SFC Book III – Chapter Thirteen – Imprisoned
Gray was taken to a room in Bloodhome, otherwise known as the Pink Palace. There was a bed, a chair, and a window that gave him a view of the Hellbinder Barrier’s huge chunks of square stones. He thought he could see pieces of the old Wrath Tower here and there. The Septua Tribunal’s manamancers couldn’t build the Hellbinder out of Wrath Tower but they could use the mana in the stone to help hold back the demons from spilling out of Old Town.
His prison in the Pink Palace wasn’t all that uncomfortable—he’d definitely been in worse places. Of course, the true punishment was the uncertainty. Fucking Settie was a week late coming back, and that pissed him off more than anything. If she would’ve been there, he wouldn’t have felt better.
But he wasn’t. So it was up to him to take control of his mind and show some self-mastery, especially when the thoughts came of being executed for poaching. Normally poachers were beheaded. At least the corpses weren’t paraded around the cities as a warning. No, just the threat of executions was powerful enough. So far, there had been rumors of executions but no proof of any.
Normally, Gray wouldn’t have worried, since they had no evidence against him, but then, the Magistrate had a way of knowing things he shouldn’t. All of evidence of Gray stealing the sloth squid mana was gone. Even if there was a bit left in his stick, he could just say he’d used it in self-defense.
He was rather surprised it had taken as long as it had for them to get in trouble for living in Old Town. Crewel must’ve known from the beginning and hadn’t cared until now.
Lastly, the charges of using an enchanted item during Soulshred Week was so much seacow shit. It hadn’t been enchanted. They’d been cleared to use it since it seemed far less lethal than the bloodless blades they’d allowed.
Gray would sit and look at the wall out the window for long periods of time, letting go of his fear, and trusting in his own innocence. And if the Magistrate exiled him, or turned him over to the Watchfire families, he would deal with that then.
One thing that surprised him—he knew Pinch had nothing to do with the charges. Since that night to the dice markets, she’d been trying harder than ever to fit in. Yes, she still called them idiots more than she should’ve, and she wasn’t pleasant most days, but she was trying.
For a second, when the Magistrate had shown up, Rynn’s eyes had flashed with a defiance he’d not seen before. Gray knew she would kill any number of recruits to save him, but that wasn’t the way to play the situation. Pinch knew it. She had put a hand on Rynn’s arm to stop her.
Gray would play along until he had an idea of the rules of this new game. It was just another test—all was the Testing and all was the Test, and he wasn’t going to fail this one. Besides, he had several new tricks up his sleeve that the Magistrate didn’t know anything about.
Not only had Pinch calmed Rynn, but she also kind to Amaranthis, who was still having issues trying to throw Rynn’s mana bursts. Gray could relate. He could cause pain with his touch, but he was having trouble healing.
Rynn teased him and Ames, saying she was better than both of them because she had mastered Ames’s mana abilities almost from the start.
Gray was just starting to get hungry when the door swung open. It was probably the most unlikely person Gray could think of—the Dame Hekla Blackpaw, carrying a metal tray from the canteen. On it was a hunk of bread, a piece of chicken, covered in gray-blue gravy as well as a tin cup of the nasty water they served at lunch. For desert was a purpleberry ironbite. At first, the idea made him happy—he liked the purpleberry ones, but then he saw how small, dry, and old it was. He remembered the ironbites they’d been given during Soulshred Week and he immediately lost his appetite.
Still, he’d eat, if only to keep his strength up.
“Hello, Mrs. Blackpaw,” Gray said.
She set the tray down on the floor. There was no table. “Hello yourself, Gray. You’l want to asdk me questions, I know, but I don’t have any answers. Recruits get murdered and the fucking Magistrate doesn’t care. But now you’re here, for what, I don’t rightly know. Can’t hardly believe you’ve been living in Old Town but maybe. Maybe.”
Gray didn’t know what his best defense would be, so he kept quiet about that. “I didn’t poach,” he said. “Why would I? I have the stipend. And I got enough fighting demons in the Chaotica games. It doesn’t make sense.”
“And your stick?” the dog woman shook her head. “You and that stick. When I heard you were going to use it instead of a sword, I thought you’d gone crazy. But then, it seems like you used it pretty well and did some amazing things with it. I don’t know. I was just told to bring you lunch. Just know, the staff like you and Squad 23. We’ll do our best to go to bat for you.”
