Chapter 31 - A Game of Betrayal

Mikal

The unbearable summer never seemed to end, the heat growing more vicious every day. Mikal looked up at the small barred window above him, begging for the slightest breath of air. But rather than receiving a cooling breeze, he was assaulted by more scorching heat.

Just how long did he still have to remain in this hell?

He could not understand what was taking Vilfred so long to usurp Frederik and withdraw the Kassarathi forces from Grytia. He had all spring, and almost half the summer, to fulfill their side of the agreement, ever since Bernard died. And yet, there was still no news from Grytia...

It was still early in the afternoon, which meant Tristan would not come for his daily visit until a few hours later. It was all Mikal could think of amid his maddening confinement and the suffocating heat. The only thing he longed for. A little chat with his human friend over a game of chess.

Friend? Did he really think of Tristan as a friend?

Mikal sighed as he sank back into his bed, shaking his head at the absurd thought. His long imprisonment had certainly messed up his mind.

He was barely starting to dose off, when the door burst open. He woke up with a start and smiled in excitement at the sight of Tristan, especially that it was a very early and unexpected visit. But his smile lasted only very briefly.

There was no time to process what was happening. Tristan stormed towards him, followed by Jared, dark and dangerous fury on both their faces. And before he knew it, a terrible blow assaulted Mikal's jaw, and a great force dragged him off the bed, shoving him to the floor. And next, a frenzy of kicks and blows followed, thudding loudly against his bones.

Blinding pain shot through his body and straight to his head, and the room started to spin around him. Mikal grunted as he lay face front unto the floor, neither able to rise nor even breathe beneath the brutal force of both Tristan's and Jared's blows combined. Jared yanked him up, his massive fists pinning him in place while Tristan continued to beat him, aiming merciless punches to his chest. Loud thumps filled the room as Tristan struck Mikal with all his might, crushing his ribs and battering his face.

"Please! Stop!" Mikal gasped, finally finding his voice. He was too stunned and too terrified to even try to fight back.

"Stop?" Tristan hissed, before he sent another savage blow to Mikal's chest, knocking the breath out of him. "I'll only stop when you're dead, you fucking traitor!"

"T... Traitor?" Mikal barely breathed, completely confused by Tristan's accusation. What was going on?

"Shut up!" Tristan growled, his fist connecting with Mikal's face.

Warm blood gushed down Mikal's nose, splattering against his ivory shirt and dripping unto the floor. Mikal started to struggle against Jared's hold, but to no avail, and it only caused him more pain as Jared's stone hard fists closed tighter around his arms.

"Tristan, please!" Mikal pleaded, but Tristan continued to beat him, his black eyes blinded by rage.

Tristan suddenly grabbed Mikal by the neck and closed both his hands around it. Mikal gasped for breath, his legs kicking involuntarily and his wings spreading uselessly against Jared's hold. Why? What happened?

"P...Please," he barely whispered as Tristan continued to strangle him, raw blood spurting in and out of his mouth. He could feel tears slipping down his cheeks, mingling with the blood that covered his abused face.

Mikal knew he stood no chance as he lay trapped between Tristan and Jared, both much larger and stronger than he was. The room spun faster and his single eye rolled into the back of his head. He held unto Tristan's hands around his neck, silently and blindly pleading for mercy. He was going to die. Killed by the man he had just thought of as a friend. And he didn't even know why.

A sudden gust of air filled his lungs, and he gasped sharply as he finally managed to breathe. And next, he found himself colliding into the stone floor with a loud thud as Tristan and Jared released him, his head bumping against the ground. Mikal coughed out, panting heavily and spitting out blood while his head spun terribly.

"Damn, I should kill you," Tristan hissed as he walked around in a large circle, passing his hand through his hair in frustration, before he turned back and aimed a brutal kick at Mikal's side.

Mikal cried out as he lay face down, his whole body shuddering. Tristan grabbed his hair and forced him to look up, but Mikal couldn't even open his single eye.

"King William ordered me to kill you!"

"Why?" Mikal barely rasped, his voice almost lost, and his body shaking terribly.

