CHAPTER 117: TYRON IN DEEP CELL

CHAPTER 117: TYRON IN DEEP CELL

POV: Tyron

I knew my cover was failing before Relcan moved.

It was the way he stood near the mess hall entrance on the third afternoon—not blocking the path, simply waiting with the patience of a man who had already reached a conclusion.

The bruises from our earlier fight still pounded through my skull while I sat alone inside the cell. No visitors. No light except the thin gray strip beneath the door.

I needed to think.

Needed a way out before Kristine moved tonight.

Heavy footsteps echoed outside.

Relcan.

The cell door groaned open.

He stepped inside slowly, carrying the rage of a man publicly humiliated.

“The King summoned you,” he said.

Then he drove his boot hard into my ribs.

Pain burst through my side. I hit the floor hard enough to taste blood.

Relcan grabbed my hair and forced my head up.

“You embarrassed me in front of my soldiers,” he hissed. “Do you know what happens to weak commanders here? ”

I stayed silent.

His fist slammed into my mouth.

Blood splattered across the floor.

“Answer me! ”

I laughed once through the pain.

That made him angrier.

He kicked me again—this time directly into my stomach. Air exploded from my lungs.

“Still protecting her? ” he asked coldly.

I forced myself upright slowly.

“Yes.”

His jaw tightened.

Two guards grabbed my arms as we left the cell.

I already knew this wasn’t an escort.

It was punishment.

Relcan waited until we reached the narrow corridor between the barracks and the throne hall.

No witnesses.

No mercy.

Then he stopped walking.

The first punch cracked across my jaw hard enough to blur my vision.

The second landed in my ribs.

The third smashed directly into my nose.

Warm blood poured instantly down my mouth.

The guards tightened their grip as my muscles reacted automatically.

Relcan leaned close.

“Three days,” he whispered. “Three days watching you. Three days proving you were lying.”

His injured wrist hung wrapped beside him.

“You broke my sword hand.”

I stared at him through blurred vision.

“That sounds personal.”

His expression twisted.

The kick hit my knee hard enough to nearly drop me.

“I served in the elite corps for six years,” he snarled. “I know every combat form they teach.”

Another punch.

“You move like one of us.”

Another.

“You fight better than most commanders.”

He slammed me against the wall.

“So who are you really? ”

I smiled through the blood.

“That question keeping you awake? ”

His fist buried itself into my stomach again.

Pain folded through my body, but I refused to bend.

Relcan’s breathing grew heavier.

“You came here for the Earth woman.”

I said nothing.

“She’s going to die,” he said quietly. “And when she does, I’ll make sure you stay alive long enough to watch it happen.”

I lifted my eyes toward him.

“She’s going to win.”

For a second, silence filled the corridor.

Then Relcan punched me so hard my head snapped sideways.

The guards dragged me forward before he could continue.

We entered the throne room moments later.

King Zedrak sat on the black throne beneath the massive banners of OX.

Calm.

Still.

Deadly.

His eyes settled on me with cold interest.

“Tyron of OX,” he said. “At last.”

I remained silent.

Relcan shoved me down to one knee.

Zedrak studied me carefully.

“You trained the Earth girl.”

Not a question.

A fact.

“You spent fifteen years hiding among humans for a failed rebellion.” His mouth curved slightly. “And then you found her.”

I looked directly at him.

“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

That amused him.

“Interesting,” he murmured.

He rose slowly from the throne and descended the steps.

The room became quieter with every step he took.

“You know where she is now,” he said. “Tell me.”

Silence.

Zedrak stopped directly in front of me.

“I can still be merciful.”

I almost smiled.

“You don’t know the meaning of mercy.”

The kick came without warning.

His boot crashed into my chest hard enough to send me backward across the floor.

Pain exploded through my ribs.

The guards hauled me upright again.

Zedrak crouched slightly until we were eye-level.

“Where is the girl? ”

I spat blood onto the floor between us.

His expression darkened instantly.

Relcan struck me from behind with the butt of his weapon.

My vision flashed white.

Still, I said nothing.

Zedrak circled me slowly.

“She has visions now, doesn’t she? ” he asked. “The powers are awakening.”

Silence.

“She contacted rebels inside the palace.”

Nothing.

“She found the child.”

That almost got a reaction from me.

Almost.

Zedrak noticed anyway.

His eyes sharpened.

“The child is alive.”

I kept my face empty.

He smiled slowly.

“There it is.”

Relcan drove his fist into my ribs again and again until something cracked.

Pain tore through my side.

The guards forced me upright while blood slid from my mouth.

“Tell me where she’s hiding,” Zedrak ordered quietly.

“No.”

Relcan slammed a boot into the back of my knee, forcing me down again.

“Where is the Earth woman? ”

“No.”

Another kick.

Another punch.

The throne room spun briefly.

Zedrak crouched in front of me again.

“You love her.”

I laughed weakly.

"Is that your weakness? ” he asked.

“No,” I said, breathing hard. “Yours.”

His expression changed instantly.

Cold fury.

The punch from Zedrak himself nearly knocked me unconscious.

I hit the floor hard.

Blood spread beneath my hands.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Zedrak grabbed my jaw violently and forced me to look at him.

“What is she planning? ”

I stared back at him through blurred vision.

“Your funeral.”

Relcan cursed and kicked me sharply across the ribs.

Agony exploded through my body.

Still—

I smiled.

Because I saw it then.

The uncertainty in Zedrak’s eyes.

Tiny.

Brief.

But real.

Kristine had gotten inside his head.

Zedrak released my jaw roughly.

“Put him back in the deep cell,” he ordered coldly. “After the ceremony, I’ll tear the answers out of him myself.”

The guards dragged me through the corridors.

Blood dripped steadily onto the stone floor beneath my boots.

Relcan walked beside me, waiting for weakness.

Waiting for me to beg.

I gave him nothing.

My jaw throbbed.

My ribs burned with every breath.

The back of my skull still rang from the earlier strike.

I catalogued the damage automatically.

Painful.

Not fatal.

The map was still hidden inside my boot.

That mattered.

The deep cell door slammed shut behind me.

Darkness swallowed the room.

I leaned against the wall slowly and slid to the floor.

Then my eyes found the iron ring embedded beside me.

Old mortar.

Water damage.

Cracks spreading through the stone.

I pressed my thumb against the weakest section.

The mortar shifted.

Good.

Very good.

I closed my eyes briefly and pictured Kristine.

Somewhere above me, she was moving toward the most dangerous night of her life.

And I intended to reach her before it began.

I pressed harder against the crack.

The mortar crumbled beneath my thumb.

Then I started working.