Asuka: Island of Shadows

Chapter 10

                Chapter 9

I woke up to a throbbing pain in my head, even worse than when they had drugged me.

I sat up. I was still in my cell, but it looked like Lord Erai had gone on a rampage and destroyed everything in it.

I couldn’t believe it. He had been hurting me, trying to make me speak of Satoru’s friends, and failing, which made him increasingly angrier.

He had hit me really hard on the head after I hadn’t told him the name of Satoru’s sister, although I hadn’t even known before that he had one.

I looked myself over, estimating the damage to not be too serious. I had the normal collection of scrapes and bruises, only gathered a different way than usual.

My head had a large bump on it, but I assumed that would heal soon enough as well. I sighed and walked over to the only thing that looked like it hadn’t been touched.

The water bowl. And it had fresh, clean water. First I gave myself a drink, and then I began to bathe my injuries.

“At least he didn’t hurt me too badly.” I said, wincing as I cleaned a particularly painful scratch.

Suddenly the cell door opened, and I stepped backwards as Tadashi walked in. He looked mildly annoyed, and in his hand he had food and water, and a jar that looked like it held medicine.

“My Father told me to take you these things to fix you up, so here I am and I hope you like it.” He said grudgingly.

I wanted to slap him, which wasn’t normal. I rarely lost my temper, except it seemed with Satoru and Tadashi.

I couldn’t believed it when Tadashi righted the chairs and the table, pushed me down, made me eat, and began to put an herb paste on my scratches.

“Did your Father order you to do this also?” I asked him as he rubbed the paste roughly into a scratch on my face.

“No. He doesn’t like the fact that unlike him, I have feelings for living creatures. He thinks that if he lets me be a Guard in this prison, it will make me be like him. Unfortunately for him it’s not working very well.”

Tadashi didn’t seem very happy. I looked at him closer than I had before.

His dark brown hair was only a little shorter than Satoru’s, and it framed his face wonderfully. He had tan skin, and a high forehead.

His golden eyes were sad and full of loss. He did not look like someone who wanted to fight against anyones freedom.

I could feel the roughness in his hands as he tended to my scratches, but underneath that, I felt his hands trembling.

“Are you frightened of me or something?” I asked him softly.

His eyes met mine for a moment. “Not of you. Of my Father. He likes to hurt people, and I know that because you didn’t tell him anything, he will keep hurting you.”

“But I really don’t know anything about what he wants me to tell him! I know the names of animals, birds, and plants. I know what plants you can eat, and the ones that are poisonous. I know the plants names, and how you are supposed to store them, but I don’t know anything about his friends!”

I hadn’t realized I was rattling on and on until I finished, and I saw that the door was open and Lord Erai was standing there, watching me.

His face was impassive. “You were right Tadashi, she doesn’t know anything. We will just have to use her as bait then.”