By now, a few hours had passed, allowing each of us to stew in our own heads. Looking out the window, the rugged landscape had started to give way to buildings of various sizes passing by. I was jolted forward as the carriage made a sudden stop. There was a moment of silence until footsteps approached the carriage, before a conversation started out front that I couldn’t understand.

  The door on the opposite side of the carriage to me was opened, revealing a man with a very mean-looking face, but an unknown face. He looked at the three of us as if expecting something. After hesitating for a moment, Felen searched through her pockets before pulling out a pouch of coins. She picked through the contents of the small bag and pulled out three shining gold coins before handing them to the man. He happily took the coins with a slight grin and closed the door—a fee for entering wherever it was that we were headed.

  We passed through a gate and rode slowly through narrow streets, the buildings slowly piling up in height—at least from what I could see through the small carriage window. Vendors, beggars, thugs and travellers of many kinds all passed us through the streets until we turned towards a considerably quieter area. The carriage suddenly stopped, and the doors were flung open, one side being greeted by the driver, and the other—my side—Banen. He was shivering—likely from the cold—and looked mightily impatient.

  I was once again ripped from the carriage, this time without as much surprise as the last, and dragged around the back, towards an ancient and rusty-looking wooden door. Saura opened the door with a deep creak and went inside, followed by Felen, and then Banen and I. The driver, it seemed, remained outside.

  As I crossed the threshold, I was greeted with a blast of warm air. A stark contrast to the chill outside. The three bandits-turned-kidnappers led me through a tight corridor of warm hues, dark wood tones and wall-mounted candles. It would have almost seemed cosy and welcoming if I hadn’t been brought here against my own will. This atmosphere, however, quickly changed as we came to two sets of stairs. Felen had headed up the stairs to the upper floor(s), but Banen had different plans for me. He dragged me in front of him and shoved me towards the descending staircase.

  He stared daggers at me, with the support of Saura’s presence behind him. “Walk down, or I’ll push you down.” he said.

  I quickly understood him and didn’t feel like getting hurt any more, so I quickly descended the stairs. The walls that were once a welcoming hue of dark browns and oranges had now turned to a cold expanse of stone bricks and cobbles. The red-headed bandit urged me through the corridor, and as we went through, it opened up slightly, if only to illustrate less freedom.

  There were four separate “rooms” that were blocked off by iron bars, each separated by walls of dusty stone brick. The room was lit only by a tiny slit of a window, and a weakly burning torch mounted on the far wall. It was quiet enough to convince you it was empty, but upon closer look, two of the cells were occupied by tired and dirty prisoners, their clothes barely staying together and hardly even fitting them in the first place.

  Banen pushed me forward once more, before grabbing me by the back of my collar and dragging me to the side and into one of the empty cells. I fell onto my hands and knees as he slammed the cage door behind me. My hands scraped against the cold and jagged cobble floor. I turned around to face Banen and barely caught a glimpse of him before he had already walked away. In the short moment that I could see his face, he had an expression that said nothing other than disinterest. Saura stood for another moment, their eyes looking down at me from behind the bars. They turned and said nothing, simply walking away.

  Everything was completely still. In this quiet room, where the only noises I could hear were from my own heart and lungs, I could feel myself starting to panic. In the journey from the carriage to this cell, I hadn’t the time to actually process what was happening. How could I have even done anything to stop myself from ending up here? From the moment I had woken up in the ruins of Raine, I was powerless.

  I got to my feet, hoping some movement would calm my racing heart. There were two others here, I saw them. I moved to the bars with a small wobble in my step and pressed my face between two of the cold iron bars.

  “Hello?” I called to anyone who would listen.

  I was met with silence. Not even a shuffle or any other signs of life from anywhere else in the room.

  “Hey.” I raised my voice, already impatient.

  But once again, nothing.