"Why? Because you fucking betrayed us! You promised us to withdraw the Kassarathi forces from Grytia. But then what did you do? You fucking brought in more reinforcements to secure the city!"

Mikal was not sure if he heard that right, or if his mind was starting to make things up. Perhaps he was even dreaming it all.

"What... are you talking about?" Mikal was at least conscious enough to ask.

"Oh don't act all innocent and ignorant. You fucking snake! I should have never trusted you," Tristan hissed before he took out a knife and placed it at Mikal's neck.

"Please, don't..." Mikal trembled as the cold blade grazed his skin. "I didn't betray you."

"Of course you will say that," Tristan scoffed. "You think I would believe you?"

"But it's the truth..." Mikal struggled to speak. "Why would I... betray you? And how? I've been locked up here... ever since... my brother left. He killed Bernard... as we agreed..."

"Right, and now he is reinforcing Grytia with thousands of Kassarathi."

"This can't be true. Vilfred would never do that. Whoever bore such news is a liar."

"The only liar here is you." Tristan pressed the knife closer against Mikal's neck, and Mikal closed his eye tight in horror. "King William's scouts had just returned from Gryta earlier, and they saw the reinforcement troops."

"Not true!" Mikal hissed desperately, enraged by the absurd lies. "Those scouts are definitely mistaken. Vilfred would never do such a stupid thing... knowing I am a prisoner here. He knows you will kill me... if he doesn't fulfill our agreement. He would never put me at such a risk."

"And yet he did," Tristan said.

"He didn't..." Mikal frowned in frustration, suddenly confused and unsure. "Why would he do that?" He turned to Tristan with a pleading expression.

"You're asking me?" Tristan raised an eyebrow. And next he put down the knife and sighed. "The only problem is, I can't really think of any way you could have secretly communicated with your brother. I can't think of any way you could have taken part in reinforcing Grytia while you're locked in here. Which makes me think... if you are not betraying us, then your brother is betraying you."

Mikal turned to Tristan with a furious glare.

"Vilfred would never – " Mikal barely defended, before he stopped, and his eye widened as a sudden idea hit him. Vilfred would never betray him. Of course he would never. But if making Tristan believe that Vilfred betrayed him would save his life, then he would play along that game.

"No way..." Mikal breathed, his eye wide with disbelief and his bloodied mouth open in shock. "Are you sure... those scouts are telling the truth?"

"Yes." Tristan frowned.

"Why?" Mikal cried out in a broken voice. "How...could he do that to me?" And then his pained expression turned to anger. He clenched his fists and his chest heaved, before he turned to punch the floor several times, until blood dripped from his knuckles. "He betrayed me!" Mikal hissed.

Hoping he sounded convincing, Mikal continued to pant while his body trembled. "I will kill him. I will kill that traitor!"

"I'm sure you would, if you ever get out of here," Tristan said.

"I will!" He turned to Tristan with a determined frown. "And you will help me."

"Help you?" Tristan laughed out.

"Yes. You will help me get out of here," Mikal said, wearing his darkest expression. "And I will fight with you."

"Fight with me? You're never leaving this cell, not after what Vilfred did!"

"But I am in no way connected to what Vilfred did, you know that!"

"But he is still your brother."

"He is no longer my brother. Let me out and I will fight with you," Mikal scowled, fury all over his face.

"And why should we trust you?"

"Because our enemy is the same now. You will let me out and I will kill Vilfred myself," Mikal said. "Let me fight with you. Let me prove that you can still trust me."

Tristan frowned in contemplation, as if considering Mikal's words. 

"Please Tristan, you must trust me." Mikal said, with all the confidence and determination he could muster. "I never really thought it possible, but I think you're the only true friend I ever had."

Tristan's eyes widened briefly, and Mikal could say his words were playing the right effect. Tristan looked straight into Mikal's eye for a long moment, as if searching for any hint of treachery, and Mikal looked back at him in his most solid posture, unfaltering, and unblinking.

"Fine," Tristan finally said. "But, I don't need to warn you. I'm sure you know the consequences if you try to betray me."

"I would never betray you!" Mikal vowed, holding back a smile of triumph...

That was it! 

