In the Dark

San knew something was different. It was prisoner day and the doors opened at their usual time, but there was no mass movement. She could only hear the shuffling feet of one prisoner. There was only one pair of shackles clinking down the hallway. ‘Odd,’ she though. Slowly she got to her feet and moved to the door. Peering through the crack she had made two or three years before, San noticed not one, but three, guards escorting a lone prisoner to the back of the dungeon. She could barely see the dirt-covered face of the man. His eyes were closed his he was grinning, a strange thing for a prisoner to do.

“Tiem!” San hissed. “Something is wrong.”

“San, don’t become paranoid again. Last time they nearly moved you.”

“I’m not paranoid!” she retorted. “If you could only see this…”

“Describe it to me, then, San, since I cannot and you insist on it being a problem. I don’t see why everything is wrong with you.”

San sighed. “There is only one prisoner today, not many.”

“I would deem that as good, San. The less prisoners there are, the better it is for our side.”

“No, Tiem. It is bad. This could only mean one thing.”

“He had not been found, San,” Tiem assured. “He will never be caught.”

“But…But…” San stared out the hole in the door, her gaze fixed on the lone prisoner. His eyes had opened for a second, only a second, but something about them seemed familiar. San watched as the

man slowly turned his head and opened his eyes fully, glancing at the door behind which she stood. She gasped and jumped back, tripping over Tiem, who cried out in pain. San fell to the floor and landed hard. “Sorry, Tiem,” she whispered, rubbing her rear end. Her breaths came in short gasps.

“What happened?” Tiem asked quietly.

“It was Shade!” San whispered.

“What?”

“That man…it was Shade!”

“Who?”

“I can’t believe you don’t remember him, Tiem.”

“Should I?” Tiem rubbed his leg where San had tripped over it.

“It was the boy from the beginning of the revolt. The one that escaped!”

Understanding flowed into Tiem’s face and he opened his mouth in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“I could never forget his eyes,” San replied, glancing up at the now-closed ventilation hole.

“Just what is it about his eyes that makes you so jittery, San?”

San turned to her brother. “You never saw them?”

Tiem shook his head.

“They were so strange, Tiem,” San muttered. “They were so icy blue they were almost white, It was eerie the way they seemed to glow in the darkness.”

Tiem raised an eyebrow and scratched his thick beard. “That is it?”

San sighed. “You wouldn’t understand unless you saw them. Wait!” She turned back to the door. “They’re coming here.” Quickly she dropped down next to her brother and both pretended to be asleep. A key slid into the lock and the prison cell was temporarily bathed in torchlight. The prisoner was shoved inside.

As soon as the door was closed, San sat up, startling the man.

The man stared at her then whispered after a moment, “You’re still here?”

San nodded grimly.

Shade couldn’t believe his eyes. “It’s been six years,” he muttered, glancing at Tiem. “You’ve been here that long?”

San shrugged. “We all have,” was her simple reply.

“All?” Shade glanced around the cell, making sure there was no one else inside.

“There are thousands of us,” San answered. “The Overthrowers don’t release prisoners.”

“That can’t be right,” Shade muttered to himself. He glanced down at his shackles and sighed. “They’re so useless,” he said to San, referring to the chains. “I’ve never met any chains that couldn’t be beaten.” He grinned and bent down, placing his foot on the chain. He pulled his arms up and his wrists slid out of the shackles easily. He was then able to break off a tiny piece of metal from the first chains and use it to pick the lock of the second. He was free in seconds.

Tiem glared at the chains around his own feet then growled, “Who taught you to do that?”

Shade ignored the man and glanced up at the blocked ventilation hole. “They closed it,” he muttered. “I can still get us out of here.”

“How?” San furrowed her brow.

Shade turned and began to pick the lock of her shackles. “You’re tall. You can move the boards if I lift you. Then you’ll climb out and I’ll follow.” He crouched down to get the chains at her feet.

“But my brother…” San looked at Tiem.

“What?” Shade looked up at her.

“My brother cannot walk.”

