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»This is the story of Eddie the Banished, Sir Steve the Brave and their merry band of fools.« Eddie started with his usual dramatic flair. He had been stretched out on the bed next to Steve, but now he sat up to do his story - or well, maybe ‚performance‘ would be the better word - justice.
»Their story happened a long, long time ago, somewhere in Europe. A place with castles and fortresses, with princes and knights, bards and fools. The kind of place that only exists in history books and fantasy these days.
This was the world in which Sir Steve lived in a castle up on a hill overlooking a small town that was ruled by his parents.
Sir Steve had been knighted a few years ago and fought in some tournaments to prove himself, but nowadays he was mostly stuck on his parents’ estate. Supposedly his father was ‘showing him the ropes on how to take over as Lord Harrington’ but in reality the current Lord Harrington didn’t care enough about his son or his tenants to do anything of the sort,-«
Steve snorted at that and Eddie gave him a disapproving look before continuing as if there had been no interruption.
»-so instead Sir Steve spent his days practicing his fencing with Sir Tommy, going on rides through the forest or along the fields and sneaking away with Robin, one of the maids that had become his best friend. Sometimes Sir Steve wrote letters to Lady Nancy, his betrothed, but there was only so much one could say to someone he hadn’t seen since they were kids.«
Steve rolled his eyes, “For the last time Eddie, there is nothing going on between Nancy and I.”
“I know. Any resemblance of characters in this story to real people is complete coincidence, I promise Steve.” Eddie’s eyes were huge with false innocence and he drew a little cross over his heart. Steve could only chuckle fondly.
“Do you want to hear the story or not?”
“Of course I do, go on.”
Eddie grinned and cleared his throat.
»All in all, Sir Steve’s life was pretty boring. That was until one fateful evening that would change Steve’s life forever. Robin and him had snuck away to their favorite place, a nice little plateau overlooking the village. The only way to get there was hidden by a big bush. Not many people knew how to get there, so no one was likely to disturb them. Steve had nicked one of his father’s good bottles of wine from the cellar and he and Robin were talking about whether or not Robin had a chance with Vicky, the daughter of the local tailor."«
“Wait, you know about Robin’s crush on Vicky?” Steve interrupted the story again.
Eddie shrugged. “Yeah, she told me a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh… I didn’t know she told anyone else about that.”
“She told you, didn't she?”
“Yeah, but that’s…” Steve shook his head, it was Robin’s choice, he refused to be jealous of Eddie again. “Doesn’t matter, what happened that fateful evening on the plateau?”
Eddie smirked and leaned back a little, somehow closer to Steve than he was before.
»Well, Sir Steve and Robin the maid were arguing about what Vicky’s recent engagement meant for Robin’s chances when music floated up from the valley below them. Steve had never heard music quite like this and it fascinated him instantly.
He and Robin looked down into the valley and found the source of the music to be a group of travelers approaching the village from the north.
“Is that a group of traveling gleemen?” Robin asked Steve, “We haven’t had one of those in ages.”
“Yes, because my father hates them and has driven every group in a wide radius away under threat of prosecution. These must be from further away.” Steve replied.
“Let’s hope they get to stick around long enough for us to see a few of their performances. We could use some entertainment around here.”
Sir Steve only nodded and watched the group approach below them. Now that they were coming closer, he could make out some details, both in the song and the people. Neither were like anything Steve and Robin had ever seen before. They wore a lot more black and the music was less cheerful and whimsical, more dark and loud.
Steve and Robin watched on as they veered left just before they reached the town and found a meadow to set up their camp. Their arrival had been noticed not only by Steve and Robin and soon enough a few people came out to see what was going on and to greet the new arrivals.
“You should go greet them too,” Robin told Steve.
“My father would have my head, that would look too much like an endorsement. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow and might still have to sneak away. Maybe even don a disguise!”«
Steve interrupted: “A disguise? That sounds more like the kind of dramatic idea you or Dustin would have, not me.”
Eddie sighed, “Fine, you’re no fun. Then it’ll go like this:
»"My father would have my head, that would look too much like an endorsement. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow and might still have to sneak away.”
Robin grinned. “You should don a disguise!”
“As if that would do anything. Everyone in town knows me.”, Steve answered with an eye roll.
“You’re no fun.”«
“Hey!” Steve interrupted again and Eddie just grinned at him.
