Court of Snakes: This Desert Cage

Caught - The Palace | July of the Third Year

Terran awoke with the taste of wine on his tongue, the feeling of something missing beside him, and the worst headache he had ever had. He could also sense a presence above his forehead, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself looking directly into the tip of a dagger. His eyes darted about the room. Six other guards, including Perseus, all pointed patrolman's rifles at his head. A lump formed in his throat. He had planned on waking before her and using The Magician before she woke. Now he had overslept, he was just Terran, and he was in huge trouble.

"Move and I'll pluck your eye right out of your head," Parisa spat, her eyes trained on him.

"Look, I think we're all caught up in a bit of a misunderstanding."

"Who are you?"

Terran inched his hand toward his pocket.

"Rune Guildenhart."

"No, really."

"We should all lower our weapons and talk about this."

Terran felt the silvered edge of a card touch the side of his hand. He prayed it was face up.

"And I should have them shoot you."

Terran swallowed and flipped his hand over onto the card, waiting for a reaction. "Now, now... breathe."

In a flash, Terran felt something appear in his hand, a long staff, and as Parisa lunged with her dagger, Terran rolled to his side and the knife hit the pillow, sending feathers flying. He pulled the staff from underneath the sheets and twirled it as fast as he could, deflecting bullets that came in waves from the other guards. He backed up toward the window, deflecting and dodging. The riflemen refused to shoot as soon as Parisa got in the way, and her dagger flew so close to his head it cut hair.

With precision, Terran used his staff to pull guns from guard's hands and tossed them to the floor. He hit them in the jaw or stomach to knock them unconscious. They had not anticipated someone so well trained. Perseus gave him a little trouble. When Terran swung with his staff, Perseus blocked with his rifle. Perseus lost his footing when Terran's foot slid behind his and in one fluid motion, Terran's wooden staff knocked him to the ground.

As soon as he had a clear path to the window, he took it. Crashing through glass, he took a blind leap of faith. He grabbed the banner that hung below the window and rode it down until he landed on sand, Parisa hot on his trail. He bolted through the greenhouse courtyard, bullets whizzing by his head as he headed for the main gate.

"Close the gate!" Perseus shouted from the palace. Embassy guards scrambled to pull the leaver, bringing the gate down.

As the gate neared the ground, Terran threw the staff between the iron and the sand, rolling underneath the sharp spikes. After he cleared the gate, he heard Parisa do the same before the staff snapped and the gate came crashing to the ground. He could not believe that she had kept up with him thus far. She was far better trained than he had thought. He wondered how fast Perseus was and if he was lucky that she was chasing him instead. As they darted through Naa'a, Terran tried to shake her by turning into alleyways and jumping through buildings, but her course never faltered.

Finally, Terran spotted a thin alleyway, slid through it, and waited for her on the other side. Just as she came through, Terran threw his arm out and hit her hard on the head. She lay there, unconscious, and Terran looked down at her, his lips pursed in contemplation. "Great. This is just great."