“Oh.” Shade looked at Tiem and grinned. “I can fix that.” He crawled over and began to unlock the shackles but then he stopped and glanced up. “Your leg is broken,” he said quietly.

Tiem sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

Shade got back to his feet and looked at San.

San shook her head. “I can’t leave my brother.”

“Oh,” Shade said again. He glanced around, temporarily lost and confused. “Then I guess I will find a different way out.” He sat down and drew his knees up to his chest with a sigh. However, he was only like that for a few seconds until he began to glance around the cell again, his bright eyes dancing as he formed a new plan of escape.

---

San sighed as she watched Shade pace back and forth across the cell, surprised that he hadn’t worn a hole in the stone yet. He looked so different from the boy she had last seen him as, yet she without a doubt that it was him. Still, she couldn’t believe how much he had chanced. In six years Shade’s boyish face had been replaced by a deeply chiseled jaw and high cheekbones, while bits of his hair, still as black as ever, had been cut short and the other parts were several inches long. Patches of his hair were combed in a way that they stuck out at all angles. He still wore black but his style had changed. His clothes were not plain and ragged but were extravagantly built and fit the upper half of his body tightly, perhaps to make it easier for him to move around, and they did little to hide the muscle beneath them. Though he was the strangest man San had ever seen, she could not help but feel that he was someone safe, someone that could protect her…

“I can help you escape,” San whispered, trying not to look at her brother.

Shade continued pacing and ignored her.

“Why do you do that?” San said loudly, now annoyed.

“What?” Shade stopped and stared at her.

San sighed. “Never mind.” She turned and moved back over to Tiem.

“No, tell me.” Shade’s gloved hand grabbed San’s elbow.

She rolled her eyes but replied, “Why do you only listen to half of what I say?”

“I do that?” Shade cocked his head.

San raised her eyebrow in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

Shade didn’t even flinch. “Absolutely.”

“Well, you do that. Why?”

Shade sighed and shrugged, shaking his head.

“You don’t know why you only seem to hear me sometimes?”

“I do know…” Shade glanced up at the covered hole again.

“Then why?”

Tiem sighed when Shade didn’t answer. “San, just leave him alone.

“I’m deaf,” Shade said suddenly, looking down at San. “I can’t hear anything.”

“But if you’re deaf then how can you understand me?” San doubted the truthfulness of what the man was saying but for some reason she wanted to believe him.

“I read lips very well.” Shade climbed several feet up the wall and reached toward the ventilation hole. “And I can feel some vibrations.”

“Vibrations?”

Shade slipped and fell back to the ground, landing easily on his feet. “That won’t work,” he muttered to himself.

“Shade!”

“What?” Shade turned and grinned. “I felt that.”

“So you can’t hear, but you can feel loud noises?” San desperately tried to make sense of it all.

“You could say that…” His head jerked to the door and he sighed. “Someone is coming,” he hissed. “If they see me without my chains they will take me away. I might never be free!” Shade’s almost-white eyes moved to the hole again. “Will you help me?”

San narrowed her eyes. “You say you ca hear nothing yet you know someone is coming?”

“Will you help me?” Shade repeated, his eyes growing dark. “I cannot be held in captivity!”

“Why not?” San shouted. “I have. Most of my life I’ve been trapped! Why should you be any different? Why are you so special?”

“Because I am the only one that can stop the Overthrow!” Shade’s eyes flashed. “If I do not get out of here now you will be trapped forever. You must understand.” He moved to the wall and put his cheek against it, feeling for movement outside the cell.

“San.” Tiem beckoned his sister over. “Go with him. Get yourself out of here.”

“But…” Tears filled San’s eyes.

“You have the chance for another life. I do not.” Tiem shifted and sighed. “Go, San. Be free.”

San kissed her brother’s forehead then swiftly moved to the side of Shade. She brushed against him, making him look at her. “I am coming with you,” she said resolutely.

Shade grinned then took a step away form the door. “Follow me, then,” he replied excitedly. “Prepare to see the outside world again.”

The door to the cell opened but the guard only managed to take one step before his face was met with Shade’s powerful fist. He crumpled almost immediately but not fast enough to avoid shouting in pain.

