Chapter Two
The trip to the Emperor’s palace took three days. Heidi was beyond weary when they arrived, not only because of the misery of her last memory of her aunt and the travel itself, but also because the three guards who were transporting her hadn’t said more than two or three words to her at any one time since they’d picked her up. They merely let her out by the side of the road when she had to urinate or defecate—and allowed her no privacy—and handed her food when it was time to eat. Heidi had lost track of all time and only knew that the trip had taken three days once she arrived and saw a clock that happened to have the date on it perched outside the palace. It must have been a very long journey since they hadn’t once stopped for any extended period of time. They’d only stopped to allow her to relieve herself, to pick up food, or to allow the guards to change positions. At any one time, one guard was watching her, one was driving the transport vehicle, and the other was sleeping. The guards had constantly rotated these duties.
The palace, at least, was as the history books described it. It loomed above her nearly eleven stories high, made entirely of platinum metal with intricately carved gargoyles with ruby eyes hanging on every corner. They made Heidi think of devils. The same guard took her arm as they exited the vehicle and pulled her along. Heidi again didn’t bother to resist him or argue but followed silently, looking around at the entrance to the palace. Despite the fact that this was the worst thing that had ever happened to her, she couldn’t help but be awed by the magnificence of the palace. Just inside the front entrance there was a foyer made entirely of beige marble. Six twin marble columns lined the walls. Sapphires and rubies dotted the edge of the grey and beige swirl marble floor.
The guards pulled her through many more elaborately jeweled rooms until they reached two gigantic dark oak doors with the imperial insignia carved into them: the face of a lion, his mouth open in a roar. The guards opened the door and led her inside. This room was even more astonishing. It too was made entirely of marble, but this marble was both beige and blue swirled together. It too had marble columns lining the walls and the edge of the floor was lined with sapphires and emeralds this time. The back wall held a stained glass window which contained a picture of a man that Heidi soon noticed sitting in the middle of the room on a throne made entirely of gold with jewels lining the edges and going down the arms.
He was much younger than Heidi expected. She had always assumed he was old, but he couldn’t have been more than forty. He had dark hair that was tinted with silver and his eyes were an unusual shade of green. His hair was chin-length and slicked back over his head. He wore an elaborate, purple robe with a white fur lining and his hands were covered with jewels. He sat up straighter than she’d ever seen anyone sit in a chair, his arms draped across the arms of the chair. The guards brought her until she was standing just in front of him. Heidi was fearful of him. His green eyes conveyed nothing, and not in a way that meant she couldn’t read him, but in a way that indicated there was nothing behind those eyes. His lips curled up slightly, a smile meant to be welcoming but that just appeared sinister to Heidi.
“Welcome,” he said. “I am Emperor Ezar. You are Heidi Grace, I take it?”
Heidi merely nodded.
“I really don't think it’s necessary to pull Heidi along, do you?” he said to the guard holding her arm. It was phrased as a question, but his voice conveyed that it was not a question, not even a request, it was an imperative said in the way a slave-driver orders a slave. The guard dropped Heidi’s arm immediately.
Ezar stood up from his throne and walked towards Heidi. She could now see that the back of the chair also had the imperial insignia carved into it in pure gold with ruby eyes.
Ezar smiled that same threatening smile at her and took her hand without asking.
“Forgive my guards,” he said. “They often do not know if someone is being brought before me as an enemy or a friend. You, of course, are a friend. A friend whose help I am in dire need of.”
Heidi swallowed. “Help…?” she mumbled.
“Yes,” Ezar continued. “I have heard of your great gifts and have brought you here to enlist your assistance in bringing certain criminals to justice.”
“I… I don’t know how I could help…” Heidi said.
Ezar looked slightly annoyed for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “I have heard that you are a mind-reader. Many of the criminals we capture know information that would lead us to the capture of other criminals, but they are often less than forthcoming.” He smiled that smile again. “This is where you can assist your Emperor.”
“I… can’t really read minds.”
“You read the mind of a young man, correct?”
“Well… yes, but…”
“So you can read minds,” Ezar interrupted her, raising an eyebrow. This was said very similarly to the way he’d spoken to the guard when he instructed him to drop Heidi’s arm. Clearly she was to argue no further.
“But…” Heidi pressed. “That was an accident. I’ve never been able to do it before or since and I’m not even sure how I did it. I’ve only ever been able to read memories before that one instance.”
“If you did it once, you can do it again,” Ezar responded, his voice becoming less welcoming. “Your mother could do it so you can do it.”
Heidi's eyes widened. “How did you know that?"”
“Young lady, I am your Emperor,” he stated. “I will ask the questions and you will answer them.”
“Did you know my mother?!” Heidi exclaimed, disregarding his warning to her. She leaned towards him without thinking and suddenly a guard shoved her to the ground. This time, instead of admonishing the guard for his use of force, Ezar stood over her.
“You will serve your Emperor one way or another,” he said. “I will give you one last chance to cooperate willingly before I resort to other tactics to ensure your assistance in bringing down this ridiculous rebellion against the Imperial forces.”
