Chapter 6:

Alexander woke in a darkened room, side by side with all his siblings. The room was unfamiliar, and the walls were made of stone; there was a dingy iron gate as one of the walls and beyond it he could see a dim corridor lit with sparse torches. A silhouette was outlined by the torches. The man tilted his head and light fell across his face.

He was no older than twenty, and well muscled. Around his bare upper arms were golden arm bands with animals carved into them, and around his neck was a golden torque carved in the shape of a hawk.

"Fur'es'tos?" a voice came from down the hall. "Have they awoken?" Another man appeared, probably the same age as the first man. His eyes cast around the cell, and saw Alexander was awake.

"Only the one," the first man-- Fur'es'tos-- responded. "The eldest. Perhaps you didn't do as good a job at knocking the others lightly over the head as I?" The second man scoffed.

"May I inquire as to who you are, and why you have taken us?" Alexander said, his voice carrying easily to the two men. They blinked, seeming to realize for the first time he was indeed conscious and could hear every word they said.

"Oh, yeah," Fur'es'tos said. He looked stupidly at the other man. "He'd probably want to know that."

"I suppose," said the other man. Both of them looked as though they had assumed Alexander would just KNOW. Obviously, he didn't. "My name is Karrow. This is Fur'es'tos." When he didn't elaborate, Alexander prompted him again.

"And why am I here? And just where is 'here'?"

"You're here because..." Karrow just stared at him for a long moment. "You honestly don't know?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion," he said dryly, remembering the book he had been reading before. "Something to do with my mother?"

"Well, sort of," Fur'es'tos said uncomfortably. He seemed to register that Alexander was in a cage. "Oh, would you liked to come out of there to speak? Out of the cellar, perhaps? There's a room upstairs, and I am sure we have tea somewhere."

"Cellar?" Alexander asked stupidly.

"Yes, this is.... an underground corridor. It's called a cellar. Would you like to come above ground?" he explained. Alexander looked worriedly at his siblings.

"They shall be fine," Karrow said. "No worries. We just wanted to make sure you would listen."

"Very well then," Alexander said. He most certainly did not entirely believe that, but he felt relatively confident he could overcome one of them and run for help before the second one caught up.

"Please don't run until you let us explain everything," Fur'es'tos said, as though reading his mind. The door was unlocked and slid to the side with a creak. Karrow offered his hand to help the younger boy up, but Alexander ignored it and stood, brushing himself off and walking out of the cell with as much dignity as he could muster.

They walked down the corridor and up stone carved stairs into the upstairs. For the first time in Alexander's life, he was finally going to get some straight answers.