Nethermost Realm: Prisoner of Arlunn

Chapter 44

Please note: I am updating this draft of The Prisoner of Arlunn. The most important change is that the main character's name has been changed from Philip to Rian.

44

The morning was dull. Once Rian had learned that Kyran was alive and imprisoned once again in the Tower, he stopped worrying as much. And without Arryk there as a constant irritation, Rian really could relax. He filled the tub in the small bathroom that adjoined his cell and soaked for half an hour.

After he'd eaten, Rian spent some time reading the books Rhana used to teach him vocabulary. At least it was a distraction.

The others avoided the area near his cell. Azure and Barris left. And later Quince and Rhana arrived to replace them. They barely greeted Rian; both vanished upstairs for over an hour.

Only Braejeunné moved back and forth downstairs, setting spells or strengthening the walls—Rian wasn't sure. When she came closer, Rian spoke to her.

"So, you don't trust me any more?"

She glanced over at his cell. "Arryk is cautious," she said. "I think it frightened him that you've been learning spells so quickly."

"I thought he wanted me to learn quickly," said Rian, aggravated. "He's the one who's been teaching me."

"Maybe he doesn't know what he wants," said Braejeunné. She was pretty. She had dark auburn hair, pulled back in a long braid down the back of her head.

A nagging pulsating buzz kept bothering Rian. "Your paravescea is out of balance again." He nodded upstairs.

Braejeunné glanced up. "What? How can you tell?"

"It's a sort of a ringing sound—can't you hear it?"

She shook her head. "I'll check with Quince. He usually takes charge of managing the paravescea."

With that, she left.

Rian grew bored. He felt restless and didn't really want to study vocabulary. There was little else to do locked in his cell. A half hour passed and suddenly the ringing sound grew much worse. The pulsating buzz grew louder and more out of tune. It grated on his nerves. He wondered if the others were going to fix that. If it became unbalanced, Quince had told him that it could be very dangerous. The energy within it could explode.

Before long, Quince came down with Braejeunné to speak to Rian. "You're right," said Quince. "The paravescea had gone out of balance, but ... I think I've made it worse."

Rian nodded. "Yes, it's worse now."

"We should leave," said Braejeunné. "We'll find Arryk and come back."

"We can't take him with us," argued Quince.

"Well, we can't leave him here," said Braejeunné.

"We could leave the fortress, but stay in the Interstitium," suggested Quince.

"But can't it explode, if it gets unbalanced?" asked Rian.

"That's possible," said Quince. He hesitated. "I know that Arryk said not to let him near the paravescea, but we really need help."

"I don't know," said Braejeunné.

"With Arryk gone ... I just don't know if I can do this myself," said Quince. He looked over at Rian, as if for help.

"You want me to fix the paravescea?" asked Rian.