CHAPTER 55: BEHIND BARS

Marcus's head pounded like someone had hit him with a hammer. The exhausting day at the police precinct felt like a lifetime ago. Or maybe it was just hours. Time didn't make sense anymore when you were living in two worlds, and both of them had gone to hell.

He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. The world spun, and his mouth tasted like he'd been chewing on old socks. Where was he?

The smell hit him first. A mixture of damp stone, human waste, and something that might have been rotting food. Then his eyes started working properly, and he saw the iron bars.

A medieval prison cell. Stone walls that looked like they'd been here for centuries, with water dripping down them in places. The floor was just packed dirt with some moldy straw thrown around. There was a bucket in the corner that Marcus didn't want to think about.

"Oh right," he said out loud. "The betrayal."

It all came flooding back. Alice with those magical spores. Her face when she'd said she was sorry. The way she'd looked at the battle like she already knew how it would end.

Marcus felt sick, and not just from whatever Alice had done to knock him out. He'd been so stupid. So completely, utterly stupid. What had he been thinking, trying to play investigator and strategist in a world full of magic and politics he barely understood?

Now his family was alone in this world, and he was gonna be labeled a traitor. That would affect them badly. Why would Alice of all people do this? What could they have offered her?

Had she been Malachar's spy all along? But that didn't make sense. She had Sister Korra, who was always out there helping people, risking her life for others. Would Alice betray her own sister?

Marcus was so caught up in his thoughts that it took him a minute to notice the snoring coming from the next cell over.

He looked through the bars and could see someone slumped against the wall, hands cuffed behind their back with heavy iron shackles. All he could see was the back. Blonde hair, massive shoulders, someone who looked like they could bench press a horse.

"Tom?" Marcus called out. "Tom, is that you?"

"Five more minutes, Marcus," came the sleepy reply. "Yesterday I was too tired..."

"Dude, wake up! We're in prison! WAKE UP!"

Tom jumped to his feet so fast he nearly fell over. When he turned around, Marcus's heart sank. His cousin's face was a mess. Dried blood, black eye, split lip. He looked like he'd been through a war.

"Oh, jail. They caught you, Marcus." Tom's voice was hoarse. Then his face brightened. "Marcus! You're alive! Thank the Maker!"

"Tom, you weren't at the mission. What happened? No, please tell me you didn't..."

"You didn't follow us, right?" Marcus asked, though he already knew the answer.

"No, man. I heard you got caught for some coup against Lord Varek, so I came to save you from prison." Tom was smiling, despite looking like he'd been run over by a cart.

"Tom, that's worse! What makes you think you can break someone out of prison?" Marcus was angry now, but also terrified. "What were you thinkin'?"

"I don't know. I didn't think much," Tom admitted, sitting down heavily. "Hey, when do you think they'll give us food? I'm dyin' of hunger."

"Brother, you... dude... I can't even... Who's gonna take care of the family now? You should've taken them to safety, not tried to be a hero!"

They went back and forth like this for a while, with Marcus getting more frustrated and Tom just being Tom. Loyal, brave, and not thinking things through. Finally, someone from another cell yelled "Shut up!" and then "Yeah, shut up already!" from someone else.

Marcus and Tom both sat down in their separate cells. The reality of their situation was starting to sink in.

"Thanks for watchin' my back," Marcus said quietly.

"Anytime, brother," Tom replied.

A guard came in a little later with a bucket and a ladle. "Rise your bowls! Don't try anything funny!" He gave everyone what looked like the worst soup Marcus had ever seen. It was brown and chunky and smelled like it had been sitting out for a week.

They ate in silence. It was disgusting, but Marcus was hungry enough that he didn't care.

As they were finishing, they heard footsteps and a high-pitched voice: "Captain, is he coming to my prison?"

"Yeah, wants to talk to the prisoner. Before he comes, I wanted to check it myself."

A man entered wearing what looked like a royal guard's uniform. He had authority written all over him. The way he walked, the way the other guards stepped aside. He checked out the cells one by one, then approached Marcus's cell.

The captain looked directly into Marcus's eyes without saying anything. There was something in that look. Not hostile, but not friendly either. Like he was trying to figure something out. Then he nodded at the lock and turned to the mouse-like prison manager.

"Everything seems in order," he said, and left with his entourage.

"What was that about?" Tom asked.

Marcus had a sinking feeling. "I think the captain was checkin' to make sure this prison is safe for someone important to visit."

"Who?"

"Isn't it obvious? Lord Varek, of course."

Tom was quiet for a moment. "Marcus, what are we gonna do?"

Marcus looked around their stone prison, thinking about Alice's betrayal, about his family alone in the Academy, about the police arresting him in the other world. Everything was falling apart at once.

"I don't know, Tom. I don't know."

But even as he said it, Marcus's mind was already working. Lord Varek was coming to talk to him. That meant they wanted something from him. And if they wanted something, maybe there was still a chance to turn this around.

Maybe he wasn't completely powerless after all.