Ditan rubbed his legs while Eilic paced the wagon. “Picking on me makes ya feel big, doesn’t it? Did yer mommy neglect ya as a child? Is that why ya cater to her whims?” He asked to fill the silence, not because he cared. He knew what the response would be. Eilic didn’t disappoint.

The Sentinel responded by kicking him in the ribs. Ditan exhaled forcibly as a pair of ribs snapped. It hurt to breathe afterward. Eilic smiled at him.

“Mother does what she does because above all else, she’s a Red. I defer to her out of respect.”

‘Are you sure it’s respect and not fear because she’s insane? You didn’t fall too far from the tree, Eilic.” The Sentinel kicked him again, then crouched in front of him while he wheezed.

“Those lips of yours just keep causing trouble for you, gobbo. I recommend you shut them.”

“Yer keepin’ me alive either way. I figure I might as well use ‘em,” Ditan said.

Eilic gripped the goblin’s head in both hands and began to squeeze. Ditan hit back weakly. He didn’t have much strength left to resist. His head began to ache and even the meager light of the fading second sun hurt his eyes. The Sentinel bashed Ditan’s head against the wall several times until he almost lost consciousness.

“I can do anything I want to you, gob. And I will. Mother is my assurance for that. She’ll keep you nice and alive and in so much pain you’ll wish you weren’t. The more you resist it, the more I’ll hurt you. I’ve got nothing but time right now, and you aren’t going anywhere.”

“Uh huh. Yeah,” Ditan said, still woozy. “Good to know.”

Seems like I’m in for a world of pain. I just need to keep making a big enough stink. Keep them focused on me and away from Tryn. It’s the least I can do for her.

“Mother was too kind. She let you remain free. I’ll let her know I disapprove. That’ll make you happy, won’t it?”

“She’ll send you to your room without dessert, Eilic. You sure ya want to do that?”

“Just keep talking.” Eilic took a leather belt adorned with multiple metal rings out of one of the crates and clasped it around Ditan’s waist. He bent Ditan’s left arm behind him, binding his sleeve to it. “Enjoy it while it lasts. Once Modius gets what he needs from you, I’ll strip that tongue from your mouth faster than you can blink.”

The Sentinel attached shackles to Ditan’s feet and remaining free hand, looping additional string through the rings on the belt and restricting his range of motion. Ditan could just barely shuffle his feet along and could raise his hand to his mouth if he bent over and crouched. If he wanted to eat, he couldn’t flee. If he tried to run, his free hand remained taught near his waist.

Best to comply. I haven’t the strength to do anything else anyway.

Eilic nodded at his handiwork. “We’ve stopped for the night. I want you to think about that and remember what it was like to have freedom.”

“You enjoy hearing yerself talk, don’t ya? Do ya mean I’ll get to roam the great lands of this cage while the rest of you slave away to drag me along?”

“Not exactly.” The Sentinel pulled down one of the hooks from the wagon’s center support beam. Ditan hadn’t realized it could detach. It was affixed to a rope that ran the length of the ceiling. “I’ll let you have a bit of a higher view,” he said.

Eilic clasped him close and pierced it up underneath Ditan’s right shoulder blade. He screamed in agony as the Sentinel viciously hauled him off the floor, suspending him in midair.

It can always get worse, Ditan thought as he spun. Blood began soaking the shirt, and he could feel the fabric tugging where the hook pushed through into his flesh.

“I don’t have to let my mother fix you. You won’t die from this as long as you don’t move,” Eilic said. “Now, I’ve let my anger get the best of me. That just won’t do.” He pushed Ditan’s legs, increasing his speed of rotation.

Ditan watched his blood spatter in a spiraling pool beneath him as he struggled to remain conscious. He longed for the mercy of passing out, but the excruciating pain robbed him of any relief. Nonetheless, he locked eyes with Eilic with each rotation, holding his gaze despite the agony.

“Is everyone from your worthless village so stubborn? I’d rather not have the added frustration if the girls are like this.” Eilic waited until the spinning twisted the rope to a stop, then unwound Ditan faster in the other direction.

Girls? Trynneia and who else?

“You play with him like another toy, Eilic. You’re making a mess,” Modius said as he entered the wagon.

“It’s what the Grimcell is for, isn’t it?” Ditan could tell Eilic’s voice had shifted, becoming cold and dispassionate. Maybe I do get under his skin. That’s a surprise.

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Modius stood next to Eilic, watching the goblin rotate. “We’ll break the daughters of the Light easily enough. They know who to serve already. It’s this one we have to watch.” He looked closer. “Your mother healed the wards.”

“I noticed too. Not much of an issue while he's here. She let the scars remain. That has to count for something,” Eilic said. “He was humming when we stopped. I thought you should know.”

Ditan glimpsed a surprised but accepting look on the Warden’s face. “Oh really? Perhaps this trip wasn’t wasted after all.”

“One shaman is as good as another,” Eilic said. “Pity about Driver.”

“Yes,” Modius said wistfully. “Pity.”

