Crowns and Guns.

Tears (part 3)

I put my head against the iron bars, and immediately regret it, and they are freezing cold. I crawl back and put my metal blanket over me.

"It is going to be okay." The voice from the cell next to me says.

I start crying. "It is not going to be alright. Kelsey is probably going to be banished. She won't survive a day in the woods. The commander is dead. The other lieutenants are having a meeting about who is going to replace him as the new commander. And meanwhile, I am stuck here."

"I am sure they will release you soon" John answers. "You did nothing wrong."

I sigh. "I am cursed. This damn crown. You should have never implanted those crystals into me."

"I should be paying the price for that. Not you."

I lean back against the wall. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Why did you give up everything to save my life."

He is silent for a moment.

"You were ten. You were slowly succumbing to poison. Back then, there was no cure. I wasn't going to let you die."

I shiver. "How did you know it would work? Implanting the gems into my arms and legs. How did you know it would save me."

"I didn't."

I cover my face with my hands. "You shouldn't have."

I turn around, and pound on the wall with my fists. "You shouldn't have. You should just have let me die. Humanity needed you—-their commander. You just threw all that away. For me. For a fuck up. I am not worth it. Imagine all the good you could have done. All the people you could have saved."

"I made my choice, Skye. And that is a burden I will have to live with. And besides, Commander Warner was a better commander than me."

I shake my head, tears still flowing. "No, he wasn't. He was an asshole."

"He was. But he was able to make the hard decisions. I never was. And the Elves knew that. They took advantage of that."

The white light of a torch shines around the corner, and I see Lieutenant Lawrence walking around the corner. His long blond hair looks almost grey in the dim light.

"Hello, Lieutenant Riley."

"Hello, Lieutenant Lawrence," I reply.

He smirks, revealing his yellow teeth. "It is Commander Lawrence now."

"Oh, so you have been elected. Congratulation."

He sighs. "The lieutenants and I agree tho pardon you and Kelsey both, for the murder of the previous commander."

I stand up and face him. I immediatly regret that, as the cold air seems to freeze me to the core. "Wait, just like that."

"Just like that." He repeats.

"Why?"

He unlocks my cell. "I tell you somewhere more comfortable."

We start walking, up the stairs of the dungeon. He sighs.

"I understand the late commander Warner tied you up, tortured you, and Kelsey just defended you."

"That is correct sir."

"Exactly. So neither of you did anything wrong. She just defended you. Like the great soldier she is."

We arrive at the top of the stairs and cross the empty dining hall. I follow him through a door, to Commander Warner's office. I correct myself. It's Commander Lawrence's office now.

The office is a giant mess. Commander Warner preferred to keep his office tidy, the desk was always perfectly empty. But now, the filing cabinets are open, and the desk is filled to the brim with random stuff. Mostly files and notebooks, but also various magic trinkets.

I look around. "What happened here?"

Commander Lawrence ignores me and picks up a random notebook.

"We have reasons to believe the late commander was an elven spy."

My jaw drops. "That makes no sense. Elves don't use humans as spies. They naturally distrust them."

He picks up a book from the desk and throws it at me. "Then how do you explain this?"

I catch the book at take a look at the title. It reads "Elven rituals through the ages." I look him in the eyes. "That proves nothing."

"You don't find it suspicious he is interested in Elven magic?"

I shrug "Not really. You have to understand our enemies to defeat them."

"Fair," the commander says. "But turn to page thirty-three."

I reluctantly open the book and skip to the requested page. It is titled "The Whispering Stone." It contains a large drawing of some kind of cube, inscribed with runes, with below it a short paragraph of text.

"The whispering stone is an ancient runic circle, that is visible only in pure darkness. Despite the circle having other uses, its main purpose is for elves to communicate with one another."

I close the book again. "This proves nothing."

Commander Lawrence picks up a cube from the table and throws it at me. "Does this seem familiar?"

I look closely at the cube and realise he is right. It looks exactly like a whispering cube.

"What other uses might this have, other than him communicating with the elves in secret."

I shrug again. "There are others. Hell, this even might be just a trophy. We don't know."

He nods, eyes bright. "Exactly, we don't know. And I don't trust this. That is why I want you to investigate exactly what he was up to."

I look at the book. "Can I keep this?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." I turn around to walk away. The commander stops me.

"Skye?"

I turn around again. "Yes."

"Don't talk about this to anyone."

I nod. "Alright."

I walk out of his office, and through the dining hall, up the stairs to reach the barracks.