The Bravery of Our Hero

As if we’d stepped right into his trap, Brand was again in a good mood, like he had been the night before.

“Disperse and find him! Don’t let him leave.” he ordered. The entire room of faeries rushed to obey him, like one massive swarm. “Take these two away and lock them up.” Brand continued. “We’ll deal with them after this is all straightened out.” Four soldiers, including John, came and surrounded us. The look on John’s face was tragic. I could just hear him thinking, I told you so.

We were taken “away,” which apparently meant down a floor and into another room, an empty one that looked like it was used for storage. So much for outsmarting Brand. Our hands and feet were locked in strange cuffs, which looked light, but were really heavy. The pairs on our feet were bolted to the floor. and then we were left alone. By the voices outside, I figured that we were being guarded from the other side of the door.

I lifted the cuffs around my wrist to eye level. Shiny. “Can you get us out of these?”

Ciaran (who hadn’t stopped smiling since the duel) brought his hands up above his head, and then crashed the cuff down onto the floor. Clunk!

“If I had a few days, probably.”

This was my chance to let off some of the steam that had been building up inside me, like a tea kettle on a stove. “What were you thinking, anyway?! Charging in here and fighting? You said that facing him head on by yourself was the last thing you wanted to do!”

“Did I?” Ciaran frowned, trying to remember.

“Yes! You told me there was no way you could beat him.”

He shrugged, smiling and rocking from side to side. “Well, I had him where I wanted him. It’s safe to say that I’m awesome.”

This carefree, confident version of Ciaran was unexpected. “What is wrong with you?”

“Hmm? Nothing’s wrong. For being held prisoner, I feel great.” he gave the storage room a cheerful glance. "I think this is the old throne room."

I leaned as close to him as I could get, which wasn’t close, trying to see his face. “You’re not... drunk or anything, are you?”

“Drunk? No, I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter. I’ve waited all my life to see Brand get caught off guard and punched in the face like that.” he smiled, deeply satisfied.

“So, you don’t care that they’ve found Donal and that Brand will now successfully take over the kingdom?”

“That’s not going to happen. But if it does: completely worth it.”

I was dangerously quiet, listening to my inner tea kettle-- which had only been simmering up until now-- start to boil. If it were a cartoon, steam might have begun coming out of my ears. Ciaran hastened to explain himself.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, this is all part of the plan. Donal thought of a really good one. It’s sure to work.”

“Oh, really? He just got caught, remember?” I accidentally let the heavy cuffs land on my thigh. “Ouch!”

“Don’t hurt yourself!” my faery said reproachfully.

I glared at him. Yeah, I was being reckless... “Why exactly did you think that a duel would be a good idea?”

“I didn’t, but Donal convinced me. It was my role as the distraction.” He rolled onto his back and began lifting his cuffs up and down as if they were just weights for exercise.

My eyes narrowed. “And... how did he convince you?”

“He’s very persuasive.” Ciaran yawned. “He just told me not to be afraid, and at first I was saying ‘Don’t you dare!’ but then I realized, he was right, and it was a great idea.”

“And then you realized?”

“I know! I wonder why I didn’t see it before.”

“He hypnotized you into doing it?!” Of all the-- “Ciaran, what kind of a spineless sap are you?”

“Don’t be mean.” The sap turned away from me, pouting like a child. “You’ve got to remember, that kid’s been training at this stuff every day for the past four years. And I didn’t get any sleep last night. Besides!” he turned back to face me, suddenly grinning again. “I did well, didn’t I? He said you’d be really impressed with me if I did a good job.”

I laughed, hunching over my heavily bound hands and feet. “I give up. The guy I’ve like since my freshman year suddenly kidnaps me, makes me like him again, and then leaves me to get captured. And just when I think he’s being manly and stupid for recklessly coming to save me, it turns out that it’s just because he’s been hypnotized.” I chuckled. “And now you’re a prisoner with me. But you don’t care, because you’re basically flying under the influence.”

“The adrenalin probably isn’t helping either.” Ciaran added, not at all offended.

Shaking my head, I added, “I’ve only ever seen you sad, or wounded, or suffering from a guilty conscience, and now drunk on adrenalin. I don’t really know you, do I?”

“I’d say you do. And if you don’t, there’ll be plenty of time for that once this is all over, won’t there?” he looked up at me sweetly. “And besides! You must be impressed with my cleverness after seeing me stand up to Brand, right? Right?” 

I shook my head at him. “I give up.” I repeated, chuckling. “Yes, you did a good job.”