Chapter Ten: Trust Betrayed

Bramble took a moment to inspect the room while the blonde in the corner continued to rant and rave about how much she wished Bramble wasn’t there. It was spacious and sparsely furnished. Matter of fact, the only real furniture in the whole room were the table and chairs they were currently situated around. There was a fireplace to her right but that was it. No lights hung from the ceiling. Instead the room was lit by candles and the aforementioned fireplace. She also noticed the slew of artwork on the walls. Most of it was odd, abstract. There were also blue prints everywhere. They were pinned up over numerous sections of the wooden wall. She faintly wondered what they were for when that obnoxious voice stopped it’s screeching.

“Honey, I think you should calm down. Precautions have been put in place,” This was the deep voice she had heard earlier. Bramble found herself looking at the man longer than intentioned.

He was huge in both height and weight. She could tell he towered above her and his arms were as thick as her waist. Ignited or not, she would not want to fight that man.

“Even if she does try something,” this was the last unknown member of the group, a voice Bramble hadn’t heard until now, “she won’t live more than five seconds.”

Bramble snorted. All eyes turned to her and she raised her eyebrows in response. She might have been small and no match strength wise for either Airin or this new giant but Bramble was certain she could make it out of the room alive. She always found a way. She didn’t voice this confidence though. Instead she dropped her gaze down to the floor and pretended to find the dirt under her nails extremely interesting.

Eventually they went back to talking, “You should welcome her,” Airin stated, “we will be working with her for some time now.”

“How rude of us,” it was the giant, “I am Jarvan.” His long braid flapped over his shoulder as he bent and gave her a slight bow.

“I’m Marshall,” This man wasn’t nearly as physically threatening as Jarvan but from his previous statement Bramble knew appearances might be deceiving.

“Yea, right. So you can go a tattle on me to your little master,” the blonde spit, “No thanks.”

“Is your hair in the shape of a heart?” Bramble asked.

Honey stared at her as if she had grown another head, “Yea, so?”

“Then your opinion is invalid to me,” As the girl fumed Jarvan spoke up.

“You can call her Honey. I’m not sure if anyone here even knows her real name.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you Jarvan, Marshall,” she smiled brightly, “Honey. I’m Bramble.”

“Ok, now that introductions are over,” Airin nodded to each of them in turn, “I think we should catch Bramble up on where we are and why we need her.”

“Good idea,” Jarvan nodded while Marshall rolled his eyes and threw his legs up on the table, “I’ll begin.”

“Bramble, we need you mainly for your knowledge of King Richard. Before we can even hope to rescue Cress we need to know what we are up against. We need to know the layout of the castle.”

“Oh, well then,” Bramble sat up straight, “I can help with the layout. I know it like the back of my hand. I’m not sure you even have a clue as to what you are up against though.”

“Can you enlighten us?” It was Airin, looking smug. She wasn’t sure why. She wished he would stop looking at her. The moment she the idea passed through her mind she noticed his eyes drop to his hands. Had he heard her?

“Well, there are the dogs. Dozens of them. Archers. Guards. Watchmen. Every inch is patrolled by a squad that has to report in to a higher ranking squad every hour. It goes all the way to the top, all the way to King Richard himelf. Oh, and let’s not forget the traps. I almost got caught in those a few times,” She rolled her eyes at the memory.

“And weaknesses?” Honey was the one to pose this question.

“You do realize I was his slave, right,” Bramble spat at her angrily; “I wasn’t his confidant or anything.”

Airin’s hand reached out, brushing her lightly. She wished he hadn’t - her face lit up bright red at the unexpected contact. It did, however, alleviate her anger. His hand lingered there until, finally, Bramble pulled away.

“We need to come up with a plan.” Marshall said while rocking himself back and forth in his chair.

The hours flew by and before Bramble realized it, morning arrived. It had passed in a blur. Arguments broke out several times – mostly between herself and Honey. The girl would not leave her alone. One time Marshall had attacked Chance completely out of nowhere. Every time Airin and Jarvan stepped in to break up the quarrels. Bramble had no idea how they were ever expected to infiltrate anything, let alone a highly secured castle, if they could no corporate.

