Chapter 20

The short walk to his cell had been torturous for Emeric. His whole body ached and complained stubbornly. He wished he could have stayed in the infirmary. The soft cushioning of the pillow had done his head wonders, now he only had the cold stone floor to rest his throbbing mind on.

He slowly lowered himself to the ground after the guards locked the gate behind him with a loud clang. An involuntary moan of pain escaped his lips as his body complained once more against the unwanted movement. He sat with his head bowed, back leaning against the cold wall. He held his side with one hand, willing the ache in his ribs to die down. It did not.

Tormenting thoughts traveled through his head as Emeric stared at the cool stone floor. He thought of the day he'd been captured, how he had let his father down...Then his thoughts traveled to the first man he had murdered, to the promise that had been shattered that day. Guilt gnawed at him.

What would his mother think of him if she saw who he'd become?

He had promised Axel that he would live for them both, but how could he do that when he was trapped in the dome where it was impossible to really live...

And with that thought came the realisation that he had broken all the promises he had made to the people he cared about...All accept one...He had to survive, no matter what...And that was what he'd been doing.

Emeric didn't realise that he had fallen asleep until the sound of the gate unlocking woke him from his deep slumber. He was still in his sitting position, propped up against the wall. He ignored the guards, hoping that they would leave him alone.

The fact of the matter was that if he was sent to the Dome in his current state, there was absolutely no chance he would survive. Moving a single muscle was like lifting a boulder.

Emeric kept his eyes shut, feigning sleep in the desperate hope that they'd leave him be. He heard the distinct sound of chains rattling and a lock clamping shut, then the guards retreated, relocking the cell behind them.

Emeric shrugged the whole incident away as he started drifting off again. The cold bit at him through the thin blanket that he had pulled over himself, but it did little to ward off the numbing chill. Emeric hugged himself a but tighter, wincing as his ribs grated against the broken bits.

Emeric was on the verge of falling asleep when an unusual sound met his ears. It didn't fit in with the other sounds that emitted from within the cell hall. A grunt here and the occasional snore there. He was certain that this new noise sounded like the clattering of teeth. And it was almost right next to him.

Reluctantly, he pealed his eyes open, taking in the dark interior of is familiar cell. He turned towards the source of the sound and distinctly felt himself turn pale when his eyes landed on the hunched up figure sitting two meters away from him. By the size of the hunched person, Emeric guessed him to be a mere child.

However, his age wasn't the thing that had drained the color from his face...The pitch black hair nestled on top of the kid's head was responsible for that. Emeric couldn't take his eyes off of it. 'I'm not the only one.' He thought over and over again.

He noticed that the young boy's shoulders were noticeably shaking...Whether it was the cold or fear causing it was unclear. Emeric slowly stood up, trying to avoid fast movements in fear of pain and he didn't want to frighten the child any more than he most likely already was.

Taking the blanket in hand, he slowly walked closer to the shivering kid. As he approached, Emeric noticeably saw the young Rogue's body tense up. Emeric felt guilt and protectiveness surge through him as he took in the fear that evidently emitted from the boy.

Emeric lowered himself to his haunches in front of the kid. It was then that Emeric noticed the iron cuff, around the kid's right wrist, and the chain that was locked unto it and a iron ring in wall. Emeric softly placed a hand on the shivering boy's shoulder. With a cry of fright, the smaller Rogue tried scurrying away with his legs.

Then Emeric saw it...The blindfold wrapped around the kid's head. 'No wonder he's frightened out of his skin.' Emeric thought sadly, 'He has no idea where he is, what's going to happen to him and who's locked up with him.'

"It's alright." Emeric said softly as he took hold of the blindfold. The kid cowered away, but Emeric hastily undid the knot that tied the blindfold in place. The strip of cloth ominously dropped to the ground just before kid tried getting further away, but found himself stuck in a corner. He pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head in them.

Emeric, not wanting to frighten him anymore, simply placed the blanket over the youngster's knees and then backed away slightly. The boy lifted his head so that only his pale blue eyes showed over his knees.

