Hadrian

The flames rise high, forcing me to stagger back, just as it all clicks together in my head—Aurelia's coming to the table, the dropped bottle, her standing to the other side from the oil stain on the carpet. It was all arranged, deliberate and precise, and we played our part nicely by standing there and listening and allowing her to set the stage for this fiery performance.

The flames subside for a moment, and I can see her on the other side, moving towards the wall covered by the long tapestry depicting a hunt scene.

The one hiding the secret door.

"Bruno!" I shout, shaking off my paralysis and beginning to move.

He's already circling the fire that spreads quickly on the carpet. I follow him, and we dart after Aurelia who has already disappeared behind the tapestry. Bruno gets there before me, his sword in his hand; he grabs the corner of the tapestry and throws in aside, exposing the wooden door as it snaps shut. I grab the handle; at the same moment, through the crackling of the fire behind us, I can hear the barely audible click of a key turning in the lock. I jerk the handle, but the door doesn't budge.

"Damn it," I groan. Of course, she had another key, either on her or hidden at the stairwell for just such an occasion.

Bruno grabs me by the arm. "Open it!"

I fling the useless sword aside and reach for my girdle belt. Still, even as I find the snowflake shaped key, my heart feels heavy. I know what I would have done if I was her; the moment I try to insert the key, my suspicion is confirmed.

"She's left her key inside." I cough in the thickening smoke. "We can't open it."

"What?" He snatches the key from my hand and drops to his knees in front of the door, trying to push it into the keyhole.

I look around, holding the tapestry aside with one hand. The room is half filled with smoke, and the fire is already running up the bed's canopy. We can't put it out; likely, the only liquid left in the room is the half empty bottle of wine on the table. Just as I glance at it, it explodes under the onslaught of heat, showering the hissing flames with red droplets and shuttered glass.

The windows are too small for us to go through. Aurelia ordered to narrow them a few years ago, claiming that the sunlight was waking her up too early in the mornings. I didn't think too much of it then; now, I suddenly see it in a whole new light. The small windows are just large enough for someone miniature like her to crawl out; but an adult man could never squeeze through. She didn't care about the light; she was turning her room into a fortress.

Bruno straightens up, coughing. "The main door?"

"It's locked at nights," I say, suddenly feeling weak and hopeless. Of course, it's locked, and wherever she hides the key, we won't be able to find it in time.

"Come on!" He shakes me by the shoulders. "We must try!" He shakes me again, and then, not getting any reaction, he pushes me away and disappears in the smoke that renders the room all but invisible now.

A loud crush comes from another part of the room, as if something heavy has fallen on the floor, sending a wave of heat my way. I cover my face and stagger back, hitting the wall, then slide to the floor. It must have been the bookshelf that has fallen, since the crackling of the fire grows louder. I can see the yellow flickers of flames through the smoke.

I breath through my sleeve, my eyes watering. It's hot, but not uncomfortably so—yet. Soon, when all the bookshelves catch fire, the temperature in the room will get high enough to cook us alive even if the flames won't touch us. If we're lucky, we'll be unconscious by then from all the smoke.

She's won. She always does. Even in our childhood games, I could be faster or stronger, but when the smarts were required, I could never keep up. There's no hope of help coming, too—even if I or Bruno had a friend or two left in the castle, nobody knows we're here. And who else but Aurelia and myself could know about the secret door?

A large figure bursts out of the smoke and hits the wall next to me.

"Ha..drian..." Bruno sounds choked, his hands feeling blindly around. I grab his foot and he slides down and scoops me into a hug. "There you are," he wheezes. "It's locked. I couldn't...couldn't find the..."

"I know." I'm not sure if my tears are from the smoke alone. They're drying on my cheeks almost immediately as the air gets hotter. I let go off the tapestry, allowing it to fall back in place, hiding us briefly from the burning room. I turn away and press my face to his chest, not wanting to see the moment when the fire runs up the fabric, seeking the last few minutes of safety before the real suffering begins. He puts his hands around me, as if that could offer protection from the flames.

"This door is wood..." He chokes. "We could... perhaps... set it on fire..." Except that we would burn long before it does, and he knows it.

"I'm sorry," I mutter into his chest.

"Not your fault." He squeezes me harder. "Not your fault."

I can feel the unconsciousness creeping over me, and I welcome it with all my heart. My lungs hurt so much, and even the parts of my body that are covered with clothes feel like they're on fire already. I want to sleep. I don't want to feel any of this. Yet, as I drift into the oblivion, I hear a click, and a surprising whiff of cool air against my skin.

"Hadrian!" Bruno is moving again, shaking me. "Get up!"

He moves away, and I force my watering eyes to open. I look up and stare at the face hovering over me, and then I realize that it's not Bruno.