All right, people seem to be confused as to who Murtagh killed. Well, the answer is Liane. She was near the hall, she had a knife, and she charged Murtagh to give Rina and Ides the diversion they needed to escape. Murtagh didn't mean to kill her; it was a defensive strike that killed her.
Mistress-of-Misery: Yeah, but now that midterms are over I can take a break. Until, of course, the next round of midterms rolls around…sigh.
Serrin verres: Well, if you get up to this chapter you'll be able to see my response…but anyway, even if it is on a past chapter I do go back and edit them. So tell me what's wrong and I'll listen!
I Elenial I: Ooh. X-men. I hear there's another movie coming out this summer, which is cool.
Shadeslayer390: Well, I moved recently from the U.S. to Taiwan, which speaks Chinese, and having lived in the U.S. for the majority of my life my Chinese, uh, is not the best. So…yeah. Thanks!
Silver sliver: Sure, no problem! We revisit the sewers here…yippee. Go Salem. And a werecat? Where'd you hear that rumor? I'll get out my copy of Eragon and take a look…
Ariel32: Salem wasn't in the last chapter. I should've added it in, but I was seriously depressed last week and didn't feel like writing. She comes out here, in this one. And glad you reviewed!
IndianaJonesFanatic: Sure, no problem!
Gewher: Ah! Vile language! Cowers How could you do this to me!
Nah, actually, it says above. You're not the only confused one here.
Emerald Tiara: See above…it was an accident, really.
Grey Faerie32: Thanks. Well, I'm my worst critic. Keep on reviewing! I hate it when my computer screws up on me too :)
So, I got past my depression and misery to give you Chapter 23 of Thorn and Misery!
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4/3/101
"Quickly," Ides panted. "Get in—quick—"
Both of them scrambled clumsily down the ladder into the sewer, breathing hard. "He killed Liane," Rina whimpered softly, hugging the slimy wall. "He killed her, he killed her—"
"You don't know that," Ides said firmly, shaking her arm. "Don't panic, all right? Liane will survive, and it won't do her any good if you go hysterical."
She swallowed, blinked rapidly to hold back tears, then nodded. "Yeah," she said, her voice shaky. "Okay."
Ides watched her for a moment longer, then nodded, closing his eyes. Where were Gen and Matiel and Salem? Ah…
He opened his eyes and laughed softly. "I guess the sewer's a haven for everybody," he said softly. "Well, well, well."
"It's dirty," Rina pointed out shakily. "Nobody legit in their right mind would set one foot down here."
"Yes, but we're not legit, are we?" Ides smiled. "We haven't been for quite a while. Don't worry."
"How far are they?" Rina whispered.
Ides considered. "Close enough to gather and meet," he said. "Gen's awake, that's good." He grinned. "Of course, if you can sleep through this stench, the only possible reason is that you're dead."
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Salem crouched delicately in the sewer, watching Gen and Matiel bicker about direction. "Well, what do you know?" Matiel asked snappishly. "You've been snoring your head off for the past five minutes."
"Awake long enough to know that you're definitely doing it all wrong," Gen shot back. "Don't you know what the backup plan is? Head for—"
"The smugglers, yeah, yeah. But unfortunately, oh Gen the Mighty, we have forgotten the stashes we were supposed to take. You think the smugglers will take a bunch of paupers into hiding?"
Gen sighed. "You're such a cynic," he said mournfully. "A skeptic. Look, if we need coins, I can get them. Let's just go to the smugglers and wait for—"
"You said you gave up your thieving ways," Matiel accused. "All the 'I'm a reformed character' crap."
Gen grinned. "Well, it's for a good cause, isn't it?"
They continued to trade insults for a while. Salem grew bored of watching them fight and stood, scanning the sewers. She didn't recognize this stretch, but it wasn't like she was a sewer expert or anything.
"Shh!" she hissed suddenly, hearing the soft pad of footsteps. "Can you hear that?"
There were footsteps, trekking steadily forward. Gen and Matiel traded glances, and Salem could feel herself tensing. They didn't sound like the heavy tromp of army boots, but you never knew—
"Ides!"
Gen stepped forward, laughing as he encircled Ides in a bear hug. "You're alive, you stupid magicker!"
"As are you," Ides returned with as cheerfully. It faded slightly as he added, "You should have never gone chasing after Serrion, Gen."
"Oh, is that what happened?" Matiel muttered.
Ides gave Matiel an odd look before turning back to Gen, who shrugged. "Look, it was stupid, but I did what I did," Gen said seriously. "I'm alive, you're alive, so let's leave it at that." His gaze flicked over Rina, and he frowned. "Where's Liane?"
"She—" Rina whispered, but Ides cut her off.