»“My parents are leaving for the ball at Kline castle tomorrow anyways. Maybe they won’t notice the camp and the gleemen won’t be disturbed until my parents are back.”
“We should warn them.”
“Yes, you should go do that.”
Robin widened her eyes at him. “I can’t do that! You forget, I’m just a poor defenseless woman and it’s getting dark!”
Steve raised an eyebrow at her and she chuckled. “Well, at least that’s what my mother would say. She’s always so worried about my virtue. Well, on the days I can convince her I still have that. She’s convinced you’ve been ‘dishonoring me’ and that I will tell her I’m having your bastard any day now.”
They looked at each other, shuddered and then started laughing.
After they calmed down, Steve sighed. “Fine, I’ll sneak down there and warn them to keep a low profile until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Will you go now, before it is completely dark?”
“No, I shall wait a few more hours. We should head back to the castle though, to avoid suspicion.”
“Of your parents maybe, I’m sure my mother has imagined you defiling me in great detail already.”
Steve shuddered again. “Please stop.”
Robin only laughed in response and took his offered hand to help her around the bush without getting her skirts caught.
A couple of hours later, Steve dressed in his least noticeable clothes, it wasn’t a disguise exactly, but at least he would draw very little attention this way. It was almost completely dark outside now, with only a faint glow of daylight on the horizon and the soft light of the moon to guide him down the castle hill and into the town. The moonlight reflected prettily on his carefully coiffed hair.«
“Really Eddie? Moonlight reflecting on hair?”, Steve interrupted with a raised eyebrow.
To his surprise it almost looked like Eddie blushed slightly. “Well, be happy Sir Steve is wearing a shirt. Otherwise the moon would reflect off his chest hair. You should have seen yourself that might on the lake. Majestic I tell you,” Eddie teased. Steve just gave him a gentle shove and shook his head.
“You know what? As punishment we’re switching to Eddie the Banished point of view!
»Eddie the Banished was sitting by the dying remains of a campfire, softly thrumming a lute when he suddenly heard a voice behind him: "Excuse me?” the voice said, startling Eddie so much that he jumped up and raised the lute to possibly defend himself with.
“Fuck! Don’t sneak up like that!”
The stranger had the audacity to laugh. “Weren’t you meant to keep watch?” Eddie blushed and mumbled something indistinguishable, but he lowered the lute. The stranger ignored him and continued. “No matter. I am here to warn you.”
“Warn us? You don’t even know us.”
“No, but I know my father, Lord Harrington. And he does not look kindly on traveling folk like you.”
Eddie’s eyes widened in worried surprise and he interrupted, “Oh shit, you’re the Lord’s son? And you came to warn us instead of just sticking the guards on us?” He couldn’t afford to get into trouble with someone like Lord Harrington or his son.
“Yes. Anyways, you're in luck, my parents are leaving for a fortnight tomorrow. If you can keep a low profile until tomorrow afternoon, you can stay a while.”
Eddie raised an eyebrow, confused. “Why?”
“Why what?” The man’s voice sounded confused, “Why are they leaving? I don’t know why that would be of interest to you, but…”
“No, why are you warning us?” Eddie interrupted again.
“Oh,” the man blushed slightly and very prettily, “because nothing ever happens here and we could all use some entertainment. I heard your song when you came and it was… fascinating, I have never heard a song like that…” he trailed off and Eddie tried not to be endeared by his rambling.
“Well then I thank you my lord,” Eddie said with a laugh.
“Oh, I’m not a lord. Just Steve. Sir Steve, I guess.”
Eddie grinned and took a deep, exaggerated bow. “An honor to meet you Sir ‘Just Steve’ Harrington. I am Eddie the Banished.”
“The Banished?”
“It’s a long story, too long for tonight. Come back tomorrow night for our opening performance and maybe I’ll tell you after. Or are you leaving with your parents?” Eddie hoped he wasn't; he wanted to learn more about this Steve.
“No, I’ll be there tomorrow. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. Very kind of you to warn us.”
“Yeah, yeah of course. No problem. I will see you tomorrow then.”
“Sleep well, good sir.”
Steve looked flustered. “Uh, yeah, you too,” he said and left the way he had come. Eddie sat back down and grinned. This was shaping up to be an interesting stop for him.
Eddie had told the rest of the group about the late night visitor's warning and they spent the morning in relative silence, which was quite unusual for them. Instead of their usual noisy practice and teasing, they used the time to go into the village in small groups to get the lay of the land, purchase some supplies and quietly spread the word about their performance that night.
