Hi ! To thank you for your enthusiasm, I'm spoiling you with a longer chapter ! (tadaaa).

Don't thank me yet. You might regret it.

CHAPTER 60

Varian's mind was numb as he was dragged out of the guards' headquarters. How had he come to this ? The look in Phil's eyes was the last thing he expected, the last thing that he wanted… He had failed the people he cared for again. He was almost grateful to Hans for taking him away so he wouldn't have to face another of his failures.

That moment didn't last though. The room led to a hallway made of grey stones, nothing like the royal apartments. In silence, boy and man turned the corner and went down the long corridor leading to a staircase.

Not just any staircase.

And Varian recognized it immediately. Its opening was standing there, just like it did on the day they arrested him, narrow and gloomy, barely lit enough by the flickering lights of a few torches, ready to swallow him whole.

The way down to the dungeons.

Realization abruptly clicked in the teen's brain and all his senses went into overdrive. Dark, cold, damp, hard, merciless. Solitude, isolation, danger. He shuddered and his breathing hitched, memories and feelings flooding back and clashing violently in his mind as no coherent thoughts could find their way in the rising panic that was raging on in his whole being.

"NO !" Varian's torn scream shot up and bounced against the stone walls, the emergency in his voice emphasized by the echo it produced. His eyes wide as horror and dread twisted his stomach, he started to thrash and writhe and fight against the man holding him, his hands tied behind his back making it particularly difficult.

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In another part of the hallway, Phil and Alden froze for a couple of seconds when Varian's cry reached their ears. It was terrifying to hear, not knowing what was happening, but the tone itself in the boy's voice was heart-wrenching. They didn't need words or glances to start running, Alden slightly slower due to his injured arm. Behind them, a small party of three nosy guards had stepped out of the headquarters. After a quick nod, they decided to follow up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No, no, let me go ! Please ! I'm sorry ! Don't do this, please ! I'm sorry… Just… please don't lock me up in there again !", he pleaded and panted, his whole body trembling with fear.

Varian stiffened and dug his heels into the asperities of the uneven floor, but the leather wrappings on his legs didn't provide enough resistance and he was mosly tripping and stumbling, unable to make the older man slow his pace down.

"Quiet !", Hans shouted back at him, his grip on Varian's upper arm squeezing it a bit tighter. "Too late for begging. You never should have laid a hand on me. You had it coming, boy !"

Desperate beyond reason, Varian dropped on his knees so fiercely that it surprised the red-haired man.

"Please ! I'm sorry ! 'll… I'll do anything ! I can't go back in there, they'll kill me !", he implored as tears started to sting his eyes and blur his vision.

The teen's frenzied plea had one effect, but not the one Varian needed. Hans' face grew tense with irritation.

"If you don't keep walking, that will be the last of your worries !" he snarled menacingly, sending a cold shiver in the boy's body, crippling the last bouts of fighting he could have mustered.

And with that, Hans yanked Varian's arm up to force him onto his feet and ruthlessly led him down the spiralling steps.

Panting, Phil, Alden and three more guards charged down the stairs, just in time to catch up as Hans was again pulling up Varian who had fallen down in the dust at the bottom of the staircase. The boy was a screaming and crying mess, hot tears in his eyes and not caring if he had bruised his limbs or broken his bones. His body had taken over and moved by a will of its own. If there still was a part of that brilliant brain at work, it was completely overruled by panic and survival mode. Varian was still squirming and fighting, despite the shackles in his back and his obvious lack of strength that made any resistance completely useless.

"Let him go, Hans !", Phil yelled above Varian's panicked cries.

"I know he hit you, but this is not the way !" Alden cut in, trying to calm things down.

"I'm not taking any chances, Alden," Hans replied coldly as he continued dragging Varian to the nearest cell. "Your judgement is biased, as much as the Queen's. Better lock him up before he hurts someone else."

"Can't you see he's terrified, Hans ?" Phil added, his memory of an unconscious Varian lying on the floor of his cell flooding back to him. "He was physically abused the last time he was in here. He's only a child !"

Without releasing his iron grip on the scrawny arms, Hans rolled his eyes, blatantly annoyed.

