Chapter 3

Yohann tossed and turned on his cold hard slab that masqueraded as a bed that night, not dreaming of freedom as he found it unable to sleep for long enough to dream. The dungeon was cold and on several occasions rats scrambled across his face as they frantically sought scraps of food.

Yohann's body ached. He was in near constant pain from the tortures he had had to endure and was feeling queasy and ill from the attentions of the sadistic guard and could not get comfortable; he just dreamt that he was able to behead the imposter that was ruining his beloved land.

Georgina found Sunniva scrubbing the floor in the Great Hall as the sun poked over the horizon, and called her from the archway. Sunniva ran over to her monarch and then knelt before her. "Have you fed the parasite in the dungeon?"

"No your highness."

"Well, run the bath in the side wing and take him to it with a decent breakfast. Give him a change of clothes and tell him we are out of the castle for most of the day and that your parents are from Elgiva. Be his friend, Sunniva."

"Yes, your majesty," Sunniva replied, taking in all what her majesty had told her. She awaited for further instructions but when none were forthcoming, she scurried off to follow the directions she had been given.

Even the guard was shocked by the achroous tones of Yohann's skin but Sunniva escorted the cuffed rebel up three flights of stairs and into the tiny side wing of the castle. The chambers that were free, used to belong to a bishop but had not been reallocated since he had died; they were tiny and no-one wanted them but was ideal for what Sunniva needed to do. The steaming hot bath was in the window and Yohann gave her a nervous grin.

"I cannot believe that this is from Georgina," he said as he looked at the tray of fruit and the bath. Sunniva also looked at the fruit. She might have expected to eat that amount of fruit in six months not in one meal. Yohann looked at Sunniva's warm brown eyes and nervous demeanour and smiled.

"It's from me, everyone is out of the castle today and you won't be seen here. I don't want you in the dungeon eating what they did want to give you. It wasn't nice."

Yohann hobbled over to the fuscoferuginous bath and tested the water. It was warm, not too hot and he eagerly wanted to just jump in. His wounds and sores would soak nicely in the water but he eyed the gracile Sunniva.

"Why?"

Sunniva shifted nervously. "My parents are from Elgiva," she lied and shrugged. "I don't want to see you beaten."

Yohann gave her a warm smile and looked at the plate of fruit. "I am not too hungry after the torture yesterday. Will you have some?" Yohann asked and Sunniva reluctantly shook her head. She did want some but couldn't eat such luxuries, she would be fired.

"You have some," Yohann asked of her, expecting the girl to leap on the fruit but she shook her head. "I can't. I'd lose my job."

"And smuggling me out of prison won't?" Yohann asked and Sunniva gave a smile.

"I guess, but don't you want it?"

"I want to share it with you," he generously said and passed her a piece of melon and put it into her acrasic mouth. She savoured the fruit's juicy sweetness and smiled. Yohann popped a grapeonto his tongue and took his torn, ragged clothes and threw them onto the floor. Sunniva went to help him into the bath, but he just stepped in.

She wasn't used to that. All of the royalty and gentry she had served wanted her assistance to do everything, from getting in and out of the bath, to getting dressed. Lady Drayton even wanted her butt wiping when she stayed, and here was the leader with thousands of followers just climbing into the bath by himself. She didn't understand.

Yohann sank in the giant bathtub and his eyes darted to Sunniva. "Come join me," he muttered and she shook her head. It had been two weeks since she had had a bath and eight years since she had had a warm bath. She wanted to, she really wanted to but she knew if the Queen caught her she would be fired, and disciplined in a most brutal way.