It took Heidi a few minutes to gather her breath as the force of being shoved to the ground had knocked the wind out of her.
“But… I’m telling you… I don’t think I could help,” she said. “I don’t know how I did it.”
Ezar’s face changed then. Heidi had seen when she’d first met him that the welcoming look was a mask, now she saw the mask melt away and reveal a look more demonic than the gargoyles outside.
“If you will not help your Emperor willingly, we have other methods to ensure your assistance,” he said in a low voice.
He nodded to the guard who had knocked her down. Without a word the guard grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. He pulled her along much more roughly this time, out of the throne room and down a hall they had not entered before. Here the remarkableness of the palace changed. There was no more marble or jewels or gold or platinum. There were merely cold steel walls and rough concrete floors. Every so often Heidi would see a thick steel door with a tiny square window at the top center of it.
“Where are you taking me?” Heidi asked but the guard didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at her.
After they passed about seventeen of these identical doors the guard stopped in front of one. He pulled a keycard from his belt and held it in front of a small, grey box next to the door. The box beeped and a small light on the box flashed from red to green. The door slid open. He pulled her roughly into the room. In it was another guard lying a man down on a steel table. Next to the table was the strangest contraption Heidi had ever seen. It was clearly the outline of a body and there were places to adjust the height and length of the arms and legs. There were straps located at the wrists, ankles and forehead and there was a large, sinister dome-shaped contraption at the top of the head.
“You done with him?” asked the guard holding Heidi's arm.
“For now,” the other guard responded. “He’s a tough bastard but I’m getting tired of listening
to him scream.”
“Well, let me borrow the machine for awhile,” Heidi’s guard said. “I don’t think she'll take long to break.”
The other guard looked at Heidi as if seeing her for the first time. “Shit, man, what is she, like 18?” he asked. “What the hell does she need this for?” He jerked his thumb towards the strange machine.
Heidi’s guard shrugged. “Won’t do what the Emperor wants,” he said. “She reads minds or something and is refusing to work for the Emperor. I don’t know. I just hope it doesn’t take long. You know I hate using the machine on people, that’s why I volunteer for the collection missions.”
“Yeah, well, I hate travel,” the other guard chuckled.
“Help me get her in it?” Heidi's guard said.
“Sure, but I’m not staying for it,” the other guard replied. “Seems kind of a waste to me, she’s not bad looking and all.”
Heidi’s guard shrugged and pulled her towards the contraption shaped like a body. Before they could get her in it, though, the door opened and another guard strode in.
“Hektor, you're never going to believe this,” he said.
“What?” Heidi’s guard asked, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.
“Remember that rebel you caught that got away last week?” he responded. “Well, Fiar caught him again.”
Heidi’s guard—Hektor apparently—lit up. His eyes went wide. “Where is he?”
“Down the hall,” the guard in the doorway said. “I thought maybe you’d like to see him executed since he got you in so much trouble with the Emperor.”
Hektor looked back and forth from Heidi to the guard in the doorway. The other guard—the one who was in the room when they entered—spoke up.
“She’s not going anywhere, man,” he said. “Just leave her here and let’s go watch the execution. I could use a break from this thing anyway.” He gestured towards the machine.
Hektor sighed. “Yeah, okay…” He let go of Heidi and the three guards walked towards the door. Hektor stopped in the doorway and looked back at her. “Stay put, I’ll be back.” The door slid shut behind him.
“Like I have a choice,” Heidi muttered to herself. She sighed and glanced around the room. It was then that she remembered the young man lying on the steel table. She was able to get a better look at him. He was curled up into a fetal position, his eyes closed, his breath coming in short bursts, as if he’d been running a long distance. His blonde hair was matted and sweaty and sticking to his forehead. His hands were bound with plastic ties that were so tight they were cutting into his skin. However, it looked fairly pointless to her to bind his hands since his face was bloodless and he looked completely devoid of energy and life.
It was silent for quite awhile and Heidi considered what she should do. She stared at the machine, wondering what kind of torture awaited her. She had the faint notion that she should have been more afraid, but instead she just felt despair.
Suddenly the man on the table moaned. She jumped slightly at the noise and walked towards him tentatively. Up until now she had thought that he was asleep. He rubbed his face against the cold steel of the table and swallowed a few times. His eyes fluttered and opened. They were a deep brown. He searched the room and finally focused on her. At first he merely regarded her but then his face contorted slightly in confusion.
“Am I dead?” he mumbled.
Heidi shook her head. “No.”
“Since when do they make women imperial guards?”
“I’m not a guard,” she said. “I… think I’m a prisoner.”
“Huh,” he muttered. “Then maybe you could help unbind my hands.”
Heidi worried her lip. “Are you a criminal?”
He swallowed again. “By imperial standards, yes,” he answered. “But I won’t hurt you, and they will.” He nodded towards the door.
