Greven {part 2}

"Is he dead?" 

the foggy parts of his mind were beginning to awaken again, and with the rise from their slumber came pain.

Every fiber of his being hurt and ached. 

In his state of painful subconscious, It was hard to tell where he was actually hurt from where his body was just aching in sympathy for him. 

He wanted to open his eyes, but his body told him that to return to the black void of sleep would ease his pain and be the best. 

But he was going to fight it. 

The flickering of a torch thrust near his face was the first sight he saw when he opened his eyes. 

"ah! no sir! he lives yet. Strong brute. Bet he put up quite the fight when caught" 

Beyond the torch was an unfamiliar face, but, in his current state, it could have been his mother and he wouldn't have recognized her. 

Though, the lady had died when he was five, so that also lent itself to that matter. 

"Hm. Bring him back to his cell then" standing in the doorway, the owner of the original speaker who had posed the question of whether he was dead or alive stood in the doorway, barely an outline in Greven's foggy vision. 

"I need this chamber cleared, as there is another with a will that needs breaking" 

The first man unhooked the metal cuffs around Greven's wrists, but without them holding him up, he found that his legs refused to have the strength to keep him upright, and the man was forced to support Greven. 

"Teacher, why?" the man spoke softly, barely a whisper, and Greven lifted his eyes to the face of the man whose shoulder he leaned on. 

His vision was getting better, and a snatch of memory...

"Joss" the same young man who had helped bring the elf in, as well as one of the boys he had taught archery to. 

Greven glanced towards the doorway, but the second man had left. 

"Because, Joss, I don't-" he was already out of breath, and he couldn't finish. 

"Come on, I need to get you back to the cell before Commander Malum returns" Joss shifted his weight and started walking with Greven. 

The going was slow, Joss having to half carry Greven's dead weight, and they had just left the torture chamber when the man... Malum? passed them, half dragging a young girl, she was tiny, looking more like a child than not, behind him. 

Greven looked back, but the door slammed shut, and Joss kept walking. 

"She's a Ceridwen. they captured her when they attacked Revelin this morning" 

Joss spoke hesitantly, as if worried that giving Greven this information might be dangerous. 

"Revelin..." Greven couldn't think straight, if they attacked Revelin...did Felix know about Xander? no, Xander was at Voronwë, and Felix knew it, so was he attacking blindly? hoping to strike the right person? 

But why capture a child? a Ceridwen at that? 

The walk to his cell felt as if it took hours, and the closer they got, Greven realized he could hear another feminine voice, a constant, low murmuring sound. 

Like a prayer. 

It wasn't until Joss set him down against the bars of Greven's cell while unlocking the door, that he realized. 

The cell opposite his held one other girl. 

She was blond, her hair hanging long, but perhaps not quite as long as the elvish ambassador, Bly's. She was sitting on her knees, her hands folded together, praying. 

"Everyone is saying she's a fairy" Joss whispered, half dragging Greven into his cell. 

The prayers ceased, but Greven was losing conscience again, he had lost more blood on the way here, and his head felt light now. 

The door to his cell shutting sounded like a bang, echoing around in his head while his eyes refused to stay open any longer. 

Voices were whispers, the sound of a door opening, and a cool hand touching his brow, and then he lost all and only hold he had on reality, sinking back into a black murky sleep. 

--------------------------

He woke when water was forced down his throat, and he sputtered, sitting upright, the action causing pain to sear through his shoulder. 

"I-I'm sorry" the water was drawn away, and he realized he wasn't alone. 

The same girl, Joss had said she was a fairy, had been moved to his cell for some reason, and now she had backed away into the corner, her eyes cast down at her twisting hands. 

He rubbed his face, and then realized that the open cuts had closed, now no more than jagged scars.  His muscles no longer felt like they were screaming for mercy, at least, not while he remained still, and from what he could tell, he wasn't actively bleeding anywhere.

"how" he cleared his throat, "how long have I been here, since being taken from the torture chambers?" 

She looked up, "almost 24 hours" fear was behind her eyes, was she worried that he would hurt her? 

"I healed that fast?" he felt his side, the bruising still was there, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. 

She shook her head, "N-no, I think you were dying. I begged to help you" 

Dying. 

Greven shifted his weight, scooting back against the wall, the cold, wet stone actually felt good against the welts that still crossed his back, even if they had been lessened. 
The gravity of that, dying.  He hadn't all that much to live for, he'd helped Xander escape, but he did have a rather strong wish, strengthened by the fact that Xander would someday take the throne, to see that idiot again.
And he almost hadn't.

"You...helped me?" 

She nodded quickly, "Actually, Deus did. I am merely the vessel he works through" she brushed her skirts, a pale pink material with her hands. Her face heated up, and she looked away, towards the hall way that led to the torture chambers. 

Greven sat in silence, letting this sink in...healed by a fairy, by Dues, was that what they called God? he hadn't ever been very good on learning the cultures of the other races, humans were enough of a job to memorize.  

"Then I thank you, and Dues" 

she colored, and looked back down, but her eyes still darted towards the hallway.

"Worried for your friend?" 

she nodded, apparently deciding to clam up. 

Great, did I say something offensive? 

Silence filled between them, and she sighed, "Nairi is such a hot head sometimes. why couldn't she just..." her eyes grew wide, as if alarmed, "I-I'm sorry. I...shouldn't speak so about others. it's wrong"

And then she looked back down, shame covering her features. 

"No, sometimes our friends need to be spoken about like that" Greven smiled, "I have a friend, Xander, he's a blooming idiot sometimes. Once, he-" 

"Xander?" her head perked up, "You know Xander?" 

Of course, all Revelin probably knows by now. 

"I'm proud to say, I'm his royal highness' best friend, in fact, I'm in here because I helped him and the Elf Lady escape" 

The fairy tilted her head, "His royal highness? is that a nickname for Captain Bolivar?" 

Greven stared at her, did Revelin not know yet? who all did know the true identity to Xander? 

"no....Xander is...you don't know?" 

She shook her head. 

"Xander is the heir to the throne, I thought all the rebels knew" 

Her eyes grew wide, filled with apprehension. 

"H-how..?" 

Wait, what if she thinks that Xander is...Felix's son? she might not know about Adan's lost heir...in which case, Xander now looks like a liar, and a threat...

"No, no, it's not like that...Xander is Felix's lost great nephew" 

He filled her in on what Thalion had told him, and she listened in complete silence, her eyes wide and almost unblinking. 

When he finished, she stared straight ahead, even her fingers frozen. 

"Xander...is..." 

"Xander is king, or, at least, he should be. He has to come and take the throne from his Grandfather's brother" 

She nodded, "he isn't fully human, then"

"nope. part elf. a tiny part, but still part. Though, the man had me fooled. he doesn't even look like an Elf" 

And she remained in shocked silence until Joss returned, and whispered that he had to return her to her own cell before someone found out. She nodded mutely and followed him. 

As Joss hurried steps faded away, Greven heard her whisper, ".....king. Captain Bolivar is, king..." 

And it then came to him, that perhaps he should have told her to not repeat it aloud for fear Felix would hear.