Heir of Iron

Chapter 16

(The image above is of Mehrangarh Fort, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, originally found here: http://www.kaushalp.com/mehrangarh-fort-jodhpur.)

Footsteps again. Lights danced on the slick stones above. Another dream. Everything that was not dreaming was darkness.

Voices grew louder. The light strengthened and outlined the rim of the well. Then Ruyam spoke: "Bring him up."

Navran staggered to his feet, barely able to stand even when he leaning against the walls. The rope dangled in front of him. His hands closed around it, but when it moved it slipped between his palms as if they were wet clay. The man above grunted and barked for him grab on harder. He tried. He had less strength than a child, and couldn't clasp a thing.

Finally one of the Red Men clambered down into the well and wrapped the rope around Navran's waist, tying a loose knot into which Navran leaned like he was drunk. So they finally pulled him up, followed by the soldier who had helped him. He spilled onto the stones like an empty sack. A black shadow with a sweet smell fell over him.

"Are you ready, Navran?" Ruyam asked.

He didn't answer. He was ready for nothing.

"Pick him up," Ruyam said. "Bring him to my boy to be washed, then to the Emperor's chamber. Carry him if you have to."

He stormed off through the dungeon's gloom, unaccompanied.

"Get up, now," said one of the Red Men. "None of us wants to carry you."

Navran didn't want to be carried, but his power to choose was limited. He pushed himself up to his knees and grabbed at the hands of the soldiers. With much groaning and whimpering, he got upright, and staggered forward leaning heavily into a shoulder. But he walked. He even got up the stairs and into the palace.

They led him through the garrison by the same route that he had traveled when he first arrived---how many days ago? There was no way to count. The same bath chamber awaited him, and Kirshta, the same slave-boy. When the soldiers dropped him into the room with the dim red light and the heavy steam, it was as if his time in the darkness had never occurred.

Kirshta offered a grave look of disappointment when he saw Navran. "So your resistance is ended so quickly?"

"What resistance?"

"If Ruyam has brought you up from the dungeon, it means that he thinks he's won."

Or he knew that Navran would starve if he stayed there much longer. But if Ruyam was determined not to let Navran starve, then he still wanted something from him.

"Perhaps your time in the dungeon has served its purpose. Did you tell him anything?"

Whatever he said here was sure to reach Ruyam's ears. "No."

"Good. Don't. You held out through the darkness. If you keep holding out, you'll see how much you can get from him."

Was Kirshta telling him how to manipulate Ruyam? As if he had any leverage for that sort of thing. "What are you getting from him?"

The boy smiled mischievously. "That's not to tell here. But what do you want from him?" He poured new water over the coals and waved the steam towards Navran. He began to scrape the grime and muck off of Navran's legs.

"I don't know."

"If you don't know what you want, then you'll never get it."

Peace, maybe. But even than was thinking too lofty. All he really wanted was something to eat and, by the stars, something to drink. The need for a drink hit him like a physical pain.