It was hopeless.

Yet, it was the only hope Bramble had for redeeming herself. She would not give up.

So on the way out, with Chance on her heels, she mentally promised not to abandon them. No matter what happened, she would be there.

The next month passed Bramble by without major incident. She spent her afternoons at the bookstore, her nights with rebels and her free time with Chad. She learned a lot from and about the rebels. It was clear to her that Jarvan was in love with Honey but Honey was too busy drooling over Marshall and Airin to notice.

Bramble also noticed that every time Honey would saunter on over to Airin, laughing loudly and touching his chest, a desire to rip Honey’s blonde hair out would overwhelm her. She always had to close her eyes and clench her fists in order to control herself. She blamed the urge on the fact that Jarvan, who she had come to like over the course of the month, was obviously hurt by her actions.

While she was learning more about the rebels, Chad was beginning to break down her walls. Eventually she had opened up to the healer, slowly divulging the details about her time in Riverview. She told him how her parents abandoned her when they found out she was Vestige. About the countless murders she had been forced to commit. It was on one such night with him that he asked about her enslavement.

“I’ve already told you what they forced me to do.”

“No, I’m asking what they did to you.”

Bramble frowned, “I never said they did anything to me.”

Chad reached down to where Bramble sat on his floor and began to play with her hair, “Your extreme mistrust in humanity doesn’t stem from you mistreating others. It comes from your own mistreatment.”

“Now you’re a psychologist too?” She asked, looking up at him through hooded eyes.

“No, but I can tell. That day when I showed you my spark, you acted as if someone was going to harm me for revealing it. Someone must have hurt you because of yours.” He said wisely.

Sometimes Chad was too smart for his own good, “They didn’t hurt me because I was Vestige. They hurt me because I didn’t, and still do not, know what my spark is,” she bit her bottom lip, “they were afraid of me.”

There was silence for a moment. Eventually Chad urged her to continue, gesturing with his hands.

Bramble shrugged in response, “They would run tests on me. Not the medical kind. You know, they would try to figure out what I was. What I could do.”

Chad’s look of outrage grew as she spoke but he kept quiet. He was afraid if he spoke she would cease to speak. She took a deep breath before continuing, “They drowned me to see if I could breathe underwater. I was set on fire once. Cut. Thrown from various heights. They never worked. I don’t heal exceptionally well. I cannot fly. I am not immune to fire…”

The smallest smile spread on her lips, “It wasn’t all bad. They tried to get me to cook and clean. I’m rubbish at both.”

Finally Chad interjected, “Did they ever think that your power might be up here-“ he tapped his head, “like mine. That not all sparks manifest physically.”

“Well, they tried to see if I could read minds or tell the future. I could have lied, I suppose, even if I could do either of those things. However, I can’t. I honestly do not know what I am. I don’t know what I’m capable of. Everything I’ve been forced to do I did as a normal human. A monster. No powers, just practice.”

Chad climbed off the bed and pulled her to her feet, “You know what you are,” his hands brushed her check gently, “You’re a human. You’re Bramble Snoww. Do not think that being a Vestige makes you anything less. You are not a monster and it was not your fault.”

He pulled her into his arms, soothing her as her body trembled.

Bramble hadn’t cried in years.

“This is pathetic,” She finally said, wiping her tears away and pulling herself out of Chad’s arms.

“No. This is normal. Crying is normal.”

“I’m not supposed to cry. Not after all I’ve done. I have no right.”

“If you weren’t supposed to cry, Bramble, you wouldn’t be able to."

Before Bramble could even comprehend what was happening Chad had gently pushed her against a wall. The wood was cool against her back and she looked up at him in confusion. She couldn’t quite place the look in his eyes until he leaned down, lips grazing hers for just a second. Her mind span out of control and for a second she forgot to breath.

Chad pulled back, gazing down at her. He expected her eyes to be filled with warmth but instead found pain. Chad opened his mouth to say something – anything really. Nothing came out. Bramble pushed against his chest violently. Stumbling away from where they had been, he watched halfheartedly as she ran out the door.