As Galin’s eyelids cracked open, the torchlight from outside the bars illuminated their cell. Fog rolled through his mind like a tidal wave. He was laying down, that much he knew for sure. His head was resting on a warm lap. Struggling to focus, he looked up at a blurry, but loving face.
“He’s waking up,” Jena said as she pulled Galin’s head into her chest. “Ellis?”
“All right, I hear you,” he snapped from across the cell. Ellis’s eyes were beet-red, as if he’d cried for hours.
Galin sat up and his mind’s fog receded. “Where are we?” The ever-cheerful Ellis was no more. Even in the worst times, Galin never saw him cry. Could he blame him? No. How would Galin feel if Jena turned out to be a Dark Elf? How would he feel if he unknowingly aided the Darkstriders, betraying his friends? Awful, that’s how he’d feel. No doubt. He smiled at Jena. Well, at least they’d be together in the end. Thank Odella that Jena was not pregnant. Perhaps it was a blessing from the gods to spare an unborn child from the torment they were certain to go through and eventually perish from. Galin struggled to his feet and walked over to Ellis.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Ellis said. “We won’t be for long, you know.”
Galin nodded and smiled at his old friend. “I know.” He plopped down next to Ellis. “We need your crazy ideas on how to get out of here.”
Jena moved over next to Galin. “Yeah, Ellis, we can’t die in here. Help us.” Her eyes began to well up.
“It’s all right, Jena. We’ll make it,” Galin said. Liar!
A forced smile fought its way across Jena’s tearful face. She nodded. “I know we will.”
“Where are we in the castle?”
Ellis wiped the tears from his face. “We seem to be on the lowest level in the castle. Tanyl was describing how many different ways he was going to kill us the whole way down. Mae—I mean that bitch, Chalia—joined in.”
“I see.” Galin looked around. To the left and to the right was another cell. Outside the bars was a small walkway heading out the doors. Torches were mounted in sconces along the wall. The wooden door appeared impervious. Well, it was, as long as they were behind bars. They had to get out.
“How do we get out?” Jena asked.
“They took my picks,” Ellis said. “Chalia knew right where to find them.”
Galin frowned. How many other secrets were betrayed by Chalia? What else did she know? Everything. How come he didn’t figure it out? What clues did he miss? The ring! Yes, her ring glowed whenever Galin and Ellis were fighting or . . . whatever. A magic ring? Had to be. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is,” Ellis said.
“No, Chalia had a ring that glowed every time we got into an argument or when she wanted you to do something that you didn’t. No, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Whatever.” Ellis tore his eyes away.
“Ellis, how do we get out of here?” Jena asked.
Galin smacked Ellis in the shoulder. “Snap out of it. Do you want to live?”
Ellis nodded.
“Then help us get out of here, before it is too late,” Galin said.
Ellis wiped the tears from his eyes. “Well, assuming that we can get out of this . . . cage, the door is our next major obstacle.” He rubbed his chin and stared at the door, as if recalling something. “I don’t remember them locking the door. You’d have heard it if they did.”
“Our only chance is to open the gate so my father can bring the troops inside.”
Jena rubbed her belly. She stared at Galin with a fearful face.
“What is it?” Galin asked.
As if on cue, Jena’s mouth opened and vomit spewed from her mouth all over Galin.
“What the?” Ellis said as he jumped up.
Galin looked down at his puke-covered clothes.
“I’m sorry,” Jena said as she wiped away the vomit from his clothes. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Nerves?” Galin asked.
Jena frowned. “Sure. Nerves.”
Was he missing something? Maybe. It would be better to change the subject, right? Yeah. “After we get out, we’d have to get some weapons and fight our way to the gatehouse.”
“No,” Ellis said.
“No?”
“Yes, I said no. That’s a stupid plan,” Ellis said. “They’d overrun us in seconds and we’d be right back here again. If that happened, I’d throw up on you, too.”
Jena looked down at the ground.
Galin patted her leg. “It’s okay. It happens.”
“How would you do it?” Jena asked.
“Well, we kill three soldiers and take their clothes. Then, we walk from the castle to the gatehouse, acting like we belong there. Then, we open the gate. Simple,” Ellis said with a smile.
Galin frowned. “I doubt it’s that simple.”
“Better than your lousy plan. At least we survive in mine.”
Jena rolled her eyes. “He’s back.”
“Fine,” Galin said. “How do we—“
The door flew open and slammed against the wall. Five Feral Orcs wearing chain mail armor came into the dungeon. They opened the cell and motioned to Jena. “You, come with us.”
Jena slowly got to her feet.
“No!” Galin stepped between Jena and the orcs. “Take me instead, she is no value to you.”
The front orc backhanded Galin, knocking him to the ground. “Weak human.” He grabbed Jena’s arm.
“Where are you taking me?” Jena demanded.
“To the seers. They want to talk to you.”
The seers? They torture—no, they mutilate anyone they question. Even Yotul feared them. “No!” Galin charged at the orcs.
Two more orcs grabbed his arms, holding him in front of the lead Feral Orc.
The orc leaned in. “If she’s lucky, the baby she’s carrying will die. No telling what will happen to the child if it survives the magical interrogation.” It punched Galin in the stomach, sending him reeling to the ground.
