The trio from Hofingrad weren't the only ones drawn to visit the lake once the others had left it. With the soldiers firmly reprimanded and their rations halved; the officers had dictated that anyone caught within the vicinity of the lake for the rest of the night would be marching barefoot the following day. The soldiers thought better than to share this detail with Pike and his friends.

Fortunately, Min spotted them before they were noticed.

"Wait," he whispered, "Who is that?"

Beneath the soft moonlight, it was hard to make out the figures in the water. Two broke away from the group, swimming closer to Min, Pike and Rel as they held their breaths and hid amongst the trees.

"Does your ankle feel any better?," one officer asked the other, "You need to be more careful when dismounting; the rocks are loose under foot this time of year."

"It's fine," came the reply, his youthful companion leaning back and floating on the water's surface; his pale naked body glistening with droplets, "You think I can't do anything right."

Gliding through the lakewater, the first officer swam to the feet of the second, laying kisses on his ankle as he squirmed and lost his balance. The sweetness of his laughter was barely heard before his head slipped under and was righted again.

"You do many things right, but you're the clumsiest fucker I've ever met."

"That was your fault... and so was the dismount. It wasn't so much 'loose rocks' than it was your concern for the Maddening Witch. As soon as we stopped you demanded it be seen to."

"And am I not seeing to you now?" asked the first officer, encircling the second and kissing his neck.

"Not in the water you're not," he insisted, "It sounds more romantic than it is... the noise of it alone..."

"How do you know?!" demanded the first officer, chasing the second to the shore as they went to find their clothes, "Tell me! Who did you do it with in the water?!"

The second officer silenced him with a kiss.

"Not so loud," he told him, "Your brother-in-law will only get upset if he catches us again."

The pair grabbed their things and left to find a quiet spot where disapproving inlaws couldn't find them. Having come to the realization that their numbers were dwindling, those remaining on the far side of the lake decided it to call it a night themselves and get some rest. Even on horseback, there were still two days of travel ahead of them.

The Hofingrad contingent found themselves alone; each with differing thoughts running through their heads regarding the scene they'd witnessed. For Pike, things had played out perfectly naturally. He might have wished for a similar experience for himself and the witch; except that one of the officers was married. He would never want to reduce the witch to the position of mistress, he would be his wife for all to see.

"Well..." said Min, thankful that the darkess obscured his blushing face, "What was all that about?"

Rel frowned, and cast a glance in the direction the officers had left in. "That's what they do for fun in the city, I suppose. Clearly they haven't the beauties in Velmund that we've got at home... why else would they... No matter. Pike, Min, hurry and wash so we can get to bed."

"And no more fighting," Min declared, "What were you thinking, Pike? It's one thing if there's a scuffle once we've arrived, but they're not above making serious trouble for us if you provoke them before we even reach the capital."

Pike disrobed, lowering his body into the lake that no splash could reach the ears of the soldiers.

"I needed to vent," said Pike, "Some men fuck, I suppose, but all I've known is to fight."

"You want someone to fuck?" asked Rel, "There's plenty of girls back in Hofingrad that'd hitch their skirts if you gave them a smile. Not that I'd recommend it, mind you. As evidenced at Hafing's, yours might not be the only smile they hitch it for... Let's try Forinstad instead! The three of us. When we get back, Min'll buy us that drink, and we'll see what delights are on offer."

With reason enough to return, Pike would soon forget about helping the witch.

"I won't press why," said Min, joining Pike in the water, "But I'm glad we're on the same page for once. We're here for the money; there's plenty of everything else back home but that."

"Hear, hear!" cried Rel from the shore.

"Not joining us?" asked Min.

Rel laughed to himself, content to dangle his feet and hands into the water before rinsing his face. 

"Still can't swim," he replied, "Yes I know, even that fatty Ursa can float better than I can."

"I could hold you up if it would help?" offered Min.

The vision of the entangled officers was much too fresh in Rel's mind.

"I'm fine as I am," he replied.

"It's a wonder you even learned to swim, Pike," noted Min, "Your mother's always chased you out of the sea whenever you found a chance to try. Pike..?"

Whispering the witch's incantations under his breath, Pike had been trailing his hand through the water, trying to feel that elusive resistance. The more effort he exerted, the greater the force of his wake. As the ripples ran through his fingers, he realized he was deluding himself; creating sensations in place of the magic he failed to muster.

"Pike?" called Rel, "Did something brush you?"

"Hypothetically," Pike began, "If you were looking for a key in the water, how would you go about finding it?"

"A key?" asked Min, "If you've gone and dropped something I'd say it's gone forever; unless you were planning to drain the whole lake."

"The fishermen wire theirs to a piece of a cork," Rel explained, "Then if you drop it, it's easy enough to retrieve. What's the key for anyway? I've never known your mother to lock her door."

"It's less of a key... and more like a keyhole I suppose," said Pike, "If you were trying to find one in the water, what would you do?"

"This is getting much too confusing," noted Min, "Why would there be a door in the water? Or are you thinking of a treasure chest?"

