The Travelers, part 10

Taylor could hear, but she couldn't see. The light was so bright that she was forced to close her eyes, and still the rays penetrated her eyelids, making her head pound.
"I see you have caught the traitor," a hoarse, deep, voice said, "and who is this?"
"Sir," Rita said, "this is the friend of the boy we captured."
"Ah, is she?"
"Yes," Falcon said, snickering, "we found her and Thoren together."
"Silence," the deep voice commanded. "Why were you with this girl, Thoren? Were you helping her? Do you not realize the punishment for helping a Commoner?"
Thoren cleared his throat.
"I--," he began, but the voice cut him off.
"Wait. Rita, why are their hands not tied? It is too much of a danger to allow this traitor, and this girl--this enemy--to be any other way."
"Well, I, well," Rita said helplessly.
Thoren laughed. "I made a deal with her. She told us to be quiet. I told her no, unless she would untie our hands."
Taylor tried to open her eyes, but the light was too blinding. She wondered where it was coming from, and how the others could stand it.
"My friend is bleeding," Thoren said, "the ropes cut too far into her skin. Might we have a bandage?"
The voice laughed harshly. "Do you hear the boy? A bandage! His own skin, his very life is at this moment at risk, and he is wanting to tie up an enemy's wounds. Quiet, Thoren, if you value your life, and hers. Harmen, Forald, take these four and put them in the inner chamber."
Taylor felt her arm grabbed. She found herself being pushed forward.
"Why us, too?" Rita shrieked.
"Please, Sir, we've done all you've asked, and more," Falcon pleaded.
"Be quiet," the voice said, "of late, I am not altogether sure I can trust you."
"You're right not to," Thoren said.
"Be quiet," Rita snapped.
Taylor hoped that wherever this inner chamber was, and whatever it was, there would not be the blinding light. She kept her eyes closed as she was pushed across the floor, expecting that the person who was holding on to her could see where they were going. She felt strange trusting someone whom she could not see, and who was harshly gripping her arm. Indeed, Taylor thought, by all rights this person is my enemy, and yet I'm having to trust them to not let me trip and fall.
Several minutes later Taylor, Thoren, Rita, and Falcon were shoved into a room, and the door was slammed behind them, echoing and re-echoing off the cave walls. Taylor realized as soon as she entered the room that there was no more bright light. She opened her eyes, and found that she could barely see anything. She panicked, thinking that the light had blinded her. But then, she could make out dim shapes: Thoren, tall and slim with messy, spiky hair, standing next to her. Rita, her shoulders hunched and her long, slender hands hanging over her knees, as she leaned against the wall. Falcon, pacing back and forth, running a hand nervously over the back of his head and muttering. Then, Taylor thought perhaps she could make out another shape, in a far corner.
"Taylor, are you okay?" Thoren put a hand on her arm.
Taylor's head was still pounding, but dully now. "Yeah. Are you?"
"Yes," Thoren replied, "and I'm sorry about the light."
"Where was it coming from?" she asked.
"A lantern in the middle of the room," he replied. "That was the Chamber of the Headmaster. It has to be well-lit. The Headmaster commands it."
"But still," Taylor began, "I have never seen a light so bright. It seemed as bright as the sun. How are you able to stand it?"
"My people are not like yours, Taylor," Thoren said.
"Your people?" Taylor asked. "I thought..."
"You think we are humans, like you," Thoren said.
He gently took her arm, and led her over to a boulder at one side of the chamber.
"Come," he said, "I think it is time you know more about what's going on."
The Travelers, Copyright 2012, by Katy Allie. All rights reserved.