They also send Dustin and Lucas to see if they could find out when exactly Lord and Lady Harrington would be leaving their castle. About an hour after the sun had passed its highest point, the two of them returned to report that the Harringtons had left and the group could start their usual preparation.
Eddie always loved the first performance in a new place. There was so much potential, so much excitement and yes, there were always hecklers, but they were part of the experience and he had long since learned how to use them to his advantage. He couldn’t wait for the performance and he hoped Sir Steve would keep his promise to come see them.
Evening came and when the sun began to set, Eddie and his group started their performance. They each had their own specialties, Eddie, Jeff and Gareth played music of course, but with the varied talents of the others their show was far from one-sided. Eddie led the audience through the show with practiced ease and glossed over mishaps like when one of Lucas trick shots ricocheted and the ball almost hit a man in the front row in the head, or when the wheel of Max' board fell of on her last jump.«
“A board with wheels and trick shots with a ball? Very medieval Eddie”, Steve teased with a laugh.
“Do you know what kind of things they performed back then? And anyways, it’s my story, so shut up and enjoy it or suffer your man-flu all by your lonesome”, Eddie huffed in mock outrage.
“No, no, please continue. I love it”, Steve amended and Eddie gave a small, pleased smile that gave Steve a funny feeling.
»Eddie was rather pleased when he spotted Sir Steve in the surprisingly large crowd, maybe Steve had been right and the town was starved for entertainment. Eddie was less pleased when a young woman joined Steve and he put his arm around her. They seemed to be whispering and giggling with each other throughout the entire performance and honestly, Eddie was a little offended. Was their show not entertaining enough for someone like Sir Steve? He tried to ignore them, but his eyes kept being drawn back over to them. At one point Jeff had to elbow him to introduce the next act.«
Eddie paused for a second and tried to subtly check if Steve was reacting to the turn the story had taken, but Steve had closed his eyes and smiled softly, apparently listening happily. Eddie suppressed a sigh and continued:
»After the performance was over and most of the crowd had dispersed, Eddie noticed that Steve and the woman were still around. He had just decided to pretend that he hadn’t seen them, when Steve spotted him and almost jumped up and down waving him over. “Eddie! Eddie, over here!"«
Steve huffed “I don’t jump up and down.”
“You might not, but Sir Steve does.”
Steve was about to reply, but Eddie was faster. “Stop interrupting, or I’ll forget where I wanted the story to go.”
Steve huffed again but only wordlessly gestured for Eddie to continue.
»Eddie walked over to them, trying to put on his usual flare. He took a deep bow in front of them. “Sir Steve, my Lady, what an honor that you have graced our performance with your presence.”
Steve blushed and Eddie couldn’t believe his luck. The woman next to him only laughed. “I’m no Lady, just a simple maid. Robin, nice to meet you.”
Eddie grinned at her. “A pleasure to meet you as well. I am known as Eddie the Banished.”
“The Banished? How dramatic. Why?”
“That’s a story best told around a blazing campfire with a cup of ale in hand. You two are welcome to help tidy up and come back to our camp with us. I could be convinced to tell you the story there.”
Robin looked at Steve who shrugged and looked at Eddie. Eddie just raised a questioning eyebrow and Steve looked back at Robin. They stayed silent, apparently communicating just with their eyes for a few moments before Robin turned back to Eddie. “We’d be delighted. Wouldn’t we, Steve?”
Steve seemed to blush again and mumbled something vaguely affirmative.
Their many hands made quick work of the tidying and Eddie enjoyed watching Steve help the younger members of the group. On the way back to their camp he was carrying Max’s board as well as Erica’s juggling bag while asking Dustin about his contortions. Dustin was talking a mile a minute but Steve seemed to be genuinely interested in his answers.
Robin interrupted his… uhm… observations and asked: “You’re staring.”
Eddie startled, “no! I’m… observing. Making sure Sir Steve isn’t corrupting the youth.”
Robin laughed. “Steve? Corrupting the youth? He’s too much of a mother hen for that.”
“He brought his mistress to our performance, didn’t he?”
Robin groaned. “Not you too! There is nothing between Steve and I. He’s like my brother!”
“Oh, so you’re not his mistress, your mother was his father’s mistress?”
“What? No! No mistresses anywhere!” She paused, “Well, we’re pretty sure Lord Harrington has at least one mistress somewhere, but definitely not my mother. Steve and I are just best friends.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so, and so would Steve if you asked him. Steve is betrothed anyways. To Lady Nancy, Lord Wheeler’s eldest daughter.”
