The Hidden King by E G Radcliff

Author:E G Radcliff [Radcliff, E G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733673358
Publisher: Mythic Prairie Books
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

When the guard’s light began to bob down the hall, Áed pushed himself to his feet. The procedure was familiar enough: the guard would come to the door, bearing the tray of water, and he would bend to slide it through the narrow opening between the floor and the iron bars.

The guard’s torch dazzled Áed’s eyes, and he squinted so that he wouldn’t be blinded. Holding his crumpled hands behind his back, he summoned the ember in his heart and slowly let heat run through his arms until his palms were hot enough to shine. He kept his hands hidden from the approaching guard’s sight.

The guard who brought the food and water was a ratty little man with a face paler than a termite’s. He didn’t have very much hair, even though he wasn’t particularly old, and he walked with a lazy stoop and a slow, lopsided stride. Áed held his breath as the guard approached his cell, dragging the loudly-protesting cart of slop and water, and the scrawny man turned his back to reach for a tray.

It was what Áed needed.

Lunging with all the force he could muster, he grabbed the man’s neck and yanked him backward into the iron door with a crash. The tray fell, the water splashed, and the tin bowl rolled off down the hall as the man gasped and tried to pull away. In response, Áed let more fire into his palms. Not too much, not enough to damage the spluttering guard, but enough that the man squawked. “Be quiet,” Áed ordered. The world was spinning in the corners of his vision, but he would not show weakness. “And drop that.”

The guard, in terror, let go of the knife he’d been edging out of his belt.

“Now,” Áed said quietly through gritted teeth. “Using your right hand, unlock this door.”

“But—but—”

Áed poured a little more heat into his hands, and the man choked. “Unless you want to lose your head, do what I say.”

Shaking, the guard reached into his pocket and drew out the keyring, which jingled with his hands’ frantic trembling. When he found the right one, he reached to the keyhole and hesitated. “They’ll kill me.”

“I’ll kill you. Open the gods-damned door.”

Without further protest, the petrified man did as he was told, and Áed pushed the door open with his shoulder. He was still holding the guard through the bars, so he carefully moved one hand at a time before kicking the door shut again and letting the heat in his palms fade ever so slightly.

“Well done. Now walk with me.” Trying his best to hide the fact that he was using the guard for support, he steered him to Judoc’s cell. In the light of his faintly-glowing hands, he could see the old man through the bars, as white as a ghost. Judoc’s uncomprehending eyes were perfectly colorless, and his long, scraggly beard was not sufficient cover to disguise the expression of shock on its owner’s deeply-lined face.

“Á-Áed?” he stammered. “What…”

Áed took a half-step toward the barred door, but to his surprise, the old man backed away.

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