Week One Story: What Kindness Reaps

He knew his orders. He should throw her in the dungeons and be done with it. Spies get what’s coming to them.
His right hand tightened around her throat.

“Please,” she begged. Dirt and grime encrusted her sun-weathered skin. “All I wanted was some food. I’m sorry.”

The king’s guard laughed, tossing his mane of blond hair. “Do you really think I believe that?”

“Do I look like a spy?” Her soft brown eyes lacked any sharpness. Only fear clouded them. “Please, let me go.”

“Why should I?” He muscled closer, pressing her small frame into the wall. Even if I believe her, nothing good is to come of showing weakness.

“I’ll owe you.” She stared so resolutely into his eyes that he didn’t dare laugh.

“A mongrel like you?” He quirked an eyebrow but stepped back abruptly. “Go. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Thank you.” She bowed her head reverently before scurrying down the hall, disappearing quickly.

Leo stalked briskly back to his post. I never should have let her go. He raked his long thin fingers through his blond hair before straightening his uniform.

Next time I won't be so lenient, he promised himself as he resumed his position guarding the king.

*

It was exactly three days later when his world fell apart.

The neighboring country's army had managed to infiltrate the castle by posing as and buying off members of his own guard company.

"Find and protect the king! Dispose of any intruder you meet!" he shouted at the remaining trusted few. They scattered quickly, rushing off to search the nooks and hidden passages. There's no way the castle will stand until the army arrives.

Where could he be? The guard's brown eyes roved restlessly over the walls as he racked his brain. The library.

His boots clacked loudly as he rushed up a nearby set of stairs. The hallway wound before him as he listened to the faint shouts and cries of his fellow guards and the enemy's soldiers. All will be for naught if the king does not escape.

Leo threw the doors open to the massive room. Besides the books lining every wall, it was empty. Slamming the heavy wooden door behind him, he darted around the middle case and into the back corner of the room. He tossed multicolored spines off of the shelf before his fingers caught the correct one. It refused to budge more than a few inches, but it opened the passage to the hidden room.

Inside sat the king, unharmed, but fear evident in his icy blue eyes. “I heard the alarm bell. What is going on?”

"Your Majesty!" Leo breathed a sigh of relief. "We must escape at once."

There was a clamor in the hallway, and Leo quickly blocked the king's body with his own.

"Leo!" Another man in guard uniform burst through the door. A splash of blood stained the blue tunic a shade of maroon, but the fabric wasn't torn. "Leo, thank God you found him. All of the exits are barricaded with at least ten guards. How are we going to get him out?"

Leo cursed, running through possible solutions in his head. "I guess we'll just have to fight through.” But the king will never make it that way. Fear coursed through him, but he kept it off of his face. “Let's go. You watch the king's back. I'll lead the way."

Peeking his head out into the hall, the air was ominously quiet. Only the men’s sharp worried breathing echoed through it. I can only take two enemies at once while guarding the king. At least fifty men breached the doors.
"Let's go." Leo moved quietly through the hall, listening for any movement besides their own.

Just as they reached a new web of paths, he heard a sharp scuffling noise to his left. Motioning for the king and Peter to stay back, Leo launched around the corner, brandishing his sword.

Around the corner was the small girl he’d pardoned just a few days earlier.

“You again?!” he fumed. “I will not let you off this time!” He tilted his wrist, angling the blade against her neck.

“Wait! I know a way out! It’s not guarded. It’s small, but it’s safe,” she swore, ignoring the metal scraping against her skin. She peeked around Leo, catching the gaze of the king. “Your Majesty, I swear my loyalty to the crown. On my mother's grave, I just want to get you out.”

“How can I be certain you are telling the truth?” Leo glared at her, refusing to back down.

“I just snuck into a sieged castle. I cannot repay you unless you are alive.” Her brown eyes were filled with a surprising amount of strength and courage. “It’s this way. All of the other exits are crawling with enemy soldiers. It is your choice, my liege.” She bowed her head. The shiny silver metal of the sword glinted in the torch light.

“Lead the way.” Leo’s voice was steady but soft as he put his trust in the girl.

*

They emerged from the castle dirty and bedraggled, but alive. Without its king, the castle fell shortly after. But with Leo’s guidance and planning, the full force of the king’s army swooped in and crushed the opposing forces.

Since she saved the king, Mis was commended for her bravery and given a special job at the palace orchestrating escape plans and fortifying the weak points.

Leo grew kinder over time, and Mis never went hungry again.

Author's Note: In the original tale, a lion caught a mouse who begged for its life, promising to return the favor one day. Then when hunters caught the lion, the mouse chewed him out of the net, allowing him to go free. I kept most of the original idea, but simply made them humans and fit the setting to a medieval castle instead. It was so hard to stop myself from going overboard and writing over the word limit.

Bibliography: "The Lion and the Mouse" from The Fables of Aesop by Joesph Jacobs. 
The image is a personal photo from the grounds of Chateau Chillon in Switzerland.