"He. Is. Dangerous. You should be thanking me for saving your job and maybe even your life."

"Does he look dangerous to you ?" shouted an infuriated Phil, gesturing at Varian's tear-stained face with one hand and seizing Hans' wrist firmly with the other.

Hans' expression changed in the blink of an eye into one of pure determination. Before anyone could react, he let go of Varian, grabbed Phil with both arms and pushed him, forcing him backwards until they were inside the cell that was intended for the boy. With one swift swipe of his leg, Hans caused Phil to lose his balance and fall awkwardly on his bottom.

"No !" cried Alden, and the older guard started to lunge forward to help his friend, but he found himself being held back by beefy arms. The largest of the guards had just seized him from behind and pinned his free arm to his side, squeezing the injured one painfully in the process.

"Come on, Alden, be reasonable ! Hans is right !"

The two other guards didn't let Varian time to recover – not that he could have run away with his hands in his back. Varian bawled, words of supplication replaced by wild screams of utter fright as they reached down to grab him by his arms and lifted him off the ground. A couple of strides was all it took for them to take him to the opposite cell and drop him there, not caring that the boy wouldn't be able to catch himself.

In the meantime, Hans had quickly gotten out of the first cell and locked the metal gate behind him, leaving a stunned Phil inside.

"Hans !" roared Phil as he scrambled to his feet, his head dizzy. He flung himself at the bars, both in rage and need for support. "HANS !"

Hans, ignoring the young guard, turned on his heels, dusting himself as if nothing had happened. When he looked up, he cast a cold glance to Alden who was still restrained by his large colleague.

"What about you ? Do I need to lock you up as well ?"

Alden clenched his jaw and said nothing. It was time to think fast.

"No. No, Hans, that's fine, I understand this is for safety measures. The King can interrogate the kid when he's back."

Hans studied the man's face, his expression unreadable. Then he relaxed slightly and declared :

"Very well. Let him go."

Alden looked at Varian's broken form on the floor beyond the bars on his left, and then turned around, meeting Phil's eyes. The younger guard's face was bright red and his nostrils flared in anger.

"I can't believe it ! Alden !"

"Sorry, pal," came the reply, voice steady and hard as steel. "We're lucky he hasn't attacked you or me before today. He needs to cool off, and this is the best solution for everyone until their Majesties decide what to do with him."

Hans smirked, a rictus of satisfaction and self-pride he couldn't hide.

Alden walked away, ignoring how Phil called his name desperately as he banged the cold, unbreakable metal bars with his fists.

"So, um, what should we do with him ?", one of the guards asked, turning everyone's attention back to Varian. The terrified boy had crawled backwards to the farthest corner of the tiny cell, his former cries now mere whimpers. Tears he didn't even try to hold back were streaming down his cheeks.

No, no… they're going to hurt me again, please no

Hans simply huffed and joined them in the cell.

"Leave us," he commanded. "I'll handle this. Two of you are to stay on duty at the top of the stairs. No one will be allowed downstairs, is that clear ?"

"Hans !" Phil shouted again as the three guards climbed up . "What are you doing ?". Phil shivered at what Hans could do to Varian if he were alone with him. He couldn't fully understand the man's hatred for the kid, and that was scary. Hans was obviously set on breaking the teen, and he was the kind of man who wasn't afraid to do whatever it took to achieve his goals, that much he knew.

Varian started to scream again in panic as Hans came closer, his voice raw and broken. He frantically searched for a way out around him, but didn't have time to make a single move from his crouched position on the floor. Hans grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around so the boy's hands that were tied behind his back were within his reach. Getting the key hooked on his belt, Hans unlocked the shackles and discarded them, only to toss the scrawny frame towards the back wall. Varian's arms hurt from the rough pull, leaving him unable to fight back. He hurt the stones with a cry of pain and sagged against them like a dislocated doll. The metal shackles that hung below the barred window rattled and jangled wildly as he collided with them.

"No ! Stay away from him, Hans ! You got what you wanted, just… just lock that damn door and leave him alone ! Please." Phil was begging now, for Varian's sake. He knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere with anger or demands. They both were at Hans' mercy. Phil could only try to limit the damage.

