Dungeon of Torment

16. Storm of Rats

Litter and broken belongings littered the deserted streets of the Undercity.  Smoke hung in the air, thick and foul-smelling – obscuring the smashed-out street lighting. A deathly hush had settled over a people in mourning.

Toys lay discarded in the playing areas - dropped where the little ones had been standing. 

                  Above ground, oblivious to the carnage that had taken place below, Nailah stood in the foyer of Phoebe's palace. The hastily assembled staff looked at her curiously, their gazes shifting from her to the Titan guards flanking her chair.

"Everyone needs to cooperate," Nailah informed them, her voice authoritative. "You will each be questioned. But first, the guards will be conducting a thorough search of the palace."

The rehearsed words were stern, lacking empathy. She turned stiffly and nodded to the Titans. At her signal, they fanned out. Nailah hid her trembling hands in her lap. 

Phoebe's household was in a jumble, as multiple voices asked hesitantly what was going on. Nailah's face was unreadable.

"Nailah?" Serayah asked timidly, approaching her side. "What's going on?"

Nailah shook her head, indicating that she couldn't say.

The palace inmates were shepherded off into a minivan to the Palace of Justice – save for Nailah and Serayah. "She's my carer," Nailah had protested when they'd gone to coral Serayah with the rest. "I need her." The titan's hadn't argued.

"Will they be coming back?" Serayah had asked in a small voice, as they'd watched the van depart. It was just the two of them left behind. Nailah's dark gaze scanned the mess – the emptied drawers and chests – their contents strewn across the floor. Only the computers, tablets and paperwork had been carefully packed up to be taken away for a more sophisticated investigation. Nailah's possessions, however, had been untouched.

"I don't know."

"Where's the Princess?"

Nailah remained mute, not wanting to tell a lie but not at liberty to speak. Seeing that Nailah wasn't about to respond, Serayah asked a different question. "What should we do now?"

"Pack," Nailah decided after some moments deliberation. "We probably won't be staying here." Kronos hadn't indicated what he wanted. She'd come to him and freely admitted to murder, and various other crimes. He knew she'd been part of a terrorist group in the past, she'd blown up a Titan palace with Titan's inside. Nailah was more than a little surprised that she was still free.

She glared down at her legs and guessed that they were the answer. She was in a broken body. She wasn't dangerous to a king. She wondered if the guards had captured Cīrulis by now. She knew that Kronos had sent men to Oceanus' palace but would the slippery eel still be there? Did he know that she was the one who had betrayed them?

"Err... Nailah?"

"Hmm?"

"This came for you from Hyperion's palace." Serayah offered Nailah an envelope she'd been keeping in her pocket. Nailah frowned. She hadn't been back to Hyperion's palace since she'd attempted to kill herself and Uranus. "The place is all closed up now, obviously, but the caretaker sent it on to you."

Curious, Nailah accepted the packet. Inside the thick brown envelope that the caretaker had sent, was a smaller letter - this one previously opened. It was addressed to Prince Hyperion but dated just a week ago. The sender was very out of touch, surely Hyperion's imprisonment was common knowledge? Nailah skipped reading and looked instead at the end line for the sender. Isbel Daoud, still confused she looked for the details of where it had been sent from... Golars Bay. Nailah's eyes widened in surprise.