  I turned back around to inspect my cell. In the corner, a sleeping mat, barely thicker than two of my fingers, topped with possibly the thinnest blanket I had ever seen. Against the wall, an iron bucket—I didn’t want to think what that was for until the time came. I was a little surprised to realise that that was everything in the cell. I turned towards the iron bars that separated me from freedom. They were slightly rusted, kept closed by a heavy bolt, and held still with a thick lock.

  The situation seemed hopeless…

  Hours passed as I sat on the sleeping mat, the thin blanket doing little to keep me warm. Now and then I could hear the odd shuffle or other noises coming from the other cells in the room, but no matter how many times I tried to get some kind of verbal response, I never received one.

  A large man wearing surprisingly formal clothes came in with two trays. As I was in the closest cell to the stairs that led down to the basement, he turned to me first. He looked at me through the bars as if they weren’t there before he crouched low and slid one of the trays under the gap in the bars. He stood back up and moved on. Getting up to examine the tray, it turned out it was holding food—unappetising food, but still food nonetheless.

  I slid the tray towards me. It was about what I had expected to be served in a prison like this—a porridge of sorts, although even that could have been stretching it. It was then though, that I remembered the man had only brought two trays, but there were three people down here. At the same moment that I had that thought, I heard a cell door open at the furthest end of the room from the stairs. The sound of chains dragging across stone rang out—perhaps the loudest thing I had heard in this room since entering this cell—before the large man re-entered my limited view. Following behind as he walked past was one of the other two prisoners. They wore the aforementioned tattered rags, barely hanging onto them. Their hair was greasy and knotted and hung low in front of their face. What little of their face that could be seen through the hair revealed small, sunken eyes.

  I felt a cold sweat form as the pair disappeared from my sight and climbed the stairs, a cold realisation of what may become my fate. What would happen if they kept me here that long? What if they never let me out, and I died in this cell? Even then, what would happen if I died here? With what little I knew, I would have just come back to life at the cost of someone else.

  If by some chance the slop seemed appealing before, it didn’t now. Especially knowing it could have been the only thing I ate from that point.

  - - -

  Day turned into night and the slit at the top of the basement wall turned to darkness, the still-dimming torch being the only source of light at night. Between the anxiety and the uncomfortable floor, I didn’t catch a minute of sleep that night.

  Throughout the next day, I was fed my two meals and left to sit. Day turned to night. Night turned to day. At some point on the third day, the only other occupant of this prison was taken away by the large man, just as he had the first one.

  For as long as I was counting correctly, I had been in this cell for three nights at this point, making this day the fourth. Each day I was left with the only interaction being that with the large man handing out the food, or occasionally emptying the accursed bucket. Today, however, was different. Between thinking of ways to get out, actually trying to get out, and sleeping, there wasn’t a lot to do. I had found myself staring into space a lot, so on the morning of the fourth day, I was lying on my side, on my “bed”, floating around amongst my own thoughts.

  “Excuse me.” a voice said, almost not wanting to disturb me.

  A new voice.

  Upon hearing the soft voice of someone new, I jolted up, looking straight into their eyes. She flinched at my sudden movement, but her face wasn’t one of scorn like I was used to, but one of concern. She wore a simple black dress that extended to her ankles, along with a white apron, and her brown hair was tied up in a tight bun, leaving her face completely exposed. She looked around thirty years old if I had to guess.

  “Gods… how long have you been down here?” she asked, looking me up and down.

  I recounted the days in my head for a moment before responding. “Four days.”

  “Have they even let you wash at all?” her face kept stretching into varying levels of shock at my treatment.

  “No.” I replied shortly.

  Her face turned surprisingly determined, and I was not expecting what came next. She turned towards the stairs and marched off without a word. I heard the door at the top of the stairs open for a moment before it was shortly closed again. Down came the footsteps again, click-clacking and the hard floor, along with a peculiar jingling. She came back within my vision with what looked like a set of four or so keys.