“Oh.” Eddie didn’t really know what to say.
“They haven’t seen each other since they were kids, but they write each other letters and she is supposed to come visit in a few months.”
“Hm,” Eddie said and was rather glad when they arrived at their camp and their conversation was forced to end.
They made quick work of putting away their things and lighting a fire and soon Eddie, Steve, Robin, Dustin, Max and Lucas were sitting around said fire with the promised ale in hand. The others had gone off somewhere else to places unknown and unimportant to Eddie.
Dustin had tried to sit next to Steve but a glare from Eddie had sent him to sit with Max and Lucas instead and Eddie could sit down next to Steve.
“Sir Steve, you have honored us with your presence at our humble performance and even brought Lady Robin-“
Robin interrupted: “I’m not a lady!”, but Eddie ignored her.
“-so she could grace us with her presence as well. You have earned the reward of getting the story of how simple Eddie the stable boy became Eddie the Banished, leader of the most amazing gleemen group in all the lands!”
Max looked at him and gave a meaningful cough.
“I’m sorry. Gleemen and gleewomen group of course.”
Max gave a satisfied smirk and Robin laughed. “I like you,” she said, pointing at Max.
“Oh Max, El and Erica would never let any of us get away with forgetting them. We keep arguing that we should just call ourselves gleepeople, but Eddie and Dustin insist that sounds wrong.”
“Hmm… I can’t really deny that… what about gleefolk?”
Dustin perked up. “Gleefolk! I like that! Eddie?”
“Fine, fine. The story about how I became Eddie the Banished, leader of the most amazing gleefolk group in all the lands. Happy now?”
Max, Dustin and Robin nodded, Lukas smirked and Steve giggled in a not very knightly way that made Eddie want to hear him giggle like that again and again.«
Eddie kept glancing at Steve, wondering when he would catch on, but Steve seemed to be unaware or unbothered by the hints that became more heavy-handed by the minute.
»"I make it sound dramatic and interesting but in reality, it is a sad and tragic story without a happy end. You might know Lord and Lady Cunningham and their daughter Lady Chrissy?"
Steve nodded slightly confused. "Didn't she die tragically a year or so ago? I met her once and I have fought her betrothed Jason. A real piece of work, that guy."
"That Lady Chrissy, yes. I lived most of my life on Lord Cunningham's estate and have, well, not known, but known off Lady Chrissy, for a long time. We weren't friends or anything, but the few times we did interact she was always nice to me, much nicer than any noble person I ever met." He looked at Steve, "Except for you of course, Sir Steve."
Steve blushed and Eddie was pleased.
"I knew this old man, Rick, he was known for his herbal concoctions around town. They were popular for both medicinal and recreational use. He showed me a few of his recipes and had me sell some of his wares in town when he wasn't in the mood to go into town himself. Chrissy knew that and came to me for something to help against nightmares. Except it turned out whatever was plaguing her was worse than simple nightmares, because while we were in my cabin and I was searching for the right concoction, something dark took hold of her and…” Eddie swallowed thickly “...she died. In the most terrible way.”
Eddie wasn’t surprised to feel a hand on his back, but he was surprised to discover it was Steve’s hand. He had expected Dustin or maybe Max, but it was Steve who had moved closer to comfort him. That moved Eddie so much that he had to swallow again. He flashed Steve a thankful smile, hoping his eyes weren’t looking too shiny.
“She was lifted into the air by an invisible force, her bones snapped and her eyes-” Eddie couldn’t continue and Steve gently rubbed his back.
“You don’t have to tell us.”
Eddie took a deep breath, “I couldn’t do anything to help her and then she fell and she was dead and I didn’t know what to do, so I just ran and hid.
"When they found her body, they assumed I had killed her. Lord Cunningham set a bounty on my head and Sir Jason started outright hunting me. For a few days I could hide at Rick’s house while he, my uncle, Jeff and Gareth gathered supplies. Jeff, Gareth and I used to play music at a tavern together and we had always joked about taking our act on the road. They were kind enough to come with me and we have been outlaws ever since.”
Eddie raised his arms dramatically. “And that is the story of how I became Eddie the Banished. Over time we gathered more friends who travel with us, but I will let them tell their own stories in due time.”
Steve squeezed Eddie’s shoulder before taking his hand away.
