In Exchange for Magic

"Hey... Hey... Hey!" I hissed at the sleeping gnome in the cell closest to the door.

His eyes split open, and, as he turned towards me, I could see blood matted into his beard.

"Catch!" I whispered, and tossed the ring of keys to him.

He started in surprise, but caught them.

"What... I don't understand.. I..." he mumbled.
"Good luck!" I wished him.
He stared in disbelief as Ez, the elf girl and I crept out of the dungeons.

"Thank you!" he called after us, jubilation rising in his voice.

Ez waved at him, clutching his broken rib and smiling as we closed the large doors to the damp basement of a room.

The three of us hunched over, trying to appear as small as possible as we raced up the stairs. I felt an odd sense of nakedness... Like I was completely out in the open with no protection whatsoever.

I wish it had occurred to me that I didn't look suspicious at the time. I wish that it had occurred to me that I was dressed like a maid, and that I wasn't naked at all. My convincing disguise would have fooled anyone walking about in the castle...

But I didn't realize it.

And we were about to be in deep shit.

"This way," Ez beckoned, and we turned a corner into one of the main hallways.
"What do you think you're doing?" The elf girl hissed. "This leads straight into the throne room!"
"Exactly," Ez nodded.

Her eyes widened as we sped down the hallway, heading towards a large set of heavy-looking double doors. Paintings of prestigious looking people lined the walls, but we moved to fast for me to get a good look at them. Just as Ez was reaching for the large cast-iron handle to the throne room, the elf girl slapped the back of his head.

"Ouch!" he yelled. "What was that?"
"Shhh!" she scolded. "Just what do you think you're doing? Are you an idiot?"
Ez rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"
I laughed. "I guess so. Why shouldn't I?"
"She doesn't trust me!"
I shrugged. "Quite frankly, neither do I."

He flicked my ear and teased, "Remind me again why I keep you around?"

The elf girl scowled. "This is no time for flirting! This maniac, Ed, has just led us inches away from certain death!"
"It's Ez," our Half-Breed friend corrected bitterly. "And what do you mean by certain death?"

"Don't tell me you can't hear them?" she whispered, horrified.
"Hear what?" I asked, but they both ignored me.

"Hear what?" Ez demanded.
"People are in the throne room!" she whisper-shouted, pointing to the doors in front of us.
"Oh, sure! Answer him!" I muttered but, as was becoming the trend lately, I was ignored again.

"They're talking about coming to get you in the dungeons," she told him. "They're talking about killing you! You honestly can't hear that?"

Ez looked confused. His ears wiggled and he knotted his brow.

"I don't... I don't hear anything..." he mumbled. "I'm trying... But it just sounds like... Silence..."
"You are part elf, aren't you?" she snorted disapprovingly.
"Yes," Ez spat, becoming defensive. "I am!"
She shook her blonde head. "Well, there's no time to figure out what's wrong with you."

Ez huffed in annoyance. "Well, I'm sorry that I've bothered you with my problems!"

"He's going to be such a pain," she whined to me. "You should have made him stay in the dungeons!"

She then kicked open a small air vent and shot us a look.

"I'm going to call the shots from now on," she said. "Instead of using Mr. Hormonal's spastic plan, we're going to go over the throne room. Thus, we don't get killed."

She then crawled inside the vent, muttered something about it being dusty, and was gone from sight.

"Should we lock her in there?" I asked, half serious.
Ez laughed. "I'm considering it... Man, to think I'll be kissing her sometime in the near future..."

My eyes widened in shock.

"I... What?"

He winked and shoved me with surprising ease into the vent. I wanted to turn around to confront him about the potential lip-lock, but the space was too narrow. All I could do was to grumble and follow the distant figure of the elf girl up ahead.

And that's when I heard the most surprising series of sounds I think I've ever heard in my life.

One, I heard the vent closing behind me.

"Ez?" I called quietly. "Ez, what are you doing?"

Two, I heard Ez's voice whisper something to me that I didn't understand. He'd said: "I know what I'm doing. Don't come after me. Save yourself."

Three, I heard the sound of the large double doors to the throne room opening.

I crawled, lightening speed, up to the elf girl. She was crouched down in front of a vent that led directly to the throne room. Looking out, we could see a crowd of people gathered around the King, who was sitting proudly on his bejeweled seat.

Four, I heard the voice of the skinny man who'd taken Ez into the dungeons.

"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Sullivan. You know, I was just going down to the dungeons to get you..."

All the heads in the room snapped back to look at the Half-Breed. Ez was standing in the middle of the throne room, his arms thrown out like he was poised to give a large hug.

And five, Ez's voice ringing out, echoing slightly as it hit the vents.

"Were you now?" he mused, grinning. "Well, then I guess I've arrived a bit early!"

And last, but not least, I heard the sound of the elf girl gasping as she realized that Ez had just walked into a room full of people who were planning to kill him.

He'd been able to hear just fine the entire time.

His parting words made sense now.

Ezekiel Jonas Sullivan was going to sacrifice himself.