  I was still sitting on my sleeping mat at this point, as the woman inserted a key and tried turning it, but it didn’t budge. She quickly tried a couple more and there was a satisfying click of the lock as she twisted the third one. The door swung slowly open towards me, and she stepped inside the cell. The only light in the room at this point was the slit at the top of the wall, flooding the room and casting this mysterious woman with a halo of light around her silhouette. She extended an open hand towards me.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

  I took her hand and she gently pulled me to my feet. I was led carefully out of the cell—the first time in days—and through a door that neighboured the stairway. Opening the doorway with a drawn-out creak, I was guided into what could only have been a small washroom. The woman walked briskly towards a small bathtub and started pouring water into it from a tap on the wall.

  “It won’t be hot, but it’s better than nothing.” she said, tossing a rag in as it filled with water.

  The first thing I noticed was a working toilet. Perhaps I wouldn’t need to use the wretched bucket ever again. I noticed a small mirror on the wall above a mostly broken basin and approached. With the grime left from my time at Raine, as well as the amount of dust and dirt in this prison, I looked like a mess. My hair was wild and knotted, my face was caked with dirt, my eyes dark and tired.

  “I look like shit.” I said.

  “You do,” she laughed quietly, “but not for long. I’m sure there’s a pretty face somewhere under that filth.”

  I was still somewhat weary of this woman, if only because of the sheer contrast in my treatment. I had gone from barely being seen as a person, to being treated like I’m actually someone who should be looked after. Strangely, it didn’t feel like she was doing this out of obligation, but out of a desire to care.

  “Why are you being so nice?” I asked, hoping to understand a little.

  “I would like to think I’m not a heartless arse hat like the rest of them up there.” She gestured upwards with her head. “I treat people how they deserve to be treated.”

  “But you don’t even know who I am. Or why I’m locked down here.”

  “Knowing them, the reason you’re locked here is for their own personal gain, not for anything you might’ve done.”

  “Do you… know them well?” I asked.

  “Who, Banen?”

  I nodded quietly.

  “Eh, so-so.” she shrugged. “I’m familiar enough to have a teeny tiny bit of hatred for him though.”

  “And by ‘teeny tiny bit’ you mean…?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “A whole lot.”

  I giggled a little. First time in a while.

  She stopped the tap and headed towards the door. “Now, get rid of that stink.” she smiled and closed the door behind her.

  I wasn’t really sure how to feel. On one hand, I had just been introduced to the first person since the shit that happened in Raine that actually cared about me. On the other hand, it just felt a little too good to be true. I decided for now to live in the moment and cherish this person before things inevitably went wrong.

  I walked over to the tub and dipped my fingers in. She wasn’t lying when she said it wouldn’t be hot, but I was thankful there was a bath for me in the first place. I relieved myself of my torn and blood-covered clothes and stepped into the bath. The dirt that covered my skin started to come off as I lowered myself, gathering like a thin film on top of the water. I sat fully down in the tub, crossing my legs as the water reached my shoulders.

  I sat for a moment, letting the memories of the past few days come back to me. Maya, Eva, my town, my home, my life. Everything I had once lived for was gone, in the course of one night. Perhaps if I had done things differently, I could have saved something, anything, anyone. As I sat in the pool of my own dirt, a solitary tear ran down my face.

  I took a deep breath… then plunged my head underwater.

  - - -

  After I had finished, I ascended from the water and stepped out of the tub. Having scrubbed myself red with the rag, I was finally somewhat clean. Perhaps I could have been cleaner, but I was clean enough. There was a stack of towels near the door so I grabbed one and started to dry myself, but I soon saw a new problem: the only clothes I had were the ones I arrived with, which were dirty as a sewer. No sooner than I had the realisation did a knock on the door nearly scare me out of my skin.

  “Are you decent?” the woman’s voice called

  I quickly wrapped the towel around me. “Somewhat.”

  The door creaked open, and the woman came in with a new pair of clothes.

