The New Apprentice

Chapter Twelve: Killian

Warning: the following few chapters contain violence/domestic abuse.

My feet were tied to the legs of a chair, my chest to the back, and my hands were bound behind me when I awoke. They certainly didn't waste any time—did they even give us a full night's rest before knocking us out and lugging us here?

Echoing footsteps become louder until they cease at the door to my cell, which has a small, barred window for guards to look in from. Nothing except for the head of a dark figure is visible in the dimly flickering lights from outside.

The rattle at the door catches my attention, yet my head simply manages to lag upwards, the motion tiring me. There is only sandpaper in my mouth.

The commotion becomes louder as the door is violently swung open, a stumbling figure pushing past the guard and motioning for him to get out. The door crashes shut faster than lightning, leaving the cell void of light.

"I—I don't believe you're here. Wh—it worked. It really worked," his words stumble and his voice shakes. A hand runs through his hair.

Tentatively, I ask, "Who are you?"

Silence. My brows furrow.

"You—you don't—" he cuts himself off with an unsettling chuckle, "you don't remember me? Just—just a bit?"

"Should I remember?" is my slow, cautious response. It resonates in the cell until he begins to speak.

"Well, I don't believe you would forget me." His demeanor is suddenly bold with these words and his silhouette straightens into its full height.

The breath stops in my throat.

"...Killian?"

His voice lowers. "I don't use that name anymore."

With my mind reeling, I'm too shocked to notice the quiet threat he's delivered and it is my turn to stutter. There are so many questions I want to ask, but only a jumble comes out.

"When—how—why—did you kidnap me!?" I instinctively try to get up, but am still bound to the chair.

His arm reaches for something on the wall, then outside, bringing back a flaming torch which he sets inside its frame.

He shrugs then leans back on the damp wall facing me. Arms crossed, he asks, "So?"

A shadow moves past the door, causing my eyes to flick away from him. It disappears and I refocus.

"Killian," I am unsure what to think. We're no longer familiar; he did make the conscious decision to betray his only ally, after all.

Still, I venture to ask, "Why have you brought me here?"

"What are you doing with the Cloaks?" he abruptly demands.

"It's none of your business," I spit. More forcefully, I continue, "But why have you brought me here?"

"This isn't news, Ari," he grows impatient with his words. "No one leaves. End of discussion. Especially when that someone is foolish enough to live right under the Cloaks' noses!"

I raise my voice to match his, "It's been two and a half years, Killian! What changed that you need me back!?"

"Borin is dead!" He yells angrily. "I am in charge now, alright? They expect me to take on the hunt that Borin avoided." He looks at me icily. "If I'm going to lead, I must finish the job and I do not mind doing so in the least."

"Why did you set me up at all?" I suddenly ask, "We had our instructions! We finished the job and had the—" I instinctively lower my voice, "the King, and you told everyone that I had taken him for myself to hold him ransom, when really it was you! Was your share not enough!? Was 150 thousand gold pieces not enough!?"