Page 40 of Sea of Stars

The woman behind him cleared her throat and the old man tried to compose himself. “Yes, yes, I will take care of this,” he said, swooshing his hand behind him. “Now listen here, sonny. You’re the one that should be telling me where she is!”

I looked at the strange old man. “Calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I was quickly growing impatient.

“Enough!” The brutarian stepped in front of the crazy old man. He reached out and grabbed me by the front of my shirt.

“Guards!” I screamed, twisting and turning, trying to free myself from the brutarian's hand.

My head guard was about to take his first swing when the brutarian gave out a deafening roar. The whole castle seemed to shake. All the guards stopped and looked at each other, too scared to proceed. The brutarian turned and pressed me up against one of the pillars by the entranceway. I knew he was strong enough to smash me to bits against it.

“What do you want? Anything, okay? I’ll tell you anything just put me down!”

The brutarian obliged, dropping me from where he held me. I wasn’t expecting the release and landed with a thud on my butt, splashing mud all over myself.

“Ow,” I snapped, looking up at him.

“Show us to the girl, you scum,” the brutarian roared again. I could feel his spit fly onto my face. It was thicker and heavier than the rain.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. Please just…let’s all calm down for a moment.”

“Do you only have divinares here?” the old divinare man c

himed in again. He was looking around the castle thoughtfully, while drawing in the mud with his sword.

The brutarian kicked me, making me lean over in pain.

“Yes, of course," I said. Who else would follow me here?”

The old woman stepped forward this time. “So you don’t have any humans working for you?”

“You,” I said, recognizing the sweet tones of Mahlia’s voice. “You sound just like someone I know. Her name is Mahlia. Do you know her? Is that the person you’re looking for?”

The woman’s eyes seemed to twitch, but she was trying to ignore my words. “Answer me! Are there any humans working for you?” she pleaded.

“No, there aren’t any humans here, just some fellow divinares.”

“I told you he wasn’t from here,” said a human that stood next to the woman. He was almost three times taller than she was. His hair was black and was connected to a thick beard that matched. There was a gash on his forehead and his clothes were tattered. I squinted my eyes and saw that the divinare owl sigil was sliced onto his chest under a rip in his armor. Was this human their prisoner? There was a pouch strapped to his back that seemed to be wiggling.

“We should go back to the village where I met him," the human continued. Maybe he took her there. You can trust me,” he added after studying the faces of the group he was with.

"Shut up, Garret. I say we kill the king first,” the old male divinare said. He blew up his cheeks and puffed out loudly. He seemed excited.

“No, no, no. Please. I’ll do whatever you want.” I tried to look into the woman’s eyes. She reminded me so much of Mahlia. If she only had the same personality, she would spare my life. But she didn’t seem to care what happened to me. I glanced at my supposed guards, but they were all wide-eyed and trembling. Giving up, I turned my attention to the Lords instead. I looked up to the sky, but before I could say my prayers I saw the owls circling above. There were at least a dozen of them.

“Wait, I can help you!" I cried. "If you’re looking for Mahlia, then I can help you find her!”

The next thing I knew the brutarian was reaching for me once again. He picked me up and tossed me against the stone pillar. I only lost consciousness when my body splashed in the mud, slamming against the ground.

I woke up with a gag in my mouth. My exposed skin felt tight with the dried mud caked onto it. I was slumped forwards with my arms tied together at the wrists and bound to one of the poles of my four-poster bed. I turned toward where I kept my dagger and saw that the drawer had been ripped out. The drawer's contents were strewn on the floor, but the dagger wasn't there.

I began screaming, but the gag prevented much noise from escaping. Besides, there was no one in the room to hear me. Where were my guards when I needed them? They were completely useless. I tried to pull my hands loose but the rope was too tight. After struggling for a little while I heard a key enter the lock. The knob turned and the door swung open. The strangers all came in, along with some of the guards from the gate. Upon seeing that I was awake, the old woman stormed over and slapped me hard across the face. My cheek burned as I stared her down.

“That was for what you did to Mahlia,” she said and spat at my feet.

Hearing Mahlia’s name perked up my hair. I tried to start speaking, but I had forgotten about being gagged. The only noises I made were some unintelligible moans. I shrugged my right shoulder toward the fabric around my mouth, suggesting that they take it off so I could speak. If they would just listen to me, we could sort this out. The woman pulled harshly at the gag until it fell down around my neck.

“I was only trying to protect her. I swear.”

“You left her in the mountains for dead!” The woman was furious. When she turned and walked toward the group of strangers I saw the glint of the metallic blade of the Assassin's Dagger strapped to her thigh. I pulled fiercely at the ropes, but it was no use. The group’s whispers were low but I could hear their distressed tones. All I needed to do was show them the dagger. Then they’d believe me. I stopped my struggle against the restraints. I had almost forgotten. The familiar etchings on the blade were no longer there. They would never believe what it had originally told me. There was no use in trying.

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