar darted past us, moving to a window where a rope was tied off.
A guard shot out of the door at the end of the corridor. Balthazar moved to intercept him but the guard slashed his sword across his side. Aladdin charged forward to help, bringing the guard to his knees. I shot forward, taking hold of his neck and squeezing the meaty flesh of his shoulder as hard as I could. He passed out as I hit the right spot and Aladdin gazed at me appreciatively.
“You’re teaching me that,” he insisted, but I didn’t reply, having no intention of doing any such thing.
Balthazar clutched his side as he climbed onto the window ledge. “Dammit,” he snarled, taking hold of the rope with bloody hands and dropping out of sight. I glanced over the edge, watching him sail to the ground far below, swearing all the way.
Aladdin went next, then the other gang members followed. I hauled myself up into the window, gripping the rope tight and placing my feet against the wall as I descended. The cool night air whipped around me. It smelled like camel shit but tasted like freedom.
I clutched the rope tighter, adrenaline coursing through my body from the drop below.
When my feet hit solid ground, I took a steadying breath and turned to find the gang darting toward an alley.
I hesitated, wondering if I could make a break for it before they noticed I was gone. The verges of the city sprawled out before me, I could take any path I liked. But I'd made Aladdin a promise. Shaken his hand. He glanced back before I moved and I darted after him as I made my decision.
If I didn't keep my word, I'd become just like any other lowlife criminal. But I feared making a deal with a bunch of thieves was going to lead me down a path I couldn't come back from.
“Don't make me regret this,” Aladdin said under his breath as I ran at his side, clutching the freshest wound on my stomach as I worked to ignore the pain.
The night swallowed us up and the ringing of alarm bells sounded back in the prison.
Trepidation coiled in my gut. I was a fugitive of the kingdom's justice. But when I completed this task and destroyed that lamp, I'd at least have saved Osaria from a worse fate. The only problem was, I was on borrowed time to get it done.
We stole through the night and I couldn’t help but laugh aloud at our predicament. I looked up at the sky, drawing in a deep breath of free air and trying not to cough as I realised it was laced with sand.
“Was there a storm already or is one brewing?” I muttered.
“One brewing,” Balthazar grunted. “And it looks like it’s gonna be a bad one.” He pressed a hand to his side and I noted the blood on his fingers as he pulled them away. “It’s just a scratch,” he said dismissively as he noticed my attention on the wound.
You shouldn’t have been so slow then.
I scowled at the sky. I hated the sand storms which swept across the desert and choked the air so that we could barely breathe. Sometimes they went on for days and we’d be stuck at the den with nothing to do but wait it out and fight in the ring. And as much as I enjoyed my life with The Forty, I much preferred sleeping in the open than enduring too much time in close quarters with their sweaty armpits.
Pip drew close to me, smiling widely as he looked up at me. His nose had been broken by one of the asshole guards who’d caught me and he had two black eyes from the injury.
“Well at least your face will be more interesting now,” I teased as I surveyed the damage with a weight in my gut. He’d only gotten those wounds because he’d been trying to help me.
“You saved my life back at the Count’s house,” he murmured and I could see something a hell of a lot like gratitude glimmering in his
eyes.
I stilled, glancing at the others around me. Cassian was looking at us with an eyebrow raised and I could tell he’d overheard that snippet of reputation-altering information.
I scowled, glad that Balthazar hadn’t heard that at least.
“You must be remembering wrong,” I replied dismissively.
“I told Egos that-”
I grabbed Pip by the front of his shirt and wheeled him around, shoving him against the wall of the alleyway we were creeping through. “Told him what?” I snarled. The last thing I needed was Egos thinking I’d gone soft.
Pip’s eyes widened in surprise and I could feel his heart hammering beneath my fist which was still bunched in the fabric of his shirt.
“Told him that you’d hidden the stash,” he breathed. “Nothing else. I didn’t tell anyone anything else.”
“Oh.” I dropped him and he flattened his shirt nervously.
“Beating on the kid, Aladdin?” Balthazar taunted. “Maybe you should save your strength for the ring.”
“Looking to get your ass whipped again?” I asked, ducking aside as he tried to slam his shoulder into mine.
“I owe you for leaving me so long with that Countess,” he growled.
“I thought I should let you enjoy her while you could. It’s been so hard for you to get a woman recently.”
Balthazar aimed a punch at my gut but I twisted away from him with a laugh. He drew a blade and hounded after me and I grinned provocatively.
“Save the bullshit for the ring,” Finn snapped. He was a big bastard with half as many teeth as he should have had and a mean glint in his eye which never let me forget how many men he claimed to have killed. “We need to get away from here before the guards find us again. What are we doing with the spare?” His gaze locked on Cassian and Balthazar reluctantly returned his blade to his belt.
“I’m bringing him to Egos,” I said firmly.
“He has the stink of the law on him,” Finn growled.
“He’s a blacksmith who used to work in the palace,” I replied dismissively. “And he’s gonna help us get the biggest haul Egos has ever seen. So leave him be.”
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 5