TBATE: Let The Truth Be Known {Completed}

Chapter 12: Two Meetings; Two Meanings

NICO SEVER

"Get up, you parasite. You're lucky you're still even alive, maggot," the guard to my cell shouts. "You have a meeting with the High Sovereign in five minutes."

I roll off of the minuscule cot that is standard for the cells beneath Taegrin Caelum. I've been helpless for the past three weeks. That bastard Grey stole Cecilia away from me again. AGAIN.

It's been three weeks now that I've had no ability to use mana or be with the one I love. I've lost everything for the second time. Agrona has been searching like the madman he is for Cecilia across all of Alacrya and Dicathen. Now, there are only two places she could possibly be: Epheotus or the Relictombs.

The Victoriad and its leadup were my biggest blunders to date. In one fell swoop, I lost the Granbehl family as subordinates, my position as a Scythe, the trust of my superiors, my mana core, and my fiance. One ill-advised decision led me to where I lay now: on the floor of a dark and damp stone floor of holding cell beneath Taegrin Caelum. I've been locked away and beaten as punishment.

Fortunately for me, the High Sovereign can't kill me for fear that whatever magic he used to bring Cecilia to this world would lessen without my soul to anchor hers here. My life dangles by the string that is uncertainty regarding a magic that neither I nor Agrona can comprehend.

The guard outside of my cell takes a quick knee and lowers his head. "Greetings, High Sovereign. The prisoner is awake and has been informed of your visit," he says.

Through the low light of the dungeon level, a familiar massive man with elegant, ornamented horns that branch out from above his hairline appears. His scarlet-red eyes appear as if they're glowing and shedding light on his orbitals. His regal robes sway mere inches from touching the ground as if even the ground he walks on doesn't deserve to touch him.

"Leave us. I'll speak with the boy alone," Agrona says.

"Yes, High Sovereign," the guard replies as he begins to almost crawl away, refusing to even look Agrona in the face. After around 20 seconds, the door at the end of the hall begins to open and soon closes, leaving only me and Agrona in complete and total silence.

The wrought iron bars of my cell begin to creak as Agrona pushes the door open. He stands in the entryway and uses his piercing gaze to bore holes through me.

"Tell me Grey's biggest attachments on Earth. Now," he demands.

"He had none. The only one he ever had died along with his sanity," I reply.

"Then who was that attachment? You should know well enough that death is a mere obstacle to be stepped over when it comes to me," he says while emitting a mere fraction of his aura. I lose my loose footing on the wet stone floor and fall to my feet, gasping for air. Without my core, even a tenth of a percent feels like the weight of a thousand suns pressing on my shoulders. The aura recedes as if it were never there, leaving me to suck as much air into my lungs as they will hold.

"Her name was Olivia Willbeck, our orphanage director. She died in a fire caused by people trying to get their hands on Cecilia. You know the type," I answer, a smug grin emerging on my face.

Agrona takes three steps into the room, places his foot firmly on the bridge of my nose, and presses my head into the wet cobblestone floor. My nose breaks as he puts his weight on my face.

"You'd do well to watch your tone, boy. Take a glance around and understand the situation. You failed; you're being punished. You're my subject, and you will meet my demands without question. Know your place," he spits before removing his foot from my face, allowing me to respond. Still standing over me, he waits for my response.