“Come on!” Shade grabbed San’s wrist and pulled her out into the dungeon hallway. It was empty but more guards were assuredly on their way. “I’ve never escaped this way before,” he muttered. “This should be interesting…”

“You’ve never done this?” San gasped, practically being dragged up the dungeon steps by Shade’s incredible sped. “Can we slow down?”

Shade, of course, didn’t hear her and continued noiselessly up to the main level of the king’s castle—now the realm of the Overthrowers—while oblivious to the fact that the girl behind him was being considerately less graceful. “We will have to take this slow,” he whispered as he finally stopped running and he peered around the corner. “There are countless guards protecting the leaders of the revolt so we will have to find a way to avoid them.”

“Hey!”

Shade spun around and sighed, seeing another guard running up the stairs toward the two escapees. “Never mind,” he contradicted quickly. The boy took hold of San’s wrist again and hurried off to the right. As soon as they were around another corner, Shade lifted a tapestry to reveal a passageway and shoved San inside. “Follow the tunnel,” he instructed hastily, “until you reach the double passageway. Wait for me there.”

“But—” The tapestry fell back into place, leaving San alone in the dark. She sighed and began feeling her way along the wall, carefully making not a sound as she traveled. However, she could not help but mutter angrily about the strange, silver-eyed boy. “Let me stumble through some random tunnel, of course,” she growled, hitting her bare toes on a rock. “I’ll bet there is no double passageway. He can hear fine, I just know it. Why, Shade might even be working for the government and he was trying to find out how much I knew! How else would he know of the tunnel behind the tapestry?”

The damp wall beneath San’s fingers suddenly ended and left her groping blindly for a handhold. Finding none, she took a few steps backward until she found the wall again and with a sigh she saw down and drew her knees in close. She knew that it would be impossible to continue on unless she had some sort of light, some sort of beacon to guide her way.

---

San didn’t know how long she sat in the dark tunnel. Had it been only second? Hours, perhaps? She began to sob once the emptiness sank in. Why did she leave Tiem? Had she really though she could ever be free? San jumped when she heard a shout and a loud crash above and began to cry even more, hoping beyond anything she had longed for, that Shade was not in any danger. She didn’t know why her thoughts reached out to the boy. He had only been in her life for a couple of hours at most. Silence ensued again and San once more felt completely alone until—

“Hey!”

San screamed but a hand covered her mouth. She struggled helplessly, fighting against the invisible person.

“Relax, it is me.”

“Shade?”

“Are you all right?”

San embraced the boy with relief, pressing her face into his chest. “How long did you leave me down here?”

“Nearly four hours,” Shade said softly. He felt awkward being so close to another person, yet something surprised him and he didn’t want to let go.

“Four hours?” San drew away and glared at him, though she couldn’t see him in the pressing darkness. “Are you completely insane?”

“If you are going to live my kind of life you must learn to wait.” Shade lit a candle he had taken form above, lighting the entire tunnel dimly. “We’ll have to stay here for a few days.” He stared at San and waited for her reaction.

“A few days?” San whispered. “How will we have food?”

“I can get us food from the kitchen, and I can guarantee it will be better than anything you had in that cell.” Shade set the candle on a large rock. “What is your name?”

San hesitated to answer. Shade was the first person she had met in six years, yet she was reluctant to trust him. There were so many questions she had against him and if she got the wrong answer, it would completely shatter all hopes of being free. Finally she whispered, “San.”

“San?” The way he said it sounded strange and foreign.

“Yes.”

“I like that name,” Shade said quietly, grinning. “I wish I knew what it sounded like.”

San smiled a little. “A few days?”

Shade nodded. “Then we can leave.”

---

A few days turned into a few weeks based on the excuse that the Overthrow wars outside were getting so intense that it was much too dangerous to try to escape. Hundreds of skilled soldiers roamed the castle halls and grounds every day, or so Shade said, so they would have to wait for the opportune moment. San wasn’t entirely happy with the excuse he gave and she made sure that he knew that. Despite her annoyance, however, the two became very close as their life in the tunnel continued for over a month.

