The Wilting Rose

Chapter 10- All Grown Up

Then I was back in the hard bed, in the small cell. I knew I had to get out, or Jatt was going to sacrifice himself for my dad. I also knew Jatt had gotten those scars from trying to retrieve troops, a job that Yim was going to try and take over. Knowing all this made my head spin, and small bubbles of panic rise in my throat. As much as it was touching that Jatt had tried to protect me by letting the Tias handicap me, and drag me down to their prison to stay until he was done, I was annoyed that he would do this without checking.I was even more scared that they would not come back, and that James and Connor would go after them and get killed. Wait! That was it! James and Connor would rescue me, because there was absolutely zero chance that they would be okay with all of this.

Well, I was right. They were not okay with this. They told me so from the cell next to mine. We all agreed on one thing. We had to get out of here. Once we were out of here, we were each going to track down a different person. I would track down Yim, James would track down Jatt, and Connor would track down Solie.

We would convince them to let us stay, then help with the rebellion. It seemed like a good plan, but I wasn’t sure how to stop Choco from getting at it. When I addressed it, they had no idea what I was talking about. “Choco?” Connor asked, “You mean that elephant thing that doesn’t speak English?” I blinked.

 “He speaks English!” I said, suddenly feeling like I needed to defend my large friend. “And he can read my mind whenever I’m near him!” They laughed, and I felt my cheeks heat up. “He can!” I insisted, and they stopped laughing. They looked at each other, and now every part of my body was screaming to shut up, make light of it, and pretend that it never happened. Heat was rising to my cheeks.

“Rosy,” James said, seriously, “When Rao talks, what do you hear?” I looked at him and knew the answer should be something like, nothing, just gibberish, but I couldn’t lie to my own brother. I looked him in the eye, and told him.

“I hear him speaking to me.” James looked at me, and his taut and tense body yelled at me to say I was kidding, that I only heard animal noises. Then, I looked at his face. He was mouthing something that looked an awful lot like the words, ‘Not here, Rosy.’ I shut my mouth.

“Guys, lighten up!” I said, James and Connor laughed, and the vision of Jatt, Solie, and dad laughing on the beach shore. I felt terrible all of a sudden, and I needed to lie down. So I wrapped up my act with a believable, “Wow, you two have been spending too much time with the elves!” then I did a believable yawn and hit the sack.

  As I lay in the surprisingly comfy jail bed, I wondered if our trio was destined to the same feat as my dad’s. We were drifting apart, but I knew that James would always be right there for me no matter what I chose to do. That’s right I will his voice echoed in my head. Comforted and confused, I drifted off to bed.

That night I dreamt that Jatt was bleeding, and he was trying to staunch the blood. Then, I saw out of the corner of my eye my father holding a knife. I tried to get up and help Jatt, but I was tied to a pole.

“Jatt,” I screamed, but he couldn't hear me. I woke, shivering and scared. James looked at me through the bars of the cell, his face a mask of thought, and a little bit of paranoia. I was instantly alarmed that Connor was not with him. James saw my look of panic and smiled.“No, Rosy, he’s not gone, it’s just that he asked the runner of the jail if he was allowed to bathe.” With a chuckle he added, “You know how pretty boy is about maintaining those locks, don't you?” I nodded, then told him, “When Choco and Rao talk I hear English. Choco can read my mind and so can you.” I informed him accusingly.

“Yup, when Choco and Rao talk I hear English too! But that’s only because we’re half-elven, so we have a natural ability to understand and mentally communicate with Jamin and Halliducian.” I nodded, even though knowing my dad was an elf was making it hard to keep a straight face, especially when I remembered that he had called them a ‘filthy race of creatures.’