Alone.

It was dark, still, with stone that left him feeling like he was in a cave rather than enclosed in a prison cell, locked behind a wall of bars that stood between him and the sliver of light that crept under the door across the expanse of the room. Something scuttled across the floor, skittering between the bars into the cell beside him while he sat trapped, hands chained behind his back and head slumped forward. He could slip them if he tried and found that one of the cuffs, almost as if purposely so, was much looser on his wrist.

However, escape was the last thing on his mind.

Guilt.

He had no motivation to move from the spot he’d been thrown down to however long ago by the Dravara. Breathing, as simple as it was, felt like a chore and part of him, an indistinguishable portion of himself, half hoped it would stop entirely. It was his fault Daniel was dead, slain when he was there, when he could have stopped it.

They never should have gone to the campsite, stayed out on patrols, and certainly not have gone to the Rift. The faeloren never should have taken him and he never should have given them the chance. A few months, he thought, and none of it would have mattered.

All of it was his fault.

A tremor shook him as he tried to reposition himself, arms aching from having been chained above his head. They would come again, just as they had before, but Aurora didn’t care just when that was. They could kill him and, despite his previous revolts against them, he would welcome it.

Murderer, a killer, that’s all he’d ever be.

The door opened, light flashing across his face but Aurora’s eyes didn’t raise from where he’d been staring off into the darkness around him. Heels clicked across the stone and for the first time in hours, he felt something.

“Why are you here?”

“I’d like to make a deal, Aurora. I thought that giving you a second chance would be fair to you after all that’s happened,” she said, pausing to smile. “Though, I suppose this is well beyond your second chance, isn’t it?”

“Why? What more could you get from me? I have nothing left.”

She shrugged then, kneeling on the ground in front of him. “It seems you are more upset about the death of my chief than anyon-“

“Of course I am! I-“

“Mind your tone. I came here to offer you a chance at freedom and now I’m having second thoughts,” she sighed, shaking her head.

He was silent.

“We both know the faeloren killed those men but it seems we are the only two who believe that. It’s unfortunate for you, isn’t it?”

Aurora only swallowed, looking down as she extended a hand towards him, raking a hand through his hair until it settled on the back of his head. From there her fingers tangled in his hair, twirling briefly as a smile spread across her lips before his head was wrenched backwards.

“Oh, and did I mention that Norton is very much alive?”

She had gotten to her feet before the words fully registered and he was able to strain against the chains holding him. It should have made him relieved but rather than relief, it was only anger that filled his belly and had him tugging so harshly against the chains his wrists bled.

Laughter.

“But to everyone else, you have murdered respected men of the Dravara. Few know where that party was going but they are exceptionally loyal. They will believe what I say long before they ever believe you-“

“Y-you-“

“What are you trying to say? I-“

“Fuck you,” he spat, still straining against the chains. “I’ll kill you!”

She had the nerve to laugh once again, stepping closer. “Perhaps, I didn’t explain myself fully. Everyone believes you did this, finally snapped after so long. Even Daniel is…easily swayed, isn’t he? The poor thing has a kind heart, as you know, but he’s so very naïve. He never does put up much of a fight but you already know that, don’t you?”

“He would believe me,” Aurora hissed between his teeth, “he has to.”

“Can’t you see that no one, not even Daniel, is going to believe you? They trust me but I am not without reason. I came here to make you a deal, remember?”

He stopped, slumping back against the wall.

“What do you want from me?”

Rowena was kneeling in front of her again, lifting his head with a hand gently cradling his cheek before her hand turned sharply and nails dug into his jaw. He flinched, drawing away from her touch as she smiled again, lantern light playing off the white of her teeth. “It would be a waste to allow you to rot in this prison for the rest of your life. I know you certainly can agree with me on that, can’t you?”

“I have nothing left for me-“

Her smile widened into a grin. “You’re dramatics are certainly something but I am only here only to ask one small favor of you. Admit to killing the Dravara, say you snapped like we all knew you would and I will set you free. No one west of here will know what happened. It’s a simple solution to our rather complicated problem.”

“Why?” he grumbled. “I don’t see why you benefit from this. You get no power or wealth which is all that seems to matter to you.”

