A song was playing, but something seemed off.

 

It wasn't coming through Ryan’s ears. As he laid there, eyes closed, he listened to the melody as it rolled on. It was a song he had heard when he was younger. This wasn’t just remembering a song, it was as if he was wearing headphones. He was recalling it with perfect clarity. What brought this to his attention was when the song stopped. That's when he remembered he had never actually heard that song to the end. He'd caught most of it but never the last twenty seconds.

 

He cycled through some songs he’d heard in quick succession.

 

We will rock you. Monsters. Holding out for a hero. In Hell I'll be in good company. Hot cross buns.

 

It was like he had a perfect recall of any song he'd ever heard. There was a problem with staying focused. Songs he recalled often invoked feelings and emotions, or they made him remember certain important points in his life. Remembering these related topics were distracting, his mind would wander, then what he focused on would change and he'd jump to something else

 

He wasn’t remembering just the song, he was remembering the very instant he HEARD the song. He could remember the first time, or the third time, or the thousandth time, assuming he had listened to a song over a thousand times. If he let his mind wander, the song changed, or it dropped away entirely and he’d switch to a different moment in his life. It was very stream of consciousness. He could remember books he once read, but he’d remember them in the way he read them. If he took an hour nap in the middle of a book, he’d have to 'work' through that nap if he wanted to recall the book entirely.

 

"It's like I have a library in my head without the index." He mumbled.

 

A hand touched his shoulder, "Lord? Are you awake?"

 

Ryan's eyes fluttered open and it took a while to focus. Eventually he realized it was the familiar ceiling of the infirmary. He looked to the left and saw Charity sitting next to him, still joined to him via handcuff. Ryan raised his left hand slightly to look at the restraints, only to wince at the anticipated pain.

 

The pain never came.

 

He held up his arm further to look at his upper arm. There was a faint scar where the arrow exited through his bicep, but that was it. He grabbed his arm to twist it. It pulled a little, but otherwise... nothing. Nothing except for the entry wound on the other side. Ryan let his head fall back, "Is that normal?" He looked at Charity who kept sitting there smiling; yet looking supremely uncomfortable. She shook her head and fidgeted.

 

Ryan looked around the room and saw two guards who were stationed by the door. One was sitting on a bed. The other was sitting in a chair next to him. They were much more alert now that he was awake. One just slowly shook his head as if to say, 'Don't even think about it.'

 

Ryan let his head fall back onto the pillow then looked back at Charity, "They didn't un-cuff you?" She shook her head and replied, "They thought this would make it easier to keep you under control.” She crinkled her nose, “And I really did lose the key." Ryan just nodded, "Ah... makes sense. How long was I out?" She cleared her throat, "Three hours." Ryan nodded and closed his eyes, "Ah."

 

~Three hours?~

 

Ryan's eyes flared open and shifted to the left to eye his attendant, "Do you have to go the bathroom?" She bit her lip and squirmed in her seat. Ryan sighed as he smacked his forehead with his free hand, "Nothing to be done about it." He abruptly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. The guards stood up abruptly, hands on their weapons. Ryan looked over his shoulder at them. He raised his cuffed arm and pointed at it, “Bitches, Please!”

 

Charity clipped Ryan in the back of the head with her free hand, "LANGUAGE!"

 

Ryan's eyes went wide as he turned to glare at her, "LADY!" He paused, took a deep breath, then forced a smile, "That is going to get really old... really quick."

 

The maid glared at Ryan "Young gentlemen shouldn't have as foul a mouth as you. You need to stop swearing and cursing so much." She paused before adding, "And I am not a lady. I'm a commoner."

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Well you look like a lady to me."

Charity looked surprised at the comment, then blushed as she smiled and looked away, "Milord, you are quite the charmer."

 

Ryan tilted his head to look thoughtfully into the distance, "That is but part of my charm.” He coughed and spoke quickly into his fist, “The other part involves copious amounts of Rohypnol."

Charity squinted at Ryan, "I don't know what that is." Ryan eyed Charity as he muttered under his breath, "With your name, I'd be floored if you did." She pulled back looking more confused than ever. Ryan shook his head and made a dismissive hand gesture, "Never mind. You got bed pans around here or something?"

 

The maid thought for a bit then looked more than a little embarrassed, "I could not use such a thing in front of you."

Ryan looked at the guards, "Hey. You gonna to let us go out to use the bathroom?"

One of the guards pointed at the far end of the room, "You got one right there."

Ryan glanced over, "Works for me." Ryan turned to Charity, "I guess I'll stand by the door and stretch my arm in." She shook her head. Charity’s face was a bright red and she seemed too embarrassed to even speak.

 

Ryan stood up and practically dragged her over to the bathroom, "I'm not going to look. Don't be weird about this. Just get it done." He pushed her in and closed the door on his arm. True to his word, he didn't look.

 

It took about fifteen minutes before she was done and finally came out. Ryan started heading in.

Charity furrowed her eyebrows,"What are you doing?" Ryan looked around with an expression that said, 'Seriously?'

 

"I gotta take a leak." He explained. She sputtered a bit before sticking her arm into the small bathroom. When the door closed Ryan called out, “By the way. I don’t have a problem if YOU peek.”

Charity let out a short shriek and in a panicked voice shouted, “Milord, do not even joke about such things!” The guards started to chuckle. Charity stomped her foot, “THIS IS NOT EVEN REMOTELY FUNNY!!!”

 

Ryan called out, “A’rite, a’rite already! Sorry. It’s just that this IS funny."

Charity responded, “No. It is not!”

Ryan snickered, “Then why am I laughing?” Charity finally reached her limit and ignored Ryan as she stood there, putting on her most indignant expression.

 

Ryan finally concluded his business. After finishing up, he came out talking, "You know, where I come from, we usually have to pay extra for that." He thought he might meet an embarrassed maid upon exiting. He was only partially right.

 

He also got to see three tall men standing behind her.

 

The Chancellor, The School Headmaster, and The King.

 

Ryan stared up at the three imposing figures. They all stared down at him. Ryan hooked a thumb over his shoulder.

 

"You mind if I just go back in there and wait until the Middle Ages is over?"