**CHAPTER 8: "THE PRISONER'S TALE"**
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"—and if you'd just minded your own business—"
"I was minding my business! You were the one getting cornered!"
"I had it under control!"
"You were shaking!"
"That was strategic trembling!"
The argument had been going for an hour. Maybe longer. Time blurred in the small cell, marked only by the shifting light through the high window.
Kael and Theron sat on opposite benches, glaring at each other across the stone floor. The four other prisoners had given up trying to sleep or read or do anything except wait for the yelling to stop.
"Strategic trembling," Kael repeated flatly. "That's what you're going with?"
"It's a recognized intimidation counter-tactic!" Theron insisted. "You appear weak, they lower their guard, then you—"
"Then you what? Get arrested anyway?"
"I wouldn't have been arrested if you hadn't interfered!"
"You're welcome, by the way."
"I didn't thank you!"
"I noticed!"
The older merchant prisoner—the one who'd spoken earlier—cleared his throat. "Gentlemen. Please. Some of us are trying to maintain our sanity."
"Tell him to stop being ungrateful," Kael said.
"Tell him to stop being a self-righteous hero," Theron shot back.
"I'm not—"
The cell door clanged open.
A guard stepped in, expression flat with professional annoyance. "You two. Shut up."
They both turned to stare at him.
"We were going to release you tommorow evening," the guard continued. "Standard processing for public disturbance. But the way you're going, we're extending your sentence another tow day's. Maybe that'll teach you to keep your mouths shut."
"What?" Theron stood. "You can't—"
"We can. We just did." The guard's eyes were cold. "Keep arguing, we'll extend it another day. Your choice."
He left. The door clanged shut again.
Silence.
Kael and Theron looked at each other.
"This is your fault," Theron said quietly.
"How is this my—"
"SHUT UP!" three prisoners yelled simultaneously.
They shut up.
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An hour passed in tense silence.
Kael sat with his back against the stone wall, arms crossed, trying not to look at Theron. Trying not to think about how Liora and Rynn would react if he didn't show up tonight. Trying not to imagine them waiting at the docks, wondering what happened.
*Great job*, he thought bitterly. *One day of "don't cause trouble" and you're in jail.*
Across the cell, Theron had pulled out a small notebook from his satchel—somehow the guards had let him keep it—and was writing furiously. Notes, maybe. Or a very angry journal entry about interfering travelers.
The older merchant was dozing. The two workers were playing some kind of hand game to pass time. The other scholar was reading a book he'd apparently memorized well enough to recite from memory.
Normal jail things, Kael supposed.
He'd never been in jail before. Never imagined his first time would be in a foreign city for the crime of trying to help someone.
*Should have listened to Liora*, he thought. *Should have walked past. Should have—*
No. He'd do it again. Even knowing where it led. Because leaving someone to get hurt when you could stop it?
That wasn't who he was.
Even if it got him arrested.
Even if it got them both arrested.
Theron's pencil scratched across paper, the sound loud in the quiet cell.
Kael watched him for a moment. Really looked at him for the first time since they'd stopped arguing.
Young—maybe his age, maybe a year older. Worn scholar's robes that had been mended multiple times. Calluses on his fingers from writing, not fighting. Thin, like he sometimes forgot to eat when deep in research. Brown hair that needed cutting. Eyes that were sharp despite the fear earlier.
Someone who asked questions. Someone who looked for answers even when it was dangerous.
Someone who reminded him, painfully, of Father Aldric.
"What are you writing?" Kael asked quietly.
Theron didn't look up. "Notes."
"About?"
"About how interfering travelers ruin everything."
"Sounds like a bestseller."
"It'll be very cathartic to write."
Silence again. But slightly less hostile.
Kael tried a different approach. "What were you researching? That got the nobles upset?"
"Why do you care?"
"We're stuck here together. Might as well talk."
"Talking got us an extra day."
"Fair point." Kael leaned his head back against the wall. "Fine. Don't tell me. I'll just sit here quietly and—"
"Village destructions," Theron said suddenly.
Kael's head snapped up.