"If that's the case... couldn't you use a net or something? Dredge the water to find it? Though it might take just as long as diving down to look for yourself."

Time was something Pike didn't have.

"Forget that then," he said turning his attention to a different keyhole entirely. "Imagine you did find, say, a treasure chest... but you didn't have the key. Could you pick the lock? How might someone... pick a lock?"

"Just bash it open!" Min determined, "You may not have the skill to pick it, but I've no doubt you've the strength to break it. I saw what you did to Elion; a little lock should break faster than he did."

"But what if I didn't want to harm the chest?" asked Pike.

Rel didn't like the direction the conversation was taking. "Some locks are not meant to be broken," he told him plainly, "Hurry up and dress yourselves; we should get back and get some sleep in us."

Not one slept easily that night. Min kept watch on the soldiers, fearing their retribution, while Rel kept watch on a restless Pike; scared that his daring would escalate. No soul had wondered aloud how to pick a lock without having one in mind they wanted to open. It would be better that Rel feed the witch in the morning.

No such luck.

By the time Rel was woken by an officer's boot in his side, Pike had already made his way to the carriage. The guards unbolted the door and waved him inside without ceremony; barely registering which warden had bothered to arrive. 

The witch had passed an uncomfortable night in the damp of the carriage; he coughed in the darkness, his weakened body hunched and broken. Pike removed his armor, wrapping the witch with the warmth of his arms as he sought to comfort him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you like this," he said, flinging the witch's sodden blanket to the floor and holding him closer, "You should never have to feel the cold again."

The witch sank into his warden's arms, thankful that the night had finally passed. His body ached, his head felt heavy, and yet there was someone willing to bear its weight. Days alone in his cell, he would remember this; how fiercely those arms embraced him.

"It's not long now..." said the witch, "This journey is almost at its end."

Pike kissed his face, stroking the witch's hair as he cradled him, the bitter tears of defeat threatening to fall. No. It cannot end this way.

Unfastening his doublet, he draped it around the shivering shoulders of the witch, turning his attention to the lock that secured his chains. Jutting from the bench was an iron post, to which the shackles were firmly bolted. To the furthest side, and hardest to reach, was the keyhole. Designed so that whosoever opened the opposite door could unshackle the prisoner in an easier manner. Coming at it from the wrong side already posed an obstacle.

"Have you ever picked a lock?" Pike asked hopefully.

"No. Never."

"No matter. There's a first time for everything..."

Leaning across him, Pike pulled at one of the boards on the window, hoping to loosen a screw and grant himself a little more light in the process. The metal freed and his fingers bloody, Pike blindly tried it in the keyhole, turning it in both directions with no success.

"Your neck..." 

The witch caught sight of the raw and chafed flesh where Pike's armor had injured him.

"It's not as bad as your wrists have suffered," offered Pike, "We need to remove the chains, but I don't know what I'm doing."

"Leave them. Leave me..."

"No," said Pike, a hand clutching the witch's tightly, his other continuing to try the lock, "Never."

"Then..." the witch closed his eyes and inhaled as deeply as his shallow breaths would allow for, "In my hair... there's still a pin they didn't remove. I can feel it near the nape of my neck."

Pike thrust his hand into the grease and tangles until his finger ran across a thin metal rod in the witch's hair. In his excitement he tried to pull it free, the witch wincing in pain before he realized he needed a gentler touch to extricate it. With careful manoeuvring, the pin was liberated as painlessly as he could manage.

"I shouldn't think it'll work but-"

Pike kissed him in relief. There was hope between them; however small and unassuming. It lay there, stuck with hairs in the warden's hand, like a precious treasure. He tried it at once, turning, lifting, and delighting in the tiny sounds of movement it issued.

"I think this could be it," he said.

The guards banged on the door. It was time to depart.

"Later," said the witch, "We can try it later, but for now you must hurry."

Pike tended quickly to the witch's needs, and secured the hair pin to the witch's sleeve. He was preparing to wear his armor with nothing but his undershirt when the prisoner called out.

"Your clothes! They're still about me."

"I worry your health will only worsen without something to warm you. You'll need your strength when it's time to run; better you should wear it for now."

The witch looked again at the broken skin on the warden's body.

"And what about you?" he stressed, "I haven't stood on these legs for days... if we need to run, you may need to carry me. You'll need your strength more than I will. For the sake of your skin, take back your doublet. How can I cling to your neck knowing it will hurt you?"

Pike smiled, kissing the witch as he gingerly took back his clothes.

"I'd carry you through fire if I had to," he confessed, "So long as you can be free."

"No need for fire," scolded the witch, "I'd only put it out again."

"Until tonight then," were Pike's parting words; knocking on the door for his release. As the gap was revealed to him, a beam of light reflected on the witch's pin; a glimmer of hope in the darkness. Tonight. 

Tonight... thought the witch, I have only until tonight to free myself... Forgive me, warden, I cannot let you see yourself destroyed.