Scarlen watched Frieda being led to the gallows by two female guards. The inmate’s face was ashen, her eyes glossy, her chin tipped up as though not wanting to show the fear that had to be running through her.
Not all spectators were watching, heads dipped, eyes closed, but Scarlen took it all in, including Bear’s hardened expression opposite her.
Frieda was taken up some steps, her hands bound behind her back, the noose of a thick rope placed around her neck, then tightened. No cloth covered her face, no last words were offered, no family was allowed entrance for a final farewell.
The meal Scarlen had consumed swirled in her gut, and she could only imagine how the woman about to die was feeling. She glanced at Bear, and everything hurt at the thought of him standing at the gallows one day. That rope around his throat. Something made her shift forward, part of her wanting to stop the execution. To stop them all. But Dionne subtly tugged her arm, pulling her back in line, and Bear looked over, deep lines in his brow.
Binnow stood at the steps of the gallows. ‘Another lesson for some of you to take with you when you leave Horstal Island. You must reform so this isn’t you in the future.’ She turned as the executioner made their way along the pathway, broad and strong, a black mask hiding their identity.
Scarlen swallowed hard, holding Dionne’s hand as Frieda was hanged by the neck until dead.
An eerie silence fell as the rain stopped its pitter patter and no one moved until the hanging body stopped moving. Someone on Amber side threw up, and someone else burst into tears, then Wynter fainted, and Binnow told everyone to go back to their blocks at once.
Scarlen and Dionne rushed to Wynter’s aid, as no guard offered assistance, and Amber was ushered away, Raven’s eyeson his fiancée at all times as Oxley gripped his arm, making sure he didn’t get into trouble by going over to Green.
‘Wake up, Wyn,’ said Dionne, tapping her face.
Wynter stirred, groaning, then tears met her eyes. ‘Rav,’ she muttered.
‘It’s all right,’ said Scarlen, knowing Wynter would see all of her family hang. ‘Let’s get you settled in bed.’ Wynter’s trembling went straight into Scarlen as she helped her to stand, Dionne on the other side.
They made it to their block and put Wynter straight to bed, Dionne tucking her in while Scarlen went to her own cell to bury her head in her pillow.
There wasn’t a lot of noise coming from outside, as most were inside their cells, dealing with the hanging their own way.
Scarlen had no idea there would be one today. No one had said a word, and she wondered if they didn’t speak of such matters. No doubt too much for them. It had been too much for her to bear, and she wished she were home so she could find a way to put an end to execution altogether, especially Bear’s. The thought of him dying filled her with unexpected pain. Part of her didn’t want to leave prison because she wouldn’t see him again.
What was happening to her? She shouldn’t have such feelings towards her enemy. But it wouldn’t go away. Like it or not, right or wrong, something strong stirred for him.
She remained in her cell, crying on and off into her pillow until the second headcount, where she had little choice but to stand in her doorway, eyes sore, heart numb.
Just as they were to be locked in for the night, Miss Goolan passed Scarlen’s cell, her attention more on the communal area than inmates.
‘Miss, would I be able to see Bear for a moment?’ Scarlen held out all the money she had saved, which Goolan greedily snatched.
‘I can give you ten minutes.’
Some of the cells were already locked as Scarlen was led to the corridor. Goolan handed her over into the capable hands of Mr Kane, giving him some of the money for his part, and Scarlen was thankful he didn’t ask for more.
‘This way,’ he told Scarlen, not even looking at her. ‘Make sure you keep the noise down.’
She nodded her agreement, still unsure what she was going to say to Bear, anyway. All she wanted was to see him, because seeing him made things easier for some reason, and she needed something to feel easy.
‘Wait there.’ Kane gestured at a shaded alcove along the corridor, the cold, chipped stone reminding her of the alleyway where she had been arrested with the bread yet to meet her hunger pangs. That time seemed so long ago now; so did life at the palace.
A waft of sweat floated her way from the male cells of Amber Block Two, along with hushed conversations fading out as more went to sleep early, not bothered by the low light of cell time.
It would be lights out soon, and Scarlen was risking more than Kane being out of her cell then, but all she could think about was Bear, so it was worth the punishment if anyone told on Kane or Goolan, which was unlikely, but still, trust and loyalty weren’t exactly easy to come by.
‘Five minutes,’ said Kane, startling Scarlen, as she hadn’t seen him appear.
Bear came into view and met her in the nook, a mixture of surprise and concern in his gaze.
‘Everything’s all right,’ she assured him straight away, stepping further into the shaded area, finding it hard to muster words while his body was so close to hers. ‘I wanted to let you know Wynter is okay.’
‘You could have asked to see Raven.’
Was he annoyed that she had got him out of bed? ‘Erm, I guess. I just thought to tell you.’ She didn’t know where to look or what to think. Her stupid heart was fluttering all over the place, and a flush was climbing her neck. Frustration at the need to see him, wanting to be so close, raged her emotions, boiling them over, and it was for the best to slip past him and head back to her cell, but his hand moved to her waist as though reading her mind, perhaps silently asking her to stay.