Shade and San often spoke for hours, mostly about the recent years of the revolt, and their conversations halted only when Shade went up into the castle to get food or more candles. Shade told amazing stories of the rebellion and minor battles against the soldiers of the government, explaining that there were very few citizens of the country that actually supported the revolt that had taken place six years earlier. When San asked how the revolt actually began, for she’d only followed her brother in opposing it, Shade grew livid.

“I blame the king, personally. When his oldest son died in illness and the younger ran away from home, he lost all desire to reign. Had he but kept his emotions under control as a good king should, the revolt leaders wouldn’t have decided they could actually overpower him. If the king hadn’t lost his will to rule along with his sons, none of this would have happened.”

Shade also told San about the people that hadn’t been given any power in the Overthrow; those that were regular, everyday people. Most of them didn’t support the new government and wanted the kingdom returned, but Shade, when he spoke of them, said, “But they all lack the courage to change again.”

San knew she had to be patient when he spoke about the revolt, but she was always curious. So she asked, “What are you doing to change, Shade?”

“What?” He turned to look at her fully.

San took a calming breath, forcing herself not to become annoyed with the repetition she often did. “How do you figure in the rebellion?”

Shade grinned arrogantly. “I’m leading it,” he proclaimed proudly.

“I find that hard to believe,” San replied, smiling. “You’re only eighteen, Shade, and the Overthrow began six years ago. To add to that you’re deaf, and you’re hiding in the castle without a way to escape after being captured. This isn’t even the first time you’ve been caught like this so you can’t pretend like this is a rare thing. You couldn’t possibly be leading a rebellion against one of the most powerful men in existence because you the facts just don’t add up!” San waited for Shade to get angry with her, as he often did, but he just chuckled.

“I didn’t read most of that, you know. Did you know you tend to ramble quite often? It’s just easier for me to look away than to let you make me feel guilty.”

San scowled but unsuccessfully tried to hide her grin. “I guess being deaf has its advantages.”

“It does.” Shade smiled gleefully and picked up a knife that he’d stolen from the castle armory several days before, having happened upon the room while it wasn’t being guarded. “So you really don’t think I could be the leader of the rebels?”

She shook her head. “Not remotely.”

“Well, I am.” Even in the darkness his pale eyes shone brightly. “Someday you’ll learn to trust me.”

“I already trust you,” San argued.

“Not completely.” In the candlelight, Shade’s features were unreadable, a mask to hide his true emotion in the darkness. “But you will.” He reached out a hand to touch her cheek but she turned away.

San wondered sometimes about the boy’s background. The first time she’d seen him his appearance was almost disturbing, and even now she was afraid of him. There were times when he’d be so distant that even when he was looking right at her he couldn’t understand what she said to him, but other times he was so tender towards her that it made her heart pound just thinking about it. And then there were the times when he’d be so mysterious, uttering phrases like, “You’ve no idea the life I’ve lived,” making her wonder exactly who Shade was. Then there was…

“San, I know you have a question on your mind.” Shade had been sharpening the knife after she’d turned her head away but now he was staring into her eyes. “Ask me now, before it is lost. One question unanswered leads to dozens more that can never be answered at all.”

San sighed and waited until she had his complete attention before speaking. “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she began quietly, hoping that he wouldn’t get angry. “How did you know your way around the castle when we escaped the dungeon? Why is it that only you know about this secret passage when only someone living here for years could have discovered it?” She scooted closer to Shade. “There are a lot of things that I don’t know about you and a lot I don’t need to, but this cannot be kept from me.” If only he could have heard the terror in her voice.

Shade reached out for her again and this time she let him stroke her cheek. “It will have to be kept from you, for now, but I promise, when the right time comes, no secrets will be held from you. You just need to trust me. Completely.” He looked away and resumed sharpening his knife, telling San that he didn’t want to talk anymore.

---

“We’re leaving today?” San didn’t completely believe the pale-eyed boy’s words because this was the third time he’d spoken them, but there was something in those icy blue orbs that told her that this was the real deal. That, and Shade was so fidgety that he could hardly hold himself still for more than a few seconds.

