I stared at the stone wall wondering if it would crumble if I stared at it long enough. I considered scratching at it, but I didn’t think my nails would hold up to it. I could feel Malcolm through the wall; I could feel his heat and smell his scent, but I could not touch more than his fingers. I wanted to be wrapped in his arms, I wanted to see his smile, and I wanted to smell him all around me, but the wall separated us.

It had been days since I was brought here but I didn’t know how many. There were no windows and no clocks to tell time with, so we could only imagine time passing. We spent many hours on the floor holding hands through the bars, talking about the things we would do when we were free again. My sickness was getting better but Malcolm did not want to talk about it.

I wasn’t stupid. Well, I wasn’t always the brightest light bulb in the pack, but I had an idea of what was happening, and why I was so sick. There was something growing inside of me, a child I suspected, but still he did not want to talk about it and he would distract me with thoughts of Paris or Greece, or even cold places like the steppes of Russia. When it was hot, a place like Siberia did not sound so bad. It wasn’t hot in our cells and it wasn’t cold, it just was. For some reason I always felt hot, and Malcolm would tell me about all of the cold places he’d been to.

I kept trying to talk to him about the suspected baby, but he found a way to distract me every time. Sometimes it was with talk of food, sometimes it was with books or films. We spent hours discussing our lives, the things we liked, the things we loved, anything to avoid talk of the baby and what our future held for us.

Sometimes the guards came and we’d go to sleep, so they couldn’t hear our conversations. We truly learned about each other in the hours when we were alone. Malcolm had been raised to be a king but he’d never really wanted the throne. He wanted a quiet house on a quiet street with a fence that matched. He wanted a simple life with children and music and laughter.

We never actually discussed it, but we both avoided the topic of what would happen if we didn’t get out of this prison. We avoided discussing what would happen if his father succeeded and found a way to break our bond. We just talked about the future that we both wanted. I would design my games and he wanted to design furniture. He liked the thought of carving something from a piece of wood and turning it into something you could use. We spent the days laughing away our fears and building our dreams for the future. We never once talked about escaping. I think we knew it was pointless, impossible without help.

We didn’t see anyone other than the guards. They were the only visitors we had. I wondered if my parents would come but I knew they didn’t have a clue where I was and even less chance of finding me. I missed my mother and father, but I was happy to be with Malcolm.

I had no idea how much time had passed but I didn’t think it had been long. The baby hadn’t grown that much. We just spent a lot of time talking and sleeping and walking around our cells for exercise. We were never allowed outside and we never saw sunshine, but it was okay because we were together. We made plans and I tried to come up with ideas for escape, but we were too far underground. That was a little nugget of information I’d gathered from Malcolm.

I hadn’t realized how far down we’d come when Henry brought me here but now I knew just how far down we were. I felt as if we’d been buried, removed from the world and all that we knew, but Malcolm kept me sane. I’d never been claustrophobic but knowing there was tons of material over you could make anyone feel funny. Malcolm kept me calm, distracted me from the overwhelming panic by singing those strange songs to me from his childhood.

They soothed me and took away my fears. I wanted to escape for so many reasons, but at the same time being with Malcolm was all I wanted. I didn’t want to give that up for the alternative; being ill and on the verge of death again.

"Arista, are you awake, darling?" I heard him call from his cell.

He'd been in the shower, a luxury for prison cells, I'm well aware, but they were only tiny and got water everywhere. I was just glad there was a toilet with some kind of privacy. I'd been daydreaming about the things we could do in a shower when his voice interrupted me.

"What is it, babe?" I called out from my bed, my hand now out of my pants.

"Could you stop being so horny all the time, it's driving me mad over here!" He sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I protested with shock. How could he know what I was thinking? "Is this one of those mating bond things?"

"You were having some of the naughtiest thoughts I've ever come across, Arista! And yes, I guess it is. High emotions can transfer between us sometimes. Everybody's bond is different and for some it grows over time. In our case, it seems I can get some of your thoughts."

"Oh. So, you got all of that about me being on my knees then?" I felt my cheeks flaming as I spoke.

"Yes, indeed. And though it was a lovely vision, it was distracting when I was trying to get through the shower. You know the hot water only lasts five minutes." He was laughing now.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. Had he seen the bit about what I wanted him to do to me the next time we had a chance at sex?

"Yes, I saw that too. Now stop thinking about it!"

"I'm not sure I like this, Malcolm."

“You're the one that started it. Don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message.”

“I'm not shooting the messenger I just don't think I like you digging around in my head,” I said with a self-conscious laugh.

“Ah, but isn't it nice to know that soon you'll be experiencing the same thing?” Now he was just teasing me.

His voice was low, in that sexy kind of way that made my knees tremble. “Don't do that to me, Malcolm. You know I can't tear through this wall.”

“But if you could darling, wouldn't it be nice?”

“It would, but we know it's not going to happen so stop teasing me.”

He chuckled again and moved around his cell, getting exercise so his muscles wouldn’t become weak. We might not be able to go outside but we could walk around our cells together. It wasn't the most romantic of settings, but at least he was there with me.

