The Lore Wain and Her Nephew Pt. 10

After leaving Zarabean with her nephew, Celeste led Clef down a back way to the holding cells. She was careful to be sure that no one saw them. Celeste used the key to open up the outer holding door and get inside the main part of the jail. Usually there was soldiers guarding the entrance but Celeste had to send them somewhere temporarily to give them time to question the scoundrels. There were a good many stranders in the holding cells; quite crowded one would say. They all gave Celeste dirty looks upon her entry to the jail. "Ah, look, boys! The Bore Lame of Anniera is paying us a little visit." A woman strander remarked with poison in her voice. "Oh, how kind of you to finally show up! It took you long enough." With a deep breath, Celeste ignored the woman's mocking tone to question her, "Why have you done this horrible sin against the Maker in killing my family?" The woman glared at Celeste, "Right to the point I see. I should be asking you questions, not the other way around." Celeste looked puzzled, "What do you mean?" "Why weren't you there when we came to kill them? You've made our job a lot harder by being in the right place at the right time." The woman sighed before smirking at Celeste, "Why is it that you're alive and they're dead right now? How is it a silly Lore Wain survived and not the mighty Throne Warden?" Seeing as the two weren't stopping her, the woman made a final and poisonous remark, "Are you here to tell us dusty stories about dead people? Well, here's a story about dead people; your dear siblings!" Celeste's stern countenance broke for a moment, her eyes filling with tears of regret. "ENOUGH!" Clef shouted and slammed on the bars, sending the woman to shrink back in the cell. "You will NOT address her like that. Tell us what we want to know!" He barked at the woman strander like he was a wolf. "Why did you attack the Shining Isles?!" The woman strander looked panicked a moment at Clef's boldness before dusting herself off. "Hmph. Why would I tell YOU anything?" Clef leaned close to the bars, "Because if you want to continue talking with that tongue of yours, I would use it to say the right things. Otherwise, I'll gladly take it from your mouth." He gritted his teeth angrily, hoping to intimidate the disrespectful strander. Celeste was too distracted by the words the woman said to respond to Clef's unusual aggressiveness. For a moment, Celeste was trapped in her head with those toxic questions. "Why wasn't I there?" She dwelt on, "Why did I survive? All I can do is tell stories... I'm not skilled with a sword or even capable of self-defense... I couldn't stop..." The tears sitting in her eyes fell, "I can't believe I let this happen..." Clef noticed Celeste in her trance and interrupted it by placing a hand on her shoulder and whispering, "Hey, are you okay?" Celeste quickly looked at him, snapping out of it. "I-I'll... I'll be fine..." She murmured, quickly wiping her eyes with her hand. The woman cackled, "Weakling." Clef suddenly drew a dagger from his boot and aimed it at the strander's face. "You were saying?" With a hard swallow and a glare, the woman huffed. "Tell us about this 'plan B' of yours, Miss." Clef said with a threatening tone. Celeste finally realized how aggressive Clef was being and it almost shocked her. She had never seen him look so determined and... fierce. Sure there were times they were attacked and he defended her but this time something looked different. Something about Clef's eyes told a story even Celeste couldn't understand. "You think I'll live to tell the tale if I blurt it out to you!" The woman protested, looking at the other stranders glaring at her. "What's your name?" Clef pointed the dagger closer to the strander, not having an ounce of mercy in his eyes. The woman's tough strander countenance was no match for Clef's blank gaze. "... Fran." "Well, Fran, tell me about this 'plan B' or I'll see to it your franny doesn't make it out here alive." Despite Clef having a hint of humor in this threat, it didn't make it any less scary. A cackle of a gruff strander catches Clef's attention. "What's so funny?" Clef asked with anger in his voice. "Ha ha ha... Plan B has already begun, masked man." The gruff man flashed an awful wicked grin and continued to cackle. Suddenly, a guard ran through the outer jail door to Celeste. "Lore Wain Celeste!" Celeste and Clef looked quickly at the soldier in the doorway. "He's gone!" - Zarabean held Echo close within the confines of the sack. It was a bumby ride and Zarabean, as anxious and fearful as he was, knew he had a duty to protect the future King of Anniera. The best he could do at the moment was make sure the baby wasn't upside down in the sack. Echo whimpered, on the verge of sobbing. As little as he was, he understood that this wasn't a good situation to be in. Before they both knew it, they were thrown and hit some kind of metal flooring. Zarabean was careful to make sure he took most of the blow. He couldn't help but hiss at the pain of the side of his body that hit the flooring. After a moment of letting the pain wear out, Zarabean was quick to realize the sack wasn't sealed. He immediately left the bag with Echo in his arms and found that they had been placed into a metal cage of some kind. The eyes of many stranders were on the small ridgerunner and the human baby. Lots of them laughed, thinking it really funny to see such a sight. Zarabean trembled and held Echo close with his eyes glued helplessly on the staring stranders. Echo started to cry, sensing Zarabean's worsening anxiety.