Hans went on with the silent treatment though. While the boy was still groggy, the man seized his wrists, one after the other and clasped the shackles over the black leather gloves, spreading the skinny arms wide.

Varian quickly came back to his senses, still in full panic mode, as he realized he was even more helpless than before.

"NO ! NO, PLEASE ! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE !" he yelled as his survival instincts kicked in hard. How could he ever defend himself, should the two huge men assault him again ? He would die here if they did, that's all he could think of. He thrashed against his bonds, tried to pull away, using his legs for support, but ended up on his knees, panting heavily, his head down like he was about to throw up. Which he actually was.

Hans straightened, standing back up and looked down on the miserable brat.

"What a wimp !", he scoffed. "Is it because the Queen has been pampering you too much or have you always been like this ? Now stop resisting, shut your mouth, or I swear I'll make you," he snarled before leaving the cell and walking up the stairs.

"Hans !", Phil called. "You're not going to leave him like that, are you ? Hans ? Hans, come back !"

But the man has already disappeared into the spiral staircase.

Varian was screaming. And crying and sweating as he struggled against the chains. His blue eyes were wide with terror and panic.

"Varian. Varian, calm down", Phil tried. "Listen to me. You have to calm down.". Oh, this was getting so out of hand. What could he do ? What would the Queen do ?

"Varian, you've got to breathe. Deep breaths, buddy. In and out, with me, come on", he coaxed on and on, doing his best to overcome Varian's cries without shouting and scaring him further.

After a few minutes, Phil had to face the fact that Varian was simply too overwhelmed and overstressed to hear him and he sank, hand between his hands that were still clutching the bars. The teen's scratchy voice was barely recognizable, and Phil swore his throat had to be painful, but even that didn't seem to stop him.

None of them heard the dull footsteps that came in pace with a regular clanking and sloshing noise.

Phil lifted his head up to see in the dimmed light that Hans was entering Varian's cell again, this time carrying a bucket full to the brim with water.

A shiver ran down his spine.

"No," he whispered in disbelief, hoping that his hunch was wrong. "Hans, what are you doing ? No, don't, please don't ! HANS !"

Again, Hans didn't do anything to acknowledge the young man's presence. He stepped forward, facing the mess of a boy down on the floor. Without a warning, he lifted the bucket, moved his free hand under its bottom and dumped its whole content onto the crumpled figure.

A sharp wave of shock ran through the boy's body and he jolted, his cries stopping at once. The water had been taken straight from the well, and was constantly chilly, freezing even. It was like being struck by lightning, and Varian felt like his heart had stopped abruptly. For a few seconds, he neither moved nor breathed, except for the quivers his body made by sheer reflex and the drops of water dripping from his mop of hair.

Hans tossed the bucket on the side and knelt down in front of the whacked frame, one hand menacingly hitting the wall next to his head, the other closing around a fistful of Varian's hair to force him to look up.

Inches away from the boy's panic-stricken face, Hans muttered :

"Now, one word, one sound from you, and I'll come back to gag you for the night. Understood ?"

Varian stifled a sob, sucked in a deep breath –and his pride with it – before nodding weakly. Hans' mouth stretched into a grin and he let go of Varian's hair a bit more roughly than needed to make sure the boy would bow his head.

Hans stepped out, the key turning in the lock clearly indicating that there would be no escaping for Varian. Before leaving, the man called out to Phil :

'That goes for you too. Try to talk to him, even one word, and you'll both be tied up and gagged. Good night", he mockingly added before leaving.

Phil listened to the footsteps as they faded away, frozen. But what scared him more than Hans' threat was the fact that now, he couldn't hear anything. There was absolutely no sound coming from the cell opposite his, a sharp contrast with the wild screams filling his ears before. No cries, no whimpers, not even heavy breathings or sniffling could be heard. Daylight was now fading fast, and despite the full moon in the sky, Phil would soon be completely unable to see Varian's still form in the deafening silence.

"Oh, Varian," he whispered under his breath. "I'm so sorry."