After so many days and weeks in this damned room, Arturri was finally going to be released. He could feel the magic holding him waning over time, but not enough to dissipate. His arguments to leave the room became increasingly persuasive to his body. Sometimes he could put his toe outside. But he still couldn't leave. At least he had books and Daress for company. Sometimes he would leave his door open to see if he could catch any gossip happening in the Orphanage. Little ever went on, but sometimes he heard bickering between people or complaining. Sometimes even laughter. But mostly he would leave the door closed, and focus on his books and his letters.
Sadie hadn’t written him back. He knew there had to be a good reason. She had sworn that she would stay with him, even after marriage, back in the tent. She had said even after she became Dar Yi. But all the same, he was getting tired of waiting.
He had plans for when he was finally released. He was going to patrol the perimeter of the Orphanage and find a non-conventional exit. Sure, they had enchanted the entrances and exits, but they couldn’t have covered all of them. He was going to find a loophole. The worst thing that could come of it would be more imprisonment, which was also the result if he didn't try. It would be the same with or without the room. But what he could gain far outweighed what could be lost.
If he could escape, he would only have to lay low for one day. The day after, he had overheard many times, was the day of the Ball. And the Ball this season was to be held in the Dar Yi Home. His Home. For a Ball, all the gates open. He wouldn’t need any identification to get in. The Home would be arranged for all guests, and so he could waltz right in. Sure, some passages would be cordoned off as private, but it was a party. He could cause distractions. He would find an opening, and he would investigate. Maybe even find Sadie. She would have some basic Dar Yi magic by this stage, he thought. Or at least would have made some kind of trusted acquaintance in the Dar Yi who would have more experience in psychometry. Then he would be able to track the exact history of the packet. Discover who it belonged to. That might lead him to another clue, or at least a lead he could follow.
But first, he would need to get out of here.
The day of the spell wearing off, the matron swung open his door directly after the dawn bell.
“Good morning, Arturri. The day has come," she delivered his plate of breakfast like her presence was the true gift.
He let out a sigh and rolled in bed. It was an unwanted intrusion. Being woken up by anything was an awful start to any day, be it a joyous occasion or not. He almost said something contrary to allow himself to get back to sleep - but the words woke him. He didn’t want her to take back the freedom. He pulled himself to a sitting position. “Fantastic,” he said, squinting over at her and wrapping his blankets around himself.
“So that means,” Leliana continued, “you should be a full member of the Orphanage. Are you ready to come back out into the world?”
“A full member?” It was too early in the morning for Arturri to grasp what she meant so he mulled it over for a second. “Oh, you mean I have work.” The final word felt disgusting to speak.
“Yes. Unless you’d like another week locked away?” Leliana said, joking, he was sure - but Arturri would have preferred it to manual labour.
“I’ll be right there,” he said, giving her a bleary and early morning smile that he didn’t mean.
She closed the door after her, having informed him of where his list of tasks could be found. But he didn’t intend to be keeping the towers or church clean today. He got himself up, put on his robes, and approached the door. It stood in front of him, taunting him. An old adversary. He opened it, and stood at the precipice. He furrowed his eyebrows at the drab Orphanage that greeted him. But he pushed his foot to the other side and stepped out.
He couldn’t help but laugh with relief. His senses flourished with the first fresh perspective in weeks. Smiling, he decided to take that walk. This might be the best day he’d had in a long time. The morning breeze was fresh, and the glow of lights above him was warm and bright. But he had to focus on his mission.
Last time, things had been a lot easier. The matron had been trusting, so it had been simple to pick her pocket as she had gone past. Then he had crept out in the the night to her study to get what he needed. He hadn’t been proud of himself. It was, of course, the most immoral thing he had ever done. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, he had told himself. It wasn’t as if he’d hurt anyone.
But the matron had increased security since then. Nadira told him the last they spoke that a Kopkin had helped tighten the exits. But they couldn’t have thought of everything.
The Orphanage was a few levels of accommodation with a courtyard down in the middle. But there was always the roof. From the roof was a clear shot towards the windows of the tower where the matron had her office. Arturri didn’t want to be seen, so the roof wouldn’t work.
Perhaps he could go out a window. There were the kitchens downstairs. They must have ways to let the air out. But those vents mightn’t be safe. He considered his options, of which he wasn’t sure how many there were.
