The Soldier and the Thief

Chapter 3

Robin hated cells. Obaroth's cells were dark, dank and reeked of faeces. She would know; she'd been in them twice too many times. So when she woke with a pounding head, she knew exactly where she was without having to guess. She'd been thrown roughly onto the dirty cobblestone, and a piece of chain linked the cuffs around her wrists to the shackles on her ankles. Old blood stained the walls. When she blinked something dry on her face cracked, and her left hand felt its way up around her forehead, eventually locating a small cut above her right eye. The back of her head hurt. Her old knee injury had flared up again, and when she stretched it out her kneecap cracked and groaned. Her hair was full of muck from the cell and plastered to her head. Her cloak was nowhere to be seen. Emmeline had made that cloak. Her only Christmas gift. Her only way of hiding her scar.

Suddenly Robin remembered seeing a flash of metal and hearing Erart's shouts. That burly soldier had killed him. Who would look after Charlet? Hatred and anger burned through Robin's veins like wildfire, and she let loose a guttural scream that echoed in the empty dungeon. She was the only one here. What if they went to Giavani and Emmeline and accused them of something, anything? 

The sound of a lock turning made her freeze. She laid back down and shut her eyes. Armoured boots clunked down a flight of three steps and walked to her cell door. Three people. Fifteen steps not counting the stairs. Assuming each step to be around a third of a metre, her cell was four and a half metres from the exit on her right. The sound of boots stopped. Robin waited.

Cold engulfed her and she screamed out of sheer surprise, scrambling up into a sitting position. The water was freezing. Robin could feel her lips turning blue. She was lost for words, numbly curling into herself as the cell door was unlocked and opened. Rough hands on either side of her grabbed an arm and hoisted her onto her feet. There were derisive laughs from the soldiers when her legs buckled. The black-haired soldier from earlier was on her left, a silent silhouette. Robin was practically dragged out of the cell, trying to catch her breath as they followed the soldier obviously in charge. She was taken into another room and dumped on the floor, her shackles removed. Before she could figure out what was happening another blast of water hit her. Even if it was slightly warmer than the last, the force of the water pushed her across the room and her back hit the wall as she curled into a ball. It felt like forever before the force stopped, and when she relaxed her arms she could feel the welts starting to appear on her bare arms. Her eye had started to bleed again. Robin's hair hung limp in her face as she was picked up and dragged from the room. 

General Glennis walked with purpose down the hallway. Nik and Dusty were following behind, dragging the thief between them. The boy's feminine scream had amused them greatly, and they were enjoying the powerlessness of their prisoner. Nik had never met the thief before, but rumours told him that the boy had been caught twice before, and the telltale missing fingers from his right hand was enough to prove the theory. His scarred face drooped, eyes on the ground. Prince Izak hated him with a passion. His throbbing foot and history with thieves was all Nikolas needed to agree with his good friend. 

"Mina." The magic-worker looked up from her desk as they entered her room. 

"How may I be of service, my General?" Mina asked, standing as Nik and Dusty followed. 

"This thief needs to be made presentable for the King." Mina nodded in understanding and walked to stand in front of the boy. She held a hand to his drooping head and whispered a few words. His hair dried honey blonde, and his tattered clothes were cleaned of any mud and grime. The wound above his eye knitted itself back together and the blue of his lips faded to pink.

"Is this acceptable, General?" Mina asked, stepping away.

"Be better without that scar."

"I'm sorry my General, but that scar has been healed with strong magic that I could not interfere with." Mina replied. General Glennis left without another word and his soldiers followed him. The thief was starting to come around. He was walking on his own and his breathing had become regular once more. The shopkeeper had called him Robbie. Nik didn't know why he had been summoned to the main room alongside the accused; he was only a foot soldier. He just hoped Princess Sage would be there. An image of her beautiful face flashed into his mind and he smiled. "You both know what to do, yes?" The General asked.