A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 67: Supper of Royalty

I don't know how many hours I've been in my adequate prison room. Just that it has been that; hours.

My stomach makes a loud audible grumbling noise. I'm hungry.

As if on cue, the door to my room opens and I sit up in bed to see Setrákus Ra standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips, stern as always. I mirror the expression.

"Dinner is ready," he says strictly.

I don't move. I don't say anything. I'm not sitting at a table with him eating whatever gross-ass food he has available on this ship. If I have to eat, I would much rather prefer them give me food and let me eat it alone in my room.

"I'm not hungry," I say firmly, hoping that will be enough to make him leave. He must know that I'm lying though because he enters my room further. The doors close behind him.

"You haven't eaten anything since you arrived here. You need to eat," he says patiently.

He talks like I'm a child who refuses to eat their veggies. Patient, but I can see from the look in his eyes that it's running thin, perhaps due to my stunt earlier.

"I told you. I'm not hungry. Now leave me alone," I reply.

He pauses, staring at me with a hint of disappointment. Then says, "Ella will be there too. Wouldn't you like to see her?"

I return to my silence; avoid his eyes. I try to keep my expression neutral.

I do want to see Ella. I want nothing more than to see Ella. I want to know if she's okay. He must realize that he hit my tender spot, because he offers a slight smirk, though it quickly fades.

"Clean that mess up. Then I'll take you to the Banquet Hall. I'll be waiting outside," he orders.

Just like that, he leaves my room. I'm left standing beside the bed in front of the mess of paper. I don't know if I want to clean up the mess like he says. Actually, I definitely don't want to, I decide. Though with only a brief moment of thought, I do. I've already been paranoid enough about Ella's safety. I'm not letting my actions determine how Ella is treated. I just have to hope that destroying that book didn't get Ella hurt already.

Once I finish cleaning up the mess and arranging it in a pile on the floor next to the desk, I exit the room.

Setrákus Ra then leads me down the hall, to what I assume is where the Banquet Hall is that I saw earlier. My knees aren't even shaky as I follow close behind my enemy. For some reason, something tells me that I'm safe. I don't trust him, but my gut tells me that I'm not in any danger, as of right now.

I follow him through the various hallways of the ship. My ankle hurts with every step I take, causing me to walk with a slight limp.

Realizing my pace is slow, Setrákus looks over his shoulder at me. "Is the charm bothering you?" he asks.

"What do you think?" I reply angrily.

"The pain should've subsided by now. If it still hurts, I can heal-"

"I don't want it," I interrupt as soon as I hear the word heal. I know his 'medical treatments' are nothing like that of Earth, let alone that of a healing stone that the Loric use.

I don't want him healing me using his twisted experiments. That's all there is to it.

"Suit yourself," he says with a shrug and continues walking.

When we arrive at the Banquet Hall, I find it surprising that he opens the door for me, allowing me to walk in first and following shortly behind. I feel even more uneasy having him behind me – where I can't watch his every move – but push it aside, telling myself that if he was going to do anything to me, he would've done it already.