I tried not to think about those I’d left behind because it only made me sad. Malcolm's father was not going to let us out anytime soon. I felt guilty because I'd left my family behind, but I knew there wasn't much I could do about it. I imagined my mother was probably panicking, but I was a grown woman. Then I cringed because I knew that I had left Willow there to try to explain how I disappeared in the middle of the night.

It was thoughts like these that kept me from sleeping too often or for too long. The guilt would sometimes crush me and then I would start thinking about all the weight of the building on top of us and that's when Malcolm would start to sing. His voice was rich and soothing, and though it was sung in a tongue I didn’t know, I still understood the words. The songs always calmed me down and dried my tears.

Or maybe it was just that Malcolm was singing to me, but I think it had something to do with the songs. They were all about the life of dragons and being in their world.

“Malcolm?” I called out to him. “Where do you think we'll live?”

It was a game we played when we were trying to change the subject or just chase away some of the boredom. Being in a prison cell isn't always the most glorious thing in the world.

“I’ve heard Canada is nice,” he said through the wall.

“Canada? I've never heard of anybody actually wanting to go to Canada.”

“Lots of people like to go there, there are so many lakes and different places. A bit like your own country with its diverse terrain.”

“I suppose so,” I replied as I headed back to my bed from my walk. “It's not high on my list though.”

I stared up at the ceiling, wondering how many more conversations like this we were going to have. There are only so many ways you could fill a day and we were running out. I wished for my tablet so I could at least work, but I didn't even know if something like that would work here. When Henry brought me, I didn't have time to look around for power poles or other sources of electricity, but it was a land of magic so maybe there was.

“Malcolm?” I called out again, my thoughts turning elsewhere.

“Yes, my love?” he called back.

“Can’t you just magic us out of here?” I knew it was a silly question, he’d have done it already if he could do such a thing.

I was also breaking the unspoken rule that we didn't talk about escaping. I was restless and bored, a dangerous combination when it came to me. I don’t cope well with having nothing to do. I sighed, waiting for his answer.

“You know I would if I could. I don't have that kind of magic, my dear,” I heard him say through the wall and knew my question had disturbed him.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked.” I rolled to face the wall, that nasty little wall that separated us, and pressed my hand to it.

“It's all right, Arista, I know you're only thinking out loud. You're doing well just to stay sane in here.”

I felt tears welling in my eyes, followed by that awful sting in my nose I always got just before I started to cry, and tried to push it all down. Now was not the time to be emotional, but the tears kept trying to come until they were spilling out of my eyes.

I reached through the wall, at least mentally, until I could feel the heat of Malcolm near me. He began to sing once again, his voice resonating around the small room that made up our cells and the guard’s room.

“It won't work this time,” I sobbed out. “I'm just too sad. This is a terrible place, and my mom must be freaking out. And poor Willow! I just left her there, she might not even be alive anymore, and here I am in a castle with my prince. Okay maybe we're in separate prison cells, but we're together and they have no idea where I am.”

“We will make it right when we get out of here,” Malcolm promised. “We will go to them straight away and explain everything.”

“Depending on how we get out of here we might not be able to, but I appreciate you saying that.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, if we escape we might be running, and that's the first place they’d look. It wouldn't make much sense to go there then so we would have to go somewhere that they wouldn't look for us.”

A noise came at the door then, the sound of the key turning in the lock, and we both went quiet. We never talked when the guards were here, but it wasn't time for the guards. Somebody else was coming to see us and I tensed because I knew that couldn't be a good thing. The door cracked, and I saw a boot appear. It was a small boot belonging to a woman. Mary.

“Hurry,” she said to us. “We don't have much time. Father is away, and Alec is distracting the guards.”

I ran to the door of my cell and waited for her to open it. Malcolm did the same, and when Mary opened the doors we rushed together but we didn't waste time on reuniting. We just looked at her, waiting on directions.

“Follow me,” she said, slightly out of breath. “Take these and fly away. Quickly now, before the guards come back.”

I took two bags from Mary and we ran up the stairs behind her, my heart was pounding. I was waiting for a shout, a warning shot from a gun, anything that would halt our progress up those stairs. I knew at any moment we could be caught and now that freedom was so close I knew I would not go back into that prison cell. I would fight my way through an army of dragons to make sure we did not go back in those cells.

Malcolm took the lead and I ran with him, my hand in his as Mary trailed behind us. Freedom was so close, so close that I could see the light through a crack in the door. I thought it was the middle of the night, but the light told me it was still daylight outside.

It might have been easier to escape at night, but beggars can't be choosers, and we ran. Malcolm didn't even try the handle on the door, he pushed it open with his shoulder and the door exploded around him as we headed for the landing pad. He gathered me to him and jumped over the edge of the castle, but he didn't drop me. He shifted as we flew into the sky. We were free at last. I didn't know exactly how, and I wasn't expecting it, but one minute we were prisoners and now we weren’t. We were flying away like the dragons in his songs.