“Thank you for telling us that story. I’m so sorry that happened to you and Chrissy. I hope your name can be cleared one day.”
Eddie didn’t know what to answer so he just nodded with a tight smile and raised his cup to Steve in thanks.
Everyone was silent for a little while after that, the mood a little sullen. But soon Erica yelled from somewhere, accusing Lucas of hiding some of her things and the ensuing sibling squabble lightened the mood.
They spent a couple more hours around the campfire, laughing, talking and drinking until Robin and Steve had to go home.
Eddie walked them to the edge of the camp. For a moment he thought Steve was going to hug him when they stopped to say goodbye, but there was no hug. Just a warm smile and an invitation: “Thank you for tonight, I haven’t had that much fun in a while.”
Robin huffed out an offended “Hey!” but Steve ignored her.
“You should come visit me at the castle while my parents are away. We have a big ball room that makes music sound amazing, I think you would like to play there. And the floor is really smooth, I’m sure Max’ board would go really fast on it. Dustin and Erica might like that abacus my father brought home from his travels…”
Eddie interrupted him with a hand on his arm. “Steve. We would love to come visit. Thank you.”
Robin snickered in the background and Eddie hoped it was dark enough so Steve couldn’t see his blush.«
Steve moved closer and leaned his head against Eddie’s hip, making Eddie’s heart skip a beat.
“He should have hugged him.” Steve said with a sleepy voice.
“Steve or Eddie?”
“Either. Both. They should have hugged.”
Eddie hummed in agreement, too nervous to answer.
“You sound tired, do you want me to stop?”, he asked instead.
“No. He isn’t Steve the Brave yet and he hasn’t joined the gleefolk. He needs to join them!” Steve insisted and Eddie couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright. I will do a little time skip then, so we can get to that part.”
Steve nodded sleepily against his leg.
»Over the next week Eddie saw Steve every day. Steve came to all their performances and visited their camp most days. The group took him up on his invitation and visited the castle, Steve had been right, the acoustics in the ballroom were amazing and Eddie wished they could perform in ballrooms all the time.
Max used the ballroom and the long hallways in the castle to reach new speeds on her board and Dustin and Erica seemed worryingly tempted to steal Lord Harrington’s abacus. They really didn’t need any more lords setting bounties on them.
All in all, Eddie didn’t want to leave the Harrington estate, or rather, he didn’t want to leave Steve. But they couldn’t risk staying any longer, both because Lord and Lady Harrington were expected back any day now and because the longer they stayed somewhere, the bigger the chances were that Sir Jason and other bounty hunters would catch up to them.
The day of their goodbye came sooner than any of them liked, the entire group had become friends with Steve and Robin. Well, Jeff and Gareth were still a little weary of Steve, but liked Robin a lot. It turned out Robin could play a mean flute and they had both tried to convince her to join them and turn the trio into a quartet. Robin had only laughed and said she would never leave Steve behind. Eddie had wanted to say Steve should just join them too. The younger members of their group would have loved that. Dustin especially worshiped Steve. Eddie was almost jealous.
But Steve was the son of a Lord. He had responsibilities and duties to fulfill. He couldn’t go traipsing across the countryside with a bunch of outlaws, no matter how much Eddie wanted him to. So he never brought it up, and when the day came on which they had to leave, he followed Dustin’s example and gave Steve a tight hug.
“I will miss you Sir Steve. I hope the Fates will let us meet again someday.”
Steve’s laugh sounded almost a little wet next to Eddie’s ear as he hugged him back just as tightly. “I’ll miss you too. Keep an ear out, you’ll always have a place here when I’m Lord Harrington. I can protect you from Lord Cunningham and Sir Jason.”
Eddie swallowed and hugged him closer. “Thank you Stevie, I will.”
Both their faces were a little red and their eyes a little shiny when they stepped back from the hug, there were a few knowing looks from their friends but no one said anything.
After more goodbyes between all of the gleefolk and Steve and Robin, they took their packs and made their way out of town the same way they had come in, leaving Steve and Robin standing next to the smoking remains of last night's fire. Eddie turned around one last time to wave at them and caught longing looks from both of them that had him turn back around quickly before he could do something stupid.«
“Hey! That’s not Steve and Robin joining them. You can’t end the story that way!” Steve complained.
“Who said the story ends here?” Eddie asked. “But to get to the end, we need to switch back to Steve’s point of view.”
