An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 26: A Cell of a Room

Nero

Nero shudders from the remnants of his nightmare. He buries his face into the hard pillow and wraps the ends around his head. What am I going to do?

“Hey Nero.”

He barely hears the voice through the pillow. Just leave me alone!

“Nero it's me. Come on, talk to me for a second.”

Nero rolls off his stomach and sits up; pulling the black hood that matches the rest of his clothes from his head. He stares at Natina from the edge of his small bed with bloodshot eyes.

Natina offers a small comforting smile. “How are you doing?”

Nero looks around at his cell. “I'm a prisoner here and I'm being dragged back to Sunta. It’s the end of the world!” Tears begin to well up in his eyes.

“It's not the end of the world.”

“It's the end of my world. The Erohsians will probably never let me go.”

“Did you forget about your friends?”

“My friends? What are they going to do? Do you think they care? Korbin's probably excited I'm gone.”

“Stop it Nero! You’re being stupid.”

Nero throws his hood over his hanging head and looks at his knees. It’s the truth…

“I'm your friend and the others do care about you. Korbin was one of the most eager to rescue you.”

Nero wipes his eyes and looks at her. “Really?” His voice comes in just over a whisper.

Natina smiles and nods. “Really. I can't say what, but just know we’re all thinking about you.”

A small smile teases the corners of his mouth and he visibly relaxes.

Natina peers around the cell. “So are they treating you okay?”

Nero shrugs. “I guess. It's really boring.”

Natina reaches down and picks up a pile of books at her feet. “Luckily I thought of that and brought you some books.” She starts handing them to him. “Here are a couple on artifacts Saraf let me borrow, and here are a couple on different Borukin Aether skills Grebson said you'd be interested in, and then I brought you one of my favorite books.”

Nero grabs the last one and looks at it. “What is it?”

“It is a true story about the last expedition to Bellicove Island.”

“I thought no one ever goes there?”

“And mostly because of this story.”

“Really? What happens?”

Natina smiles. “I guess you'll have to read it to find out.”

“Thanks.” Nero takes the books and sets them on his bed. He pulls the hood off his head. “So what's up with these black clothes? They're kinda cool.”

“Remember what I told you about the tattoos? They define the person, so the black robe is a symbol of removing who you are. It doesn't really work in your case but in general the dishonor is a powerful deterrent to crime.” She looks at him for a long moment. “Do you really think my brother was cheating?”

Nero shrugs. “It looked like someone was helping him.”

“How could he kill Madam Carason?” There is a knock on the door leading out of the cellblock and Natina turns briefly away. “That's my signal from Greb I need to go. The king and everyone are heading out tomorrow, you included. Since I'll be traveling along I'll try to say hi more often. I'll talk to you soon.”