Theron was still staring at his notebook, but he'd stopped writing. "I was researching village destructions. The ones in the rural territories over the past few months. The patterns. The accusations. The... inconsistencies."
"What inconsistencies?"
"Villages that filed complaints with the crown about soldiers or investigations. And then, within weeks, those same villages were destroyed. Marked as 'matter resolved' in the official records." Theron finally looked up. "That's not coincidence. That's systematic."
Kael's throat was tight. "How many villages?"
"Seven that I could confirm. Maybe more. The records are... incomplete." His hands clenched around the notebook. "Someone's covering something up. Someone with power. And when I started asking questions about it, suddenly nobles were threatening me in alleys."
"You found something they didn't want you to find."
"Obviously." Theron's laugh was bitter. "And now I'm in jail for it. My research confiscated. My reputation probably ruined. All because I wanted to know *why*."
The cell was quiet.
"My village was one of them," Kael said quietly.
Theron looked at him sharply.
"Three weeks ago. Assassins came. Said we were conducting forbidden activities . Burned everything. Killed everyone." Kael's voice was flat, controlled. "I was the only one who survived. And I've been trying to understand why ever since."
"Gods." Theron's anger seemed to deflate. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't—"
"It's fine."
"It's not fine. You lost your home. Your family. And I've been yelling at you for trying to help someone." He set down the notebook. "I was scared. The nobles, the arrest, losing my research—it all just... I took it out on you. That wasn't fair."
"You were right though. I should have walked past."
"No." Theron shook his head. "You shouldn't have. I was terrified, and you stepped in anyway. That's..." He trailed off. "That's what my friend would have done."
"Your friend?"
Something complicated crossed Theron's face. Pain and pride and grief all mixed together. "Someone I haven't seen in months. Someone who's in a much worse jail than this one."
Kael waited.
"His name is Alkeos," Theron said finally. "We grew up together. Both scholars. Both asking too many questions." A slight smile. "He was always braver than me. Always the one standing up when I was the one being careful. We balanced each other out."
"What happened?"
"He found something." Theron's voice dropped. "I don't know exactly what. He tried to tell someone in authority, someone he trusted. But instead of investigating... they arrested him. Threw him in the Royal Jail. Political prisoner. Enemy of the state."
"For finding something?"
"For finding the *wrong* thing." Theron's hands clenched. "That was six months ago. I've tried to visit. Tried to get information. Tried to appeal to the courts. Nothing. He's just... gone. Locked away for asking questions."
Kael thought about that. About someone brave enough to stand up. About someone punished for seeking truth.
About Father Aldric, who'd hidden secrets but taught him to value truth anyway.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Me too." Theron looked at his notebook again. "I kept researching. Thought if I could find proof of corruption, maybe I could use it to help him. Get him freed somehow. But all I found was more questions. More villages burning. More evidence disappearing. And now..." He gestured at the cell around them. "Now I'm in here too. Can't even help myself, let alone him."
"Royal Jail," Kael said slowly. "Where is that?"
"Built into the mountain beneath the city. Security's intense. Eidric suppression fields. Elite guards. It's where they put people who are too dangerous or too valuable to just execute."
"And Alkeos is there."
"In the deepest levels, probably. Where they keep the ones who know too much." Theron's smile was sad. "He's alive, at least. I think. I hope."
The cell was quiet again.
One of the other prisoners—the younger scholar—spoke up. "I knew Alkeos. Before his arrest. He was brilliant. Kind, but stubborn. If he believed something was wrong, he wouldn't let it go."
"That sounds like him," Theron said softly.
"He talked about you," the scholar continued. "His friend . Said you kept him from doing anything too reckless. Guess he didn't have you around when it mattered."
"Guess not."
Kael was thinking. Turning pieces over in his mind.
Royal Jail. Political prisoners. Someone who found dangerous information.
And two of his own companions—Liora and Rynn—somewhere in this city, probably worried about him by now.
"What if," Kael said slowly, "we got him out?"
Everyone looked at him.
"What?" Theron asked.
"Your friend. Alkeos. What if we broke him out of the Royal Jail?"