“What about the First Field Council? Can you appeal to them?” Gray asked.
That made the big woman laugh, both her boobs and belly jiggling. “You think there’s a council? It’s the Magistrate, the Duke, and a few greedy bastards from some shitty sewer. The only person who gives a shit is the Magistrate.”
Gray smiled. “The duke offered to give us money to drop out of the Testing.”
“Because you’ll win,” the dog woman said. “Now, I’ve said too fucking much. And if you try and use this little conversation against me, you little son of a bitch, I’ll shit it in your mouth.”
“Never,” Gray said. “Though you shouldn’t threaten me with a good time.”
The big woman chuckled in a voice that sounded like she was gargling gravel. “Oh, you. Always a surprise and pleasure. This fucking place. This fucking place.”
She left and Gray ate. It wasn’t the worst meal he’d ever eaten but it certainly wasn’t the best.
He thought Blackpaw would come back for the tray, but instead, it was someone Quinly Quillswrath, the Pink Palace archivist and First field’s resurrectionist.
“Oh, Gray, I’m sorry,” the old fae woman said. “It’s trouble all right. Big trouble.”
Gray shrugged as he gave the little old woman the tray and cup. “I’m innocent, so I’m not worried. I do wish my sponsor was here.”
“Your squad is out there, trying to find her.” The old fae paused. “I have to say, seeing Ames back on campus has been a great joy for me. She and Rynnanatha stopped by, and I couldn’t help but hug them both. They told me that you three have a bond, and it makes me happy. Ames, well, she said things I didn’t understand, but it sounds like she came back for your love.”
“I think that’s right.” Gray felt oddly embarrassed by the idea, however true it was. “Did you feel any of that when you were…doing whatever resurrectionists do. How does that work?”
The fae’s smile turned crooked. “It’s life and death, isn’t? The physical body is made up of flesh and energy. If the physical fails, there is still the energy. In a sense, the body is just a cup and the energy is the water. Wounds are cracks in the cup. Death is the shattering. As a resurrectionist, it’s a matter of putting the cup back together before all the energy escapes. But there’s a longing for life that must be there. Ames didn’t have that at first. It was why it was taking so long. And then, that longing returned, and it was easy. So yes, I felt Ames’s change of heart even as I was repairing her heart.” Quinly laughed a little at the pun.
“You and Emerilia Stone,” Gray said. “She was there helping. Settie brought her to you.”
“Yes!” the old fae said with some enthusiasm. “Such a remarkable woman! No love lost there between her and your sponsor. And there is sadness to the Widow Stone. For obvious reasons. But also hope now. Because of you.”
The fae leaned and gave Gray a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I must away. Good day, to you, Grayson Fade. We are all hoping this unfortunate situation is take care of right quick and in a hurry.”
She left and Gray was alone once more with a great deal to think about.
Dinner was brought to him by another old woman, this time one that was a dragon, though she didn’t look like it at the time. It took him a second to recognize the orange eyes of the pale woman in front of him. She had red hair streaked with white and there were wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. At the same time, she had a certain beauty and power to her. She wore a scarlet uniform with her jacket and blouse opened a little to show her freckled cleavage.
“Mama Cinders,” he said quietly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not in your dragon form.”
The woman smiled. “Yes, well, walking Bloodhome’s halls is much easier this way.”
“What’s your first name? I doubt it’s Mama.”
“Fiadh,” she said and handed him a tray. “I’m not done bearing gifts.” Back out in the hallway, she brought in a standing tray and set him up in front of it.
“Fiadh is a nice name,” Gray said, sitting down.
The dragon woman sat on the bed. “Listen, we’ve all been talking to the Magistrate about your case. It’s shocking what he’s doing. Unheard of, really. Are you really living in Old Town?”
Gray chuckled. “It’s nice to know that the Field Matron is on my side. But I’d rather not discuss my case, not without my sponsor. Captain Sevanya should still have some sway.”
“Not as much as you’d think,” the scarlet-headed old woman said in a sad voice. “I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry. I just feel so powerless.”
“Why are you at First Field?” Gray asked. “You seem far too nice for a place like this.”
