Sala screamed as Unnel hit the ground from the impact.
I knew that this was not a laughing matter at all, but a little snort came from my throat as I witnessed him struggling to stand up. That was more than satisfying. Sala and others bent down and helped him up. He looked quiet annoyed as he rubbed his stomach and glared at us.
Resh examined his nails. "Sometimes my hands act on their own." He said calmly. "I should visit a healer."
"Oh, you will have to visit a one in near future." Sala said. "You'll have to pay for what you did to the master."
"Aren't you married?" Resh asked Unnel. I stared wide eyed at him for a moment. He was exactly me when it came to pissing off people. In times like this, the fact that he is my brother hit me really hard. "Why is that woman is all over you? Don't you have any shame?"
"Do not speak nonsense, boy." Sala said. "Just because you are a prince, you have no right to accuse someone else."
"And just because you are nobody, I assume you have the right to lock up and beat someone." I said. "Stop trying to play the victim. It's honestly disgusting."
Sala opened her mouth, but didn't anything. Unnel, still rubbing his stomach, snapped back at us. "Like brother, like sister. I have no idea what the king sees in these hybrids. This is exactly why I teamed up with king Surren."
I tried to not to show any emotion on my face. Since when did Resh began to
"Are you the spy?" Relach asked from Bran's back.
"If I'm not, then why do you think I locked you up here after taking away your stones? Are you an i***t?" Unnel asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"How would I know?" Relach said. "No citizen of Elkelyn would suspect a Lord to be a leech to another kingdom."
"Okay, that's enough." Unnel said. "Tolce, Jeyp, lock them up in a new cell. I'm going back to the king. He is a little upset because Leven was wiped clean. Even the victory in Yorosso haven't made him loosen at all."
Tolce and Jeyp came forward. "Wait." Relach said. "What do you mean wiped clean?"
"Ooh, I forgot to tell you that little information, didn't I?" Unnel laughed. "You see, there was an attack on Leven. There was no stones for those poor little souls. It was worse than Sermeth. Can you guess the survivors?" He laughed again. "Two."
"Two?" Relach had gone pale. "But- What- How?" He turned to me. "But you said-"
I shook my head. "I didn't know. They had managed two attacks in short times. Leven was just a decoy to avert our attention from Yorosso. We could stop it but... Leven was lost."
Relach looked away from all of us. I felt sorry for him more than anything else. And I hated Unnel even more than before.
"I'm sorry." Relach said. "If I hadn't followed him and went straight to Leven-"
"Stop." I said, grimacing as I heard my own thoughts from back then. It was not my fault, or his. "Don't apologize for something you just found out." That was what Kahlee told me to do.
Relach carefully emptied his emotions, turning his face in to a mask. "Okay." He said, and that was it. Bran was sweating. I could not blame him. He had been carrying Relach for a while now, standing in the same position. Resh seemed to have noticed it too, because he moved a little closer to him.
"As heroic as all of your talks are, it's time to stop now." Unnel said. "Sala, if you may."
I prepared for any attack the moment I heard his command. I watched as Sala grinned slowly, her hands poised elegantly over each other. "Certainly, master." She said.
I watched her, hand on the knife in my pocket, but she did not reach out for a weapon nor change her position. Resh was also ready to attack, his stance slightly changed to a well balanced one. I could not see Bran and I could not afford to take my eyes off from Sala.
Her grinning didn't ease. For a long time, we waited, but nothing happened.
Then it hit me.
My fingers on the knife loosened and my eyes rolled back on to my head a little. I saw Resh wobble on his feet. My knees gave out, and I hit the floor with a thud. At the same time, I heard a crash behind me and slowly turned my head only to find out Bran and Relach on the floor. Resh was somehow still standing, his eyes bloodshot.
"Come on now, sleep, your highness." Sala said. Her voice sounded like a slow, lazy melody to me, Inviting me to a silent and deep sleep. I needed rest. I wanted to curl up right on the floor and drift on to the clouds.
I could tell that this was not a manipulation of bio electricity like Elves did. Sala was inflicting sleep on us, turning every cell on our body pulse to a slow rhythm, making us sleep.
Resh was still standing. I remembered him telling me yesterday that he had trained himself to not to sleep because of his fears of losing himself in a dream. His training must be paying off right now. I had never considered what it was like to train yourself to not to sleep. He must have stayed awake day after day, forcing his subconscious to only sleep whenever he wanted. Only when it was safe for his body.
Tears threatened to come out of my eyes, but I felt too sleepy to cry. A snore came from my right and I looked, only to see Relach already sleeping. He must have been exhausted from all that torturing.
Wait. Why did they toture him? To know what?
The last thing I saw before closing my knees is Resh, falling down to one knee, gritting his teeth. I fought harder to stay awake, but it was not like anything I've ever encountered.
I closed my eyes. I could not do it anymore.