Blood and Gold: Chapter 20

[jiminee]

I apologise for the shortness >>;;
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Dunes rise up around Aureylian, threatening to swallow her, and a huge scorpion appears at the peak of the highest. Its tail is tipped with a dagger, dripping – not with blood, though but with molten gold. Aureylian thinks she sees the face of somebody she recognizes in the reflection of the blade but it is quickly dismissed with a flick of the monster’s tail.

“Okay Vechs I am going to kill you,” Aureylian announces into the dark room.
“What, why?” Vechs’ bleary voice rises from the blackness.
“You stopped having those weird, symbolic dreams and now I’m having them. It’s like you transferred them to my brain.”
“Shut up,” Vechs says laughing. “Go back to sleep.”

The next day dawns and Zisteau hurries everyone out of the hideout, insisting they be at the Underground early.

They meet Bdubs in the main hub, where he sits, accompanied by his companion Generik, at a small stall.
“I’ve kind of abandoned this,” he admits, gesturing to the sign that advertises his lucrative business: seducing people for their secrets. “I’ve had no business.”
Vechs shoots him a nasty look.
“Anyways, we should move somewhere more private,” he announces, hopping over the counter and gesturing towards a tunnel.  The group follows him into the tunnel, then a small room that adjoins it. There is a large table with several maps on it, scribbled plans on large pieces of paper, and little else in the room.
“’Kay,” Bdubs says once everyone is sitting. “I assume everyone knows the basic plan, but if not…” Bdubs goes over the plan Zisteau has already outlined.
“Now, there’s a tunnel we’re extending to go right up under the palace treasury,” Bdubs says. “The gist of the original plan was to grab everything we can, set the explosive, and skedaddle.” He grins. “I guess some of you might’ve been eager to explore the palace a bit more. I’m offering that as an opportunity then. Force our way out of the treasury, kill any guards, go and get a bit more physical.”
“I’m for it,” Generik says, grinning.
“No,” Blame says firmly. “That’s way too dangerous, I’m telling you now. You’ll be captured.”
“You think everything is dangerous,” Nebris says irritably. “Live a little! It’ll be fun.” He grins at Bdubs. “I’m in.”
“I don’t know,” Etho says slowly. “Let me think.”
“If you have a proper plan,” Zisteau says, “it could be fun. As it is, it sounds risky.”
Vechs shoots a look at Blame, who shakes his head almost imperceptibly.
“No,” Vechs says. “Like Blame said. It’s too dangerous.”
“Well, I think it sounds like a cool idea,” Aurey says. “I mean; I know it’s risky. But, I want to explore the palace.”
As everyone turns to stare at Aurey she gives a sheepish grin and looks down at the table. “What? It’s what we came here for. And it should be… fun.”
Something is restrained in Aurey’s voice, like there’s more emotion than she’s trying to reveal in her words. But she says no more and looks expectantly at Bdubs.

I am no longer afraid.
Aurey is surprised at her own confidence, but saying what she wants out loud cements it in her mind. She wonders if she isn’t the only one with a secret agenda, with motivations that divide her from the rest of the group. She wouldn’t be surprised: everyone has been so secretive lately that she has reason to believe so.
Not that she’s ready to tell anybody, not yet. She still holds the secret deep in her heart. She made a vow to herself long ago that she would tell someone, but she’s never worked up the courage to.
And that’s okay, Aurey reasons with herself. After all, Vechs broke his vow.

“Alright then,” Bdubs says, “Let’s do it!”
Vechs glances at Blame. He doesn’t seem angry – his face is unreadable. Vechs looks down to the table as Bdubs and Zisteau begin to discuss the new plans.

We all have a common enemy, Blame thinks, yet every one of us is working against the others. His own goal is simple; to prevent his friends from dying.
Blame does remember the days where he was known as the most dangerous member of Naziv. He’d killed people back then with ease, almost terrifyingly so.
Prison beat that out of him.
Blame sees Vechs tilting his head towards him, and he knows the blue eyes behind those goggles are fixed on him. Why does he still wear those? He has nothing more to hide. Blame is tempted to tell Vechs the truth, that he’s stunted the growth of his own feelings deliberately. But that would mean acknowledging that they are growing back. Blame can’t do that.

The shackles chafe at Blame’s wrists. It’s almost torturous in itself, being chained here with nobody to talk to and nothing to do. The only company he has is the groaning from adjacent cells and the distant screams of tortured prisoners.
Despite everything, Blame’s mind is on Vechs. Blyxing Vechs. He doesn’t deserve to occupy Blame’s thoughts. He swears out loud, not meaning to but the anger that was built up inside him needs an escape.
“You alright there?” comes a cracked voice from behind the wall of the next cell. Blame almost jumps.
“What the blyx do you think?”
“Alright alright. But you’re going to die. You shouldn’t be worrying,” the voice continues.
“Blyx off. He betrayed me, I’m allowed to be angry. I’ll die angry.” Blame curls his shackled hands into fists, wanting to hit something.
“’He’?”
Blame sighs. “You don’t want to hear about it.”
The voice cackles. “You know what they say. Life’s too short. Tell me all about it.”
“He and I were in a group. We were thieves. Just small things at first but, we fell in love with stealing things, and we became great - and then we decided to try to steal from the Feretan palace.” Blame laughs bitterly. “Yeah, the fortress. We actually got in pretty easily, and took a lot of stuff – and were caught on our way out. Thrown into prison. Then he devised a plan for us to escape before we were executed. Long story short, they’re all free, and I’m here. The worst part is how much I trusted him.”
“Did you love him?” the voice asks, some of its edge gone.
Blame lets a long silence pass before saying, “Yes. And I think I still do.”
The voice comes loud this time. “You got to stop loving him then! Blyx that. Let your last gift to yourself be letting go of that love.”
“It’s not that easy to just stop.”
“That’s quitter’s talk. Listen, I’ve done terrible things, that’s why I’m in here. The worst thing I ever did was to myself, though. I fell in love with the enemy. And now I have a one-way ticket to the chopping block.”
Is Vechs the enemy? Blame thinks, then called to the prisoner, “Thanks.”
“No need to thank me,” the voice says back. “I’m Menashe, by the way. I’ll see you in hell.”

I was wrong, Blame thinks now. No way of looking at Vechs makes him seem like an enemy. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hmmm... It will be very interesting to see how Aureylian's character develops. This is well-written and I can practically feel the building tension. Have a cookie. (::)
-Observing Anon

[tdscott8]

Minashe for prince

[ruddiestbubbles]

Ohh very intriguing. I'm still rooting for Kurt to make another appearance, but that's just the fan girl in me XD anyway, I can't wait to see how this'll go down!

[scara]

Throwing a theory out there; there is no Prince, the whole time it was a Princess and that Princess is Aureylian.

[(Anonymous)]

That would be awesome. Unlikely, but awesome.
-Observing Anon

[scara]

Yeah it's just as unlikely as Zisteau being the Prince, another thought I had was that if Aureylian wasn't the Princess then she might have once been betrothed to the Prince.