Nethermost Realm: Prisoner of Arlunn

Chapter 33

   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.

33

Dizziness and pain finally led to sleep. Rian rested fitfully, while chained in a kneeling position in Shaz's fortress in the nullplane of the Interstitium. He'd refused an alliance with the prince, to his detriment, and revealed to Shaz that his fiancé was not a princess of royal blood. How could he be so stupid! He could have played along with Shaz and maybe gotten back to Arlunn to see Kyran and Anya.

Instead, they'd beaten him up and he remained their prisoner. He'd be lucky if they didn't kill him. The room was empty and mostly dark, except for the small amount of light from the corridor. All was quiet. He assumed they'd left or gone to sleep.

He lost consciousness again, when he woke, Sennae knelt in front of him. He tensed, startled. She muttered a quick spell, muting his voice, keeping him from crying out. She held her finger up to her lips, indicating he should be silent.

Rian woke enough to understand that she might be helping him. He nodded. She whispered another spell, and the bonds gave way and he fell to the floor. Every part of him hurt: his head, his ribs, his legs, which had gone to sleep. He tried to moan but found he still had no voice.

She pulled him to a sitting position and stopped to heal his ribs and then his his nose. She looked at him, as if asking if it was better. He nodded. She stood and offered a hand to pull him up.

Her brother, Joby, waited for them in the hallway, keeping watch. Joby nodded. All of them headed for the entrance. When they got there, Sennae stopped them and cast a spell, disabling something—then motioned them into the entryway. They followed.

Soon, they made it out the front door, without incident. He had to admit it, Sennae was smooth. Toby and Sennae locked hands and motioned for Rian to hold their hands as well. He complied.

Nausea threatened Rian as the world vanished and the dark of the void surrounded them momentarily. Soon they reappeared at some distance from Shaz's castle, but still in the Interstitium. Rian was somewhat disappointed. He'd hoped they would take him to Arlunn.

They walked for maybe 10 minutes, then Joby cast a spell to teleport them another mile or so. They stopped at a hill and Joby and Sennae used magic to dig down and create a small one room shelter in the hillside. Then she created a second room, deeper into the hill, motioning Rian to enter the room. She created a cushioned chair for him to sit in. Willingly, he sat down.

"Thanks," he said, finding that he could now talk. He was a little curious at why they'd come to the middle of nowhere to make a shelter.

But Sennae was occupied finishing the room. She added a wall to separate it from the entrance and also a door. He noticed that this door had no handle on the inside and he began to have a sinking feeling.

"Am I your prisoner?" he asked bitterly.

She smiled seductively at him. "Why not? The game is Capture the Favored Heir. I win." She added a rug, a lamp on the wall and a small table in front of Rian. The room was comfortable looking. She added a second chair and sat down in it.

He nodded.

"I assume you're hungry?" she asked.

Truthfully, Rian was famished. "Yes."

From her pack, she pulled out a small box of cubes and set 3 or 4 on the table. She muttered a spell and summoned a bowl of soup, and a plate of meat and another of biscuits. "Eat," she said.

He didn't need much prompting. She ate as well. Then she conjured two matching silver goblets full of something sweet tasting, like wine. He took a sip, then drank greedily, finding himself to be very thirsty.

"I thought you were on Shaz's team now," said Rian, challenging her.

"Shaz is a bastard," she said with a bitterness that surprised Rian. He nodded and kept eating. She leaned forward. "He planned that whole thing with your cousin; I'm sure of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Getting her pregnant."

Why would he get her pregnant on purpose. "What makes you think so? Wasn't it just bad luck?"

She laughed. "I know Shaz. He wanted an heir and getting her pregnant would secure her for him."

"How?"

"First he'd have to give her something with an Auwl stone." At his confusion, she explained. "It glows a different color to indicate her cycle, so he could time it. Don't think he'd leave that to chance. Then he planned a trip on her fertile days; which just happened to be when her mother, Aldena, was here on Arlunn."

The truth struck Rian—it was so obvious. Of course he'd planned it. He swore. "I'm going to kill him."

"That's nice," said Sennae, condescendingly, as she might to a child.

"Then a drug renders her even sillier than usual and by the end of a long night, he leaves her pregnant."

The end of the night. He tried to dispel the picture of Shaz and Anya together.

"I should know," said Sennae. "He got my cousin pregnant the same way."

"What?" said Rian, getting to his feet. "He's done this before?"

Sennae laughed at his reaction. "Of course he has! And my cousin wasn't his first either. When Anya has a child, he'll have three bastard children, all from different mothers. I think his oldest is a girl and the younger is a boy."

Rian examined the door, ready to find a way out of the cell and go back to kill Shaz.

"Sit down," ordered Sennae sharply. The change in tone shocked Rian and he sat down. "Don't be a child. Many princes of the realm have done the same. It's nothing to be surprised about. After all, the bloodlines have to be preserved." She stared at him as she took a sip of her wine.

He stared back at Sennae. Was she coming on to him?

"And whose side are you on?" he asked her.

"I'm on my own side," said Sennae. "Maybe I'll kill everyone else and take the throne myself." Delicately, she picked up a piece of meat and ate it.

For a few moments, Rian stared at his food; he no longer felt hungry.

"Or, you could join my side. Who knows, if I win, maybe you can be king after all." She smiled at him.

He didn't know what to say. Did she want to recruit him or seduce him—or maybe both?

"But, I'm sure you're tired," she said. She stood and cast a spell to create a large comfortable looking bed with lots of blankets. She added three fluffy pillows, all with his sigil on them. She smiled and headed for the door. "Get some rest," she said.

He watched her go, baffled at his plight. But, he was exhausted and so he went over and climbed into the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

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