He walked along a bridge between landings and stopped. Right here would do. He glanced over the bridge. How far of a drop would it be anyways? He calculated the height of one of the floors and put it against the distance to the base. Down there was dark. Would there be a way out from there, though? Maybe if he had some rope.
The classic of fashioning rope from bedsheets would do the trick. Or would it be wise to throw something first? It couldn't be so far. No, he figured he had better be safe. He went into his room and gathered all the sheets. He hoped he wouldn’t be taking too long. What would Leliana do if he was caught trying to escape so soon? Well, the worst thing she could do was put him back in the room. As he had considered, that wasn't much punishment. But it would be a snag in his plans to get back into the Dar Yi Home during the Ball.
Arturri soon had the rope crafted, with knots as tight as he could manage. He undressed, wrapped them around his body, and pulled the robes back on over them. He glanced in the mirror. He looked… lumpy. But who cared? No one would suspect a thing.
He walked out with his head held high. No-one stopped him. The air of the Orphanage was subdued. He tried not to be too excited or he’d draw attention to himself. He reached the precipice. After taking a quick glance around, started to tie the end of the rope to the balustrade. Ever so slowly, he unwrapped the rest of it, and let it drape over the side. He thought it brushed ground at the end! Though it was dark.
He could figure the rest out once he got out of here.
He took the rope firmly in hand. Giving the place one final glance to make sure that he would not be interrupted, he climbed over the edge.
The distance below seemed dubious. He wondered if he really should be doing this. Maybe he could make a life for himself here, actually. If he could accept that bad things happen to good people, he wouldn’t have to take this risk. It was such a stupid decision, even he wondered why the hell he was doing this. If he lost the rope, he didn’t know how far he could fall.
No. He couldn’t talk to himself like that. He promised himself he would see this through. A true killer was out there, and no one but Arturri was looking for him. He couldn’t let his old teacher down. Never mind, he could imagine the look on his parents face when they realized they had misjudged him.
He remembered his mother, Warren, and her look not of horror, but abject disappointment. Almost that same cold gaze she had given when perceiving them as servants. His father meanwhile had not even bothered to appear at his hearing. Perhaps, Arturri had thought, it had been too painful for him.
But when he returned, they’d all see. He’d show up with the evidence in hand and shed his disguise and call all of them fools for doubting him. They’d cry, apologize, and he’d be gracious to them for their foolishness. The true criminal would be carted away to clean the ceremonial pool. Their face would be hidden from their sight forever.
He clenched the rope and lowered himself from the bridge.
Suspended in the air, he realized how little upper body strength he had. He clung with all his limbs as best as he could. If he had thought this plan through earlier, or had someone on the outside scout this place beforehand, this could have turned out better. But he hadn’t. Daress wouldn’t have helped him escape, and Nadira wasn’t going to help him again. He felt like a fish on a line.
But it wasn’t over yet. Arturri swallowed hard. He adjusted his hands down another bit to descend into the darkness below. He wasn’t sure how long the rope he had made was. He didn’t have that many sheets to work with. He sure hoped he hadn't imagined it brushing ground below.
He was sweating all over. His hands were clammy. He was running out of strength. His heart beat fast, and he dared not look beneath him into the abyss below the church. Well, if not an abyss, far enough that it might as well be. No one saw him come out there as well. Who knows when they would find his body if he was to drop now.
He lowered himself a little more, whimpering and cursing to himself. But his hands were shaking, weak and wet. He was amazed the weight of him wasn’t ripping the fabric, but he saw the knots strain. Another bit further.
He moved down, adjusting his feet - and stopped.
There was no lead up. No fanfare. The freeze was simple and subtle. His heart stopped. His thoughts stopped. The sweat coming out of his skin stopped. No longer acting on the world around him, and gravity no longer affecting the area around him. Paused. Arturri was petrified for some time. Unaware of time passing outside of him, he was caught forever in that moment of fear. Fear that he might slip and the hope that he might make it.
Eventually, time restored itself to Arturri. He felt disoriented as he realized he was being pulled up. He clutched the rope in a panic until he looked up and made out who was pulling him.
“Nadira!” he said, clambering up the rope with a last rush of energy, “You may have saved my life! I thought for sure I would fall. I’ll need more rope next time. If you had stayed talking with me, this plan could have involved the two of us you know,” he said. It was more words than he had expected to say, with how breathless he felt. But seeing the girl for the first time in so long brightened his spirits in a way he didn’t expect. That and the relief that she had been the one to catch his attempted escape.
