Chapter 41: Friendship Lasts Forever

“Sehn, I’m only going to tell you one more time. Get out of the cell.”

“Fuck your demands! I have just decided that I will turn this dungeon into my own personal lair. Now, be gone!”

Cah’lia didn’t want to use force against Sehn, not with all the pain he was already in, but if he kept being stubborn she’d drag him out of the dark cell by his hair. He was still sitting defiantly with his back to the wall. Even his new “friend” Alan Marshall tried to encourage him to move.

“Come on, Great Sehn,” Alan said. “If you leave now I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Really?” Sehn stood up, his face carrying a look of great interest.

“No!” Cah’lia and Rebecca shouted in unison.

Rebecca stepped forward, and walked halfway between the cell door and Sehn. “Listen up, punk,” she said. “I’m not as nice as Cah’lia. You’re looking at a first lieutenant of the kingdom’s armies. Now, you can either come out this instant, or I’ll drag you out unconscious. The choice is yours.”

Sehn bared his teeth. “You dare make threats to the Great Sehn! I don’t know who you think you are, Rebecca,” he spat, “but I will squeeze you into the shape of a cannonball and fire you into the fucking moon!”

A dark rage entered the Human woman’s eyes, and Cah’lia leapt forward and put a hand on her shoulder. Somehow she had the feeling the red-haired woman might actually kill Sehn. Cah’lia wasn’t sure why he was being so stubborn. Even for Sehn he was being incredibly hard to deal with.

“Can you two wait outside? I’d like a word alone.”

Rebecca begrudgingly nodded. “Alan, let’s go.”

Cah’lia took a seat on the cold floor next to Sehn and kicked out her feet. Sehn didn’t make eye contact, or even show any indication he was bothered by her presence. His eyes were downcast, and he stared at the rocky floor, unfocused.

“What’s going on this time? Talk to me.”

Sehn didn’t respond. He picked up small loose pebbles and threw them in random directions, all the while keeping his eyes averted and his nose curled in disgust.

“You know I won’t leave until you speak to me, don’t you?” Cah’lia sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ll wait here until you do.”

Cah’lia said nothing while she waited. Sehn continued to throw pebbles, ranting indiscernibly under his breath. It was quiet in the dungeon. The occasional dripping of water from a nearby cell provided the only audible sound.

“I don’t like this ‘Rebecca,’” Sehn whispered. “Who did she think she was, telling me what to do?”

Cah’lia rubbed the back of his neck. She knew it relaxed an Elven male. “There’s a lot going on you don’t understand, Sehn. And whenever anyone tries to explain it to you, well, you ignore them. Alan Marshall is a commander of the Kingdom’s armies, and he’ll be one of the people going up against the army we’re trying to stop. Remember? The reason we’re here in the first place?”

Sehn finally met her eyes. There was a caution hidden behind them, mixing in with the usual arrogance. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Cah’lia knew Sehn was troubled by the deaths of Patrick, Saerith, Saerina, and the other Humans. What Sehn didn’t know, what he couldn’t be allowed to know, was they were very much alive. Shina explained to Cah’lia everything she’d seen after literally crashing on top of them. Thankfully, the young Elven girl was smart, and willing to hold her tongue. It hurt Cah’lia to have to lie to Sehn the way she’d been, but they needed to keep moving. It was Cah’lia’s responsibility now. She needed to keep Sehn on the right track.

“It’s just that sometimes I wonder…Gah! Never mind.”

Sehn tried to look away again, but Cah’lia held a gentle hand under his chin and turned him to face her. “Wonder what, Sehn? Tell me. Please.”

He sighed. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but even a Great God-king such as I have doubts. There are times, when…can you promise you’ll never tell another soul?”

“I promise.”

“I’m not fooling around here, woman. If you tell anyone what I am about to say, then I shall personally shape shift you into a small insect and shove you up a rhino’s ass!”

Cah’lia punched him in the arm, satisfied when he flinched. “I said I won’t!”

Sehn inhaled and shook his head while he spoke. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to live through this. I know it’s a foolish thought, being that I am immortal and all, but still…I have this—I don’t know, not fear, since I am not capable of feeling fear, but something similar. Some discomforting sense that when this is all over, I will be too.”

Cah’lia reached deep. She searched the very depths of her being, and forced the willpower and resolve into her heart. Her shaking palm was the only sign she was troubled, and thankfully Sehn was not the observant type.

“Now why would you think that?”

Sehn surprised her by leaping to his feet, and slapping himself across the cheek. “I have no idea. It must be your cowardliness seeping into my skin by touch. Why would the Great Sehn think something so pitiful? Hah! I was merely fooling around, Cah’lia. Come, let us be gone from this place.”

And just like that Sehn marched out of the cell, rejoining Alan and Rebecca in the dark halls of the dungeon. Cah’lia’s lips trembled, but she forced them to lie still.

Not one tear, she remembered. Not yet. Not until this is done.