Pain. Which was worse, his stomach or Jena not telling him? “Is it true?” Galin asked Jena.
Jena looked away.
“Of course it is,” Ellis said. “Everyone knew it but you.”
“Jena?”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Galin demanded.
“I . . . I tried,” Jena said through the tears.
The orc wrenched her out of the cell. “Come on.”
“Please, please don’t. My baby! My baby!” Jena screamed as she was dragged out of the dungeon.
Galin watched the door slam shut. What have I done?
How could Galin have been so blind? It seemed like hours since they took Jena away. Galin looked over at Ellis. Now, he truly understood how Ellis must feel. No, Jena didn’t betray him; he betrayed her by not truly hearing her. Sure, he couldn’t take hints very well. In fact, Jena told him many times that he wouldn’t recognize what she was saying unless she hit him over the head with it. Why didn’t she tell him? It wasn’t a small thing.
Galin’s mind drifted back. Yeah, she did try to tell him. When she asked about having children, he always said no. Did she know that she was pregnant then? Galin shook his head. No. Maybe? Perhaps? No. Maybe he made her feel too uncomfortable to tell him because of his attitude? Yeah, that was it. He should have been the supportive husband and not think of his own pleasure first. Life would change with a new baby and he knew it. Galin glanced over at the door, praying that it would open. It didn’t.
“I should’ve told you,” Ellis said. “I can’t sit in silence anymore.”
Galin glanced over at his friend. “I can’t either. Why didn’t you tell me? You knew, right?”
Ellis nodded. “Both me and Mae—I mean Chalia, knew. I didn’t tell you because you never wanted to talk about it. That’s why Jena kept it a secret, too.”
It is my fault, Galin thought. Would he be good father? Like Brock? Or would he try to become the father he never knew? Maybe he never wanted to discuss it because—oh hell, he just didn’t want to hear it and he knew it. He made his choice when he and Jena made love the many times after they were married. An act of love doesn’t result in “consequences,” it brings about the personification of their love. A child. Could he a be—
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. She’s only two months along. You’ll make it up to her,” Ellis said.
“If we survive this,” Galin replied.
Ellis frowned. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that things are hopeless. We’ve been captured before and we always get out of it, somehow.”
“How do we get out of this one? We can’t even get out of this damn cage! Jena is being tortured right now by the seers. Do you remember what Yotul said about them? Even the orcs are fearful of them. She could lose the baby . . . or worse, she could die. I can’t deal with that.”
Ellis rushed over towards Galin and kicked him in the side, knocking him over. “Well, you have to deal with it, you son of a bitch!”
“Why’d you do that?” Galin demanded.
“Are you going to deal it with it now? We followed you because we believe in you. Now, when things get a little tough—”
“A little?”
“Yeah, a little. When things get a little tough, you want to roll over and cry in the corner. Well, boo hoo. Poor, poor Galin.” Ellis’s face darkened. “How many people died for you to become king? How many people were tortured to death for you? Did you ever think of that? How will you tell their families that their sacrifice wasn’t good enough to motivate you to, at least, try to do what you promised? Do you even believe in freedom from tyranny? From the Darkstriders?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then do it. Shut up about it and do it.” Ellis plopped down next to his friend. “Besides, I’m going to kill that bitch and I don’t want you screwing it up.”
Galin smiled. “I—”
The door flew open, slamming against the wall with a loud bang. Four Feral Orcs dragged Jena’s lifeless body inside the room and tossed her into the cell. As soon as she hit the floor, Jena let out a moan.
“Jena!” Galin rushed to her side, quickly looking over her body. There were no marks or—
Jena’s eyes cracked open. As soon as she saw Galin, tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
He pulled her into his chest, hugging her with all of his soul. “I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here.” Galin started to rock her back and forth in his arms. “Are you all right?”
“I . . . I . . . I think so. But, I . . . I told them everything. I couldn’t help it,” Jena said as she tore her eyes away from him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh, just rest now. It doesn’t matter now,” Galin said.
“The seers got into my mind and . . . and all my nightmares came true.” Her pleading eyes latched onto his. “They made me believe that my nightmares were true and only they could protect me against them. They made me believe that my baby—”
Galin smiled. “Our baby. I’m so sorry. I was too thick to hear what you were trying to tell me.”
“I love you.”
“I see no bruises or cuts or anything on your body.”
Jena shook her head. “No, they attacked my mind, nothing more. I can’t imagine anything being worse than that.”
Galin glanced down at her stomach. “Think he’s all right?”
“What makes you think it’s a boy?” Jena asked with a smile.
“I . . . I don’t know.”
“It has to be a boy,” Ellis said. “He needs an heir to the throne. If he ever gets to be king.”
“Why does it have to be a boy?” Jena asked.
Galin kissed her. “Let’s worry about that later. I’m so happy to have you back. We’ll raise our child to be better than the both of us.”
“You mean it?”
“I do.”
“What about not giving up what we already have?”
He kissed her forehead and patted her stomach. “We’re not. We’re just moving to the next step in our journey of love.”
“Oh please!” Ellis said as he turned away in disgust.
“We have to get out of here first,” she said.
“We will. I promise. Now get some sleep,” Galin replied. He looked down at Jena resting on his lap with a smile on her face. How the hell am I going to do that?