  “Figured you didn’t want to get back into those old things so I brought you these.” She handed me the simple garments. “I’ve no idea if they’ll fit you right, but it’s better than nothing.”

  I held the fabric close and sniffed. They smelled distinctly of wardrobe, but they were clean.

  I could only smile. “Thank you…”

  “No problem. I’ll see you next in the evening with your meal.” she smiled back before leaving, closing the door behind her.

  I wasted no time in drying myself properly and getting changed into the new clothes. They were simple and cheap, but they would do a much better job than my old clothes. I searched through the pockets of the discarded garments until I found the key I had been carrying and put it in my pocket once again, before heading back into the main room.

  I had certainly not missed the uninviting atmosphere of my prison, but for some reason, it didn’t seem so bleak any more. I did a few laps of the room to stretch my legs before realising that my cell door wouldn’t be locked for as long as I was alone right now. Feeling a newfound sense of freedom, I inspected every corner of the room, if not mostly out of boredom. All of the other cells were empty, aside from the expected sleeping mat and bucket.

  I turned my attention to the sole source of light in the room. I had not felt so close to the outside since I first arrived here, and I wanted to get closer. I reached up and gripped the gap in the wall before pulling myself up. With my eyes lined up with the window, I could finally see out. A muddy cobble path, red brick buildings, abandoned stalls and wagons, but strangest of all, not a single sign of life. That was all I could observe before my arms gave out and I fell backwards onto the basement floor. I felt bad for getting these new clothes dirty so quickly, but it was worth it for the taste of the outside I got.

  I decided that that was enough exploration for now and retired to the sleeping mat I had grown to feel somewhat comfortable on. I spent the next few hours just thinking to myself and going over different possibilities of what to expect in the future. Time alone was a surprisingly good resource for theorising.

  I heard the basement door open, followed by the now familiar steps heading down. I leaned forward and she popped right into view holding a tray and a lit torch. This tray was different though, it was steaming and filled the room with a pleasant smell. She walked into the cell, placed the tray on the floor and handed me a fork. It was actual food. Nothing fancy, but it managed to make me remember how hungry I really was, unlike the slop.

  The woman walked to the far end of the room and planted the torch on the wall, before she walked back to me, lowered herself next to me and sat on the floor.

  “I suppose introductions are in order. What’s your name?” she asked.

  “Elise.” I said before taking my first bite of the food.

  “Pretty name.” she smiled.

  “What about you?”

  “Well, the people upstairs only call me ‘the slave’. I think they’ve forgotten that I have a name.”

  “And that name would be…?”

  “Alitelle.”

  “Pretty name.” I laughed as I mimicked her response.

  “I know.” she said smugly.

  By now I had already scoffed down the whole meal, but she stayed despite that.

  “I would have done what I could sooner instead of leaving you how they did, but they made me go out of town for a few days.”

  “Eh, it’s fine. I survived, didn’t I?”

  “True.” she answered “So where’d you come from to end up here?”

  “Before Banen and his crew dragged me here, Raine.”

  “Oh, me too!” Alitelle exclaimed. “I don’t think I’ve been back there for a good ten years or so. Is it still as bad as I remember?”

  She clearly didn’t know about recent events involving our hometown. How could I explain something like that to her?

  “You could say that…” I said slowly.

  Alitelle simply gave an inquisitive look, clearly not expecting my reaction.

  I continued. “Something… happened. Four nights ago.”

  What followed was a long retelling of the events in Raine and the journey here, holding back tears and surprisingly including the parts about divine beings and cheating death, which she didn’t seem to pay too much mind to. She kept quiet as I told everything, listening to each word I said.

  “I…” she was lost for words. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. What’s done is done.” I said, biting my tongue.

  “I think… I think it’s time we called it a day, yeah? You should get some sleep, and they’re probably wondering where I’ve gone.”

  “Yeah.” I gave a half smile, the feelings were still raw.

