The Prison of Deviants

Chapter 16: Knut's Background

It all connects: everyone is afraid of Knut, even the vice-warden; everyone, even from the other districts than the feline one, calls him "lord" - a title only the highest administrators can receive and only in their respective districts; everyone, even the highest administrators from the different districts, is obedient to him... Shortly - he is higher than everyone else in this prison and carries himself as the one.

How could I not guess up until now, that he is indeed the warden?! I've been so foolish, now that I think of it.

"Hey, Theo, are you okay?"

Only now I've realised I've been staring at my food for all this time. Shon and Honorée watch me with troubled faces - they are apparently worried I've gone nuts.

"Uhm, yeah... Just fell into my thoughts."

I smile with quite some embarrassment and continue eating my food to make them believe all is fine, when, in fact, now my eating the food so fast begins to look weird.

At least, they don't ask me any more questions. We continue dining in silence. They apparently think I've got some serious problems... No matter. The main thing is that now I've begun to understand everything. To get completely sure of my assumptions, I must access the library, which, fortunately for me, is located in our district. I must find out the family name of the warden. As Rufus has told me before, all the administrator positions in this prison are hereditary, so all the wardens should carry the same family name. I've already heard Knut's surname too - van Irbisen. If the warden family is of the same name, then there will no longer be any doubt that Knut is the one.

Thus, when we finish dining and are directed back to our cells by the guards, I cry to Rufus, who's walking beside Yelen to later take her to his office for fun:

"Hey, Rufus!"

"Call him Lord Rufus, Theo! How many times should I tell you?" Vincent, one of the guards escorting us, snarls at me.

"Nah, no worries, Vincent, it is fine," Rufus says. "What is it, Theo?"

"Rufus, may I go to the library?"

"Huh? You're interested in books now?" Annabelle laughs.

"Ugh, shush! I've been confined to my cell for a week, while you guys were having all the fun!" I reply. "So, can I, Rufus?"

"Oh, sure. But only if you promise you won't cause any trouble!"

"I promise I won't!"

I pull my raven fledgeling face just to look cuter and make him consent. As I've expected, Rufus yields to my gaze right away:

"Okay, okay... Here you go."

He throws the library card over to me. I catch it. It is a mandatory item for the librarians to let us, prisoners, in. The headmen of the districts carry a lot of these cards in case we want to access the library, so we must always ask them for permission. 

Now, I've gotten my permission and my card, so I leave the line of prisoners and head towards the library. Rufus lets me go alone, without any guards, since he trusts in my words. For a deviant and especially a headman, Rufus is certainly way too kind. Maybe that is why Yelen has fallen for him - she too, is a gentle soul.

I access the big golden door that leads to the library. I show the card to the two vampire guards, so they let me enter.

The library is a huge hall with a lot of shelves filled with books and scrolls. There are many tables with armchairs around, where a lot of prisoners have taken seats and are reading or talking amongst each other in a low voice. Some are writing or even drawing. This latter surprises me a lot - I never knew we could pursue arts in this prison. If that is so, then I must get Rufus' permission later, to access this place for drawing, at certain hours. I won't have to completely give up on my passion for the arts, that way.

I access the counter where the librarian - an old raven deviant - is sitting. She takes my card and examines it.

"Your name?"

"Theo Sinclaire."

She types my name on her computer and checks if the photo and my face match. Then she places the card amidst many others there on her desk and mutters:

"You have three hours."

Three whole hours? I can find the necessary book quite easily with that much time. I thank the librarian (even though she doesn't deserve it since she's not at all hospitable) and head to the bookshelves.

I need the history of this prison. I locate the deviant history section and begin to rummage through the shelves. It has to be here somewhere...

"Woah, who do I see? - The problem girl."

I flinch - Knut is right behind me, smiling. What should I do? I can't ask him bluntly whether he is the warden, but if he indeed is, a single mistake of mine while interacting with him could cause me troubles. I've promised Rufus I wouldn't cause any trouble, so I must keep my word if I want him to remain mild with me. 

"Oh, h-hello, Knut..."

"What's up? I've never seen you here before." He approaches the bookshelves. "Oh, got interested in our history?"

"Uhm, yeah..." I smile. 

I try to look casual. He mustn't find out about my suspicions. I might need him and, particularly, that precious computer screen with the prison data in his room, later on.

"That's cool."

"And, what are you doing here?" I ask. I really am interested - I've never expected him to show up here in the library.

"I just wanted to get a book for my brother. He's already finished the last one and wanted a new one to read."

He puts the book he's been holding, on the shelf in its previous place, while I stare at him astonished:

"Brother?!"

"Yeah." He shrugs. "I have a big brother."

"Wow, I never knew!"

He has a brother? If it is so, he too must be a feline! Could it be...

"So, what species is your brother?"

"A snow leopard, like me. But he doesn't have the ability to morph into other feline species as I do. Why asking?"

A snow leopard? So, Knut is not the only one? This makes things more complicated - he and his brother are of the same family, so even if the warden's family name turns out to be van Irbisen, I can't be sure whether it is Knut or his brother.

There is another thing I can do, however.

"No, just been wondering. Like, you were two species in one, so I wondered if your brother is the same kind of a miracle." I laugh, to make it sound like simple curiosity. "So, you guys should be the last inborn snow leopards? As far as I've heard, snow leopard deviants are extinct."

"Yeah, we're the last ones." A bitter smile runs through his lips. "We're not pure-blooded either, though. We've got snow leopard genes from our mother, who was a prisoner and an infected human."

"What?"

Their mother too was a prisoner like us?!

"Yeah. Father married her since he wanted to revive snow leopards. Van Irbisen clan of ours originally included snow leopards. Then, however, when they married other feline species, they slowly went extinct. Father was van Irbisen - a dual elemental of a spotted leopard and a black panther. But the snow leopards were the strongest species, so he wanted his heir to be the one. His marrying an infected human resulted in our becoming anomalous, though."

"Anomalous? How so?"

He's a dual elemental - one of the strongest deviant types. How come he's anomalous?

"Well, my possession of different elements is not a usual event, while my brother has it even harder: he's a snow leopard with the organism fit for a plant elemental - black panther, while his element is fire instead of the water that snow leopards should possess."

"Wow! That really is a mess! So, does your brother have an administrative position too, like you?"

"Well, yeah." He chuckles. "He's actually the warden."