She sighed. “Keeping the illusion alive is rather important, Aurora. You would be surprised what people believe when it’s spoken by someone they trust. This seems more than fair to you, doesn’t it? Your freedom in exchange for a few white lies seems fair enough, correct?” she asked, still smiling.

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

Aurora straightened himself. “You will drop all the blame-“

“I already told you-“

“What about Daniel?”

Rowena only shook her head. “He will never know what happened. I’ll let him believe you are still locked away in a fitting place for your crime. If you’re worried about him, I can assure you there is nothing to be afraid of. It’s sweet how much you care for him, how long the two of you have stayed together. It’s rather-“

“If I wanted your opinion on our relationship, I would have asked. I’ve never said a word about yours,” he snapped.

“We are getting off track,” she warned gently. “What do you think? I will give you all the time you need to decide.”

Aurora paused, not replying right away and thinking back to the faeloren, what they’d told him. While his pride, whatever shreds of it remained, would be wounded by agreeing, he worried more for what would become of them. They weren’t facing ridicule, scorn or even discrimination.

They were facing annihilation.

“And what if I refuse?”

“You are completely incapable of making this easy, aren’t you?”

“What if I refuse?” he repeated slowly.

“We have ways of ensuring you won’t ruin things for me.”

He laughed bitterly. “You won’t kill me. It would be too easy for you and you enjoy making people suffer. So, I’m going to ask again. What if I refuse?”

Pinching her lips together, Rowena stood quietly with a quiet humph. “What do you think happened to the last traitor who sided against the Dravara, his kind? You don’t honestly think we killed him, do you?”

“I don’t follow.”

“It was almost disappointing how quickly he gave up. Of course, we didn’t let him die but he was eventually…let go. I doubt he’s still alive but as I was saying before, we have methods of assuring our safety.”

Aurora’s eyes narrowed. “You tortured him. To lie is one thing but torture is another thing entirely. It’s-“

“Necessary to protect the Dravara,” Rowena cut in, words spilling smoothly out into the air and making the chill ever worse.

“It’s inhumane. I always knew you were a despicable-“

“Thank you, Aurora, for your input but I don’t have time for this. I have other things to attend to besides you.”

He smiled for the first time, enjoying the way her face twisted into a grimace. “I have nothing to lose. You offer freedom to a man who sees no point in it already. I didn’t kill them and I’m far from willing to go along with your lie.”

“You have your life and in three months’ time, you will wish you were lacking even that much. You act strong but I can see straight through you. Weak is what you are and always have been, not this arrogant illusion that everyone seems to believe. Good luck, Aurora. Someone will come for you.”

“I do hope you’ll come back to visit me.”

She stalked away then, heels clicking over the floor in a steady pattern until she reached the far side of the room. Part of him wanted to think he regretted his words but he wasn’t afraid, he told himself, of whatever she could unleash.

“I’m not afraid of you but I wish you luck in breaking me down. Just know, bitch, that I won’t give in to you. I made a promise to my brother I’d never-“

“And where is he now, your brother, I mean?”

Aurora swallowed harshly.

“Goodbye, Aurora.”

The door slammed, the light was gone, and Aurora was once again alone.

Nearly a day and a half has passed since Aurora had come and there had only been one other since then. There was only one way to tell how long had passed and that was a single crack in the ceiling, no more than an inch or two across and a few inches wide. They’d unchained him without a word or any attempt at explaining why.

Pacing.

He was parched, hoping they’d come just for the slim chance that they’d bring him something to drink. The cell was dry, the floors not so much as damp, and there would be no chance at finding water in the four stone walls.

However, he could hear it across the room.

A steady drumming, maddening, had been droning on in his head without any sign of stopping. Water, out of reach and out of sight, was almost as upsetting as any other thought that was racing thought his mind. He’d attempted to find a way out, find a weak spot in the bars or any desperate way to reach it but it had only resulted in his frustration increasing.

There was no escaping the cell.

She wanted him to suffer, to pay.

The dripping of water continued, slowly driving him further into an anxious disaster. Aurora stopped at the bars, stretching his arm out into the darkness in a vain attempt to get closer, sighing. However, by some miracle he didn’t believe in, the water stopped.

