AMELIA-3

Father disowned him completely; we were not even allowed to mention his name. How could we tell Father this was a huge misunderstanding without disrespecting him. I tried many times to no avail. I decided to keep trying, my brother had no fault in what he was being accused of.

Father was sitting alone in the front room, so I decided to see if I could convince him to at least listen to David. It did not hurt to try.

“Father? May I speak with you?” I asked.

“Yes my child, come sit with me?” he invited.

“Please hear me, there has been a total injustice, my brother David, did not betray Landford, Father, I know for a fact.” I affirmed.

“Amelia, I have word from a trusted source, I have not gone into this decision blindly.” He conceded.

“But Father, I was with…” I was saying when Father interrupted me.

“My decision is final, nothing else will be discussed. Now go and do not let this talk ruin your day.” He concluded as he kissed my forehead.

In a short matter of time, things in our Kingdom became hard. Schillingburg had called battle against Willshire and then Landford.

Everyday life was interrupted by attacks and unruliness. Father made himself believe that all this was further proof that David had betrayed him. Father had no choice but to intervene and prepare his troops for battle. With anger in his mind and heart he felt he must first make an example of David and put him to death for betraying his Kingdom.This way no one would dare betray him ever again because even his son was not saved. Thomas, Mother and I had no say in Fathers decision.

On the third day at the third bell toll, David was scheduled to death by hanging.

I needed to find a way to postpone this. The only way was to defy my Father’s orders. At this point it did not matter; he was my brother and did not deserve this injustice.Very late, a few nights before, I with the help of Greyson planned to commit the ultimate sin in my Father’s eyes. I had planned to help David be free.

At 5 past 3, Greyson accompanied me to the dungeon. Everyone was fast asleep. I entered David’s cell, he was so thin, unrecognizable.

I whispered “David, it is me, Amelia”.

He quickly arose.

“Amelia, I am so happy to see you, what are you doing here?” He answered.

“I am going to set you free” I whispered excitedly.

“Are you insane, Father will have your head for this” he responded.

“Listen my brother, I have it well planned, just hear me out” I pleaded.

“No Amelia, you can not do this.” He said.

“Do not worry brother, all is well thought of, just listen. Father will not be attending the hanging so I will request your face be covered to obstruct the view. But it will not be you. You will be in Willshire by then with Elizabeth.” I said excitedly.

He laughed and ask “My sweet sister and how are we going to do this?”

I have it all planned and with Greyson, it can be accomplished” I added.

“The late King Adam, my Father, had built me a small cottage in the forest where we visited. It has been abandoned since I left Willshire. You and Elizabeth came make it your home.

I have looked into it and no one has taken residence there.” I continued.

“As for the prisoner who will die in your place, the prisoner in cell 4 is scheduled to die the next day, he will take your place and Greyson will retrieve his body after and act as if he cremated it. But actually, he will place that prisoner back in his cell and when he is called for, the guards will noticed he has killed himself. By then you will be long gone”. I acknowledged.

“Oh my goodness sister, I think this can actually work” David answered.

“Have you spoken of this with anyone besides Greyson? Thomas?” David asked worriedly.

“No, not at all, this will remain between us” I replied.

David hugged me tight and asked, “When will we do this?”

“Same time as now the night before your execution” I answered.

“One last thing, how do you know Greyson will not betray you?” David asked.

“No worries brother, I have that under control” I assured him.

We quickly said our goodbyes and I hurried back to my room.

To my surprise, Thomas was waiting for me.

“Where were you?” Thomas asked.

“I was feeling uneasy so I decided to wander a bit.” I murmured.

“Are you sure?” he asked suspiciously.

“Positive, Thomas” I replied hastily.

Since I did wander the corridors this wasn’t strange to him.

“I have missed you” he whispered.

I smiled and walked towards him.

“You seemed a bit preoccupied lately, what is on your mind?” He wondered.

“Nothing at all, Thomas.” I replied as I reached for his hand.

“Can you hold me until I fall asleep?” I whimpered.

He smiled and answered “Of course, my love, I will hold you for an eternity if that is what you would want.”

The next morning I awoke to Thomas still in my bed.

“Oh my Thomas, get up! Shyanne will be in soon” I rambled.

“My love, no need to worry. I will be gone before she arrives.” He snickered as he tried kissing me.

At that moment, there was a knock on my door.

“Who is calling?” I asked.

As Thomas ran and hid behind the drapes.

“It is Greyson, my lady.” He replied.

“Enter” I said.

“My lady we have much to do, you must arise.” He commanded.

I took a deep breath “I will meet you in the garden soon. Thank you” I stuttered.

He bowed his head and made his way to the garden.

“What was that all about?” Thomas asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, every day chores, if you were not so preoccupied with yourself, you would know I study with Greyson every day. You must not be so jealous. It can turn to madness.” I snapped.

Thomas looked upset.

“Jealous? Me? Never! It is just curious to me what Greyson can teach you.” He added.

“Greyson is brilliant. He is my mentor, nothing more jealous boy.” I said as I walked and opened the door with Thomas behind me.

We were startled by Shyanne who bumped into both of us as Thomas exited my room. She just lowered her head in respect to the Prince and entered my room. I turned around and followed her.

“My lady, pardon my boldness but Thomas should not stay in your room overnight, your parents are bound to find out” She cautioned.

“Shyanne, we are very careful. I replied.

As she prepared my clothes for the day she asked “Will your Father let you say farewell to your brother tomorrow?”

I shrugged my shoulders and replied “I think not, we have been prohibited to even see him.”

“How sad, tomorrow will be a very horrible day in Landford history” she added.

“I must hurry, Greyson awaits me” I said.

She smiled and helped me with my clothes.

As I made my way to the garden, I passed Thomas in the Great Hall. He sat beside Father having a conversation. I glanced at both and smiled. Father smiled but Thomas did not. He must still be upset about Greyson.

On a table in the garden, Greyson had aligned my books as if he was going to help me study.

Very smart, I thought. No one would suspect what we were plotting.

“I have already prepared an exit for David, tonight he will exit through the north, he will have to run to where the creek meets the Red Oak Tree, there your horse, not his because then it will be obvious, will be waiting. That would be far enough away so his gallops cannot be heard. I will retrieve your horse in the early morning. I have already prepared the house in Willshire and advised Elizabeth to meet him there.” Greyson explained.

I smiled and agreed. I felt so much excitement.

As I looked up, I could see Thomas staring down at us. I smiled and Greyson automatically grabbed a book and slammed it on the table.

“Young maiden, you will never understand if you are not listening, you can toy with Thomas later” he shouted.

As he looked up and motioned for Thomas to leave the window. Thomas smiled and bowed his head in agreement.