Emeric took note that they were red rimmed, a sign that the boy must have been silently crying. A wave of sympathy clawed at his heart. He gave the boy a kind smile before he sank to the ground, leaning his back against the wall.

Emeric winced slightly as his ribs gave a protesting stab of pain.

"You're..." The soft words came from the boy, but the remainder of the sentence got caught in his throat. Emeric turned his gaze quizzically towards the young Rogue. "You're...Etreshian?" The soft words finally came.

Once again, Emeric gave the boy a comforting smile, "Yes, just like you." he said, also keeping his voice low. The boy looked uncertainly at Emeric. He looked as if he had a thousand questions, but was too afraid to voice them.

Emeric decided to break the ice. "I'm Emeric, what's your name?" The boy swallowed nervously, "Kedo." He replied softly. "Keedo." Emeric replied, testing the name, but by the boy's reaction, he evidently got it wrong, "No. You say it like Kiddo." Emeric nodded an apology, "I'll remember that."

A moment of silence passed, then Kedo, looking serious, met Emeric's eyes for the first time, "What's going to happen to me?" he asked. Emeric was taken by surprise at the question and when he thought of an answer, he didn't know what to reply. Eventually, he let out a soft sigh, "I don't know, kid."

He saw fear rise up in Kedo's eyes and hastily added, "But don't you worry about it. I'll make sure that no one hurts you."

Kedo nodded slowly, accepting the slight bit of hope that Emeric was offering. Then he asked, "What happened to you?" Emeric had known the question would come sooner or later, but yet again wasn't sure how to reply.

He decided that the truth was the best coarse of action to take. "Not everyone here likes me all that much, so they just made that very clear." Emeric stated, allowing Kedo to make of it what he wanted.

Kedo frowned, "That doesn't sound nice." Emeric shook his head with a smile, "No...no it wasn't."

"Why don't they like you?" Kedo asked, all innocent. "Because of who I am." Emeric answered, but Kedo appeared uncomprehending and so Emeric continued, "Because I'm a Rogue, like you." Kedo's brow furrowed with a large frown, "Rogue?" He questioned.

Emeric got an uncomfortable knot in his stomach, "Didn't your parents ever warn you about how the world sees our kind?" The question was by no means rude, it rang with genuine curiosity.

Kedo shook his head in reply, "We never went to any towns because we lived too far away, in the woods." Emeric understood. His father hadn't told him the truth at first either, not wanting to raise a child in fear. However, Emeric felt it wasn't his place to break the news to the kid.

"What happened to your parents?" Emeric asked hesitantly. A sudden sadness fell over Kedo as he thought back to his family. He looked down, his eyes glazed. "They died." He said eventually, "A sickness took them a few month ago." Emeric once again felt guilt...guilt that he had brought the sore subject up and that he had caused the young boy to relive the horrid time in his past.

Without needing more prompting, Kedo continued talking, "That was when I decided to look for a town. I don't know how to survive on my own. Mama and Papa always took care of me." Emeric felt a wave of sadness rising up in him as he thought of his own parents, how they had all taken care of each other...And now he was the only one still breathing in their lineage.

"I thought I would never find a town. I was just simply walking without knowing where I was going or where I'd end up. But I saw people and followed them here." He paused for a few seconds, recalling more tedious memories, "That...That was when the men in uniform grabbed me and brought me here." His eyes started to moisten as he relived the fear and uncertainty he had felt.

"I don't know what I did wrong. Why am I here?" His lip stated quivering as he buried his head in his knees once more, trying very hard to keep the sobs from announcing themselves.

For the first time, Emeric noticed how loose the clothes sat on the boy...How skinny he was, close to being sickly. He realized that Kedo wouldn't have survived long in the woods if he hadn't found other people. He would have died slowly of starvation and exposure.

Emeric did his best to ease the boys nerves and started telling him the story of how the Rogues came to be. It distracted the young boy, seven years of age, from his dark past as he listened intently. He gradually calmed down and as Emeric spoke in his soft, storyteller's voice, the young boy fell into a long, undisturbed sleep.