  She picked up the tray and moved for the cell door.

  “See you tomorrow, Elise.” she said.

  “You too, Alitelle.”

  Over the next few days and nights, me and Alitelle would spend as long as we could just talking, occasionally she would slip me some extra food and bring me changes of clothes. All the while she kept my cell door open so I could wander the basement freely and use the washroom as I wished. This second half of my prison sentence almost seemed nice, thanks to Alitelle.

  It was the seventh day now. Alitelle came down to the basement as usual, only she seemed strangely down.

  “You alright?” I asked

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” she smiled as she handed me the tray of food.

  Even if she said so, however, she couldn’t hide the marks on her face where she had been struck. Apart from that glaring issue, I ate my food and we talked as normal. In our talks, I got to learn a lot about how this place that I was in operated. It seemed that my three captors from days prior were the “leaders” of a crime syndicate that operated above the basement. They had control of many different areas throughout the town we were in (which I came to learn was called Sestea) from the shadows. The group dealt with many things, ranging from petty theft to human trafficking.

  “D’you want to get out of here?” I asked suddenly, mid-conversation.

  “I wish I could.”

  “Why don’t we?”

  She looked at me without saying anything for a moment. “Oh, you’re being serious.”

  I nodded.

  “Well…” she scratched her head. “In all honesty, I think you alone probably could leave here. They seem to have forgotten you’re even down here at this point. Myself however… well I don’t think they’d be too happy.”

  “We could get out of here together, maybe we could go to Fyorn, or maybe even further south where it’s warmer.”

  “You know I’d love to, but it’s just not really possible.” she smiled honestly. “Perhaps I could pull strings to get you out, but—”

  “It’s both of us or neither of us.” I folded my arms and huffed in smug defiance.

  She was silent for a bit as she thought, her face a neutral expression, before speaking up again.

  “I’ll think about it.” she said, her soft smile having returned. “I should probably be going now though, before they start wondering where I am.”

  She stood back on her feet, grabbing the tray as she did, before making her way out. I followed her out of the cell and hung back to watch her walk up the basement stairs. In truth, I had admittedly grown quite fond of her.

  Just as I was about to turn back around, as she got to the top of the stairs, the door to the basement swung open, revealing the man who I hoped I would have never seen again.

  “I knew it.” Banen shouted at the top of the stairs. “I was wondering where you’d been sneaking off to.”

  “Banen—” Alitelle tried to say something before Banen raised his hand and slapped her across the face, the tray she held clattering down the stairs.

  “Shut it, slave.” he stepped forward and Alitelle stepped back. “I heard your conversation with the freak.” he glanced at me, continuing to pressure Alitelle down the stairs. “Don’t get the wrong idea, slave. I haven’t forgotten about her. As you should well know with all your snooping, I’ve been incredibly busy with matters regarding Mayor Aimes. But I guess I haven’t been keeping a tight enough leash on those in my possession.” he looked at me as he finished his sentence, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

  Alitelle now stood next to me. I wanted to move away from Banen, but I also wanted to stand my ground next to the one person I had left. He moved closer, a knife in one hand, and handcuffs in another. He threw the cuffs over to Alitelle. She caught them and her eyes darted between him and myself.

  “Cuff her.” he commanded.

  Alitelle looked at me with a distraught face. “I’m sorry.” she said.

  “It’s alright.” I replied as she linked my wrists together behind my back.

  “Now,” Banen approached, moving behind us, “Up the stairs.”

  We had no choice but to comply. Walking up the stairs was a strange feeling after being trapped here for a week. It was bittersweet, I was finally leaving the basement, but I was still trapped. We arrived in the candle-lit hallway and were quickly urged up the stairs I had seen when first arriving. The stairs creaked as we ascended to the third storey. We were greeted by a long hallway, one side lined with windows, the other lined with doors. We were pushed through the corridor until we stopped by one door. Glancing through the window outside, it was already dark, the street only lit by solitary lanterns in the light rain.

