The cold , hard floor of his cell wasn't all that comfortable but Laighean managed to find sleep briefly. He had been confident that he'd be released with a warning come morning. Afterall, he hadn't done much harm. Sure, he'd nicked a drunk's clothing and masqueraded as a duke's son, but the silly bastard should have known better than to be so careless. Really, it was all just a bit of fun!
"Captain's orders. The mage's head rolls in the morning. " The Warden was saying quite loudly and he grinned across the room, staring right at Laighean. When the mage sat up and looked, the Warden made a gesture across his throat.
Laighean glared at the man. These people seemed to be offended by magic and everything related to it. They seemed to want to eliminate him for that very fact alone, " Look, ah'm sorry for the wee trick ah played. Ah meant no 'arm by it. Really, if ah wanted to 'arm anyone ah-"
The Warden stormed over to Laighean's cell and stuck at the bars with his mace, "Shut up, scum!"
"No. Ah won't. This is silly. Why are you people so afraid of me? Magic is not that bad. Maybe if you'd joost give me a chance t' show ye-"
The Warden snarled and struck the bars again, aiming for Laighean's hands . Laighean quickly released the bars and stepped back in time to avoid the crushing blow, "I told you to shut your blasphemous mouth!" The Warden spat nastily. "Open your mouth again, mage and I'll come in there and kill you myself."
Laighean rolled his eyes at the man , "What difference does it make if ah'm t' die in a few hours anyway. Ah say come in 'ere and try yer luck but ah'm willin' t' bet ye danne 'ave the stomach fer it. "
The Warden's face turned bright cherry , but then his expression brightened and he laughed, pointing at Laighean. "I see what your plan is. You thought you'd trick me into opening the door and using your powers to escape, eh? You don't have me fooled, mage. I have heard all about you from the Duchess.
They say your magic works in the presence of Mordecai. So why not just use it now to escape, eh? Or was the Duchess exaggerating ?"
Laighean tilted his head, "Oh, well ah dannae know what Mordecai are."
The Warden burst out laughing, "How is that, mage?"
Laighean shrugged, "Ah dannae. Ah come from Aerona."
"Aerona?" Another guard inquired, his expression confused. "My mother used to read me stories about the place. It's just a legend. "
"No, it's real, lad. Ah assure ye. " Laighean replied with a shake of his head.
"He's mad. Don't listen to the silly git. " The Warden spat.
"No, really. Ah am from Aerona. "
The guards were amused.
"Oh yeah, and next you'll be telling us you're the King of this myth?" The Warden sneered at him.
Laighean shrugged, "Nae. That's me brother. Ah'm joost a prince. "
"Really? You're the prince of Aerona? So , then the whole ghost thing?"
"Well, " Laighean wondered if they really were that stupid. It was certainly worth a try, " Ah danne if ye boys could 'andle me real form. "
The guards looked at each other, all doubtful looks but they were amused enough by their insane mage captive to humor him. "Go ahead, prince of Aerona. Show us your true nature."
"Very well, but ah need ye to do joost one thing fer me. "
"And what's that?" The Warden smirked, confident that the crazy man was doomed to failure.
"Open the window behind ye. Ah need a connection to th' outside for me powers to work. "
The Warden nodded and waved to one of his subordinates, "Do it. "
Window open , Laighean nodded, "Thank ye. Now, a little bit of magic..." He raised a hand , palm extended out towards the window, he focused his mind and sought to connect with the energy outside . Finding a source of water wasn't difficult in Connlaoth as the season left the air particularly damp. He drew the moisture to him , and his hands gradually grew cold as ice . He grinned and blew a breath to his palm, spraying an icy blast across the torch just outside his cell, chilling it and snuffing out the flame.
Swathed in shadows, the man became ethereal.
" Ansgar! He-he's not lying! "
The guards jumped back.
"Idiots! Shut the door!"
Laighean chuckled and passed right through his cell. "Thank ye, boys. Ah'd love t' stay and 'ang around with ye but ah've got places t' go an' people to spook. Hehe! See ya!"
"You're not going anywhere, you monster!" The Warden snarled and drew his blade. He charged for the ghost , slashing first. He gasped when he passed right through Laighean , his blade cutting little more than air. The sensation left him chilled and stunned. The crazy mage wasn't so crazy after all.
"Well, ye tried." Laighean chuckled and walked right out the front door, leaving the guards to sit there in stunned silence.
Now free, Laighean wandered around the streets of Reajh and did his best to stick to the shadows and more secluded areas to avoid being seen. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd either wander his way back to the Grand Palace and try to regroup with Draven or head to the inn and hope that Draven might think to go back there . Ultimately, he decided that the inn was probably the wises t choice and he slowly made his way there. The quiet walk home had him thinking of Aella and how livid her mother had been. He hoped that she wasn't too hard on the poor lass because she hardly deserved it and he would have eagerly taken every ounce of punishment for her if he could. He'd thought about trying to see her again to apologize but no. He'd probably only make things worse . "Bah. Ah'm doubtin' she'd want t' see me right now anyways."