The King's Court

LIII

Napasinghap ako nang makilala ko ang boses na iyon.

The man in front of us removed the cloth he covered his face, revealing all too familiar features.

Theon smiled at me at hindi ko na napigilan ang sarili ko. I ran and hugged him tightly. So tight that I heard him grunt and the impact almost made both of us fall down. Mabuti na lang at nahawakan niya ang pinto. 

"Evelyn," rinig kong tawag ni Lorence sa akin kaya naman kumawala ako sa yakap ni Theon. 

I was about to turn to look at Lorence when suddenly, she was in front of Theon and her hands found his throat. Surprised, Theon could only raise both his hands as Lorence cornered him. Nanlalaki ang mga matang nakatingin si Theon kay Lorence at sa akin. Hindi rin ako makagalaw dahil sa gulat. 

"Lorence, he's not--"

"You can't be too sure now, Evelyn. Have you forgotten that wench who got us in this trouble in the first place? I thought she was with us as well but we were both surprised." 

"W-What is going on--"

Mas hinigpitan pa ni Lorence ang hawak niya sa leeg ni Theon. "You tell me what's wrong, boy. Kasama ka ba ni Evelyn?"

Kumunot naman ang noo ni Theon. "I...I don't understand the language--"

"Are you with Evelyn?"

Theon looked at me and then back to Lorence before he answered, "Err...which one?" 

Lorence took the nail we used earlier to cut the rope at nakita naman iyon ni Theon kaya mas lalo itong nagpanic. 

"I have--I have no idea what you're talking about, I promise! I only came here because I heard Evelyn was here and I just wanted to see her."

"Only to see her? Were you aware we were both abducted and it was all Evelyn Diaze's doing?" 

Disappointed carved on Theon's face. "I was aware of it, yes. That's why I came here to save Eve." 

Lorence was still looking skeptically at Theon and she still wasn't putting down her piece of weapon. Kaya naman hinawakan ko ang kamay niya. 

"Lorence." 

"Naniniwala ka sa kanya?" tanong niya habang nakatingin pa rin kay Theon.  The latter did not dare breath. I sighed. 

"Yes. Naniniwala ako sa kanya." 

"Sigurado ka? Magkaibigan sila, Eve." 

"Alam ko iyon. Ngunit magkaibigan din kami ni Theon. Nrinig mo naman ang sinabi niya, hindi ba? Tutulungan niya tayo. And besides, I thought you imprisoned him?" 

Lorence cleared her throat. "I did. Pinalaya siguro siya ni Evelyn. Kaya naman hindi ko alam kung mapagkakatiwalaan ba natin ang lalaking 'to. Him and Evelyn are close." 

Magsasalita na sana ako nang sumingin si Theon.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're both talking about but can we do that later? I might have made a mess on my way here. If someone finds out about it, they'll run straight here--"

Not so far from where we were, we heard some footsteps. They were frantic and followed by a commanding voice, telling the others where to go. 

They were coming to where we are. 

Narinig kong napamura nang mahina si Theon. 

"We need to leave," he said, his voice almost begging.  "Now." 

The voices and the sound of footsteps were drawing closer. And Lorence, even as she hated the idea of trusting Theon, had no choice but to nod. 

"We can go this way." Theon led the way at agad naman kaming sumunod. He ran to another way and the wooden floor groaned in protest as we hurried down the dim hall. I have yet to figure out what sort of building this is but as of the moment, all I could think about was how to escape. Theon opened a metal door and it revealed a spiral staircase leading downwards.