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Garth was almost falling asleep standing up. The scouts were bringing new prisoners in, and for some reason they decided to do it at midnight. They did it to him, too. He didn’t know now why he had to be up for it since his shift didn’t start until the morning. If they wanted the guards out, why couldn’t they just bring the prisoners in the morning as well? If he had to guess, it would be to disorient the prisoner and have them too tired to fight back.
Although as he heard some footsteps and shouts begin to round the corner, he realised that might not be the case, because this new prisoner was certainly fighting back. He leaned forward to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the hall.
Four guards were carrying in a woman who was kicking and screaming. They were carrying her in the air with one guard at each limb. They had to constantly readjust their position and grip so that she wouldn’t break free. It didn’t work, as one of the guards took an elbow to the face and stumbled back, letting go of the woman.
She used her now-free hand to swing around and punch the guard on her other arm. He fell back with a thud. With nobody propping her up, she fell backwards, and the momentum of her swing caused the guards at her legs to fall over too.
They smacked into the ground with painful sounds, but she was the one that recovered first. She pushed herself up like nothing had happened, and made a mad dash down the hall and towards Garth’s station.
He could almost smell the adrenaline on her as she zipped past him, causing him to turn his neck at a whiplash-inducing speed.
She was almost at the end of this hall, and he watched in slow motion as she went to push open the large door, but was instead swarmed with the earlier guards. They collided with her and they fell over into a sprawling heap. The woman squirmed underneath where she was pinned by one of the guards.
An order was shouted and four new guards came rushing in. The woman wasn’t done fighting, but as she was picked up and carried by a total of eight guards, none of her movements seemed to do anything but make them move slower.
And it was Garth that they were lumbering towards.
One of the guards grunted at him. “Open the cell.”
Garth shot into action, moving solely off muscle memory. He took the keys from the pouch at his belt and unlocked the first two sets of locks. Then he put the keys back and slid open the physical bar lock, pushing the door open.
The guards shoved the woman inside, but she had the grace not to fall over again.
Garth locked the cell back up as one of the guards relayed his instructions. He thinks his name is Joth.
“Sorry, but you’re gonna have to pull a double shift. Boss’s orders need you to tame this beast over here.” Joth sighed. “There’s a couple more prisoners to bring in, but I don’t think any more are coming to your block.”
Garth nodded. “Alright. Thanks.”
Joth clapped him on the back. “Good man.”
Joth melted back into the rest of the guards and they made their way out of the hall.
Garth let out a long breath.
A loud clanging came from behind him and he startled to attention.
The woman spoke. “You have to let me out.”
Garth craned his neck around. “What?”
“I’m innocent! I’ve been wrongly imprisoned, you gotta let me out.” The woman cried.
Garth scoffed. “Listen, if I let you out, they’ll take my head. Why would I do that for you?”
“Because I’m innocent.”
Garth turned around to face the woman properly. She was scowling. Not only that… she was beautiful. She had blue hair so pale that it was almost white. Two segments of hair spread out around her ears and it looked almost as if she had wings. Her eyes, that same pale blue, gave him a glimpse of the sky that he had not seen in years. Her ivory skin almost seemed to glow. She looked like an angel.
The woman tsked. “You gonna answer me, or just keep staring?”
Garth shook his head. “Sorry. But I’m innocent, too.”
She scrunched up her face. “You imprisoned me.”
“What? No I didn’t.”
“Well, you’re keeping me locked up in a cell right now. You’re imprisoning me.”
He couldn’t really argue with that. “Well— I mean… Yeah, but it’s not like I chose to do that. I told you, if I don’t do my job right, they’ll take my head.”
“What, you’re telling me you were forced into this job?”
“Yes! Exactly that!” Garth screeched, before remembering that it was midnight. And he wasn’t supposed to talk to prisoners. This one was just so… antagonising.
He turned back around. “If you come up with an escape plan that lets us both live, I’ll let you out. But, fair warning, I’ve tried before, and it’s never worked. Now go to sleep so I can rest, I have to pull a double shift now.”
“You’re saying that like it’s my fault.” The woman’s voice dripped with scorn.
