Zoe sat down at the long table in the large stone room. Constructed entirely from materials harvested locally in the In Between, the table and its chairs shared the same bleak, colorless look as the rest of the dimension. Fifteen other Spades were seated at the table, patiently waiting for the meeting to begin and quietly talking amongst themselves. After sitting for several minutes, Zoe put her head down on the table, burying it in her arms.
Alex Beauford pulled out the chair to her right. “Mind if I sit here?” he asked with a gentle smile.
Without looking up, Zoe replied with a muffled, “Whatever.”
A young man at the age of twenty, Alex had curly brown hair and silver eyes. He sat down. “What’s wrong? You made it back with the fragment, right?”
“Yeah,” Zoe replied.
“Then what’s wrong?” he asked, bewildered. She didn’t reply. “Come on Zoe, you can tell me.” Looking up briefly, she shot him a glare. Alex raised his eyebrows. “Alright then...”
Several minutes passed before Tarren Haden entered the room. Immediately, Zoe lifted her head off of the table. Tarren was in his early forties and had short, dirty-blond hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in silver body armor with a sword sheathed on his waist. He walked over to the head of the table, not far from where Zoe was seated. The room fell silent.
“My brothers and sisters,” Tarren began as he took his seat. “Thanks to your combined efforts, the disk fragment is safe from the clutches of Javan Quinn once again. Unfortunately, we have lost even more of our colleagues in the process. Many were killed during the raid on our previous headquarters and though our numbers are falling, we must not lose hope.” He paused for a moment. “Zoe has informed me that Morice was killed by imps as he was delivering the fragment to Roshan. However, he managed to hand it off to a trustworthy passerby shortly before his death, who successfully completed the delivery. Somehow, the Knowms had been tipped off about Roshan’s involvement in our organization, and the restaurant was raided shortly after the fragment arrived. Thinking quickly, Roshan returned the fragment to the trustworthy young man and sent him to the In Between, where he handed it off to Zoe.”
“What happened to Roshan?” one of the Spades asked.
“It’s unclear,” Tarren responded, “but I can only guess that he was arrested. Likely, he was taken to Valdis Prison for interrogation.”
“Who is this trustworthy young man you speak of?” asked another Spade. “Perhaps we should consider inviting him into our organization.”
“His name is Lucas,” Zoe answered. “I don’t know too much about him. He seemed like an okay guy, though I doubt he’s cut out to be a Spade.” She paused. “As for the situation with Roshan, I’d like to volunteer for a rescue mission.”
“What?!” Alex suddenly spat out. “Valdis Prison is impenetrable. It would be a suicide mission!”
Zoe turned to him, “Roshan made a great sacrifice for our cause. We can’t just sit back and let him rot in jail. If it weren’t for him, the Knowms would have the fragment–”
“Roshan did what he did for a reason,” Tarren interrupted. “If a rescue mission is attempted, we’ll simply be sending more Spades to their deaths. We can’t afford such a risk, especially taking into consideration our dwindling numbers.”
Zoe got out of her chair. “Then I guess I’m going alone.”
Alex quickly jumped from his seat and plead, “Zoe, don’t! Our duty as Spades is to protect the fragment. Roshan knew what he was getting himself into from the start. Just let him go.”
“Just let him go?!” Zoe replied furiously.
“Zoe,” Tarren said sternly. “Calm down.”
This only made her angrier. “You’re nothing but a bunch of damn–”
Tarren slammed his fist on the table. “That’s enough, Zoe! I understand that you were very close to Roshan, but you must not let your emotions cloud your judgment. We’ve already lost enough members as it is.” Completely ignoring Tarren, Zoe stormed out of the room.
As Tarren began to follow her, Alex interjected, “I’ll go talk to her.” Tarren nodded.
Zoe stomped down the hall and entered the barracks. Quickly, she searched the area around her bed and collected a sack. Grabbing a black cloak, she stuffed it inside. On her way back into the hallway she was met by Alex.
“Zoe! What’re you doing?”
“What do you think?!” she barked.
As she walked around him, Alex moved to block her path. “What if you get caught? What if they find out who you are and take you back to–”
“Don’t you think I know that already?!” She shoved him out of her way and stormed into the kitchen.
As Zoe added some bread to the sack, Alex walked into the room. “Don’t go,” he pleaded. Zoe said nothing and grabbed an empty bottle from the table, adding it to the contents of the sack.
“What if Roshan is already dead?” Alex argued.
“What if he’s not?!” Zoe screamed. She tied the sack shut. “I’m going. Deal with it.”
“Fine,” Alex replied. “Then I’m going with you.”
Zoe lifted her eyebrows in surprise. She was completely speechless.
Alex began to walk back to the barracks. “Just give me a few minutes to grab my things. I’m not letting you go to that place alone.”