Immortalia

The Indestructibles - Part 2

Part 2:

The entire group had gathered inside the castle’s throne-room. Milada stood against a cold wall with her arms crossed. Her friends—at least she saw them as friends now—were talking over each other, and she found it hard to follow the conversation. It was as if something was clouding her mind.

“We need to find her,” Aurora said while pacing back and forth. “She’s out for vengeance, I promise you—it won’t end well if we don’t catch her.”

Aaron walked over to take her hand, forcing her to stop. With a tender look, he said, “I know that, but we need a strategy.” He looked at Milada. “You have anything you want to add?”

Something changed inside her as he looked at her. It was as if something disappeared inside her. At first, it clenched deep in her stomach, and nauseating feelings spread through her body. Shaking it off, she pushed herself away from the wall and walked slowly towards the middle of the room. She had a mission. Always focus on the mission. “What I’d like to know, is how an unarmed prisoner could somehow escape a heavily guarded cell deep below ground. And without a trace at that.”

Nobody looked at her, and she quickly understood why: they didn’t know.

“What were you all doing?” she asked.

Valeria shrugged. “I wasn’t here. I was with Caleb.”

Milada had already guessed what Queen Sari was doing just from her attire. Normally she would have been embarrassed to see the Queen in little more than a morningrobe, but monarchs wasn’t required to rise early—she had no place to judge.

Glancing to the two love-birds, Aaron and Aurora, it wasn’t hard to guess what they’d been doing. Another time and place, she might have made a snide comment about Aurora’s tousled hair, but this was serious. Before she could give in to the tug of a smile, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. Wincing, she pretended as if nothing was wrong.

She needed to focus on the mission.

She sighed. “I should have been here,” she muttered, mostly to herself.

Aaron frowned. “Why weren’t you?”

“I couldn’t sleep; woke up early and took a walk in the park. I just arrived back here when you told me.” Milada rubbed her forehead. A slight ache had spread from her temples. What was she saying?

“You didn’t just arrive here, Milada.” Everyone stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“Nonsense.” She scoffed. “I think I’d remember when I was told vital information, Aaron. You told me a few minutes ago.” She turned to the rest of the group. “And no one saw anything? What about the guards? The bulky one—Stavros. Did he see anything?”

The group simply stared at her.

“What?” she asked.

“There’s no one here named Stavros,” Aaron explained.

“Wha—no. Don’t mess with me, Aaron.” Milada crossed her arms, giving him her best glare. “I saw him near the electronic cells, just yesterday. And I’m fairly sure he was outside when I came back.”

“I found you downtown less than half an hour ago, Milada,” Aaron said. “We’ve been back for a while. And no one was outside.”

Valeria frowned. “And the castle don’t have electronic cells.”

Milada ignored her and turned to Aaron. One problem at a time. Sighing, she said, “No, you didn’t. You came to find me just as I entered the facility. I was alone.” She waved her hand. “Honestly, Aaron. Stop messing around. We need to find Larina—she will do too much damage on her own. I’ll contact Daniel while you call in the troops.”