Silver Silence

tHe cHoSeN OnE

(Title intended to be read as the spongebob meme.)

He felt fingers run through his hair. They combed through his curls, pausing to trail along the curve of his cheekbone. Siles could smell August's lavender cologne. He kept his eyes shut for a moment, enjoying the tingling that followed wherever August touched.

Except August wasn't supposed to be with him. He was supposed to be back at the castle, safe from the Southern soldiers. Siles' eyes snapped open. He saw metal bars and dirt floors. The smell of rat droppings and stale air overwhelmed August's cologne. They were in a dungeon. He looked up and saw August's face above him, his wavy hair streaked with mud and grease. He hadn't escaped.

It was infuriating.

"I'm guessing you strolled back to the castle at a leisurely pace," Siles said.

August frowned. "What? No. I ran."

"Then how the hell did you get caught? You had a head start and those soldiers carried twenty pounds of armor each." Siles lifted his head from August's lap and shoved himself to his feet. He quickly regretted it, falling against the wall as the world rocked beneath him. The longer he stayed upright, the worse the rocking became. Darkness spotted his vision and nausea gripped his throat. He gave up, collapsing back onto the floor.

August leaned over him again, lifting his head back onto his lap. "Standing isn't so great. They've got us on some kind of drug. I think you're on a heavier dose since you're more of a threat." He brushed Siles' hair out of his face again. "I outran the soldiers. You held them back just fine. It was the Southern Queen's guests back at the castle who found me. One of the servants ratted out the passages in the walls."

Siles hadn't been sick since he was fifteen, when the flu had tried to burn him from the inside out. He had thrown up three times a day for seven days, wallowing in misery and complaining to anyone who would listen. He felt like that now, except with the flu the nausea had subsided each time he had emptied his stomach. This time, the nausea stayed, even as he gagged and coughed up air. He could feel a cold sweat precipitating on his burning skin. Maybe it would go away. He hadn't felt so terrible when he had first woken up. Maybe if he lay down for long enough, the nightmare would fade.

"Your buddy must be really dangerous if they gave him that much of the drug," a high voice said. Siles risked another bout of nausea to turn towards the sound. A teenage girl sat in the cell opposite theirs, her legs crossed and a book in her hands as if she were lounging in a library instead of a dungeon.

"Dangerous but beautiful," August replied.

Siles ignored him. "Why are you here?" he asked. The sight of the girl reminded him of Sonia and her followers, still wasting away in the castle dungeons.

"Tried to overthrow the Queen." The girl tried to sound casual, but Siles recognized the pride in her voice.

"The Queen? Do you mean the Southern Queen?" Siles asked.

"Queen Thalia, yea."

"So this is Thalia's dungeon?"

"Sure is."

Siles took a deep breath then released a deep sigh. He had expected as much, but the confirmation still made him feel worse. He shut his eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of August's fingers in his hair. The nausea had subsided somewhat, but the fire under his skin remained.