"She's back there," he said quietly, his gaze flicking to Gen's. "With the Rider. She may have survived, so there's no need to mourn yet." He turned, quickly changing the subject. "Look, the first point is to find decent shelter, and we need food."
Matiel's expression was grim. "Well, we left everything in the house," he said tightly. "Not a coin on us. The smugglers would never take us in."
There was a depressed silence.
"Well," Salem said, speaking up, "do they need coin necessarily? I mean, I've got these—" she pulled off both crystal necklaces, holding them up. "I'm sure they couldn't really learn to use them—"
"What's that?" Gen asked curiously as he brushed the necklaces with his finger. "Must've cost quite a bit. I think I could get at least four copper crowns from a ladder-dealer, and that means it's about eight on the legal market."
Ides shot him a look. "They're communication necklaces," he said mildly. "Tria thought up the idea. When Peregrine was running full force, Tria, Jacob, and I would magick and supply various contacts with these in order to recruit and deliver orders. Not everyone had one, actually, most didn't—Rina, you came to us through Jacob and lived at headquarters. Matiel, you too, except you came through Serrion, who was a recruit-contact. Gen, I found you, so you definitely didn't have one. It was mostly people who were too far or were in impractical situations for face-to-face contact who got one of these. Like you, Salem."
"I lived in the palace, yes," she said slowly. "Oh." She regarded them carefully, then closed her fist around them. "I'm sure they're worth something. Would the smugglers take them?"
"Yes," Ides answered. "They probably couldn't activate it, as the contact who held the key to it is dead. But that's not enough, not for five people."
A shadow brushed his face like a raven's wing, and he swallowed. "That's our problem," he said very softly.
"You're hiding something," Rina whispered harshly, pain clear in her voice.
Ides turned to face her, eyes glinting. Finally, he said, "If Liane is not dead…where do you think she'll go? What do you think will happen to her?"
"No," Rina whispered. Then, more violently, "No!"
"What can we do?" Gen asked softly.
Ides shook his head, looking at Gen bleakly. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know what to do, Gen, none of us do. We're fugitives, on the run, without purpose but to be hunted down one by one. They took Serrion first, then Liane. Who's next? Who will be taken?"
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Salem stepped away from the rest. Liane had raged about this, but hearing this in Ides's quiet, hopeless voice brought the impact. She crossed her arms about herself, unwilling to believe that she was practically dead already.
No, she thought viciously. There has to be a way. I'm not going to die. None of us are, not yet.
What did Murtagh want? Her? Why was he so determined? Sure, she had insulted him, but he didn't seem the kind to pursue revenge for that. But why then? What was the reason? What did he want?
For the king, she thought. He's a Rider. Loyalty, obeying orders? But why would the king want me?
She rubbed her forehead and groaned. There was a piece missing, and she had the distinct feeling that it would stay missing for quite a while. Maybe he's just acting on orders...orders to capture and destroy Peregrine. I mean, he'd probably care enough for that.
And the Peregrine and his guardian…but that's surely the more important of the two, why isn't he off doing that? Why is he pursuing the remnants of this broken little group? Peregrine is the head, you chop off the head and you kill the body. So why is he chasing Sílica? Why is he chasing me? Unless the king doesn't know? But that's ridiculous. If I know, surely somebody like Talinia—Tria—would know. A pang shot through her heart, and she shoved it away. Through her, Reynold had known and she had—
No. Stop mooning over him, she told herself fiercely. Survive first, then mourn later.
A soft rustle brought Salem out of her thoughts. "Salem?" Ides said. "Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "Eh? Oh…yes, just thinking. Sorry."
Matiel laughed bitterly. "Which is more than some people are doing," he spat. "Look, this is a mess. What do we do now? Go charging after Liane? Or do we hide in this sewer and wait for Galbatorix's dogs to hunt us down?"
"We can't leave Liane in the Rider's hands," Ides said slowly.
"So, how do we go about saving her? If it can be done at all?" Matiel barked.
"You don't need to be such a sourpuss, Matiel," Gen said, raising an eyebrow. "We're all trapped in this mess together."
Matiel's mouth tightened into a thin line, but he nodded. Ides watched him for a moment longer, then sighed. "I don't know," he said finally. "Jacob was always the one pulling the knots together…then, when he died, it was Tria."
"Well, now it's you," Rina murmured. "By order of the magickers and all."
He gave her a sad smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rina. But no."
"Well, what do we do then?" Rina shouted, her self-control breaking. "Just sit around? We can't just leave her—"
"Look, we're breaking into hysterics," Gen said firmly. "This isn't going to help anybody. Let's just take this logically, all right? Ides. We can probably scrape together at least four silver crowns worth of random items. Three or four, anyhow. What'll that get us with the smugglers?"
