The Twelve Stars

Chapter 18

I opened my eyes to a throbbing headache. My current situation shouldn't have been surprising. The damp interior felt familiar. Everything came rushing back. Robyn. Our return to New Midgard. The fight with Thad...

"Did that just happen?" I asked. I wasn't expecting a response due to the abnormal silence of the cell which I had distinguished our caved-in prison to be.

"If you mean, did Thad just betray us by giving us over to our father?" Finn asked. "Yes."

I looked up to the sound of his voice, unable to see anything clearly save for the outline of his figure huddled against the stone wall across from me. "So that's it," I said. "We've lost."

"Don't be discouraged so quickly, Callyk," another voice said. Relief flooded me upon recognising it.

"Uncle?" I asked.

He sat against the far end, his head against the gates of the cell and his arms wrapped around his legs. "It's me," he answered. His voice sounded weak.

"What did he do to you?" I said.

"It's not me who you should be worried about," Quentin assured. I took a look around the dark cell, but there was no one other than the three of us inside.

"They have Robyn," he resumed. Fear seized me.

"For collateral," Finn added. "So that's what Thad said before he threw us in here."

"We must get out of here-" I attempted to stand up, but lost my balance when the tug of chains yanked me back down. Metal cuffs clasped around my wrists, binding my arms behind my back.

"And do what?" Finn asked. "Escape? We can't just be fugitives for the rest of our lives. Always running." I noted the sincerity in his eyes. Only one solution came to mind.

"Then we kill him," I said. "We kill the King and discontinue the law that enslaves people like us." Finn's eyes widened in horror.

"But he's our father," he argued.

"And you think he will spare us because we're his sons?" I reminded him.

With no comment, Finn rested back against the wall, defeat in his posture and withdrawn eyes. The scar through his right eye no longer intimidated me. My back hit the wall too, feeling just as hopeless. I shifted my gaze to Quentin.

"What of the others?" I asked.

His eyes met mine through the thin rays of light that escaped through the gates to the cell. "They escaped," he answered. "Fortunately for them, the Empire only wanted me. They spared the people but not the village."

"If only the same could be said for Elder Harald," I said. The memory of his burnt corpse haunted my vision.

"He didn't make it?" Quentin asked. My silence answered for him. I rested my head back against the wall. "You were gone for a week," Quentin told us. "Time must work differently in Yggdrasil."

"It would have been helpful if Thad had warned us about that," I complained sarcastically.

"The same Thad who betrayed you?" Quentin noted. I nodded. "Who is he?"

"The Wielder of Time," Finn answered. "Also known as an arrogant arsehole." A light snigger escaped me. "What?" He lifted his head in my direction.

"You weren't the same that long ago," I recalled.

"You thought I was an arsehole?"

"More of a jerk actually," I admitted. He scoffed.

"I guess perspectives change when you get to know someone," he said. His back sagged against the wall, relaxing from his contortion of my remark.