Every Missing Piece

Aftermath

This was unacceptable.

Josef had come to expect disagreements among his peers and annoyances from those pesky rebels. That was the price of leadership. There would always be disillusioned inferiors, but after years of experience, Josef could crush those nuisances as easily as he would a fly. But this...this was different. Completely, utterly unacceptable.

He would not stand for it.

Perhaps some would say Josef should have recognized the Keeping for the threat they were, but Josef knew he'd done his due diligence. How was he to know that detestable man, Daniel, was hiding a growing number of supporters? After a long day of protecting his people's best interests, was Josef supposed to guess he'd wake a few hours later, half of his guards slain and the other half traitors? No, the blame was certainly not his. Not that his cloudy-minded colleagues would understand that.

The other Assemblymen glared at him from across the room where the Keeping had left them locked up. More citizens trickled in throughout the night, some red-faced and panting like they had been pulled from battle, others bewildered and stumbling like they had been pulled from their beds. Some Josef recognized as his supporters, others he didn't. No matter how crowded the room became, the Assembly's accusing faces were never out of sight.

Josef wasn't sure why he was here. Was he a prisoner? A hostage? A bargaining chip? If there was one thing he knew about Daniel from his attempted negotiations, it was that Daniel was not a forgiving man. He also appeared to have a flair for the dramatic since he made the binds around Josef's wrists so tight...

"Don't do that."

Josef looked up at the rebel before him. Daniel had only left one man to stand guard over the prisoners, but these sniveling fools were so in shock that was enough to cow them. The threat of the man's automatic rifle helped, Josef supposed. Other than that, there was nothing to fear: their jailer was little more than a boy and the baby fat hadn't even left his cheeks yet.

"I beg your pardon?" Josef asked with as much dignity as he could. It was hard to be poised while slumped against the wall and unable to look into the rebel's eyes.

"Don't mess with the ropes. I'll shoot your fingers off if you give it a try."

Josef let his hands fall limp and sighed. "I'm starting to wish I had invited Daniel to bring some of his followers to our meetings earlier. You're all so very charming."

The man kicked Josef's leg as he continued past. Josef considered attempting to loosen the ropes anyway, but he soon thought better of it. What would he do with his hands free? Lunge for a weapon? How uncivilized. This was precisely why Josef had insisted on his own guards: brawling was so tiresome.

Was this what it was like when you were out of options? Josef couldn't say he was fond of the feeling. The Keeping was holding them in one of his old meeting rooms, albeit stripped of all furniture, so Josef knew better than anyone that the only way out was through the carefully guarded door. Josef could hear sounds of a skirmish, much like the shouting from the last time the Keeping had attempted to infiltrate the headquarters, but he didn't have the option of watching from above this time. The meeting room had one window opposite the door, and the Keeping had nailed a thick length of black fabric over the frame shortly after they brought Josef here. He wasn't sure what good that was supposed to do. He'd never understand how these people operated.

On the wall directly across from Josef, someone had painted that wretched symbol of the Keeping's, but their brushstrokes were too heavy and drips of red paint marred their handiwork as if the symbol itself was bleeding. If Josef never had to look at their arrows and their eyes again, he would die a happy man.