  Banen walked in front of us to the door and opened it, hanging back and insisting we entered first.

  “Ah, so your theory was correct, Banen.” Felen was the first to speak, sounding utterly disinterested. “Still though, there are far more pressing matters than the slave and the freak, don’t you think?”

  In the room stood Felen, Saura, and a man similarly dressed to the first man who brought me food in the basement. The room was grand, yet oddly cosy, sporting a huge and detailed green rug that stretched from the door to a large desk that stood at the opposite end of the room. Felen was sitting in a chair to the left of the desk, Saura stood in the opposite corner, and the mystery man stood guard next to a door to the side that led to another room.

  “You might think so,” he stepped in behind us and closed the door, “but the freak could be the key.”

  I rattled my cuffs. “I’m not a freak!”

  Banen didn’t reply directly, only raising his hand and slapping it into the side of my face. “Would you care to remind me why we captured you?” he asked while walking over to what could only have been his desk.

  I remained silent, and so did he for a while, only sitting at his desk and staring at me.

  “Alright, I’ll ask it differently.” he turned to Alitelle. “I know she told you about the fate of Raine.”

  “H-how—” Alitelle was cut off.

  “I have eyes and ears everywhere. Now tell me, what happened at the end of that destructive night?”

  Alitelle glanced at me, then back at Banen, a nervous sweat making itself known on her face. “S-she died…”

  “Exactly. Now, back to the freak. What happened after that?”

  I remained silent. Banen signalled the other man and he dragged me to the floor, gripping me by the cuffs and pressing my face into the carpet.

  “Well?” Banen said as the man pressed harder.

  “The goddess of death!” I shouted, just wanting the man to let go.

  “And? What did she say?” he asked. “And if you could be specific.”

  My brain went back to the night everything went to shit. “T-that my fate would be swapped with the person closest to me…” The man let me go and I looked back up at my captors.

  “‘The seed of altered fates’, as you put it.” Felen added.

  “Precisely.” Banen said as he got up from behind his desk, twirling his knife around as he walked over to me. He crouched about a step away. “It just so happens that this could kill two birds with one stone. You see, I have a certain, ahem, political figure who I would like dead, and I want to use you to achieve that. The only problem is, I need to know if you’re telling the truth.”

  I watched him with disdain as he stood up again, pacing in front of me as he twirled the knife.

  “It just so happens that I also have a certain slave that’s been going behind my back and spying on me, along with conspiring to escape with the freak. A certain slave that needs punishing.”

  My blood began to boil as I realised what he was saying. I made to lunge at him, but the unknown man gripped me by the cuffs and yanked me back, nearly dislocating my shoulders. I fell backwards onto the floor and the bodyguard pinned me down as Banen guided Alitelle to kneel next to me.

  “NO!” I screamed. “DON’T YOU DARE!”

  “It’s okay, Elise.” Alitelle said with glazed eyes. “There’s nothing we could do.”

  Replacing the bodyguard now was Banen, as he pinned me to the floor with his knee on my chest, still twirling that damned blade.

  “Banen!?” Felen shouted. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Without him saying anything, the knife vanished from my sight as it went towards my neck. Suddenly my neck began to feel warm and wet. I was bleeding. I was bleeding a lot. My

  strength had already gone, I no longer had any will to fight back.

  Banen stood up as I looked at the ceiling. I saw him grab Alitelle and drag her, pushing her on top of me. I was dizzy. I could see her face. Her face still looked so kind. It felt so cold, but she was warm. But even she couldn’t keep me warm forever. I couldn’t hear any more. I couldn’t see any more. I couldn’t breathe any more. I couldn’t feel any more.

  I lied in the familiar expanse of darkness. The blinding light of the accursed goddess came and went. Everything happened much quicker this time. She had nothing to say.

  Sleep.