“What!” Rhet snapped.

“He wasn’t lying,” Malia replied in a small voice, still staring at me.

“He what?” Rhet asked the stunned Malia.

“He isn’t lying. He isn’t a Kingsworn....” Her face had gone white. She backed away towards the wall.

The pain was doubled when he pulled out the knife. My side was in agony, not only from the stab but from a burning sensation that was spreading through me. This must have been Rhet’s skill, it still felt like I was being set on fire from the inside. I continued to scream in vain as no sounds escaped.

“Stop it! Rhet! Stop your skill! I can stomach hurting agents of the King but he’s just a kid! We aren’t monsters!” Malia yelled and lunged towards me.

She had something in her hand that I couldn’t make out clearly. Her aggressive bravado from earlier had vanished and was replaced by the face and emotions of a kind woman. The change in her personality was a stark reminder of the complex emotions everyone was feeling.

“Here. Drink this. It’s a health potion, it will help.” She cooed and tried to coax the potion through my clenched lips. I fought her for a second as a natural reaction but stopped and accepted the potion.

I felt the burning sensation vanish in an instant like it was never there. The Silence skill wore off as well and my voice returned. It felt like being able to breathe again after holding my breath. That skill was terrifying and I hoped to never be the recipient of it again.

“Ahh!” I moaned.

Wishing I could reach my own potions, I checked my health. It was only down a few points, the pain had been mental more so than physical. A side effect of the skill I assume. It had a way to change my perception of pain. What other senses could be affected like this?

“What is your name? What color is the sky? How many people are in this room?” Malia asked in rapid succession. “Answer me so I can get a baseline to see if you are lying. I want to believe you but you need to prove it to me. Please.”

“Sylar. Blue. Three.” I rasped out, the pain may have been gone but the mental effect of the pain and Silence remained.

“All true.” Malia said quickly. “Now tell me a lie, something obvious.”

“I am the King of Eter.” I rattled off the first thing that came to mind.

“A lie.” Malia responded.

“Wait a second, did he say Sylar?” Rhet asked. “Nadia’s letter...I didn’t believe. You are Sylar. From the leaderboard? You defeated the first army in the forest?”

I nodded. “My name is Sylar Till. I am a... friend of Nadia. I came here to rescue my mother, she is being held by the King.” I replied, choosing not to share any more than necessary. I may not blame them for the extreme reaction to the Kingsworn armor but I sure wasn’t about to trust them with any more information than necessary.

Rhet looked towards Nadia and she nodded. Both of their faces got grim at my last statement. I watched as they turned towards each other and shared a look that didn’t seem promising.

“I have a few more questions before we let you down. We are being hunted by the King and we are close to losing everything and everyone. I need to be sure.” Rhet said.

I nodded and waited for him to speak. The pain was receding and my mind was clearing as time elapsed since his skill. I tried quickly to send a thought out to Van and Marci but there was no response. It seemed as if the distance was truly too great at our level. When I got them back I was never going to leave them behind again.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Why are you wearing the armor of a Kingsworn?” He asked his first question.

“My cloak has the ability to change my appearance once a day to anything I want. I needed to be able to move through the city towards a smithy that my friend had indicated would be safe. This seemed like the best option for making it there in one piece. I didn’t know how bad the situation here had become.” I answered honestly.

“Do you intend to betray the rebellion or anyone in it?” His second question.

“I only traveled here to rescue my mother. I just want to get her to a safe place. I only know of the rebellion through Nadia. I can’t get involved in anything until I know she is safe.” My second answer.

“Do you believe that King Bearn is still fit to rule Eter?” His third question.

“I honestly have little idea what has happened here. I know even less about King Bearn. I have been out of Etes since the framework began, living in the eternal forest. I just want to rescue my mother.” My third answer.

He looked over to Malia and she nodded. “Everything he said was true, or at least he believes it to be true.” She said with a grim nod.

“Let him down, Malia.” Rhet said with a sigh. “If he can fool us this well then we are doomed anyway. Sylar, I don’t want to squash your hope of freeing your mother but I have to share with you what is happening in the city. First let’s go out and join the others while you heal.”

I waited for Malia to release my arms and quickly summoned one of my own health potions. I drank it and watched their surprised reactions, reveling in the feeling of surprising them. This temporary peace could end at any time and I wanted to make sure they knew I had more cards to play. They assumed that I would need time to heal, they were sorely underestimating how much damage I could take.

The horse barn was fairly large and contained several stalls that were being used as cells. The common area looked like it used to house wagons when not being used, it was now a camp. There were tents and supplies scattered around the room with various people milling around. I saw guards posted near all of the entrances and lookouts up above. There was a makeshift armory along the wall that held dozens of swords, spears and other weapons. Barrels placed around the room held hundreds of arrows ready to be drawn.

We settled into a few chairs that were placed near the middle of the room around a large table. The table held a map of Etes pinned to it that was very detailed. It laid out the city and all of its neighborhoods inside the wall. There were markers placed all over the map that likely indicated rebellion assets.

“Our only mapmaker made that just before he was killed.” Malia said while smiling sadly. “He was truly gifted, a sweet old widower that loved nothing more than sitting down and working on his maps. He was killed during the first riots for being a suspected sympathizer.”

“I’m sorry.” I simply replied.

These two had information that I needed and were working against the King. That didn’t make it easier to forget how they had treated me just a few minutes ago. I leaned over and ran my hand across the map and saw a notification ping in my vision. I played it off like nothing had happened.

Congratulations! You have synced maps! All noted information is now available in your interface!

I pulled my hand back slowly to avoid suspicion. Not wanting to let them know I had a map related skill. I pretended to look more closely at the military district while confirming my own map in the interface had been updated. There was so much detail on the map from my interface that it hurt to look at. I mentally changed the distance to match the map on the table and confirmed it was the same.

“Sylar, let’s be blunt here. You are angry at us for how we treated you, I get that. I will not make excuses for my actions but I will explain the reasons behind them if you will let me. My guess is that you could kill everyone in this room right now without much difficulty if you tried. I don’t know why you didn’t kill us when we apprehended you but I am glad to see that some of the powerful do have some restraint.” Rhet said.

His assumption was only partially correct. The only way I was going to kill this many people quickly was a major bomb that might kill myself included. At his statement everyone in the room turned and looked over at us, the atmosphere becoming deadly silent. I sat and waited for Rhet to begin.

“How much do you know about what has happened here since the framework began?” He asked to break the stewing silence.

“Only what Nadia and others have told me. I would like to hear your side from the beginning.” I said truthfully. Here was a great chance to get another perspective on the city. Rhet was silent again for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“It all started with that damned message...”