“This is it, San,” he whispered to her with a rare, genuine smile. “I’ve learned wonderful news. The guards at the main gate are being replaced by highly trained soldiers from our neighboring country in less than a few hours. This really is our only chance.” He took San by the hand and led her through the tunnel toward the far exit, the one that opened nearest the castle’s front doors.

“How is this a chance to escape?” San gasped. “And how are highly trained soldiers good news?” She tapped Shade on the shoulder and repeated the latter inquiry.

“They will not know my face if they happen to see me.”

“Are you sure it’s today?”

“Quite.” Shade lifted the trapdoor at the end of the tunnel slowly after feeling the ceiling for any footsteps and peered outside. “Can you handle this?” he whispered. He gazed at San intently, knowing that she’d had trouble just chancing a quick look at the castle even in the dead of night when most guards were barely paying attention. “If you’re not ready there could be another time.”

“Not like this,” San replied, shaking her head. “I can do it, Shade.”

A fleeting grin flickered across Shade’s face and he pressed his pal against San’s cheek. “I know you can.”

---

After a long process that spanned several hours and included several close encounters with castle guards, San and Shade reached their final obstacle; the main castle gate. It was an enormous structure that was absolutely impenetrable from the outside, even if it were to be under siege by the strongest army imaginable. The gate had been designed by the king’s most trusted advisor; although, now the governor and leader of the Overthrow, the architect had probably never intended for it to be attacked from without. Instead, he used his cunning to attack from within. The grounds of the castle had also been specially designed centuries before, back when the first king had ruled on high. Though in the midst of a huge forest with trees that had lived there for hundreds of years, the walls surrounding the castle were high enough that they couldn’t be scaled and the trees in the vicinity had been cleared away so that the walls couldn’t be reached by climbing them. The grounds, even, were designed so that there were very few hiding places, only a patch of thorny bushes that were at least twenty yards away from the gate. Skilled archers, each personally chosen by the king, had once patrolled the walls constantly, but now that the governor ruled within the castle, each archer was hand selected and threatened with death if they didn’t shoot anything and everything that came into view within the castle grounds. The governor had even gone so far to obtain protection as to import giant scent hounds that were each trained to attack anything that moved aside from the men that restrained them and the dozens of soldiers that roamed the grounds with them.

Shade only worried about one of these deadly factors. The hounds could never possibly smell either of them, for both he and San were so covered in dirt that all traces of human scent were masked by grime. The archers, because that night was particularly black, would never be able to see their dark bodies crawling on the well-kept grass. The only real problem that the two of them faces was the patrolling guards. Though his vision was impeccable, Shade couldn’t hear when they came close and therefore couldn’t take evasive action. He would have to rely on his sight and that made him angry. They’d gotten into the bushes all right, but now his lacking plan was beginning to lose hope. There was very little way that they could accomplish this, although he didn’t tell San this. He didn’t want her to lose hope like he had.

“This will be difficult, San, but we can do this.” His eyes roved the grounds then moved back to her terrified face. “Don’t worry.” He wished he could believe himself but it wasn’t likely.

A hound passed their bush and San stiffened, holding her breath. She was positive that the dog could hear her heart pounding in her chest but it continued on, its large nose close to the ground in search of something to sink its teeth into. She wondered how Shade could possibly stay so calm next to her when she was practically shivering in terror. Then he gripped her hand tightly in his own, giving her the confidence that she needed. He always seemed to be able to do that whenever she needed it most, just by touching her face or squeezing her hand.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered to her as soon as the dog was out of hearing. “I promise.”

“I’m afraid,” she whispered in return. “What if they capture us again?”

Shade had a real answer to this, instead of a lie to make her less worried. “We have nothing to lose if they do. The government will not kill any prisoners for fear of word reaching the people’s ears. That would start a real rebellion.” His pale eyes got the familiar glint of revolt and it took him a moment to calm his anxious mind.

“What if they separate us?” San watched another patrolling guard walk across the large gravel pathway that separated them from the gate and sighed. It was looking more and more impossible as the minutes passed.

