Excerpt: The Escape Artist

The wood floors were polished and not kept hidden under any sort of carpet. Leof had a love for fine artistry. Everything in his castle from the floor to the tapestries to the wood work on near the ceiling was done exquisitely and was there for the enjoyment of looking at. It appealed to him to have a castle that was friendly as opposed to foreboding.

Making his way to the hallway he needed, he opened the doors himself. Everyone knew that Leof liked to do things himself. He hated having a servant open doors for him, or have them wait on him hand and foot. It was different, but it also allowed his servants and subjects to respect him more. He did not want to give hand outs, nor receive them.

It was a long walk down another extremely detailed hallway that took him to the room that he shared with his wife. His wife had been in bed for months, worried sick that her assassins would come back to try and kill her. They had managed to get in and out of the castle with no problem, and she did not want to worry about her life at the moment.

Knocking on the door, he then opened it to find his wife sitting at the window. This was new, seeing as she had hated sitting by any windows ever since the man had come into the castle. The window was open, letting in a very cool breeze. The beginnings of winter were starting to settle all over Adesp. He wished that it would hold off for just a little longer, especially with this new occurrence.

“Marge, my dear, I have just received a letter from King Oliver.” Ignoring the face she made after his name was said, he continued, “It seems he thinks he has found the man and woman who tried to hurt you.” He never liked to say that they tried to kill hurt. It reminded both of them too much of that night.

“How could that be? How could they have gotten out of our kingdom? We had people all over the kingdom in a matter of days you know that.” While she was very intrigued, she did not want to jump to the conclusion that he had in fact found the man that they were looking for. “And if we could not find him, how on earth could that incompetent, lousy excuse for a man think he has found the man who tried so shamelessly to harm me?”

She had a very good point, but Leof was not going to let the possibility pass by. “I am going to send some people with a very good containment for the man. Apparently he is very good at escaping things.”

With a stern look, she turned herself in her chair to look at her husband. While she loved him with all her heart, she did not want him wasting his time going to look for something that was not going to be found. “Leof, you know I cannot tell you that you can’t do it. But I am saying that I deeply implore you not to waste your time on a man that cannot be trusted.”

There was a reason behind her severe dislike for the man. Besides the fact that every time he came to their yearly party he seemed to think that she was fair game to try and seduce, he had always shown up already drunker than anyone else she had ever met. He treated her as if she had no intelligence, and she did not much like his wife any better. She loved her Leof for caring so much, and trying to make her feel better, but she simply could not accept that this horrible man had found the person they were looking for.

“If you are correct, I will personally find a way to apologize to these poor souls, and I will throw a party in your honor. If he is indeed correct, then we will have to throw a party in his honor. Allow him to be the center of attention for one night as a thank you.” Leof did not like the idea of the man coming into his personal space any more than his wife did.

“I do hope you know what you are doing my love.” Marge could not help but stand up. Her light linen chemise blew lightly in the wind as she went to her husband. “I would hate to see this is a trick, and that he has taken advantage of your kind heart.”

Shaking his head, he gave his wife a kiss and put his arms around her. “If he is taking advantage of me as you say, he will not be a king for very much longer. I will see to it personally that I have his crown, and that his people are taken better care of.”