»Steve missed Eddie almost as soon as the group disappeared behind the next hill. And Dustin. And the others of course. But maybe he missed Eddie just a little bit more. He wasn't really sure why. When he tried to talk to Robin about it, she had laughed in his face and told him he would figure it out eventually.
For the next two days he was bored and a little mopey. He almost looked forward to his parents' return, maybe when things went back to normal, he could forget about Eddie’s gleefolk group. Robin was very annoyed by his moping, but Steve could tell she missed the excitement of the past week as well. He knew Jeff and Gareth had asked her to join them, and while he was glad she hadn’t, he also felt guilty. Maybe he should have encouraged her to go with them.
Now it was too late, they were gone and there was a good chance they would never see Eddie, Dustin or any of the others again. It broke Steve’s heart a little.
His parents came home on the third day after Eddie and the others left and Steve was informed of their return by a servant who found him doing some lackluster sword drills.
“Sir Steve! Your father has returned with prisoners and is requesting your assistance.”
“Prisoners? How does one go to a ball and return with prisoners?” Steve asked as he put away his sword.
“I was not informed of that sir, I was only told to fetch you.”
“I will be there momentarily. Thank you Nathan.”
The servant bowed and left. Steve took a moment to wipe the sweat off his face and fix his hair before going to meet his parents.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the first prisoner led out of the luggage carriage. It was El, there were dried tear tracks on her face but now her expression was stoic.
“Father!” Steve hurried over trying his best to hide that he recognized El. “Why do you have her prisoner? She is just a girl.”
Lord Harrington turned to his son, clearly annoyed at this forward question. “How dare you question me? You shall show me more respect boy, I am your Lord and your father!”
Steve had to steel himself to not take a step back.
“She is no simple girl, she is a dangerous witch. We will burn her at the stake as soon as Lord Cunningham arrives.”, his father continued.
Steve paled a terrible suspicion forming in his mind. “Lord Cunningham?” he stammered “What does Lord Cunningham have to do with her?”
Before his father could answer, Steve’s suspicion was confirmed, when the guards led the second prisoner out of the carriage. Eddie. His hair was a tangled mess and his clothes were partly torn up. Steve could see bruises beneath his clothes and on his face. Had he tried to fight to save El?
Eddie’s eyes went wide when he saw Steve, and Steve felt a little unsteady on his feet. Luckily it seemed like no one had noticed their reaction to each other.
“Yes, this monster is the one who killed his daughter, Lady Chrissy. I have already sent word to him so he can be present for the execution. Have them brought to the most secure cells in the dungeon. They have strange powers, we cannot risk them getting out.”
Steve wanted to refuse, he wanted to scream at his father that they weren’t dangerous, that he had to let them go. Beg him, tell him they were his friends. But he knew none of that would have any effect, he would have to be smarter if he wanted to free them.
He tried to sneak an apologetic look at Eddie and El as he followed the guards leading them into the dungeons. He did what he could to make them as comfortable as possible without causing suspicion and once they were settled he went to look for Robin. They needed a plan to save them.
“Fuck!” was Robin’s first reaction when Steve told her about his father’s prisoners. “Can you get them out?”
“Probably, it won’t be easy, but I could probably do it.”
“Can you make it look like someone else did it?”
“Yeah. But I won’t. My father would kill them.”
“He could kill you too.”
“I know. I don’t plan on staying here. Maybe Eddie will let me join their group if I rescue him and El.”
“You’re going to give up your life? Your title, your birthright, all of that money and power?”
Steve shrugged. “I’m not sure I ever wanted it. What if I just end up like my father? And I certainly don’t want it if the cost is innocent lives.”
Robin hugged him tightly. “You are very brave, Steve.”
Steve shook his head. “I’m really not, but thank you.” He hugged her back tightly before stepping back. “I hate to ask you this, it’ll put you in danger too, but if I gather some things, do you think you could get them and a message to the rest of Eddie’s group? They have to be close by and freaking out. We have to stop them from doing something stupid.”
“Yes of course. I can find them and then leave you a message in our usual spot so El, Eddie and you can join us as soon as you free them.”
“No, you should just deliver my things and the message and then go back home. You don’t need to give up anything as well.”
Robin laughed. “Please. If you join the gleefolk, I join the gleefolk. I’m not giving up much and everyone would assume I helped you free them anyways. There is no way I’m sticking around this hellhole without you.”