“We should just kill him, Warden,” the Sentinel said. “I don’t know why we waste our resources on him.”

“That would please you, wouldn’t it?” Modius asked. Eilic nodded. “Unfortunately, the Regency requires a shaman brought to them. I’m bringing this one.”

It’s like they’re arguing over how to serve me as dinner. One wants me all cut up and the other would swallow me whole. Not sure I like either alternative, Ditan thought. What does the Regency want with a shaman? They’ve made it pretty clear they’d rather eliminate me.

“They wanted the other. It was personal.”

“Not ‘they,’ Eilic. Just Regent Shingto. She’s the only one with a stake in this.”

What stake could that be? Now that Driver’s been killed, I’m a very poor substitute. He gritted his teeth and did what he could to spin silent and unobtrusive. The Warden and Sentinel paid him little attention while they conversed.

“She isn’t to be trifled with, you know that,” Eilic said. “Disregard her at your peril.”

“My orders were to bring a shaman from this village. I heard the intel, just as you did. She wasn’t explicit in her directions. I know who we were to obtain. I’ll honor the spirit of our task, if not the letter,” Modius said. “Besides, I know she put you up to it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Warden.” Ditan could hear the Sentinel sneer, even if he couldn’t see it. “Let me do my task, you worry about yours.”

“I’m not worried at all. Must we always do this dance, Eilic? You’ve jeopardized more than you know with your actions in town. I know what you did and for whom you did it.” The smoldering anger in Modius’ voice made Ditan cringe. Just glad he’s not talking to me. “Be lucky I haven’t banished you.”

“You need my mother, that’s why you keep me around. Don’t presume you can control me,” Eilic said.

“I know I can’t. I won’t waste my energy to try. The Light will illuminate my path, Eilic. I trust you won’t cross it when the day comes.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Warden.” Eilic grabbed one of Ditan’s feet, forcing his spinning to stop. “The gobbo. He doesn’t need his other hand, does he? The boy irks me.”

“He is contained. The priestess’ daughter can heal. I’m surprised at that, since she’s not a Red herself. Her powers manifest differently, using Light rather than coming from purity.”

“They are friends. She will help him,” Eilic said. I don’t like the way he said that.

“Indeed. We will test her. I’d like to know the extent of her abilities. Your mother can step in if we go too far.” The Warden walked around Ditan, looking him up and down. “What do you think of the Light, son?”

“We could use some in here, I think.” Campfires glowed orange outside, but once the suns had set, most of what Ditan could see were shifting shadows. “It’s too gloomy.”

“Perhaps. Go get the other marked girl. Ylane,” Modius said to Eilic. “Kern knows where she is. I would test her too.” The Sentinel nodded and left the two of them together in the wagon.

Ylane? She didn’t have the same marks as Trynneia. If so, that’s a very recent development. We weren’t in town much in the last few days. Maybe it happened then?

Modius undid the ties that held Ditan up, and slowly lowered him to the ground. He dared not move. The Warden whispered something near the door and the symbols lining the walls and floor lit up with a gentle shimmer.

“There. Light, as requested. I won’t apologize for him. Eilic’s very good at what he does.”

“He is the most impressive torturer I’ve ever met,” Ditan said through his teeth. Talking just made the hook embed itself deeper. Even in pain, he defaulted to sarcasm.

“It’s not that. He’s a killer. I’m vexing him with you. Normally we’d Cull you and that would be the end of things. He’s my most efficient Sentinel in that regard. Has a special hatred for goblins, too. Keeping you alive frustrates him on multiple levels.”

“I’m glad you’re torturing my torturer, then,” Ditan said. “What do you want from me?”

Modius scoffed. “From you? Nothing. Not really. I’ve let him think so. It tempers his impulses. It’s the girls that interest me far more than you. What do you know of their abilities?”

“You were sent to capture a shaman.”

“Don’t deflect. Hasn’t Eilic taught you that already?”

“I’m a slow learner.” The hook itched. Ditan couldn't decide which bothered him more; the excruciating pain or the inability to move because of where it was embedded. “She can heal in small amounts. That’s all I know.”

“I’ve heard of her kind. Marked by Elerion. Lightblessed. They used to be the Council. I thought they all died generations ago, after the Schism.” Modius gingerly tugged free some of the cloth from Ditan’s wound. “The Regency rose in their absence.”

“Thanks for the history lesson,” Ditan said. “What’s she got to do with me then?”

“I haven’t quite decided, to be honest. Two Lightblessed from one village. Do you know any others?”

“Light, man. No. Of course not.” Cold chills ran down his back where the blood seeped from his piercing. He wept. “Just keep him from hurting me.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not a protection I provide. I don’t hate you like he does, but you remain an affront to common decency. I shall care for you as required by the Tenets, at least until we reach Praxen. I am sure that the Council will be disappointed and have no need for you. I’d like to see the game play out when they ultimately return you to me.”

I’m just a pawn. That’s all I am. Pawns can protect. Light! Trynneia and Ylane.

Can I protect them both?