The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Thirty One

I don't normally put Author's Notes before chapters but I'll just warn you that this chapter gets a bit violent so... beware. It's not vomit inducing but it could be a bit disturbing for some people.

Chapter Thirty One

The early morning sun crept in through the tiny window, barely alleviating the darkness of the cell as it fell across the floor in a thin strip; it leached Finred’s hair of all colour and turned Favia into an ashy statue, frozen forever in a fitful sleep while the dark tendrils of her hair, which had crawled across the floor in their own attempt to escape, blended into the shadows of the tower. The pre-dawn chill caused Safita’s teeth to chatter, accustomed as she was now to the comfort of her bed, as she watched them. Finred shuffled and awoke, rubbing his eyes and running his hands through his hair. When he saw that she was awake as well he came to sit by her, pulling his knees into his chest and wrapping one arm around her as he tried to keep them both warm. She instinctively leaned her head on his shoulder and they sat wordlessly like that for some time until eventually Finred said, “Why did you pretend to be Varenna?”

“I’m not sure,” she muttered as she fiddled with the edge of her sleeve; the thin fabric of her dress gave no protection against the cold of the morning and her whole body was trembling; Finred could feel it and it was so intense that she was rocking his body as well. “I suppose I thought it might help.”

They fell silent again, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

It took only a moment for the others to awaken and, as they stirred, Safita felt Finred shift, putting some distance between them. With a frown which was hidden by the gloom of the cell she gazed at the floor. Her thoughts were interrupted by Favia, who shuffled over to where she was sitting and sat beside her in a heavy silence. For once Safita had no idea what to do, no ideas for how to escape the situation which they now found themselves in and, on top of her frustration at that, she was worried about the others.

After an eternity of sitting around and shivering a small jug of water and three rolls were pushed through a hole in the heavy wooden door; Nell grabbed the scanty meal and brought it back over to where they sat, offering the rolls to everyone as they looked at him emptily. “There’s only three,” he said as Safita waved the one he offered to her away, “so you might as well take it. I’m not hungry and we don’t know when the next time we’ll eat will.” The lie inherent in his words was exposed when his stomach grumbled and Safita thrust the roll at him. “Stop trying to be noble Nell; you’re hungry and I’m not.”

Nell watched her intensely, his eyes tracing her face for any sign of a lie before he took the roll wordlessly after a couple of minutes and tore off a tiny chunk. Safita pulled her legs closer in to her chest and shut her eyes; in that darkness she felt a warm hand open her curled fingers and a piece of rough bread pushed into it. Glancing around in surprise she saw Finred tearing chunks off a piece far smaller than the others and she opened her hand to find half a roll in her fist. Their gazes met as she took a bite of the stale bread and Finred inclined his head slightly in a nod which was barely noticeable.

All they could do was sit around in the cold cell and wait; Safita, in particular, didn’t take well to this and she spent the best part of the day pacing around restlessly, peering through the bars that covered the tiny window and watching for any sign of life.

“There’s no use,” Finred had snapped halfway through the morning as she went back to it again, “it’s only just above the ground, you’ll only ever see people’s feet if anyone passes it at all.”

Safita had continued to stare out of the window mutinously, wondering if there was any way that they could escape; as night fell her plans became ever more extreme and the others were muttering about Arthan, Frent and Varenna as they tried to ignore her. Eventually silence pressed in on them once again and the distant slamming of doors and shouting became the only noise that they could hear.