7
Galen felt his head impact the street below then something broke loose and he continued to fall. The impact on the street caused his body to turn slightly and he landed with a loud thud on his back in something cold, wet, and mushy. He lay still, wondering if he was dead and transported home. Maybe he was dead and in hell. The stench certainly pointed in that direction. "Well there's a sight you don't see every day," a raspy voice said and chuckled. Galen opened his eyes and looked up. He vaguely made out the shape of the hole he'd made in the roof of wherever he landed, and the stars beyond.
Groaning, he slowly got to his feet. "Where am I?" he asked.
"Currently?" the raspy voice asked and Galen turned in the direction of the voice to see a filthy man covered head to toe in mud. Or was that shit? "You're on my dinner," the man said.
Galen sighed in defeat. "Sorry about that," Galen said. "I'll make sure you get a replacement."
"You will, will you?" the man said then cackled. "And who might you be that you can give a lowly prisoner like me a new meal of slop and slime?"
"LORD GALEN!?" Lucinda yelled from somewhere down the hall.
"Here," he said with a groan and looked up at the man. "She got here quick."
"Lord Galen, eh?" the man said. "Things sure have changed, then. Where is Lord Beyron?"
"Dead," Galen said as he stuggled to his feet.
"Ah," the man said. "Pity. He was a good man."
"Thank the gods you're alright," Lucinda said, arriving at the cell door and jiggling a ring of keys.
"What's your name?" Galen asked the man.
"Beyron," the man said, grinning.
In moments the door was unlocked and Galen was wrapped up in an armored embrace. Lucinda ushered him into the hallway as Galen said, "I crushed his food."
"He'll be fine," Lucinda said as she locked the door behind her. "You're lucky you didn't crush your skull. What in the gods' name were you thinking!?"
"He needs a replacement meal," Galen said, ignoring her question.
"Prisoners don't get extra meals," Lucinda corrected him.
"Well, they do now," Galen said, looking pointedly at her. "I'll not have someone starving because of me. Make it happen."
"Well, finally some emotion other than apathy," she said, then sighed. "Fine, I'll make it happen."
"Get him a new cell as well," Galen ordered. "A clean cell. That one's full of shit."
Lucinda looked at him as if he had a third head. Shaking her head she nodded. "Fine, fine. Let's just get you back upstairs and cleaned up," she said.
"I can't die, Lucy," he said as fresh tears made tracks down his face.
"I'm glad you can't," she said.
"But I want to," he said. "I want to go home."
She stopped and gaped at him. "You're a right fucking idiot, do you know that!?" she fumed.
"I've heard it a time or two," he said, sniffling.
"You want to die?" she asked. "Do you? What about the rest of us that have come to care for you? What are we to do if you die? Huh? This decree that you imposed has given us hope for the first time in all of our lives!" She was pissed at him and her finger poked his chest. "What are we to do if you die? Those of us women that have already outed ourselves will either be immediately transported to the emperor's harem, marry some dolt that's willing to take us, or kill ourselves to keep from being subjected to the emperor's tortures. And if you think that's anything less than what Jasper's victims had to endure then you're a fucking imbecile!"
Galen looked at her, stunned.
"You were thrust into this world against your will," she said. "I get that. I get that you feel like it's not your problem that the patriarchy is a right piece of shit that kills people without regard to those left behind. I get that you don't think you should care. But I know that you do care, whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, and that's what I love about you. You care that the people of this world be treated decently, fairly," she pointed to the cell behind her that he'd just left. "and that is proof if nothing else is." Still fuming, she screamed in frustration and stormed off.
"Heeheehee," Beyron laughed. "Right fucked up, didn't ya?"
"Guess so," Galen said. "I'll see you get what I promised, Beyron. You have my word."
"Sure, sure," he said. "Just make sure you nestle yourself between that ones legs as soon as possible." He chuckled. "Any woman brave enough to stand up to nobility like that is marriage material."
Galen chuckled dryly. "You might be right," he said. "You might be right. What are you in for anyway?"
"Theft," the man said and cackled again.
"Oh?" Galen replied. "What'd you steal?"
"Nothing," the prisoner said, smiling again.