The Prison of Buried Hopes (After The Rift Book 5) by C.J. Archer

Author:C.J. Archer [Archer, C.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: www.cjarcher.com
Published: 2020-05-04T18:30:00+00:00

It was a gloomy party that departed from Priest's End the following morning. I was glad to leave the village behind, although the prospect of crossing the western branch of The Razorbacks appealed to me less and less the closer we got to the mountains.

"Finally, some fresh air," Kitty said, breathing deeply. "It's no wonder the priest threw himself off the cliffs when he reached that revolting village. He wanted to get away from the putridity."

"Is that how the village got its name?" Quentin asked.

"According to legend."

"What was the village called before it was named Priest's End?"

"Does it matter?" Max snapped.

"I was just wondering," Quentin muttered.

"Do it quietly. No one wants to listen to your prattling."

Quentin pouted.

"At least he's trying to make an effort to fill the silence instead of wallowing in it," Theodore said.

Max stiffened. "Is that aimed at me?"

"Mostly, but there are others here who took the news of our pasts just as badly." He glared at Dane's back, as rigid as a pole.

Like Max, he'd hardly spoken since learning the news about the prison except to bark orders. It reminded me of when he was under pressure as captain. Brant's misdeeds brought this cool, steely side out of him, as did the grim days following the fire in Mull. I wish I could go to him, but my advances would be met with brusque indifference, even if he did want them.

"There's a lot for them to think about," Meg said. "We must be understanding."

"We are all in the same situation," Theodore pointed out. "We are all escaped prisoners. We all committed crimes that put us in prison in the first place. That doesn't mean we're bad people."

Max wheeled his horse about and rounded on him. I'd never seen his jaw set so hard, his eyes flashing with anger. He'd always been so agreeable and considerate towards his fellow guards and the villagers. "You think that because you haven't seen the sort of people who end up in prison. I've seen the evil residing in the palace cells."

"So have I," Theodore said.

"Not like we have. You don't know half of what they did. The captain kept the worst from you to protect you."

"Precisely. He protected us because he's a good man. As are you, Max. If you were inherently evil, you would have ended up in those cells too."

Max's response was to snarl and turn away. He rode off, streaking ahead of Dane. Meg started to go after him but changed her mind. She watched him with tears in her eyes, her teeth nibbling her lower lip.

Theodore pushed forward too but stopped in front of Dane, blocking the road. "Listen to me, all of you. We are not evil. The friends we left behind are not evil. Whatever crimes we committed that landed us in prison will be a result of our circumstance—poverty and lack of opportunity leading to desperation. Not acts of evil."

"Hear, hear," Kitty said.

We all agreed. All except Dane and Balthazar.

Dane still had his back to me as we set off again, so I rode up to Balthazar instead.

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