Follow: Book 1 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Eight : An Unlikely Duo

A guard stood at each side of the line of escapees and one stood directly behind them. Emperor Mentir was alone in his throne room this time. With glowing pride, he looked down on his captives from the silver and white throne that he sat upon. He waited for the prisoner he despised the most to stop coughing and gasping so that he could be understood when he spoke to them. He noticed how Jorge deliberately stared straight into his eyes and he couldn't find it in himself to look back. Jorge noticed this and smirked.

"You four are like blisters on my feet," Emperor Mentir finally said. He jabbed a finger at Gerardo. "You being the biggest one. All of you now have my full attention, which isn't a good thing, in case you couldn't figure that out. But you can still avoid punishment by simply answering the questions I've been asking you for the past month. That being said, do any of you have something you would like to say?"

"Simply the same thing we've been saying for the past month," Jorge dared to answer. "We are not from Bonn; we know nothing about their plans."

"You really expect me to believe that two allies don't communicate military strategies with each other?"

"Mandingo was adamant about not communicating because the vast distance between Bonn and Noelle made it too risky."

"So what's the point of being allies if you're not going to work together to defeat an enemy?"

"It was decided we fight for our own side."

"What a horrible war tactic."

"No worse than your tactics."

"I'm winning aren't I?"

"You may have us outnumbered, but you're quickly losing more soldiers than we are. It won't be long until our numbers equal out and then eventually we'll have you outnumbered. And with more advanced weapons and expert strategies, the war will soon end in our favor."

"Don't be so sure. We're on our way to secretly barricade the Airies at this very moment, so there goes a large number of your ally. In the meantime, I would like some more information and I will be using every means necessary to literally rip it out of you." He looked at the guards. "Throw them in a cell on the lower level of the prison, then take the younger one to interrogation immediately."

Of course Gerardo would be the first. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes tight, concentrating intently to not panic. Why was this happening to him? He had done what was asked of him, and he had done it willingly. The rest of this was unnecessary.

The guards yanked on the rope around the prisoners' necks to get them to stand and rushed them to the jail beneath the palace. When a couple of servants left with Gerardo, Jorge changed his figure into one of the guards who had just exited and grabbed hold of Travis's arm. As Travis had proven himself unable to tolerate pain, he was the last person Jorge wanted to leave behind.

"What's the meaning of this?" Jorge cried.

"How'd you get locked in there?" a guard asked him.

"Don't ask me! Just get me out of here so I can take this one to the IR!"

"No!" another guard said. "Don't let him out! I just saw that guard leave. Notice there's a prisoner missing in the cell."

The first guard looked at Jorge, who let go of Travis and transformed into a little girl of about five years old. This was going to be much harder than he had anticipated.

"He's right," Jorge said. "That guard left, but let me out."

"Don't be fooled," the second guard warned the first. "It's a specter."