Fiadh Cinders smiled. “Well, that’s a nice compliment. You’ve always been polite, even during those first few weeks when you were so new here. You and Rynnanatha, coming every day to train. I’d never seen such dedication and ambition. And it paid off. You won the gold on Culling Day, and you could’ve won Soulshred Week except, well, you chose your friend’s life over simple winning. We all took note of that…every one of the Watchfire families knows your name.”
Gray chuckled, but he wasn’t laughing at what she’d said. He laughed because she hadn’t answered his question. “Yes, well, Pamalee Thornpinch is such a sweet girl. We couldn’t let her die.”
“I’m glad,” Mama Cinders said with a sigh. “There has been so much death this year. And not just on the field but…Sindara, Thormund, it’s heart-breaking. And to think, it was Fenrik Rabbia all along.”
“Poor Freek,” Gray said. “Though I wished he’d blames someone else for the murders. It wasn’t me. I hope you know that.”
“Oh, I do,” the dragon woman said easily. “If anything, it was that horrid Kabe person who helped him. And now, we have the new orc, the one they’re going to try and bring onto the Wrath City Raiders. There’s something about him I don’t like.”
“Blonko.” Gray nodded. “He’s not the most likeable orc I’ve ever met. We’re going to try and bring on new recruits as well on Redemption Midnight, Ames, and someone from Cradleport.”
Mama Cinders’s eyes widened. “Really? Someone else from the Null Breaks. A friend of yours?”
Gray paused to think. Who was Princess Lilian to him? “At one time we were friends. Maybe a bit more. And then, there was this ruby necklace and variety of questionable choices, some bad luck that turned out to be good luck, and here we are. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Mama Cinders looked rightfully confused but she was still smiling. “A ruby necklace?”
“Turns out it was enchanted. And it survived the Endless Night of Sorrow and Wrath. Who knew? But it’s not like I’m going to use it for the Red Redemption.”
“And your new person and Ames might not make it onto the squad.” Mama Cinders paused to think. “Only three squads out of the eight can bring on new people. I know the Magistrate and the First Field Council are busy planning it. It’s only a month away.”
“The council. The Magistrate and the duke.” Gray looked down at the food on his tray. It was a square of ground meat dish covered in mato sauce, with a few overcooked green beans next to it. There was a raisin ironbite for desert. Just looking at how small and desiccated it was made his mouth dry. The foul water probably wouldn’t help with that. ‘You don’t think the duke blames me for killing his son, do you?”
“Why would you say that?” Mama Cinders asked.
Gray explained his encounter with Duke Darrak Rabbia.
The redheaded woman shook her head. “Strange. All of this is so strange. I don’t like the idea of conspiracies, but this seems might all be tied back to the murders. I’ve spoken with Dame Blackpaw and Mrs. Quillswrath, and we all agree that Freek’s confession seemed…how should I put this? Incomplete. You haven’t heard anything about it, have you?”
“The murders?” Gray shrugged. “Pinch has told us she and Squad One were paid to come and bully other squads. It was money channeled through the fae, maybe from the queen herself, but the money came from somewhere else. Most likely, one of Captain Sevanya’s enemies.”
Mana Cinders leaned forward. “Do you have any theories on who that could be?”
Gray laughed. “Impossible to say because, well, we both know my sponsor loves to collect enemies. It could be anyone. But it seems I might be a target now.”
“You’re a target because you’re powerful.” Mana Cinders stood up. “I should leave so you can eat.”
Gray stood up also. “Thank you for coming by. I’m assuming the person who comes to pick up your tray won’t be as pleasant.”
She smiled. “Oh, you’re sweet.” She reached and held his hand, gripped it, and then made her exit.
Gray was left alone with his square of ground meat dish.
It was going to be a long night.
His thoughts made it exponentially longer. He couldn’t stop thinking about Princess Lilian coming, or the letter she’d sent, and what Blind John’s last days might’ve been like. Had he been imprisoned?
Probably. But his cell wouldn’t have been half as nice and the food, if he got any, would’ve been a thousand times worse.
He could almost hear Blind John’s voice.
Practice gratitude. Live in the moment. Let go of the fearful thoughts.
It was the time for self-mastery.
Grayson did his best with that until it was time to go to sleep. Then the dreams came.