That was all Mikal needed for now. To get out of this bloody cell and regain the Vausterians' trust. He would think of how to deal with Vilfred later. And he will fuck him for whatever possessed him to risk his life that way.

He had always thought he could count on Vilfred, but how he was mistaken. He had failed him once before when he failed to kill Bernard the first time. And now... Just what in the heavens was he thinking? Reinforcing Grytia? What was the point? Why live in endless wars with the Vausterians when they could finally have everything. Peace, power, and gold! Just what stupidity possessed Vilfred to think it was a good idea to betray the Vausterians? Not to mention putting his life at such a terrible risk...

***

Mikal had slept until late the next morning. It was Tristan who came to wake him up, unexpectedly.

"Get up. Get dressed," he simply ordered and Mikal looked up at him in confusion, his eye still half closed and heavy with sleep.

Mikal winced as he attempted to rise, his head still throbbing, his bones still aching, and his bruises still sore. Tristan and Jared had given him quite a serious beating the previous day, and even Heike had been appalled at his sight when she was summoned to treat him. Apart from the bruises and blood on his face, he had a couple of fractured bones, and Heike had spent all evening patching him up. He didn't even feel when he fell asleep, worn out by the terrible pain.

Tristan was exceptionally gentle this morning. Perhaps Mikal's little victim play yesterday did work. There was trust in Tristan's black eyes and kindness in his deep voice.

"Where are you taking me?" Mikal asked as Tristan helped him get dressed, taking extra care not to hurt him.

"You'll find out soon," Tristan simply answered.

In the few months Mikal had been a prisoner here, this was the second time he was let outside the Sky Tower, the first was when Vilfred had been here. He took in a deep breath as he followed Tristan through the long castle corridors, indulging in the sunlight that bathed his face despite the heat. His battered body ached with every step he took, yet he silently followed Tristan without complaining. He was willing to endure all the pain in the world just for a brief walk outside that cursed prison chamber, like he did now.

Mikal almost gasped as they reached their destination. The council chamber...

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Lord Aryan snapped as Mikal entered the council room with Tristan. Well, even Mikal had no idea himself.

"He's on our side," Tristan said.

"What do you mean on our side? After what his brother did..."

"His brother betrayed us, and betrayed him as well."

"Is that what he told you? And you just believed him?" Aryan sneered.

"Yes, I believe him," Tristan challenged.

"I asked you to kill him, Tristan. Not bring him out," King William said calmly, yet there was clear rage beneath that calm.

"Forgive me Your Grace," Tristan turned to William with an apologetic bow, "but I realized we might need his help in fighting the Northmen. He was their army commander. He knows their tactics, their strengths, their weaknesses. He can be of great use to us."

Mikal's eye widened in surprise. Well, he had not expected that!

"You trust him to really help you and tell you all the Northern war tactics and secrets?" Aryan scoffed. "You fool! He's using you so you'd expose our own secrets, which he would use against us when he betrays you and runs back to his brother."

"He will not run back to his brother," Tristan said, his eyes darkening. "He had pledged to kill his brother."

"You believe the lies of a traitor?"

"He is not a traitor. I trust him. And I hold full responsibility for the consequences," Tristan challenged.

Mikal stood silently behind Tristan, looking warily at the angry faces that filled the council chamber. They did not seem as pleased as they were the last time Mikal sat with them in the very same chamber. And Mikal did not feel as confident as he had that last time. It was all up to Tristan to convince them. And so he had let Tristan do the talking.

"Fine," William said after a while, and Mikal almost gasped in surprise. "You may let him out, but only for military training," William continued, his tone firm. "He will not be allowed to attend our council meetings. He will not be allowed to communicate or speak with anyone out of the training field. When he's outside his cell you will accompany him at all times, you will have at least two guards with you, and you will not lift your eyes off him. And when he is not with you in the training field he will remain locked in the Sky Tower. Can you handle all that?"

"Yes Your Grace, thank you," Tristan said with determination, while Mikal stood speechless behind him, his heart racing with excitement.

Finally!

He was finally on his first path to freedom...

*****************

Since things had not exactly gone according to Mikal's plans, he's now trying to play another smart game. Do you think he can still save himself?

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