Heidi glanced towards the door and then back to him. She was sure he was right, but what good would unbinding his hands do? Of course, what good would it do to not unbind his hands? She was sure to be tortured and possibly killed soon, so what difference did it make?
“Please,” he said suddenly. “They’re cutting my wrists.”
“I…” she cleared her throat. “I don’t have anything to cut them with.”
“There’s a small blade in my boot,” he said and held one leg up slightly.
She walked towards him and took hold of his foot.
“There,” he said. “In that tiny side pocket.”
She opened the pocket expecting to find a knife. Instead she found a tiny razor blade no bigger than a cracker.
“I don’t think I can cut your binds with this,” she said.
“Help me sit up,” he said in response.
She sat the blade next to him and helped him into a seated position. She handed him the blade and he worked quickly, sawing back and forth against the bindings on his left hand. The blade slipped and cut him a few times but he merely grimaced and kept sawing. Finally it snapped free. He pulled his hand free and used the blade to saw the binding on his other hand, this time he worked even quicker, seemingly given new life by the freedom of his left hand.
The binding snapped free and he laughed slightly with relief. He tossed the bindings and the blade aside and hopped off the table. Heidi could hear footsteps in the hallway. The man ran to the door and stood next to the side of it. He put a finger to his lips. He mouthed the words “stand back” and waved her backwards. She took a few steps back but wasn’t really sure where he wanted her to go.
The door slid open and Hektor appeared with the guard that had been in here when they’d first come in. Both guards looked confused but only for an instant because the blonde man jumped up and brought his elbow down on Hektor’s head, knocking him out cold. The other guard reached for his weapon, but the blonde man was faster. He grabbed the guard’s wrist as his hand connected with his blaster and swung him across the room. Heidi leapt out of the way as the guard smashed into the wall. Then she saw that the blonde man had the blaster. He shot the guard once, twice, three times. Then he moved forward and even though the guard was already dead, he kicked him furiously in the head and stomach.
“Miserable piece of shit,” he muttered and spat upon the guard’s face. He returned to Hektor and took the keycard from his belt. He then turned and held out his hand to Heidi. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” she said, terrified.
“Yes, we have to go now,” the man responded. He didn’t wait for Heidi to agree. Instead he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along with him. He used Hektor’s keycard to open the door and then took off tearing down the hall, dragging Heidi along with him.
Heidi was gasping for breath, trying to ask where they were going, did he have any idea what he was doing, but she couldn’t get enough air to speak. His eyes darted back and forth down the hall. He turned a corner and two guards were walking down the hall. He didn’t hesitate but shot both of them with the blaster.
An alarm suddenly sounded.
“Shit,” she heard him mutter. “Should have killed that other bastard.” Heidi assumed that he meant Hektor, but had no breath to ask. He turned towards her. “Hurry up, Red.”
“Wha…” Heidi started but didn't get to finish because he pulled her to a small airtight hatch in the side of the wall. It was only about a foot and a half square. He shot twice with the blaster and the hatch dented inwards. He tossed the blaster aside and grabbed hold of the hatch, pulling with all his might. After what seemed like an eternity, it pulled free and Heidi could see a tube going down to God knows where.
“Get in,” he ordered her.
“What is that?” she asked. “Where—“
“DAMMIT, WE DON'T HAVE TIME, RED!” he shouted. He didn’t wait for her to respond. He picked her up around the waist and hurled her head first into the chute, diving in after her.
She couldn’t help crying out as she
slid down, down, down…. The further she went the worse the stench got. The drop seemed to take forever. Behind her she heard the blonde man scream “Woo!” excitedly. He was enjoying this?
Finally she saw a light, but as soon as she saw it, she flew out into nothing but air. She seemed to be suspended for an instant and then dropped, landing in a giant body of water. Under the water she heard another splash an instant after she fell in. She pushed herself to the surface and took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The stench was almost unbearable and she gagged.
Her eyes darted around. She could barely see due to the lack of light, but it was clear she was in a sewer.
The blonde man surfaced in front of her and held two fists up in victory.
“Woo!” he shouted again. “Take that, suckers! Another failed attempt to take me!” He sighed and wiped his hand down his face.
Heidi was gasping and fighting hysteria.
“You okay, Red?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“You break something?”
“No, I just…” She couldn’t finish and burst into angry, bitter tears.
“Oh,” the blonde man said uncomfortably. He sighed and took her hand. “Look, we got to get moving, okay? You can… cry… if you need to, but they’ll be after us so let’s get going.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she cried and yanked her hand free. “You’re insane. You dumped me down a sewer line.”
“I saved your life,” he argued, his face conveying his annoyance. “Or at least saved you from being tortured and used by Ezar, and believe me, that torture is a fate worse than death.”
Heidi swallowed. He was most likely right. And they would be coming after her. And she had helped this guy escape so she would be in it even deeper. She didn’t have a lot of options. In fact, it appeared her only viable one was to trust this guy. She nodded finally and held out her hand. He took it again without a word and led her down and around the sewers until it poured out into the open air.