Where All My Hope Is

Questions

I was awoken with a jolt when the door opened. Ezra and Asher woke next to me, fear painted on Ezra's face.

"Come with us," the guard said. We obeyed, getting up and following him out of the dark room. Soon, we entered another door into the same room Ezra was in before.

My father was standing next to the metal chair, his face emotionless. Kaya stood next to him, a cruel grin on her smug face.

The three of us lined up, facing my father. He spoke, "I have a couple of questions for your cheerful group." Kaya grinned and he continued, "Where is the Adrielan's Guard's base?"

Ezra flinched next to me. Still, none of us spoke up. My father sighed. "Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'd prefer the easy way," he glanced at me, "but I will use force if necessary."

"Then you will have to use it," I spoke up. Kaya's face lit up with evil joy. My father sighed again and motioned for the guards to take me.

"No!" Ezra exclaimed and lunged forward. As they pulled him back, I caught his gaze and shook my head. He settled down reluctantly as they tied me to the chair.

"You would torture your own daughter?" Asher asked, all the color absent from his face. My father looked away.

"I'm going to ask again," he said. "Where is the Adrielan's Guard's base?" As the boys stay silent, one of the guards punches me and I feel my nose spouting blood. My father cringes but continues the questioning.

A couple of hours later, we were still at it. A question, a shake of the head, a blow to the face. Ezra finally lost it, and shouted, "Botika likambo oyo, bino ba cowards! Zwá ngai na esika na yango!" The Zyanyan language was not something I had heard many times before, yet I recognized it.

I lifted my tired, bleeding face up and saw an amused smile spreading across the guard's face. Asher's face somehow grew paler. "What an interesting suggestion!" Kaya exclaimed. "Nakosepela kokokisa bosenga wana." Her voice was filled with venom as she spat the words at Ezra in slightly broken Zyanyan.

"Kaya," our father said dangerously. He turned to Ezra, and said, "Have you even told her who you are? More specifically, what you've done?"

Ezra's face hardened, his eyes had suddenly become glued to the ground. Confused, I painfully asked, "What?"

"Your friend made a deal with us," Kaya purred. "He was going to bring you to us for gold. Because, you know, that's the only thing he cares about. He loves gold more than his own family."

"That's not true!" Ezra shouted.

"Ezra? What is she talking about?" I asked him, blinking my bruised eyes. He looked down as Kaya laughed. Suddenly, a man walked into the room. He said something in Zyanyan to Father.

"Lord Malum has sent word," Father said and inhaled slightly. "He wants us to take them to him."

"Really?" Kaya asked excitedly. "Then we must leave immediately." Father nodded. The guards untied me and yanked me up. I immediately fell back down due to the sudden pain, but they dragged me to my feet again. They began pushing Asher and I towards the door, but left Ezra untouched.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You held up your part of the bargain," the guard said in broken Asterin, flipping a bag to him. As he caught it, I heard coins clinking. The guard continued, "You are free. Go. Do not interfere."

As the guards escorted me out of the door, I looked Ezra in the eyes and said with my hurting mouth, "Looks like you got what you wanted."

Tears began streaming down my face as reality hit. We were stuck in the kingdom of our greatest enemies and my only friend had betrayed me.

One of the guards pushed me forwards, causing my feet to trip over themselves. Before I knew what had happened, the hard floor was rushing towards my face.