Nethermost Realm: Prisoner of Arlunn

Chapter 4

Please note: I am updating this draft of The Prisoner of Arlunn. The most important change is that the main character's name has been changed from Philip to Rian.

4

Full daylight streamed through the prison tower. Rian woke and stirred. The bed was old and the mattress hard. Immediately, he realized that he was ravenous. He threw off the threadbare cover and got up.

On this balcony, that might have been 12' wide, there were four beds--all parallel to the wall. For furniture, there were four old wooden chairs. Kyran slept peacefully in the next bed.

Quietly, Rian went down the narrow stairway into the main room below. He was sure he had slept longer than 8 hours, but he had no way to tell time. He half expected to see Ehina or one of the Arulunni there, but saw no one.

On one side of the tower, under the sleeping balcony, there was a long dinning table. It was also made of old wood. On top of it sat a platter with two small loaves of bread, already sliced. Quickly, Rian went over and began eating.

Along the wall was a small sink and a counter with a dozen old mis-matched dishes and wooden cups. There were spoons, but no knives or forks. He got some water to go with his bread. Even though there was no butter, the bread tasted delicious.

He noted that there was a small partition near the kitchen area--a toilet and shower. Not very private, except for the screen in front of it. A few towels sat on a shelf. Once he'd finished eating, he took a shower. It felt good.

He had no clean clothes, so he put his old ones back on.

Most of the tower was bare of furniture or decor. The air held a chill, but it was comfortable enough.

Rian finished off one of the loaves of bread. He could eat more, but it staved off his hunger. He noticed that the fare was more like prison food than food for the Heir of Cathal. Is this how they planned to treat his little brother? He didn't like it at all.

Time passed but Kyran didn't get up. Rian crept upstairs to check on him and found him still sleeping peacefully. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him. He went back downstairs. As he arrived at the bottom, he heard a noise at the door. The bar had been drawn up. The door opened and Ehina stepped through.

"If you're ready, I'll take you to the college to meet the other students."

Rian hesitated, glancing upstairs. He didn't like leaving Kyran alone, but he was fast asleep. He didn't see the harm of being gone a few hours. And he was very curious to see where he was. He hadn't seen much in the dark last night. He nodded. "All right." Just to be safe, he went to the table to get his sword.

"You won't need that," said Ehina. He just stared at her and strapped it on anyway. He was the Prince of Cathal. Let her stop him. Of course, she didn't. He followed her through the door.

It was only Ehina accompanying him. He didn't see her sisters. Maybe they usually worked in shifts? It was now light, but it didn't feel like actual sunlight. A haze of clouds covered the sky. The Tower occupied most of the small island. As they approached the bridge leading to the mainland, Rian looked down. Nothing but steep rocky cliffs could be seen until the mists below covered the rest from sight. Whether they were high on a mountain or up above the sea--he couldn't tell. But he heard no waves crashing below them, nor did he smell the sea salt.

They crossed the long bridge. Ahead of them, to the right, lay a small village neatly laid out on a small grid of streets. All the buildings were side-by-side, in that cramped European style. They were mostly made of sturdy brick and adobe, and looked well-kept.