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Lazar doesn’t hear my unspoken question, but he answers it anyway.

“If you’d had limped another ten minutes north, you’d be in that jail cell right now, not here.”

Fuck.

He’s right, of course. I’d even briefly considered the potential dangers that lurked beyond this basement camp of theirs – but I’d chosen to face the unknown dangers rather than remain the prisoner of three very amateurish kidnappers.

Wait - could he be lying?

That story about the cutthroats might beexactlywhat Lazar might say to keep me from attempting another escape. It reminds me of something my instructor had told me during the classes I’d taken on what to do if I was ever kidnapped – the classes I’d never appreciated until now.

“The only prison you can’t escape from is in your own mind,” the instructor had told me, tapping the side of her head. The lesson had been: If you talk yourself out of trying to escape, you’ve already failed the attempt.

I wish I knew the truth – but out of the three of them, it’s Lazar I can’t get a read on. His face is so still and blank – and as I stare at him, I realize how off-hand Lazar had sounded when he’d told me he’d “cleared a camp” of scavengers.

A camp? How many quantifies as a ‘camp’? Five? Ten?More?

And Lazar killed all of them, one by one, on his own.

I shudder. Now, as I look at Lazar, I suddenly believe all those rumors about the cold-bloodedness of Aurelians. Lazar seems to have more in common with the Sentinels that guard my home than any human I know.

Otho stares at me. It’s as if he can detect my skepticism.

The mohawked warrior grunts: “Lazar tells the truth.”

Unlike Lazar, I can clearly see in Otho’s face that he speaks the truth.

I wrap my arms around myself and take a deep, shuddering breath.

“Well, then?” I demand. “What did you expect me to do? You three kidnapped me! From my home!”

The three Aurelians say nothing. They just stand there and stare at me, as if absorbing my words and processing them before speaking.

I don’t give them that chance.

“Don’t lie to me,” I hiss. “Don’t pretend this is all about business. You’re lying if you claim you kidnapped me because of my father’s Orb-deposits.” I sniff haughtily. “In fact, I even think you’re lying about ‘a storm coming!’ I think that’s just an excuse – an excuse to do the inexcusable.”

The three warriors stiffen. I continue my tirade.

“Don’t pretend that the only reason you’re going to punish me is to ‘keep me safe.’ If you wanted to convince me not to try and escape again, all you had to do was tell me what Lazar just did – I’d have been too scared to try.”

The only prison you can’t escape from is in your own mind

I raise myself to my full height and growl:

“Tell the truth, Brennan. You’ve gone Rogue, haven’t you?”

Impassive, implacable, unemotional –my ass.

The three Aurelians barely moved, but even the subtle stiffening of their posture revealed how hard my words hit them. It was like I’d physically slapped the three of them.

“Youusedto serve the Aurelian Empire,” I continue, “but now you’ve snapped. Now, you’re just like all those other Rogue Aurelian bastards who steal women for their harems.”

I can see my words shocked them, but the only one who reveals a flash of hurt is Otho. That makes sense – he might be the most feral and beast-like of the three, but he’s also the most authentic; and to those who value authenticity, the only thing that really hurts is the truth.

I lower myself to the balls of my feet. I’m breathless by the end of my rant.

For a moment, there’s silence – to the point that I even wonder if I’ve won this debate…