Ides closed his eyes, calculating. "If we stay out of their way—a night's lodging and protection."
"Where're you going to get three silver crowns?" Matiel demanded. "Last time I checked, we had four copper crowns in the bag, and unless I've completely lost hold of my senses, it takes ten copper crowns to make a single silver crown."
"Oh, ye of little faith," Gen said reproachfully, then laughed. "Don't worry about that."
"You're going to steal," Matiel said sharply.
Gen's amused gaze faded, sharpening into one of acute attention. "Would you rather have us die?" he asked quietly.
Matiel held his gaze for a while more, then dropped. "Don't take it from people who can't afford it, Eugenides. It's—it's sick."
Gen—Eugenides—nodded. "I know. I won't ever drop that far, Matiel." He swallowed, then looked away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.
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Murtagh rose from his position at the woman's side. He brushed away her dark hair from her face, gazing down at the face. Her face was frozen in an expression of pain—deep, gut-wrenching accusing pain.
He sighed and tucked the blade back into his boot. Well, good job, he thought to himself. You've killed a woman because of your manly macho-ness in your inability to aim for a nonlethal blow, and you haven't gotten an inch closer to finding Salem. Congratulations, you deserve a hearty pat on the back.
He smiled lightly. He was seriously starting to think like Thorn. He could almost hear the dragon's sarcastic comments, making him roll his eyes and laugh even at the worse of times.
Murtagh swallowed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. There wasn't any time to get all sentimental. Not now.
He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and casting out with his mind for shielded presences once more. They were nowhere in the nearby vicinity—he went out wider, straining his mental capacity to scan so many minds.
His bad leg wobbled under him, then collapsed. Murtagh gave a startled grunt as he fell to the ground, rolling to break his fall. His head spun—no, he had definitely overtaxed his abilities in seeking out such a large area.
Well. One step at a time, then.
It was just going to take longer, that was all.
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Thorn hovered, listening with grim satisfaction to the conversation between the Twins and Galbatorix. We did not know, your majesty, the Twins cried. The dragon! He gave us false information!
The emperor's voice was cold and vicious. I highly doubt that, he said dangerously. Considering that I took the information from the dragon's mind and gave it to you…do you doubt my word, then? His voice lashed out, burning the Twins with a cruel fire.
No! Please, your majesty, no! Thorn could imagine the Twins on the ground, squirming as Galbatorix reached out with his mental power to skewer them like bugs on a stick. He grinned savagely at the image.
The mental screams (or was it just one? Thorn wasn't too sure) cracked, escalating to a terrible cry of pain. The mental grip twisted one last time, then slowly released its suffocating hold. The scream flickered, fading slowly.
Galbatorix's voice emerged again, deadly calm. So. You have failed me.
We tried, majesty—The Twins' voices were broken, weak, sputtering. We tried! We couldn't find them!
Did you try searching mentally, you idiots? What use are you?
Yes! We did! The voices were weaker. Do not punish us—we couldn't find them—
Stop whining, Galbatorix ordered. Dragon!
Thorn's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly dropped out of the air, pulling himself up just in time. Um, yes, he answered cautiously. Yes, majesty?
Get back here. Now.
Thorn hissed sharply as the force of the order caught him, invoked by the bindings of his true name. He was thrown forward, flying helplessly back towards the palace. Galbatorix's attention wrenched sharply away, severing all contact to and from the dragon.
Thorn flew on, more alone than ever.
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End of Chapter Twenty-three
Okay. Several very big, very major things have happened in this chapter. I couldn't resist the Twin-torture thing, the little snotheads deserve it!
But besides that. Since the last section is from Thorn's POV and Galbatorix cuts off the dragon before giving final orders, then you don't get to know from the story view that Galbatorix will deliver some very important orders to everybody. Next chapter, I'll put in something from Connac's view, so you can know some of those orders.
I take a name here, Eugenides, that isn't strictly mine. If any of you have ever read The Thief or any of its sequels by Megan Whalen Turner, Eugenides is the main character, the…uh…well, the thief. I love that name. I honestly do. I love Eugenides too, and I've plotted Gen (my Gen) after him.
The Twins failed to find Martaila and Neal, which is why Galbatorix is so ticked off. Where are they? Oh, you'll see.
Murtagh will find Salem…someday. Seriously, the Salem/Murtagh romance is coming…seriously. Yeah.
The pace of this story is going to speed up, and some of the nefarious plans of the Plot shall be revealed very soon. evil laugh No, honestly, I'm looking really forward to tearing the veil off this story and telling everybody what's really under all the action.