The King's Courier

III

When Costis woke, his whole body throbbed and ached. He slowly lifted himself up from the cold stone floor to find that he was being held in a chamber with solid iron bars as well as a heavy weight chained to his leg, preventing him from leaving. A small barred window let in a small shed of the moon's light accompanied by an unwelcoming chilled air. When Costis finally brought himself to his feet, he made his way to the small basin stationed in the corner of the room. Costis stood in front of the basin for minutes, motionless, staring down at the still water and trying to make out his reflection.

Costis's eye focussed on the large bruise encompassing his cheek up to his eye, and his hand raised to touch it, but he had to retract his touch after a sharp pain surged through his face. Costis had still been fatigued from the struggle earlier, and the headache he'd felt now was much worse than before. After staring at his bruised face and split lip for a while, Costis trudged his way to the bars holding him in his cell. He noticed a similar cell directly across from him roughly ten feet away. Costis strained his eyes to look for any movement within the other cell.

Costis couldn't see a thing in the dark. He paused to think about how much time had passed, just realizing that he'd been in audience with the king shortly after midday. Now that the moon had risen out of the view of the cell's tiny window, which was more akin to a barred up hole in the wall, Costis had no way to tell the time or even what direction he was facing at any given time. With little hope, Costis sat back down on the cold stone floor and closed his eyes again, saving his strength for the morning, whenever it came.

Costis awoke this time to the sound of his shackles being undone. He was still out of it, his eyes forced shut by the single beam of sunlight that found its way right onto his face. After a few seconds Costis sat up to find two figures looming over him as well as one knelt down, picking the lock of the chain around Costis's ankle that had been hindering his movement.

Costis swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke, "Are you three breaking me out? Thank you so much."

But Costis felt all of the blood in his body freeze when the figure raised its face to look him in the eye, revealing a rough, leathery bird mask. The figure finished undoing the iron then stood up and nodded at the other two figures. On command, one of the cultists covered Costis's mouth, and the other grabbed him by his arms. Costis, too weak to fight, had little choice but to let them drag him away. A tear fell from his eye before a strong blow to his head incapacitated him once more.

A foul air filled Costis's lungs, and he shot up, making sure he'd not be attacked again. He saw all of his things that were confiscated earlier neatly organized by the door, but nevertheless, he still felt like a cornered rat, having been overpowered twice within the last 24 hours. He shifted himself off of the oddly designed stone, altar-like bed he found himself on, and walked towards the door to put his overcoat back on and check to see if any of his coin was missing. As he made his way to the door, the fetid stench grew stronger, almost to a point of sickening repulse. Costis decided he wouldn't go through the door, so he grabbed his coat and bag then, for the first time, looked around the room he'd awoken in. The gruesome scene of it appalled him, and Costis could feel his stomach curling into tight knots. A messy, sanguine liquid was erratically spread along the walls. Gnats hovered over a repugnant heap of malodorous flesh sat ignored on a table, slid to the corner of the room. Costis could feel his heart start to race as he turned back towards the door that, now, seemed like respite from the grotesque horror he'd just witnessed.

Costis extended his arm towards the door and pushed it open, freeing the noxious air to fill the room. He prayed to himself that the mess he left behind him didn't decorate the room in front of him as well. When he closed the door behind him, the room turned black as the night, leaving Costis to feel around and wander slowly in a place he'd never been. Suddenly, a bright, orange torch lit, revealing most of the pristinely furnished room. Costis saw the torch-bearer and jumped back slightly, prepared to defend himself from the mysterious bird-masked figure.