~Chapter 7- Capture~

When Lumb came to, he found himself in an unfamiliar place. A windowless room with stone walls lit by a lantern. There was a single closed door.

He was lying on a bed. When he tried to sit up, he felt something pull at his arms and legs. Shackles were attached to each limb, fixed to the four corners of the bed. When he tugged at them, they didn't budge.

The room had a barrel sitting near him and a table in the corner. He could see several things on it. A ladle, a funnel... and a small knife.

He was alone. He tugged at his restraints even more. The shackles painfully dug into his wrists and ankles as he tried.

"Anyone there!?" Lumb shouted, "I need help!"

He screamed out for help, and it reverberated around the small room he was in. But nothing came.

He waited... Without a view of the outside, it could've been minutes or hours. His stomach began to growl, and he felt parched. Lumb futilely struggled against his restraints again before settling down.

The door swung open, and a man entered the room. Lumb tensed up as he looked upon the hooded man closing the door behind him. His movements appeared stilted, and one of his arms didn't seem to be able to move; no doubt from Ceptance's axe striking his shoulder.

The man pulled down his hood, revealing red hair. He placed his coat on the table, revealing a sword at his hip.

He looked upon Lumb, "Good, you haven't soiled yourself yet."

He placed a notebook on the table and began to jot something down in it. Lumb took a closer look at the man... he recognized him from the Kingsguard. That soldier named Horace.

Horace picked up the ladle and funnel from the table before going to the barrel and prying it open. He could smell something in the barrel - some sort of slosh.

"You killed Gregor, didn't you?" Lumb declared, "Did you force my sister to confess to that crime? What did you do?"

Horace paid him no mind. He turned with the funnel in hand and stared with intense green eyes, "Open your mouth."

"What?"

Horace rolled his eyes and began to force the funnel near Lumb's lips. His mouth parted, and he shoved the funnel in. Lumb promptly spat it out.

"Fine. When you get hungry, you'll cooperate." Horace said, bringing the ladle and funnel back to the table. He took the knife in hand.

Lumb tensed up as Horace loomed over him. The tall man pulled at his shirt and tore it open, exposing his chest.

"What're you-?"

"Shut up!" Horace snapped. He flipped the knife in his hand, knelt on the table and drew the blade to his chest.

Lumb could feel his chest burn as the knife cut into him. It didn't go deep, just the surface of his skin. Just when he thought Horace was done, he began to cut at another angle, then another. He was making numerous small cuts to his chest.

Lumb began to frantically thrash about. The knife slid across his chest, and Horace's expression turned furious.

"YOU RUINED THE MASTER'S MARK! HOLD STILL OR I'LL CUT OUT YOUR EYE!" Horace screamed, mere inches from his face.

Lumb froze. Horace redirected his knife back to his chest and began cutting away again, this time deeper than before. It took everything for Lumb to hold still, gritting his teeth through the pain.

Horace sat up with a content look on his face, "There. That's better."

Without another word, Horace turned the knife to Lumb's chest again to an area that had been untouched. He clenched his fists as he tried to bear the pain.

The door behind them burst open. At the doorway stood a bald man donning the Kingsguard's armor, sword drawn. Lieutenant Aingr.

Horace turned and drew his sword, but held it as if he had never wielded the weapon before.

"Horace...Why?" Aingr spoke begrudgingly.

Horace raised his sword and began to swing it around wildly. With calculated movements, Aingr deflected each swing with expertise. Horace lunged forward with his blade. Aingr sidestepped, and with one clean motion, slid his sword across Horace's throat.

Horace dropped his blade and began to desperately reach out for Aingr. Aingr stepped out of the way as he fell to the ground, gurgling up blood as life left him.

Aingr walked to Lumb and began untying the binds that restrained him. Lumb slowed down his breathing and collected himself as he sat up in bed. He looked at the cuts on his chest... They matched the mark that was on Seamus's body.

Lumb looked to the lieutenant, "Thank you..."

Aingr glumly answered, "Don't mention it."

"How did you find me?"

"You can thank your niece for that."

After burning down Seamus' home, Horace followed Lumb to the inn that night, and when the moment was right, he snuck into Lumb's room and kidnapped him. But he didn't realize that Deporah had watched him take off with her uncle.

Deporah followed them to an unoccupied house in the inner ring and promptly told the Kingsguard about what happened. Aingr had already begun to suspect Horace of foul play, and acted swiftly. They followed Horace to the home and saved Lumb, who was detained in the basement of an unoccupied home.

Aingr walked Lumb out of the house, where he found Ceptance and Deporah waiting outside for him.

Ceptance hugged her son, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Lumb chuckled, "I've been better."

Aingr escorted the Dolor family to the Kingsguard. The family was taken to a room for questioning, and Aingr sat across from them. The Lieutenant placed two notebooks before Lumb and the others. One was found in Seamus' home, and the other was in Horace's possession before he died.

"Most of the names in the notebook you found in Seamus' home were names of missing individuals. People we've been unable to find any trace of. In the notebook we picked off Horace, there were three names. The last of which was yours, Lumb."

"What does that mean?"

"It means... that Horace most likely captured two individuals like you in the last few weeks. One of the names was the owner of the home he was holding you in. We're not sure where he is either," Aingr replied solemnly.

Aingr took a moment and continued, "We looked at the remains of Seamus' house. Like you said, there was a body in the basement. Neighbors mentioned that a man was intermittently visiting the house. We're still investigating, but it looks like Horace and that dead man were accomplices and had been imprisoning people for some time now. They likely imprisoned Seamus and many others. Seamus may have escaped and killed the man in the basement when he did."

"That makes some sense. But what about Urba?"

"We can't know for sure, but we believe that Horace might've threatened to hurt Deporah if she said what really happened. That's all we have for now. We plan to keep investigating," Aingr explained.

"So... you believe Urba is innocent?" Ceptance asked hopefully.

"All evidence points to Horace... After all those years of working alongside that man, I never imagined he would be behind something like this..." Aingr replied.

A knock came at the door of the room they were in. Aingr stood and opened it, and through the door came a grey-haired man in silver armor who commanded authority. He looked aged while still maintaining strength. He looked at Lumb and his family, "Is this Urba's family?"

"Yes, Commander," Aingr nodded.

The grey-haired soldier stood at attention before them. "Greetings! I am Ein, Commander of the Kingsguard. I've come to fetch you for the king."

"The king?"

"Yes, he'd like to meet with the three of you."