Hey there readers! Update #2 of the week. As I mentioned last post, you are about to meet  a new character. He plays a part in Teren's side story. In what way? You shall see...hehehe. Since his chapter is short it is combined with a Teren piece as well. Like I have done in the past, it is my goal to get at this scene from both POVs with the hope that the changing perspective will add a bit of tension and excitement. ;-)

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Seleb

They had been thrown into a small cell in what, Seleb assumed must be part of Portenbrough Prison, though he couldn't be certain. He'd been too frightened to pay much attention to where they were going at first, the cold hands of the guards on his shoulders enough to confuse his bearings. Their ride through the darkness of a starless night had given little opportunity to regain them. As he and his friend were driven from the Mather estate in a jailer's carriage, shoved through the back door of some ominous stone building, and dragged down a series of corridors to their prison, their location became less and less relevant. They were in trouble, that much was clear. Still it seemed likely that Portenborough would be the destination for those arrested on the lands of the man responsible for the infamous prison. 

 It was strange, but when Seleb agreed to accompany Tara he'd never imagined that there might be any danger in sneaking out to watch the guests arrive at Lord Mather's party. She had assured him that they were doing nothing wrong after all. Tara had only needed a lookout so she might see the ladies in all their finery. At least that's what she'd said. Seleb knew they were not meant to be wandering the estate of course, but he'd had no idea that the guards surrounding Lord Mather's home had been charged to arrest any who might have been caught lurking outside the bounds of the servants' quarters, a fact he'd quickly learned when he and Tara were taken into custody without question.

The underground chamber was bare save for a pile of soiled damp straw, and there were dark stains on the cold stone walling them in. He didn't want to imagine what might have left them. Sitting against the back wall, Seleb looked to his friend as she paced the length of their cramped cell. She hadn't stopped since they'd been locked behind bars, though how long ago that was he had no way of knowing. After trying, unsuccessfully to find a flaw in their prison walls, Tara seemed to have resigned herself to this anxious movement. Seleb wished she'd stop. Confined with her rage and fear the space felt suffocating. He was relieved when she finally tired and sat down beside him.

"What do you suppose they'll do to us?" Seleb asked nervously, hoping to break the tension he felt radiating from her still form as she stared at the lock on their cell door.

"Hush, I'm trying to think." She still had her signature prickly demeanor but he could tell how nervous she was, the fear plastered clearly across her face jut beneath the stoic facade.

"Tara what did he see on the underside of your arm?" he asked, looking to the tear in her dress through which her flesh was clearly visible. "What was that list in your hand?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Seleb watched as she self-consciously ran a hand along her bare skin.

"But I saw the guard," Seleb protested. "He ripped your dress. He found something on your arm and--"

Tara slapped him hard and Seleb shrank back from her, putting a hand to the stinging flesh of his cheek, recoiling more from surprise than pain.

"Oh God I'm sorry," she said, her eyes opening wide in horror at what she'd done. He continued to shy away when she reached for him, but quickly relented and allowed Tara to put a hand around his shoulder. It wasn't very comforting.

"Listen I'll get us out ok." She gave his arm a light squeeze and smiled a lukewarm smile, but her eyes were distant. It was as if she wasn't looking at him at all. "I'll figure something out." The determination in her voice sounded almost desperate, far from reassuring. Seleb wanted to ask more questions but he was afraid he didn't really want to know the answers.

As she stood again and resumed her pacing Seleb pushed his back against the wall again, sitting with his knees curled tightly into his body.

They both turned their heads at the sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor outside of the cell. A key turned in the door, which opened with a painful screech and two guards came towards them, placing shackles around their wrists and ankles and taking them roughly by the arm.

"Where are we going?" Seleb asked.

The guard hit him so hard his head spun, and Seleb had to struggle to stay on his feet.

"Just be quite!" Tara hissed in his direction. He could barely hear her through the daze of pain. As the guard dragged him from the cell, Seleb's head throbbed in rhythm with the dull pounding of his heart, the sound an echoing, 'thud, thud, thud.'

The tortuous passage was dark. He couldn't see Tara anymore, only the two soldiers stood between them. Seleb tried to raise his head to stare into the face of the towering guard that held him fast but shadowed in the flickering light of the torches that lining the walls, he could make out only a dark mass pulling him mercilessly towards some unknown horror.

The hall ended in a door, which opened to reveal an underground chamber where he and Tara were quickly chained to the wall by their arms and feet. Seleb tried to get his friend's attention again, catching her eyes, but Tara's face remained blank. Intense, but totally unreadable. Her gaze staring straight ahead, shutting off her focus from him entirely.

 Seleb's eyes darted anxiously around the room. The light was dim, mainly cast from a hearth fire that crackled in the corner. A few torches lined the walls as they had in the corridors, casting frightening shadows along the stone floors and walls of the relatively bare room. A man dressed entirely in black stood by the fire beside a wooden table littered with various metal instruments. Seleb swallowed hard. He had been to enough public executions to recognize the man's profession by his dress.

