Chapter 4: Exiled Together
The last thing Sam remembered was caving the roof of the Ballroom in on himself with a final jet of green flames from his mouth. After that, nothing but darkness.
Some time later, he awakened to find himself in a cell in the dungeon under the castle, back in human form. He had magic-dampening shackles on his wrists, a metal mask keeping his mouth shut, and he was wearing a plain brown prisoner’s tunic. Just like Mom... he thought to himself.
He heard faint voices, and then realized it was his father, Calista, and Vournis speaking in a guard room down the hall.
"I swear, Sir, that’s what happened," Calista said. "He looked into that mirror and turned into that... thing."
"Vournis, how is this possible?" Lucien asked. "Was there some trace of corruption from Ellamere after all?"
"It’s hard to say," he replied. "I did not sense anything out of the ordinary when I scanned him twelve years ago, but clearly there was something there. His mother may have found a way to seal his Unseelie potential so it could lie dormant and undetected until activated, but I haven’t the slightest idea how she could have accomplished that.
"Such a feat almost certainly hails from dark magicks about which I know very little. As you’ll recall, the Church forbids research on such topics, so we really have no idea the true scope of Unseelie practices or the items in the Vault."
As Vournis mentioned that, Sam immediately thought back to that warmth he felt when Ellamere sang to him the night she was arrested, and the strange emerald glow he thought he saw. Holy shit, did she actually seal away those Unseelie dragon powers? I need to find her. Get some answers.
"Is there any way to help him at this point?" Calista asked, pain in her voice.
"I’d need more time," Vournis replied. "Time we don’t have."
"He’s right," Lucien agreed. "Because of all the destruction Sam caused, the people will want much more than a simple exile - they’ll demand a public execution."
Sam’s heart sank as he heard that. He couldn’t speak or even make a sound due to the mask over his face, but internally, he was screaming.
"There has to be some other way..." Calista said, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "No one actually got hurt... It was only property damage... Please, Sir, is there really no chance of mercy?"
"Officially, no," Lucien replied. Then his voice got lower. "Unoffically, however... Well, let’s just say that if someone broke him out and fled the city, I’d be forced to document exile as the punishment for him and the one who sprang him, thus avoiding any executions..."
"I understand, Sir," Calista said, also in a low tone.
Then Lucien’s voice returned to its normal volume. "Sister Calista, would you take a night shift guarding the prisoner?"
"Of course, Sir," she replied. "I will return tonight and see that he is looked after."
"Thank you, Sister," Lucien said. Then he walked out of the room and towards Sam’s cell, lowering his voice again. "Son, did you hear what was said?"
Sam could not talk, so he just nodded.
"I’m sorry it has come to this, but there is no other choice," Lucien insisted. "When your mother was exiled, she was taken to Shannarport, the first island once you pass from the Sapphire Sea, through the Strait of Gorzon, and into the Unseelie Blue, the largest and wildest ocean in the world. Start there, and perhaps you will reunite with her. Otherwise, seek out someone who can help you train your new powers."
Sam nodded again.
"I really am sorry, Son... For everything..." Lucien’s eyes filled with tears as he reached a hand through the bars and placed it on Sam’s shoulder. "How I wish the Church didn’t have such a stranglehold on the Seelie Court... I love you, Samreon. Please take care of yourself. If you find your mother, tell her I still love her as well and think about her often."
The teen nodded once more. After that, Lucien, Vournis, and Calista left the dungeon and a normal guard took over watching Sam.
So Calista is going to come back tonight to break me out, he thought to himself. I guess we’ll be exiled together.
Sure enough, shortly after nightfall, Calista took over guard duty. Once they were alone, she unlocked Sam’s cell and removed his shackles and mask.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her quietly. "There is no coming back. You can never return to the Church."
"There are mobs outside the castle chanting for your death," she revealed with a somber face. "People I used to consider holy and morally righteous. To see them devolve into such barbaric displays of bloodlust... Well, let’s just say my faith in the Dawn Archon has been shaken beyond repair."
Sam sighed and then nodded. "Okay, then. Together till the end?"
She gave a weak smile. "Together till the end."
"So, what’s our game plan?" he asked.
"I spent the day gathering supplies and prepared a small boat for us to flee in," she revealed. "Your father also allowed me to secretly retrieve a map of the Unseelie Blue from the Vault. We’ll head to Shannarport first and then decide what to do from there."
"Okay, got it," he replied.
Calista used her light magic to cloak them as they stealthily made their way past the rabid crowds outside the castle, through the city, and to the docks. Waiting for them was a small sloop sailboat with an elongated cabin. Just inside was a galley and a dining nook with a curved bench seat.
Past that was a narrow hallway with doors leading to a storage and utility room, a full bathroom, and a bedroom at the back of the boat. The bathroom and the galley both had running water and indoor plumbing, facilitated by a series of containers with domain expansion enchantments to hold fresh water and sewage - separately, of course. In the bedroom was a desk with drawers, a closet, and two bunk beds opposite each other with a total of four places to sleep.
Let’s see how long it takes to get her to agree to replace these bunks with one huge bed, Sam thought to himself with a smirk.
Calista extended her cloaking spell to cover the entire boat, and they sailed away quietly. As the lights of Luminary’s Landing drifted off into the distance, the stars in the night sky were brighter than ever.
"Wow, this is so beautiful," Calista said as she stared at the sky in awe. Sam was doing the same. It was the first time either of them had been that far away from the light pollution of city lamps.
"Not as beautiful as you, Calista. Thank you for saving me..." Sam said as he looked at her. She gazed back into his eyes, and for a brief moment, they might have been about to kiss...
"How about we make this a threesome?" came a third voice from behind them. They gasped and snapped their heads around quickly to see a figure laying on top of the cabin of their boat.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Sam and Calista screamed in unison, throwing their hands up as if they were about to be attacked.
The figure began laughing hysterically, rolling around on the roof. Then it stood up and jumped down onto the deck in front of them. Calista conjured a light orb, and then they recognized the pointed ears and the blue and pink hair.
"You two are something else!" Lazula Rose said with a huge grin.