With both of their strengths combined, he was hauled back to safety. Although Arturri thought there might still have been a chance in that old plan.
But she didn’t react in the way that he had expected. She shook her head, “Arturri, you’re such a fool. You’re lucky it was me that caught you. You’ve probably been stuck frozen down there for hours.”
“Nadira? What do you mean, what time is it?”
“It’s nearly midday. Matron figured you’d be stuck in one of these Kopkin traps, and sent me to go look for you.” Something about the way she spoke was off. She was more reserved, less passionate. Arturri felt that something had changed in her over the past few weeks. But Daress had said she was much the same.
“What happened, Nadira?” he asked her.
She shook her head, “Literally nothing, Arturri. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re such an idiot to think that there’s any reason to get out. I can hardly look at you.”
“Maybe I am,” he admitted. He recalled their last conversation. “But… Thank you. For helping me, and saving my life just now.” He paused, “You aren’t going to report me to the matron for this, are you?”
She paused and then crossed her arms and let out a sigh, “It wouldn’t matter, but I’ll make up an excuse for you. I’ll say all the excitement of being outside upset your nerves. Or that you were ill with the stimuli. She won’t believe me.” She bent down to untie his knot and hand him the end of his escape plan. “You better put those back on your bed though… And you’re welcome.”
He flustered and pulled them into a ball in a hurry. “They really trapped everywhere? Nadira, you don’t know of some way out, do you?”
“They trapped everywhere. But even if there was an opening? I don’t know what I would do now.” She leaned on the edge of the railing in thought. As she spoke, her eyes look out at the stonework of the Orphanage before her, rather than Arturri. “I’m not strong enough to do anything outside. I can’t fight and win. Maybe who I am is someone who keeps things clean for the next people who live here. Someone who learns long speeches to say to people who go to the Church. Maybe… I’m okay with that. I can’t change the world, Arturri. The world put me here, and maybe it’s where I belong. I can make the best of it, somehow.”
Arturri frowned, watching her as if she would turn around and say it was a joke. “You’re going to give up?”
“I mean, what else can I do? You see yourself how we’re trapped here!” She gestured at the buildings around them, “Not even just the magic, Arturri. We run, they catch us. We put on disguises, they tear them off. After you were gone, I made a deal with Eazu, Art! I got the best odds I would have ever had in my life, and you know what happened? Some random guy nearly got eaten by a monster to distract the red cloak on my ass, and all I got for it was a little further away before getting caught. Put that on a shirt and sell it! I might have the best luck of my life even right now, and do you know how lucky I feel? Not very. I have to face it. This is the peak of my life. Right now.”
Arturri rolled his eyes at her theatrics. “Nadira, please. Wake up. First of all, the Eazu are scam artists, and you say I’m the stupid one. Second of all, this cannot be anyone’s peak. Didn’t you have a mystery of your own you wanted to solve? Where you came from? You were so busy helping me you didn’t bother to help yourself. You haven’t even begun your own journey... But it’s a shame about the traps.” He turned and looked up at the church. “You might be right. We can’t get out of here right now, but we will figure something out. I’d love it if we could find a way by tomorrow night though. There must be some people allowed in and out, right?”
She considered it, pulling her mouth to one side in thought. “Well, I guess some officials might visit the Diplomats. And weirdos come to pray. But it’s registered to ancestry. The spell, I mean. It doesn’t let out any Orphans. Except for the Diplomats of course. But that’s because the Kopkin are kissing ass."
“Weren’t you applying to become one of those?” Arturri recalled, glancing over to her.
“Who told you that?” Nadira seemed offended that he would bring it up.
“Daress mentioned you both applied. She seemed to think that it was kept for you,” he said, a plan forming in his mind.
“I… I couldn’t take it. If it was offered to me. Besides, Leliana has had me working so much manual labour as punishment. Not that it’s any different to normal,” she added. Her voice lowered. “She surely doesn’t want me to be a Diplomat after the stunt I pulled.”
Arturri considered pushing the subject, believing very much to the contrary. At least, based on the brief intel he had collected over the month from his chats with Daress. But it could be pushy. Although, time was of the essence, and being coy now wouldn’t get anything done. So he said, “You could always ask her.”
She snarled. “What. You want me to push for Diplomats privileges JUST to let you out for the Ball? So you can play detective and hook up with your married lover?”
Arturri couldn’t help but smile.