“WHY!?”
I blinked as I saw Gesai standing in front of an older man. He had the same green eyes, but he was dressed in a very nice black suit and sitting behind a very expensive desk.
I looked around the office. There were bookshelves and monster crystals in display cases. Awards and photos cluttered the spaces beside the windows that had curtains pulled shut.
“You don’t ask why. You do what you’re told.” The older man wagged his finger at her. "I’m the head of this family and if I tell you to go to the Clinic, you’ll show up for damned work at the Clinic with a smile on your face.” He gritted his teeth as he glared at her.
I looked at Gesai, standing frozen in front of the tyrant.
“What are you doing?” Trent materialized on the other side of her.
“You!” I pointed at him. "I told you that she was on our side! Why are you killing her?!”
Trent shook his head. "I’m not killing her.” He motioned at the scene around us. "I’m probing her memories.” He motioned at her. "I need to know if I can trust her.”
“I already told you that we could!” I growled as I tried to lock eyes with the older man.
“Sipher is coming.” Trent shook his head. "He’s bringing his men with him, and I can’t teleport all of you out of here.” He looked at me. “I need to know who I can turn my back on while I hold him off.”
“Then we don’t have time to do all of this!” I pointed at Gesai. "Let her go and stop wasting time in her head!”
“Almost no time at all has passed.” Trent motioned at Gesai. "We have plenty of time to watch this unfold.”
“Okay.” There was resentment in her voice as Gesai resumed talking.
“That’s not how you talk around here.” Farsch glared at her. "How were you taught?”
“Yes. SIR.” Gesai emphasized the sir.
“You’re on teaching duty until that blight leaves town.” He pointed his finger at her. "If that pup gets to the second floor of the Dispatcher’s Dungeon, you’ll be on bedpan duty for the rest of your life! Am I clear?!”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Gesai kept her eyes to the floor. “Yes sir.”
I could tell she was trying to hold it together.
“Now get out of here.” Farsch waved at her. "Do this right and I’ll see about making up for the time you lost in the dungeon.”
Gesai nodded and walked towards the door with her head down. The memory vanished as she left the room.
“See? She knew nothing about there being a kidnapping.” I felt like I could breathe again.
The darkness around us vanished, changing into a white room. Gesai was sitting in a simple chair in front of the two of us.
“Atlas?” She looked from Trent to me. "Atlas, what’s going on?”
“I needed to verify that you weren’t part of this…” Trent looked at me, “And where your loyalties were.”
I swallowed. "You saw the other thing.”
“This kiss?” He shook his head. "Rix has a point.”
“I was serious!” Gesai tried to get up, but it was like there was something holding her in place. “I’ll protect his secret!”
There was a soft yellow light emanating from her chest, she looked down at it and back up at Trent.
“You’re doing a truth spell.”
“And you passed.” Trent shook his head. "You know that’s not enough. It’s too dangerous to let you keep what you know.”
“What do you mean?!” This time I was able to get in between the two of them.
“She knows too much to be allowed back in the city. It’s too risky.” Trent shook his head.
“What about the pact?” I looked at her over my shoulder. She wasn’t even trying to defend herself anymore.
Trent eyed me as I turned around. "You trust her that much?”
“We couldn’t have escaped without her.” I turned sideways between them and put my hand on her shoulder. "I’ve already trusted her with my life once.”
The silence was deafening as Trent thought it over.
“Would you do that?” I had to break the silence. I looked at Gesai.
There was hope in her green eyes as she nodded. "Yes.”
“Without knowing what you’re agreeing to?” Trent didn’t look like he believed her.
“You saw my answer.” Gesai picked her head up and stared at him. Her chest was shining a bright yellow. "I believe in him.”
Trent began writing the contract in the air. It seemed fairly simple compared to the one that ArchBishop Mavery had written out. It basically just laid out how Gesai would keep secret anything she learned about me or my allies.
He looked at the restrained woman. "Simple enough?”
She nodded. "Do it.”
I had thought that there would be another stabbing, like before, but this time the words just vanished like they had burned up in mid air.
“What happened?” I looked around as Gesai was finally able to get up.
“We’re in her mind, much easier to make these things stick in here.” Trent looked at the redheaded woman. "We’ll need to have a long talk once this is over.”
She nodded and before anyone could say anything else, everything went dark.