Now it was Steve’s turn to wrap Robin in a hug. “You are the best, Robin. Thank you.”
“I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning and you can give me whatever you want me to take to the others.”
Steve agreed and they both headed back to their respective homes to make preparations.
At dinner that night, Steve tried to get a little more information from his father. It turned out his parents had stopped in to visit a friend and unfortunately that had been in the same town where the gleefolk group had stopped for a little performance. Lady Harrington had taken offense with El’s mind reading and Lord Harrington had recognized Eddie from Lord Cunningham's descriptions of the monster who killed his daughter. They had ordered their guards to size them and to take them back to Harrington castle.
Steve wanted to scream. He wished he could have been there, he wished he could have helped, he wished they would have picked any other town to stop in, he wished his parents would have arrived a day earlier or later. But he couldn’t change what happened, he could only try and fix it.
The tricky part would be to get rid of the guard long enough to get Eddie and El out without anyone noticing that the prisoners were gone until the next day. Steve knew most of the guards pretty well, depending on the guard on duty, that could be relatively easy to downright impossible. If the wrong guard was on duty, Steve might have to wait a day longer to rescue Eddie and El.
Steve didn’t sleep well that night, he couldn’t stop thinking about the two of them down in the dungeons where it was damp and dark. He needed to get them out tomorrow.
He got up as early as he dared the next morning and went down to the dungeon guard with a cup of strong tea and some freshly baked bread. The night guard was very thankful and happily told Steve who would be on guard that evening. It was Peter, who wasn’t the sharpest mind, was a little too fond of ale for his own good and owed Steve because he had caught him and a kitchen maid in a bush once when Peter had been supposed to be on duty and Steve had never told on them. He was probably the easiest option for this rescue mission.
The guard even let Steve take over his watch for a few minutes while he went to relieve himself, giving Steve enough time to speak to Eddie and El for a moment.
Eddie jumped up the second Steve opened the little hatch in the heavy wooden door. “Steve!”
Steve shoved a piece of still warm bread at him. “I’m so sorry my parents did this to you. I’m working on a way to get you out.”
“You- you are?” It broke Steve’s heart a little how surprised Eddie sounded.
“Of course, they’ve sent for Lord Cunningham and they want to burn El as a witch.”
“But isn’t that risky for you?”
“Yeah, but…” he shrugged and avoided eye contact. “I thought maybe we could be outlaws together?”
Eddie let out a startled laugh and Steve shushed him. “Sorry, sorry. Yes, of course. I would be honored to have you join our band of outlaws.”
Steve looked around nervously. “Thank you, we'll talk about it once you're out of here. I have to go, I want to talk to El and the guard could be back any moment. I will be back tonight.”
Eddie nodded and Steve moved to the next door. El was sitting cross legged on the floor when he opened her hatch. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t look up.
“El” Steve called out and she opened her eyes, eerily calm for someone facing death.
“I talked to Mike. They are nearby in the woods and are trying to make a plan on how to save us. Can you tell Eddie?”
Steve decided not to question how she could have talked to Mike, he didn’t know much about El, but he knew that she could do things normal people couldn’t.
“I have a plan on how to get you out. Tell Mike to not do anything. Robin will come find them later today, can you tell him that she will meet him or one of the others at the old bridge about half an hour north from where you were camping? I hope to get you and Eddie out tonight. We can meet up with them tomorrow morning, Robin knows where to leave me a message so we can find them.”
El nodded. “I will tell him, thank you Steve. Robin won't have to leave a message, I can find them.”
She was still so calm, it made Steve a little nervous. “I have bread for you, if you want it.”
She nodded again and got up to get the bread. Steve heard footsteps and quickly closed the hatch to return to the little guards table.
He talked to the guard a few more minutes before going to meet Robin to give her the supplies he had gathered and tell her what El told him. After that, the only thing Steve could do was wait and pretend it was a day like any other. It felt like the longest day of Steve’s life.
It was just starting to get dark when Steve made his way down to the dungeons for the second time that day. This time he was armed with a bottle of ale. Peter was sitting at the table, looking very bored.
“Hello Peter,” Steve greeted him and Peter jumped up.
“Sir Steve! What are you doing down here?”
Steve made up a story that the kitchen maid Peter was seeing wanted to talk to him urgently, but was too scared to come into the dungeons herself. He then offered to take over Peter's watch so he could go talk to her. Peter thanked him and stood up to leave.