“Thank you,” he mumbled to nothing.

But as if by some misfortune he’d be more apt to believing, the moment the words left his lips, it returned.

“Stop it!”
He could yell all he wanted and the sound wouldn’t stop.

Aurora moved to slide down against the wall, clearing his throat and wincing at the gravelly feeling in his throat when he tried. The drumming was only growing lower and his hands clapped over his ears in an attempt to block it out.

“Please, is suffering in silence too much to ask?”

Had it not been for the light that flashed across his face as the door opened, he wouldn’t have ever heard the heels of her shoes. He brought his hands away, standing slowly again and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“I wouldn’t open that door if I were you.”

“You know I’m not afraid of you, Aurora.”

“Perhaps not but I’m no longer restrained and I won’t be responsible-“

“Don’t worry,” she said, shaking her head. “I won’t be here for long. I’m offering you one last chance.”

He snorted. “How many times do I-“

“You have refused, yes, but I assume things haven’t been pleasant for you.”

“Why do you care?”

She didn’t answer right away until her smile, barely visible due to the lack of a lantern, twisted into a smirk. “Do know how long one is able to survive without water?”

Aurora blinked. “Excuse me?”

“A few days at most,” she answered calmly, “and you have been here for two.”

“You plan on killing me that easily? I’m surprised,” he grumbled. “I would have thought you wanted me to pay or are you already bored with me?”

He moved off the wall, walking towards the barns calmly and relishing in the anger burning in her eyes.

“I’m not without mercy. No matter what you believe, I am capable of compassion. Both of us are the same in that regard, capable of things others wouldn’t believe. No one knows we both were abandoned when we needed kindness the most-“

“I don’t care what they think of me. I am cold, just like they think, and if you think differently, you’re only fooling yourself.”

Rowena sighed, a heel tapping against the floor. “Fine, rot in here for all…I’m sorry, that was out of line. All I want-“

“Do you want me to beg?”

Her smile twitched.

Aurora fell to his knees. “Please, my lady Rowena, strike me down where I stand! I am not worthy of this life!” He laughed, climbing to his feet and watching as she stared, hands closing. “Is that what you mean? I hope you remember me begging for my life because,” he gripped a bar, “it won’t happen again.”

“So you think but others much better than you have said the same. You remind me of him for some reason,” she paused, tilting her head to one side. “He begged, pleaded and yet, I didn’t grant him what he wanted. Do you know why?”

“Enlighten me.”

“He didn’t deserve the relief. I am only doing what you deserve after turning your back on the Dravara, your own kind. Everyone has their breaking point, Aurora, and some may last longer than others but eventually, everything snaps. I don’t fail.”

“Everyone does,” he answered simply.

“Like I said, some before others but I won’t fall before you do. Your games won’t last and neither will you,” she added, voice edging on something that was unsettlingly close to amusement.

Aurora walked back to the wall, sitting down against it and raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be going now? Normally when you leave someone to suffer, they aren’t bothered with empty threats. Or, and forgive me, is this a different sort of place?”

Her eyes narrowed, flashing. “Enjoy the rest of your days here, Aurora. We will meet again but” she paused, swiping her tongue over her lips, “it certainly will not be any time soon.”

“You like a challenge, don’t you? Well, I’ll be certain to give you one.”

Rowena only laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

She turned, starting away but Aurora cleared his throat and for a moment, her heels fell silent against the stone.

“How is Daniel?”

“He’s infinitely better without you.”

“I know.”

Heels seemed impractical, he thought as the sound disappeared behind the groan of a door. Silence fell and Aurora let out a sigh, reaching up to run a hand through his hand and dropping his head back against the wall.

He didn’t mind being left on his own and the darkness, even though the silence was the least bit unnerving, was more soothing than it was terrifying. However, he recalled, it wasn’t entirely silent and, much to his dismay, the drumming of water had returned.

For a while he sat against the wall, listening and hearing the scampering of the cell’s even less hygienic inhabitants. He leaned forward to rest his head in his hands, gripping at his hair as the water dripped on steadily. His teeth bared in frustration, twisting his fingers further into the tangled mop on his head.

“Stop it.”

The water drummed onward.
“Please?”

Next Chapter: Chapter 22