“Then I will find you again.”

“Do you promise?”

He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed it gently before saying, “Of course I do. We’re in this together until the end.”

San smiled but it was brief, for she heard the quick, heavy steps of several people drawing nearer. “Someone is coming!” she mouthed, knowing that it was too dangerous to speak out loud. When she thought about it, however, she realized that she didn’t have to speak aloud at all, considering that Shade couldn’t hear her anyway.

“They’re changing the guards.” Shade’s eager voice was barely loud enough to hear and he crawled forward to the very edge of the bush. “This is our chance.”

“Are you sure you can do this?” San hissed, seeing the four highly trained soldiers guarding the entrance.

Shade’s eyes were following the four new guards strolling across the lawn, laughing amongst themselves. “What are they saying?” he asked softly, glancing back at San. “I can’t read it.” This seemed to frustrate him and he focused intently on San as she listened.

“They’re speaking another language,” she replied. “That of Touke, over the mountains, I think.”

“Can you understand it?” Shade asked desperately.

San furrowed her brow. She’d learned a bit of their language as a child because the two countries, theirs and Touke, had once been peaceful with each other and people traveled from one to the other all the time. But when the two princes had gone the king broke all connection so there was no need to learn anymore. But Sad remembered a little of what she’d learned so she concentrated. “Well…”

“Anything?”

“Army…something about an army. Small…” San narrowed her eyes. “Small…people… Uh, small farm people with no…lake. No, that’s not right. With no…no…fight.” San closed her eyes in confusion. “No fight? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It means the governor knows about our army,” Shade growled, glaring at the chuckling soldiers. “They think we have no strength.”

“We have an army?”

“I’ll explain later.” Shade took San’s hand again and held her close. “Now, though, we’ve got to get out of here. I know for sure now that this is our last chance. Here…” He reached down and grabbed a handful of pebbles. “You’ve got to help me. If someone sees me or notices me at all, hit me with a rock.” Please have good aim, he thought to himself, knowing that the girl wasn’t exactly an ideal watchman or fighter. But she’d done wonderfully so far and he wasn’t about to leave her stranded. “Now, when I tell you to, run as fast as you possibly can toward the gate and try to open it. I’ll distract the soldiers enough for you to do this.”

“I…I can’t open that gate, Shade.” San was staring at the huge wooden structure in horror. It was more than twice her height and the barring post alone probably weighed as much as she did.

“Trust me.” He sighed then kissed her forehead. “You can do this.” Without any more reassurance he left the safety of the bush, sliding along the damp grass on his stomach inch by inch with his blue-white eyes fixed on the eight men gathered together.

San started to cry as she watched Shade crawl away. She was terrified, worried that something would separate them and they’d never see each other again. The boy was the only thing she had left, seeing as her brother would never be able to leave the prison with his broken leg. If she lost Shade… There was no telling what she would do with herself.

Four of the soldiers, the old guards, left the gate and headed back to the castle, leaving their replacements to find a place to sit or stand in front of the gate. One of them, a bulky, bushy-haired man with a ragged beard, drew close to Shade’s position and the boy stopped moving entirely and laid still without even breathing, his black clothing and hair making him nearly invisible in the night. After a moment’s pause, the guard moved back to the gate and leaned against it.

San made eye contact with Shade and almost whimpered. The look he gave her was so sweet and loving, yet with a fierce determination piercing the center of his eyes and it cut into her heart. “Be safe,” she whispered to him, and he understood her lips, smiling a little before looking ahead again and he resumed his crawl.

“What is that?”

San jumped, understanding perfectly what the foreign soldier had said. He was pointing directly at Shade. San froze. “Run, Shade,” she hissed. “Run!” Shade hadn’t heard the soldier, he didn’t know. Then she remembered the small stones that she was clutching in her fists and she grabbed one, aiming carefully before throwing it at Shade.

“Ouch!” The soldier nearest the boy dropped a hand to his shin and glanced around, his eyes resting only a second on the bush where San hid.