The guards who had brought them from their cell stood watch at the door. No way out. Seleb wanted to scream. This was all a mistake. He shouldn't be here. He wanted desperately to move but found that even the slightest shift of his body caused the chains to rattle, making an uncomfortably loud clanging in the otherwise deathly silence. He looked nervously at the executioner in the awkward echo of their sound, but the man seemed to have taken no notice of him. In fact, the whole room seemed to be frozen in anticipation. Seleb wondered what they were waiting for.

He wanted Tara to tell him everything was ok but he knew it would be a lie. In fact, the strange deadened calm from the friend chained beside him was almost as unnerving as the cold eyes of the guards who watch him intently. Seleb felt his heart racing in his chest as a new sound reached his ears and his  eyes were drawn to the entrance of the chamber. He held his breath as the heavy oak door creaked open.

Teren

Teren entered the interrogation chamber filled with a mix of fear and excitement. There were few members of the Vox Populi that had been captured alive, and to have two under his interrogation was a wonderful opportunity and potentially career altering if either prisoner could be made to talk. It was the timing that was unfortunate.

Every moment he was away from that party was a chance for Chancellor Rearder, not to mention Teren's other potential adversaries, to spread rumors of unrest within the prison. Moreover, there was still a chance, however slight, that this breach in security could be more serious than Alar suspected. If any became aware that members of the rebellion had been found on his property that night, he must be able to confirm without a shred of doubt, that the threat had been neutralized.

The two prisoners were chained to the wall when they entered the room, and though Alar had already informed him of their youth, Teren was nonetheless surprised by it. The girl was a scrawny thing with mousey brown hair and a sullen scowl. She looked to be around seventeen years of age, but her male companion was far younger. Teren estimated him to be no more than fourteen.

"It was the girl alone who bore the mark?" Teren confirmed, eyeing the ripped sleeve of the dress she wore. "And the girl who carried the list of names?"

Alar nodded and Teren sighed. It seemed likely that the Corporal had correctly assessed the situation at hand. If the girl was indeed the only rebel his men had uncovered in their search, she was likely no more than a low level spy, sent to infiltrate his estate to gain information and nothing more. The fact was somewhat heartening, considering his earlier fear that the rebels had truly managed to infiltrate his estate in an attempted attack, but it was likely that the girl would not know much of anything. Hardly a prized target from whom Teren might extract any answers as to the Vox Populi's current activity. 

Her presence at the party only confirmed that Harrison's forces were not yet defeated, and were still looking for eyes within the royal city but little more. If he could ascertain the details of her mission and her contacts the information might be useful enough, but it was unseemly business with a  girl. He preferred to deal with men. Some part of him felt uncomfortable harming the weaker sex, and the prisoner was really little more than a child.

Still if Teren was to return to the party with confidence, he must have results to show his authority had been asserted to the fullest extent. No doubt Dresden Rearder was already spreading rumors of Teren's incompetence, he had no choice but take this opportunity to secure any leads he could from his two captives. The girl was a traitor, the mark on her arm made that quite clear, and there was only one way to deal with enemies of the Empire. For the safety of the Crown, he would handle this prisoner no differently than he might any other rebel captive. She had sealed her own fate.

Looking to the boy however, a new plan began to form in Teren's mind. The fear and confusion in the young man's eyes betrayed his ignorance. He bore no mark, and seemingly no resolve, yet he had been close enough to the girl that she had asked for his aid. If he was a member of the rebel group, he had not been one for long and, though he might have little to say, Teren judged it would be easier to coax answers from the boy than from his surly companion. Teren had interrogated enough men in his lifetime to gage resolve. If this boy were frightened enough, he would willingly divulge anything he knew to save his own skin.

 "I will question the girl first," Teren told the black clad executioner who stood in wait. Gerrik nodded, pointing to the female as his two assistants unhooked the prisoner's chains from the wall and dragged her to the center of the room.

 "You, my dear, have caused quite a commotion this evening and inconvenienced me greatly," Teren said, addressing the girl while simultaneously gaging the reaction of the other prisoner still chained to the wall, watching in rapt attention. "But now that we have the chance to speak, I must tell you I am in a bit of a hurry and hope we can make this conversation as brief as possible. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated."

Teren adjusted his jacket rolling up his sleeve cuffs carefully and beckoned for Gerrik who brought forth his threatening array of tools, laying them on a small table near the prisoner.

So yeah....things do not look good for Seleb and his friend 0-o. Sorry for the cliff hanger. The next piece needs a bit more work and tacking it on here would have made the length of this chapter excessive. I will be releasing the next section on Monday though so you won't have to wait long ;-). What are your first impressions of Seleb? Guess he really should have been a bit more carful in choosing his friends:-/ Tara seems to have gotten him into quite a bind.