“But only for half an hour! We don’t want anyone to get suspicious.” Steve called after him, knowing full well that Peter would be gone for at least 45 minutes, but that was exactly what he wanted. He set the ale bottle on the table and went to retrieve the cell key.
“Thank you!” Eddie exclaimed when Steve opened his cell door and Steve had no idea how to react. , “I was so worried the others would do something stupid and get thrown in here as well.”
"You’re welcome. Come on, we don’t have much time. Let’s free El and then you two have to sneak out of here while I wait for the guard to come back. He can’t know you’re gone, we need a head start.”
They freed El and Steve explained exactly how they could sneak out of the castle and where to hide until Steve could join them. He sent the two of them off, hoping that they wouldn’t get caught. He didn’t really have a plan for that situation.
As soon as they had left, Steve relocked the cell doors, put the key back and sat at the table to wait for Peter. Of course Peter didn’t come back for almost an hour and Steve had an easy time pretending to be annoyed by the delay. He said something about being late now and hurried off, pretending to forget his ale bottle. He was sure Peter wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation which would make him even less likely to admit to anyone that he had left his post and let Steve take over. The truth would come out eventually, but the longer it took, the better for Steve, Eddie and the others.
Eddie and El hadn’t been caught and were waiting just where Steve had told them. He was greeted by another hug from both of them, but stopped them after a short moment. The faster they got away from here, the better.
They had been walking for about an hour when Eddie looked at him. “You know that this means that you can probably never go home again, don’t you?”
Steve nodded. “Yeah, but I can live with that. I’ll follow your example and make people my home, not a place.”
Eddie smiled. “That’s really brave Steve. I cannot thank you enough.”
“Sir Steve the Brave. That could be your new name,” El interjected.
“Yeah? Is that a requirement for your group? To have a title like that?”
“Yes.”
“So what is yours?” Steve asked.
“Eleven the Powerful.” El replied without hesitation and Steve was a little dumbfounded. It suited her, but he hadn’t expected her to declare it like that.
Eddie laughed and threw an arm over Steve’s shoulder. “I will reintroduce you to everyone with their full title when we meet the others. But I like Steve the Brave for you. It suits you.”«
Eddie looked down at Steve, who looked like he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. “And that how Sir Steve, son of Lord and Lady Harrington joined a gleefolk group and became Sir Steve the Brave.”
Steve cracked open an eye and smiled up at Eddie so softly that Eddie had trouble keeping his hands to himself.
“Thank you Eddie, that was a great story. You’ll have to tell me more of their adventures someday.”
“I might, if you’re nice to me.” Eddie teased.
“I’m always nice.” Steve mumbled and closed his eyes again. Eddie was sure he had fallen asleep, but then Steve spoke again.
“So… Eddie the Banished… It seemed like he might have, uhm, some feelings for Sir Steve the Brave.”
Eddie was pretty sure his heart would beat out of his chest any moment. “Uhm… maybe, yeah.”
Steve hummed. “That’s good. Is that- is that something you two have in common or is that another one of those coincidences?”
Eddie swallowed. “I… yeah. Sorry. I know you’re not… I shouldn’t have put that in the story.”
He was about to get up from the bed and leave when Steve’s hand on his tight stopped him.
“No. Don’t leave, don’t be sorry.”
“What?” Eddie was more than a little confused, but stayed where he was.
“I want to be brave too. I want to have that in common with Sir Steve."
"You are brave Steve and you have lots of things in common with Sir Steve." Eddie wasn't sure where Steve was going with this, but he didn't seem angry or disgusted, that had to be a good sign.
"I have something else in common with him. He has feelings for Eddie the banished. And I-" Steve hesitated and Eddie wasn't sure he could take it. "I have feelings for you."
"You do?"
"I do, I would like you to kiss me in fact."
Eddie was overwhelmed, this was not what he had planned for. To be honest, he hadn't planned any of this, he had just started telling a story and it had taken on a life of its own. He hadn't meant to confess his feelings like this. “Uh, let’s revisit that tomorrow, I would prefer it if you were properly awake for our first kiss.”
Steve nodded. “That makes sense, but will you hold me?”
Eddie was too surprised by it all to answer, instead he just laid down next to Steve and let Steve curl up in his arms. It felt heavenly and couldn’t help but to bury his face in Steve’s hair. Steve hummed happily, closed his eyes and was asleep in what felt like seconds.
It took Eddie longer to fall asleep, but he was smiling widely the entire time.