San groaned mentally and grabbed another pebble, throwing it farther to the right this time. She couldn’t see it fly through the darkness, and when nothing happened she sighed. Her aim was so poor that she’d missed him again! All four soldiers were staring at the spot where Shade still slowly crawled and one was even beginning to stride toward him. One last rock, one last throw, and San hit Shade directly in the back of the head right before the closest solider was near enough to touch him.

Almost immediately, Shade swung his leg out and knocked the man off his feet, startling the other three. “San, run!”

San did exactly as she was told, spurting from her cover with all the speed she was capable of. While all four soldiers were concentrating on the strange black-covered boy, she rushed to the gate but tripped a few feet away.

“San!” Shade swung his leg out a second time and knocked another soldier off balance. To his horror the two that were still standing hurried off to get the girl. “Don’t let them take you!” His shouting attracted the attention of at least half a dozen archers above and several scent hounds and their handlers but he seemed not to care.

San rolled over onto her back and when the first guard got close enough she kicked him in the gut and he doubled over with a groan, tripping his companion. While the final guard struggled to untangle himself, San got to her feet and rushed to the gate. She gripped the metal rod that held the gate closed and pushed upward with all the strength she had before it rose up and fell to the ground. Then she tried to push the gate open, but because it was so huge it didn’t even move.

Suddenly Shade hit the gate next to her, making the entire structure shudder. He’d been thrown by one of the large soldiers and nearly lost unconsciousness from the impact. San screamed and helped him to his feet but the boy could hardly stand on his own.

“We can’t do it, Shade,” San whimpered. “Shade!”

He couldn’t focus on her lips enough to understand her words and he groaned before collapsing.

There were a dozen men surrounding them now and all of them laughed when they saw that they’d successfully stopped the prisoners from escaping. Two of the foreign guards, those who had been stationed at the gate, stepped forward with drawn swords and each of them pointed his sword at either Shade or San.

“You finished now,” the one threatening San growled angrily; he’d been kicked by her.

“Hold off!” a strong voice quietly commanded from behind the mass of soldiers and archers and they fell silent. “Let me see what the commotion is about before you destroy it. Ah.”

San had been focused on the soldier’s sword that nearly touched her throat, but now that he’d moved she turned her attention to a young, handsome man for whom the sea of soldiers parted. Still, half her attention was on Shade, who still hadn’t moved since he’d fallen to the ground.

“A girl?” The apparent commander of the guards was surprised to see San and he cocked his head as he studied her. “Are…are you the one that escaped last month?”

Stupidly, she nodded, losing all anonymity that she’d possessed only seconds before.

“And it took you this long to try to get away from the castle? I thought we’d lost you right away.”

“Wh-who are you?” San glanced down at Shade but he was still motionless. She feared that he’d been killed when thrown against the gate and she was already resigning herself to a life without anyone she loved.

“It’s a sad day when you’ve never seen my face,” the man muttered with an arrogant smile. “But still, I’m not vain like that. Governor Daniel Pirellis, at your service.” He bowed slightly and grinned again. “And who might you be?”

“Nobody,” San replied quietly. A tear slowly slid down her cheek but she didn’t bother wiping it away.

“Well spoken,” Daniel muttered, just as softly.

“Governor?”

He smiled yet again, this time with smug authority. “You’d know me better as the mastermind behind the Overthrow and the bringer of peace to this lonely country.”

“San, help me push the gate.”

San blinked and glanced down at Shade again, certain that she’d imagined his almost too-soft whisper.

“Push, San. Push as hard as you possibly can.”

San knew this was not her imagination so she immediately turned around, placing her hands against the thick wood, and heaved. Almost simultaneously, Shade was on his feet doing the exact same thing. In less than two seconds the wood groaned enormously and slid open, nearly causing San to fall to the ground again because she was putting all her weight into the gate. But Shade grabbed her and started pulling her into the forest while soldiers rushed after them and arrows rained down upon them.

“Augh!” Shade fell but rolled smoothly back to his feet with an arrow protruding from his shoulder. He hardly lost pace as he cried, “Keep going!” before San could stop to help him. He took her hand and pulled her along behind him as they both ran, finally free of the castle.