"That's..." Theron laughed, but it died quickly. "That's impossible. The security is—"
"Difficult. Not impossible." Kael leaned forward. "You said Alkeos found something. Something they're hiding. If we got him out, he could tell us what it was. And maybe that information connects to the village burnings. Maybe it's all part of the same thing."
"You're insane," Theron said. But there was something in his voice. Something like hope.
"Probably." Kael smiled slightly. "But I'm also stuck in jail with nothing to lose. And you said yourself—someone's covering something up. Someone with power. If we want answers, we need to talk to someone who found them."
"The Royal Jail isn't like this." Theron gestured at their cell. "This is for petty criminals. That place is... it's a fortress."
"Then we'll need a plan. Information. Help." Kael thought of Liora and Rynn. "I have friends in the city. If we can get out of here, coordinate with them, maybe we can figure something out."
"That's a lot of maybes."
"You have a better idea?"
Theron was quiet for a long moment. Then: "No. I don't." He looked at Kael properly. "You're serious about this."
"I need answers about my village. You need your friend back. Seems like our problems might be connected."
"And if we get caught?"
"Then we're in a worse jail than this one. But at least we tried."
The older merchant cleared his throat. "For what it's worth, I think you're both idiots. But I've been in this cell for a week on trumped-up charges, so what do I know." He pulled a small piece of metal from his pocket—a bent nail, maybe. "Guard rotation changes at midnight. New shift is always a bit sloppy for the first twenty minutes. And that lock..." He nodded at their cell door. "...is older than it looks."
Kael and Theron stared at him.
"What?" the merchant said. "I'm not going to escape. I'm too old and too practical. But you two? You're young and stupid enough to try." He held out the nail. "Might as well help you be efficiently stupid."
Theron took the nail like it was made of gold. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. If you get caught, I never gave you that. And if you somehow succeed..." The merchant smiled slightly. "...maybe someone will finally do something about how things work around here."
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The rest of the afternoon passed in quiet planning.
Theron had been in Lumeria long enough to know the city layout. The patrol patterns. The location of the Royal Jail. Where guards were stationed, when they changed shifts, what routes were safest.
Kael listened, memorized, added his own observations from yesterday's wandering.
They'd escape tonight. Meet up with Liora and Rynn at the docks like they'd planned. Then figure out how to break into a maximum security prison to rescue someone who'd been locked away for knowing too much.
"This is completely insane," Theron said for the third time.
"You keep saying that," Kael pointed out.
"Because it keeps being true." But Theron was smiling now. Actually smiling. "Alkeos is going to lose his mind when he finds out someone actually tried to rescue him."
"Think he'll be grateful?"
"Oh, he'll be grateful. After he finishes yelling at me for taking stupid risks." Theron's eyes were bright. "But yeah. He'll be grateful."
"Then it's worth it."
"You don't even know him."
"I know you care about him. That's enough."
Theron looked at him for a long moment. "You're either the best person I've ever met or the dumbest. Haven't decided which yet."
"Can't it be both?"
"Unfortunately, probably yes." Theron held out his hand. "Thank you. For interfering. For getting arrested. For being just as stupid as I needed you to be."
Kael shook it. "You're welcome. For all of it."
The light through the window was fading. Evening approaching. Midnight would come eventually.
And then they'd see if stupidity and determination were enough to break out of jail.
To rescue a prisoner who knew too much.
To find answers that someone powerful wanted buried.
Kael leaned back against the wall, feeling the wrapped sword's absence keenly—the guards had taken it, stored it somewhere in the jail. He'd need to get it back before they left.
"Kael?" Theron asked quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Your village. The people you lost. I'm going to help you find out why it happened. I promise."
"And I'm going to help you get your friend back."
"Deal."
They sat in comfortable silence as the sun set over Lumeria's white marble walls.
Outside, the city prepared for evening. Guards changed shifts. Citizens went home. Scholars closed their libraries. Everything orderly, everything controlled, everything perfectly maintained.
And inside a jail cell, two young men who'd met through mutual disaster planned to break every rule the city had.
Tomorrow, they'd told the guards. They'd be released tomorrow.
But tomorrow was too late.
Tonight, they had work to do.
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**END CHAPTER 8**
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