21. Cold, Dark and Empty
He awoke several times, they weren't long periods of consciousness but they were enough to gather some details. He was bound; the light of the sky shining above him told him he was outside somewhere. The feel of grass behind him confirmed it and the smell of a burning fire filled his nostrils. But the question was where was he? Who were the people around him? And why was he bound?
Stanza awoke his head throbbing like the steady beat of a drum. What happened? He didn't remember, his wrists were bound tightly with rope. His mind was all fuzzy, his thoughts were all jumbled. One thought crossed his mind. Where was Merelda? Had she been taken as well? Or was she safe? He needed to find out. He strained against the rope hoping they would give way, but they were strong and far to tight.
Something moved off to his left and he felt a breath of air against his ear. "Trying to go somewhere." The voice said, it was low and sounded vaguely familiar to him, who was it?
"Because your not going anywhere your lordship." Something hard hit him in the side and he coughed.
"Who…. Who are you?" he croaked his voice hoarse.
"A friend."
"Do not lie to me." Stanza said, his voice growing a little stronger, "I recognise your voice," he did, it frustrated him however that he could not place the man's name.
"And what difference would it make if you could name me?" the name asking kicking him viciously in the side. Stanza took a deep breath, the pain shot through him like a burning arrow, robbing his of his breath and his strength. His thoughts were still jumbled.
Where was Merelda? What was going on? He needed to know, he needed to find out whether they were safe. "what do you want with me?" he demanded, if he knew what they wanted then he could begin to make plans. If he knew what they wanted he would be able to work out where they were taking him.
"That's for us to know and you to try and work out, Lord Stanza!" the man said.
Footsteps sounded on the hard ground as the person moved away, towards a crackling fire. Stanza struggled against his bonds. He had to get free, he just had to. For Merelda, for himself, for their happiness. For the future of Alagaesia he had to get free.
After a while he lay back completely exhausted his injured arm burned, and his other, some unknown injuries throbbed painfully. He took a few moments to think, he recognised that voice, and with dawning horror he realised who it was, it was the Lords Feraal and Zenwin, some of Galbatorix's lords, they were taking him back to Uru'baen where he knew in his heart he would die. He would surely die there and no one would be able to save him.
What was he going to do? How was he going to escape. He had to find a way. Somewhere inside him he felt dread and fear stir. Was this the end? A suspicion entered his mind, where they taking him back to Galbatorix. If they were he was doomed. He was going to die, he knew it. Despair and hopelessness washed overwhelmed him. Everything he had worked for, everything he had given up over the last 6 months was finished. It was worthless, he had failed.
Sweetgem walked alongside the man she must now call her husband in silent contemplation. Had she been to quick to judge this family? She felt her stomach automatically tighten with guilt at the thought. But the next second she was filled with rage for what he had done to Brutus. Kemba had no right to do that! No right at all! All children made mistakes, even she had made mistakes as far as her family was concerned. She had argued a lot with her sisters, sometimes over the silliest of things and she would always remember her mother's expression when they had taken their argument to her. But hurting a child, that was a different story! Her mother would never hurt any of them, if they had done something wrong, she would quietly and calmly take them to one side or take them out of the situation and talk to them. Explaining what they had done wrong.
Sure Brutus shouldn't have tried to shoot her with an arrow but equally Kemba shouldn't have driven the shaft into Brutus's foot. It was wrong.
Her anger subsided for a moment as she thought of her family. Her mother, her father, her brothers and her sisters, who were now all dead. All of them, apart from her, Teardrop and Belrel, it wouldn't surprise her however if either of them would die, at some point in the future. Teardrop had to marry a vile man, the lord of Aroughs, Lord Halstead, and Belrel, her poor sister who had not only lost her parents and her siblings but had also lost her husband and her children. Sweetgem felt a strong wave of sympathy for her; she was with that monster of a false king.
She walked beside Kemba in silence, her anger rising and falling like waves on an ocean, all her emotions and thoughts flying around in her mind like flies. Should she say something to Kemba about the way he had treated Brutus? Or should she keep quiet? He was her husband and she should not disobey him. But at the same time she could not allow him to treat a child like that.
"Why did you do it?" she asked suddenly, feeling a tendril of fear slip into her stomach. What was she doing?
"What do you mean princess?" Kemba asked.
"You know what I mean Kemba, don't play games! I know what you've done!" she had stopped walking and stared at him furiously. She remembered someone telling her that when she was angry she looked exactly like her mother and on the rare occasions when she was angry, her rage had been compared to that of a raging fire.
"What you did to Brutus!" she said not waiting for him to answer. She wasn't in the mood to hear his excuses. "I know what you did to Brutus! How could you do that to a child! A child! You are supposed to be the adult here, yes he did wrong trying to shoot an arrow at me! But that is nothing compared to you what did to him! You could have caused him to lose his foot! He might get an infection and die! And all because you could not control your temper! All because you couldn't even think to treat him as the child he is and teach him that trying to shoot people is not the right course of action! What is going on in this house? Why does everyone seem to hate each other? Why do you constantly attack each other? You are family, you should love and care for each other!"
She didn't understand. She didn't understand why they all hated each other. If she had her family back, she would not hate them. She would be glad, she regretted every harsh word she had ever said to her siblings, every quarrel they had, every wrong she had done them, filled her heart. And here was this family. A family who had each other who hadn't lost every member of their family. Perhaps that was it? Perhaps they had lost someone they cared about. She was confused, and hurt, and her sadness filled her. All the anger faded from her and she turned away from him, tears in her eyes. She didn't understand.
"I only did it to protect you." She heard Kemba say. "I wanted to protect you from the dangers here and to discipline him."
"That isn't the way you discipline anyone that is torture!" he seemed ashamed of himself, and she didn't care, he deserved it. No one did that to a child! No one, not even to discipline them or teach them a lesson.
"I have some news for you." He said after a while. She turned to look at him, having wiped her tears away.
"What is it?" she was curious now, what did he have to tell her? Could it be that one of her family had survived that Mad mans rampage? Could it be? Was it possible?
"It's Lord Stanza." He said, "He's been kidnapped."
Sweetgem stared at him in shock. Lord Stanza kidnapped, no, that wasn't right. No it couldn't be right, he couldn't have been kidnapped. No, no, she was hearing things, Kemba was trying to trick her, but the expression on his face told her otherwise, "how do you know?" she asked, "how do you know he was taken."
"There was a letter," he said. "some of Galbatorix's lords have taken him. And they are taking him to the king."
Dread filled her, Stanza was being taken to the false king and there as a rebel he would be tortured and he would be executed for it. Someone else was going to die. no, she told herself, no he would not die, because we will save him. I will not let another person die.