Chapter 5: The Master of the Citadel

I was, in fact, alive when delivered to the mysterious stranger.

Basilus and Pollux carried me up a flight of stairs to another part of the complex. They watched while two older human slaves bathed me and bandaged my wounds. Another elf entered the chamber and spoke in a whisper to Pollux, who nodded.

The two Cityguard were frightened. Should I be? I was ready to face death only a few minutes before. Reyan had mentioned the elves were searching for traitors to the empire in the city, which meant we were leaving. The Cityguard had that excuse ready, too.

Did they know who I was? Who I was connected to?

If they knew my relationship with the Prophet, they would seriously interrogate me. And we had all heard about the elven interrogators, the Nightguard. No one kept secrets for long.

It might have been better to die back in the cell.

Once clean and tended to, Basilus and Pollux dragged me out of the complex and placed me on a horse, draping me over the saddle like a bag of grain. They took a scarf and tied it over my eyes.

The two elves led me through the streets, the hooves clomping on the stone underneath me, and after a time they stopped and grabbed me from the back of the horse. With their hands under my arms, they carried me upright and gently for a few paces. They knocked on a wooden surface.

A door opened. “Bring him.” The hooded figure from before.

The room brightened beyond my blindfold while they brought me a few mitres into a building and sat me in a chair. I leaned forward onto a table in front of me.

“He is alive,” the stranger said. “Which is how you will remain. For now.”

“Sir?” Basilus said. “For ... now?”

“Do you know what I am?” the stranger said.

There was an audible gulp and a gasp. One of them spoke in a breath. “Yes.”

“I have already commanded your First Captain, and I repeat it to you,” the stranger said. “You will tell no one of this. This is the business of the Emperor. I act for him and for him alone. If you speak of this to any soul, I will know, and I will find and kill you and whomever you told. And if they repeated the information to anyone ... is this clear?”

A moment passed. “Yes, sir,” Pollux said.

“When you leave this place,” the stranger said, “you will forget you were ever here. You will forget this young human. You will not speak of it to each other, nor the First Captain.”

A silence hung in the air until Pollux said, “We understand, sir.”

“I pray to the nine gods for your sake that you do,” the stranger said. “Now go.”

The sandaled feet left the room. A door closed.

“You may remove the blindfold,” the stranger said.

I had to force my hand to rise without trembling. I succeeded for the most part. Removing the scarf, I squinted against the sudden light, a lamp in each of the four corners of the room.

The room was a large dining area with fine dishes and goblets along the wall to my left. The opposite wall had tapestries of elves in battle, slaying humans. A hallway further into the building – a house? – was front of me.