Garth made sure not to point out that it sort of was her fault for being so aggressive that she needed him as guard. “I’m not talking to you anymore. Goodnight.”
The woman sighed. “I’m going to sleep now because I’m tired, not because you are. If I wasn’t so tired, I would start screaming to make sure that you can’t go to sleep either.”
Garth sighed. “I believe that.”
—
Garth woke up to a racket of noise coming from behind him, and footsteps marching to his left.
“Get the fuck up!” A voice behind him called. The woman from last night.
Garth scrambled to his feet, clutching his spear and assuming his standing guard position.
“Gods, you talk so much about your head being taken, you think it would deter you from sleeping on the job.”
“Shut up.” Garth hissed. “They punish prisoners too.”
The woman had the decency to slink back and stop talking.
Garth immediately felt bad. He tried to be as kind as possible to prisoners, because they were forced into this just as he was. He knew in his heart that they were all innocent. Maybe he was just cranky because of how tired he was, or maybe he was pissed off at how disrespectful this prisoner was, but what else was she to do? She was wrongly imprisoned, and he can’t even help her, so why would she be respectful to him?
He sighed and muttered out a ‘sorry’, before the guards came marching into the hall.
“Change of plans!” One of the guards called. Not Joth, but his friend, Coal. “You’re relieved, Garth. We need you for something else today.”
Garth’s heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach, and he almost lost the grip on his spear. His legs started to shake, but he ignored it.
His voice was quiet when he squeezed out; “Alright.”
“Lighten up. They’ll let you have a nap before you go out, anyway.” Coal said, stepping forward to replace Garth at his station.
He forced his legs to move out of the hall. He didn’t look back, but he could feel pale sky blue eyes boring into the back of his head.
—
“Garth!” The woman cried as Garth stepped into the hall for his dayshift. “I never thought I’d be glad to see you.”
Garth rushed up to the woman’s cell, uncaring of the fact that he wasn’t supposed to converse with the prisoners. “Why? What happened?”
The woman had a large bruise on her face that wasn’t there when he left this morning. “I— Those other guards are nasty.”
“Shit. I never trusted Coal.” Garth muttered, running a hand over his face. Although yesterday had been horrible for him, he managed to get a good sleep and was no longer feeling snappy. He sort of missed the snappy side of himself, because now he was forced to feel bad and angry at whoever had hurt this woman. He had to stop referring to her as that.
“What’s your name?” Garth asked. “Since you already know mine.”
“Vyctoria.” The woman, Vyctoria, supplied.
Garth nodded. “Alright. I’m sorry for what Coal did to you, Vyctoria.”
He must’ve been overcome with madness in that moment for the next words to come out of his mouth were; “I’ll help you escape.”
(Looking back, he could easily pinpoint the reason as to why he said this. Simply put, he knew that when it came down to it, he wouldn’t be able to kill her. Even if it meant his own head being taken instead. Maybe it was self-preservation then, or maybe it was kindness. Either way, they both made it out alive.)
—
Garth knew of an upcoming lockdown drill for the prison blocks, and that was to be their opening. It would happen during mealtimes, so the prisoners would have to be escorted back to their cells by their guards when the lockdown hit.
Garth’s plan was to take Vyctoria to the outhouse during the meal time, so that when the lockdown hits, they won’t be with the other guards. Then, he would have her beat him up. That way when she escapes and Garth comes back empty handed, he can say that he went down with a fight. Then, during the calamity that inevitably came with lockdown drills, he would lead her not to the prison block, but to the servants’ exit. There were never any guards stationed there, so she would be free to leave and make a run for the edge of the grounds. She would have to scale a large fence for it to work, since there would still be guards stationed at the gates.
Hopefully that would be enough to let her get out and free, and for Garth to keep his life. He would definitely get a punishment when the leader finds out that his prisoner escaped, but the bruises she would leave on him should show that he tried his best.
Unfortunately, the lockdown was still weeks away.
—
“You’ll have to make sure not to aggravate anybody or do anything that might get you punished or make your death sentence come qui—”
“My death sentence?” Vyctoria gasped, almost breaking out of her whisper.
