Suikoden VI

Chapter One: Part Six

Part Six

"In the name of Nagar..." Roen breathed. He rubbed a hand over his head nervously as he looked at the others. "Sloan Faakhir? We've trapped ourselves with the Sheikh's family?!"

"Who is Sloan Faakhir?" Surya asked. He still had his tri-nunchaku out and moved to stand beside the closed door.

"He's a monster," Felicity said. She flushed though and quickly looked at Ciana. "Uh...I-I mean..."

But Ciana didn't give any visible reaction to the insult against her father. Daunte looked away from her to look at Surya. He didn't know if he should be upfront about Sloan's true nature in front of Ciana, or if should keep quiet. After quietly debating it for a moment, he decided to speak up. "The man has ungodly physical strength, and from what I've seen his presence terrifies everybody around him. He..." his breath hitched for a moment before he continued. "He tried to kill me with his bare hands."

"Yeah," Roen admitted quietly. "He beat Daunte unconscious, and then just kept beating him and beating him. It was so frightening...he only stopped when another soldier interrupted him."

"Mr. Adalgiso?" Ciana asked.

"Who?" Felicity asked her.

"My father's second-in-command." Ciana's tone was still calm and she did nothing to try and deny the allegations against her father. Her expression was still blank.

"Y-Yes, that was him," Daunte confirmed. "Dr. Yulin told me such."

"I thought so," Ciana said. "Mr. Adalgiso always stands up to my father. And my father never punishes him for it." Her neutral tone dipped very slightly. Almost sounding...bitter.

"—understand what your situation is," Tidur said from downstairs. "But I no longer have association with that man. I must ask you to leave."

"My Lady, whatever your current situation is, you are still legally his wife," the soldier answered her. "And the Sheikh most urgently needs your help with this."

"Then why isn't he here?"

"The Sheikh is very busy, and—"

"Too busy to deliver an order to me in person?"

"We need to get out of here," Roen said, standing up from the bed. "If they catch us, then they'll kill us! Or they'll send us back to the Dark Chasm!"

"I'd rather die than go back there," Felicity said sharply. She rushed over to the dresser and grabbed her knife belt.

"What should we do about her?" Surya said, gesturing to Ciana. "She heard everything we said, so she knows the truth about us. She may tell them about us."

Ciana stared back at him. She said nothing to reassure him or confirm his suspicions. Daunte himself didn't know what the best option was.

"—you're assistance," the conversation continued downstairs. "Teenaged heretics are on the loose, my Lady. One of which has stolen something extremely valuable from the Grand Citadel itself! The High Clerics have offered a handsome reward for their capture, and we have heard that you took in some teenagers as guests yesterday. Please show us to their rooms."

"Get ready," Surya said. He left the door and checked out one of the beautiful windows in the room. "We'll have to make a jump for it."

"This is outrageous!" Felicity fumed. "Saying that we stole something from the Grand Citadel?!"

"Is that so?" Tidur answered from downstairs. "A teenager was able to breach the impregnable Grand Citadel to commit theft? That's truly a first, isn't it?"