Now, we will stop all the transpiring events and again go backward in time as the proper setting for this next engagement must happen before this moment even begins. So now, we will watch as all three sisters reverse their steps out of the prison entirely as they have not entered when this part starts.
The Silent Man opens his bleary eyes and finds himself in a strange, hostile looking place. His eyes flash about as he tries to find a point of egress, and would have continued to do so had his hands not felt as though they had caught fire. He brings them to his eyes. They're heavily wrapped, but in a manner that still allows his digits some dexterity.
Nearby, he spies a plain brown bottle. He takes it, pops the stopper and gives it a sniff. It's booze. He swallows a few mouthfuls. Now his belly burns, but it helps to dull the pain. Then he notices another pain. It's much less than the other, more of a throb and it's coming from the back of his head. He probes the spot and feels the large knot there.
He's exploring the raised bump with his fingers when a sudden, heavy sound piques his ears. He can tell something is coming toward him. He looks past the bars of the cell that confines him, down the long expanse of an aisle that separates the two sides of the prison. Someone is coming. He strains to get a better look. It's the red knight he had fought, amongst the sea of flames.
The Silent Man continues to stare, as his visitor stops just in front of the cell door. He blinks his eyes, before him is indeed the armor that had fought so fiercely, but the face is all wrong. It couldn't have been a woman. Could it? He stares a little closer, fire red hair cropped short, a face somewhat stern, but with a soft, feminine overtone.
Amelia stops just short of her quarry and stares through the bars that separate her from the prisoner. She looks at his hands and sees that they are bandaged, the same hands that had been searing with fire, trying to protect something. She can feel the flames returning to her mind, but shakes them off the best she can by focusing on what's in front of her and moving forward.
"What was it," she begins almost in a whisper, as she leans closer to the bars, but maintains a respectful distance. "You were trying to protect?"
"Protect?" the Silent Man asks, as he brings his ear closer to the nearly mumbling woman. "What are you talking about?"
"During our fight, you had me dead to rights, but you stopped," Amelia clarifies with her eyes downcast, as she slowly raises them. "You ran away to save something from the fire. What was it?"
The Silent Man looks at his hands and cups them as though they contain something even he can't see, but feels all the same. He tries but all he can remember is preparing to strike his opponent before his world went dark. The next thing he knows, he's lying in a bed inside a prison cell with hands on fire and a head that throbs.
He looks up at the woman. "I have no idea," he declares after several moments of contemplative silence.
"But you must," Amelia presses and takes a step forward.
The Silent Man shakes his head. "I don't," he insists and drops his hands.
Amelia is getting frustrated, and looks away to hide her agitation. That's when she remembered the trophy she had taken from him. She reaches down and removes it from the side of her belt. It's plain, wooden and hanging from a chord, just like the burned object in the graveyard. The one that this same man had protected.
She turns it over in her hand and runs her fingers over the inscription scrawled on its surface. "Who's Timothy?" she asks without looking up from the object of her interest.
"Timothy?" the Silent Man returns as he stares at the woman dressed in armor.
Amelia holds up the trinket so that the prisoner can see it. "Timothy," she repeats and focuses on him with an intense gaze that studies his reaction.
The Silent Man stares directly at the trinket as he reads it over and over again while the woman gazes into his eyes. She looks deep into his pupils and sees a kind of light, like a fire, she is all too familiar with. The prisoner is still staring as a look of confusion etches itself into his face and anger pulls at his countenance.
He suddenly leaps forward. "Give it here!" he demands as he reaches through the bars.
Amelia snatches the treasure away from the grabbing hand, but only far enough to stay just out of reach. "The object you protected…" she starts to speak but purposefully lets her words trail.
"Yes?" the Silent Man responds, as he draws his hand back behind the bars.
"The one covered in flame…" Amelia prods as she brings the trinket closer to her face.
"Yes?" the Silent Man queries as he follows the treasure's path.
"It was just like this," Amelia informs him as she pushes the object closer to the bars.
The Silent Man watches the wooden object spin, making the name appear and disappear. Gradually, he extends his hand and takes hold of the object which is surrendered to him. He brings it close to his eye, while keeping it on the other side of the bars as both he and the woman are lost to its simplistic charm. A sudden, loud sound, reverberates from the walkway directly behind the red knight.
It's the clatter of metallic, tromping boots which herald the approach of two visitors and from the sound of it they mean business. Instinctively, Amelia knows who they are without even turning around, but does so anyway as she prepares herself for the confrontation coming her way by taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly
"What are you doing down here?!" Erica demands as she draws to an abrupt halt in front of her sister.
"Nothing," Amelia lies in a halfhearted fashion and focuses upon the speaker.
"Nothing, huh," Cassandra remarks as her gaze bypasses her sister and settles on the man in the cell.
Amelia turns her head. "I was just making sure he didn't die," she further lies without putting any conviction in her words.
"Isn't that the physician's job?" Erica challenges and crosses her arms.
Amelia has nothing to say.
Erica had been fully prepared to let her sister have it and perhaps, have Cassandra chime in, but she doesn't unleash the verbal assault as she can see how affected her sister seems to be. "Well," she starts in gently as she puts a hand on Amelia's shoulder and leads her away. "We can talk about this later. But first, how can you say that the king is not our father?"
"Yes," Cassandra chimes in as she brings up the rear. "Who else could be?"
Amelia holds silent a moment. "I didn't mean what I said," she starts in with a mousy voice, completely humbled by her sister's stiff tone. "I don't even know why I said it. My head has just been so cloudy ever since the fire. But I'll be sure to apologize before I retire for the night."
These words are enough to silence the conversation as the three sisters leave the dungeon and part company. They return to their respective rooms where they can downgrade their armor and slip into some more comfortable attire. Erica and Cassandra slip off to bed while their red headed sister has something she must take care of before she turns in for the night.