Garth sighed. “Yes. But it’ll be okay as long as you remain a model prisoner, alright?”
Vyctoria swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Okay. That kind of throws a wrench into things, though.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm. Some of the other guards like to hit me. Well, try to. I’ve been fighting them off just fine, but that’ll have to stop, won’t it?”
Garth’s heart panged. “Yeah. I’m sorry. When you abuse a guard, that also makes your death sentence come quicker. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright.” Vyctoria pursed her lips. “I guess I’ll just have some sick battle scars when I get out of here.”
Garth felt his back twinge. His scars were tugging uncomfortably, and he thought of the whip that he hoped Vyctoria would never have to receive. “Yeah… You will.”
Vyctoria nodded. “You know, if there’s one good thing about an evil cult taking me prisoner, it means that before I was actually making a difference in the world. Making it better.”
Garth admired that. Vyctoria’s ability to still see the good in things. It contrasted with her personality so much, but it still made so much sense for her. She was so angry, but also too pure for this world at the same time.
“Yeah.” He agreed. “That’s one good thing.”
Vyctoria smiled. “I might miss you a bit, though.”
“Well, if this works, I’ll be glad to never see you again. It means I did my job right.” He made sure not to mention what would happen if he did see her again. If she was captured again and he would be made to— No. That wouldn’t happen.
Distantly, he thought of Jain. Would he be able to mercy kill Vyctoria as he did her? It wasn’t really a mercy killing since she was sentenced to die anyway. But would he be able to extend Vyc that offer? If it came down to it… he thought not. He doesn’t think he’d even be able to make himself swing the axe down on her neck. He couldn’t even bring himself to imagine it.
Most likely he would get up on that altar, freeze up like an idiot, then someone would take his head and Vyctoria’s in one fell swoop. He did realise that his initial plan of making sure Vyctoria would be able to escape alive and with Garth alive as well was no longer a guarantee. He also couldn’t bring himself to cancel it. He didn’t care much for his life anymore, not if it meant Vyctoria had to die for it.
“When my service is over, I’ll come find you, okay?” Garth said, pushing his pinky through the cell bars. “I promise.”
Vyctoria took it in her own. “You better.”
—
The plan was working as well as they had hoped. Up until;
“I don’t want to beat you up, Garth.”
Garth took her hand. “You have to, Vyc. If they find out I let you escape without a fight, they’ll kill me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Right now, not hurting me will hurt me even more in the long run. Please, Vyc.”
She took a deep breath. “Alright. But stop me at any point.”
“It’s okay. I can take it.”
—
Garth stumbled as he led Vyctoria to the servants’ exit. She had hurt him, quite a lot, and now she had to support him as they walked. He wouldn’t have to fake a limp to the boss, that’s for sure.
“Sorry, again. I didn’t mean to hurt you that badly.” Vyctoria said, but her voice betrayed a hint of amusement.
Garth coughed weakly. “It’s alright. You did what I asked.”
“Still. I thought you’d have been a bit stronger than that…”
Garth glared at her.
She stifled a laugh behind her hand. “Sorry, sorry. You’re just so big and tall, I figured you could take some punches.”
“I can take punches,” Garth wheezed, “Just not from people whose biceps are bigger than my calves.”
Vyctoria smiled at that. “Good to know.”
Garth smiled too. They made it to the servants’ exit. “Now, please, get out of here and don’t come back.”
Vyctoria stayed still. “Garth. When does your service end?”
“Not for three years still.” He sighed.
She nodded with resignation. “Alright. I’ll make sure to still be around by then.”
Garth patted her on the shoulder, but Vyctoria brought him in for a hug. She smelt nice, Garth thought to himself as he buried his nose in her shoulder. He was still over a foot taller than her, but he was slightly keeled over from the beating, so that made up for the height difference.
“Don’t miss me too much.” She said as she pulled back.
“Same goes for you.” Garth said, taking a deep breath.
Before he could psych himself out of it, he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him. Then, she turned around and disappeared through the servants’ door, ducking slightly so she wouldn’t hit her head.
Time to count down the three years he had remaining.