last words. Those words clattered around in her head, her mind in a fog, racing with thoughts and dreams and half-understood riddles. Before she knew where she was going, she stood in the darkest corner of the dungeon, facing the Turin soldier. The assassin. The wizard.
Halmir was a brute of a man, by the standards of the Rone. He was tall and muscular, and his broad shoulders looked capable of holding the world upon them. Even restrained and gagged, Vye flinched when he stared at her. It wasn’t a spell, but Halmir was able to transmit pure hatred from his eyes to hers.
She motioned to the guard to open the cell. The guard, on another day and in another situation, may have been inclined to say something silly like, “Nobody’s supposed to see the prisoner,” or, “I’m under orders.” But Vye’s expression forced him to swallow his objections.
Vye stepped into the cell, standing over the Turin agent. She waited for the cell door to close behind her. Then, she let the silence sink in.
“I’m going to remove your gag. You know you can’t hurt me, right? Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”
Halmir narrowed his gaze, his piercing eyes boring into Vye’s. He nodded, but he wasn’t happy about the situation. Vye pulled the gag from his mouth. He spat and coughed, flexing his jaw. Vye backed away. Not a time to take any chances.
“What’s your name?” Vye said.
Halmir responded, but not with his name. He spit out a string of curses, insulting Vye’s questionable heritage, and her definitively incestuous heritage . He spoke in Turin, so Vye didn’t know the words, but she got the general gist.
“I’ll ask again,” Vye said, stepping closer, “What’s your name?”
Halmir said some other things in his own language, none of which was the proper thing to say to a Lady. Vye waited out his rant.
“I’m just asking for your name,” Vye said. “Or do you prefer I gag you again?”
After a moment, he answered, “Halmir.”
“Wasn’t that easy? Let’s keep it that way, Halmir. Now, moving onto the next question: What’s the rest of your plan?”
Halmir started cursing Vye again. Vye introduced him to the back of her hand. Her right hand, to be precise.
“Typical Ronish brutality,” Halmir spat.
“Ronish brutality? You just assassinated the Royal Family.”
“So kill me. Get it over with .”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get to it eventually.”
“So, do it now, I’m ready,” Halmir lowered his head, exposing his neck, as though he expected Vye to decapitate him on the spot.
“Stop it,” Vye said. “I’m not going to kill you here.”
Halmir looked up, confused. “Why not?”
“Because that’s not up to me,” Vye said. “Even us brutes have laws. I just hope you get the worst barrister in the history of our Kingdom.”
“Vye!” Landos charged into the dungeon, breaking Vye’s concentration. She gagged the prisoner and waved to the Guard to let her out. Yeah, she knew she shouldn’t have been down there. She walked alongside Landos as he began his scolding.
“Lady Vye, what are you doing?”
“I’m asking him some questions.”
“He killed the Prince. He’s a prisoner of the Kingdom. We just keep him locked up and keep him alive. Wait!”
“What?”
“Your ribs…”
“They’re better now.”
“OK.”
“Landos, we need answers from him. And we may not have time to wait.”
“What do you--”
“I mean I don’t think these assassinations were the endgame. Do you think the Turin organized this whole attack just to make us angry? There must be a next step, and if there is, then we have to assume they’re already at least that step ahead of us.”
“I do wish Michael were here. At the end of the day, he was always the guy with the plan. Do you think he’s alive?”
“I always assumed he would live forever. But for now, we have to make do with what we’ve got. And we’ve got your smarts and my sword. And if we ask nicely, we have Gabriel’s
Halmir was a brute of a man, by the standards of the Rone. He was tall and muscular, and his broad shoulders looked capable of holding the world upon them. Even restrained and gagged, Vye flinched when he stared at her. It wasn’t a spell, but Halmir was able to transmit pure hatred from his eyes to hers.
She motioned to the guard to open the cell. The guard, on another day and in another situation, may have been inclined to say something silly like, “Nobody’s supposed to see the prisoner,” or, “I’m under orders.” But Vye’s expression forced him to swallow his objections.
Vye stepped into the cell, standing over the Turin agent. She waited for the cell door to close behind her. Then, she let the silence sink in.
“I’m going to remove your gag. You know you can’t hurt me, right? Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”
Halmir narrowed his gaze, his piercing eyes boring into Vye’s. He nodded, but he wasn’t happy about the situation. Vye pulled the gag from his mouth. He spat and coughed, flexing his jaw. Vye backed away. Not a time to take any chances.
“What’s your name?” Vye said.
Halmir responded, but not with his name. He spit out a string of curses, insulting Vye’s questionable heritage, and her definitively incestuous heritage . He spoke in Turin, so Vye didn’t know the words, but she got the general gist.
“I’ll ask again,” Vye said, stepping closer, “What’s your name?”
Halmir said some other things in his own language, none of which was the proper thing to say to a Lady. Vye waited out his rant.
“I’m just asking for your name,” Vye said. “Or do you prefer I gag you again?”
After a moment, he answered, “Halmir.”
“Wasn’t that easy? Let’s keep it that way, Halmir. Now, moving onto the next question: What’s the rest of your plan?”
Halmir started cursing Vye again. Vye introduced him to the back of her hand. Her right hand, to be precise.
“Typical Ronish brutality,” Halmir spat.
“Ronish brutality? You just assassinated the Royal Family.”
“So kill me. Get it over with .”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get to it eventually.”
“So, do it now, I’m ready,” Halmir lowered his head, exposing his neck, as though he expected Vye to decapitate him on the spot.
“Stop it,” Vye said. “I’m not going to kill you here.”
Halmir looked up, confused. “Why not?”
“Because that’s not up to me,” Vye said. “Even us brutes have laws. I just hope you get the worst barrister in the history of our Kingdom.”
“Vye!” Landos charged into the dungeon, breaking Vye’s concentration. She gagged the prisoner and waved to the Guard to let her out. Yeah, she knew she shouldn’t have been down there. She walked alongside Landos as he began his scolding.
“Lady Vye, what are you doing?”
“I’m asking him some questions.”
“He killed the Prince. He’s a prisoner of the Kingdom. We just keep him locked up and keep him alive. Wait!”
“What?”
“Your ribs…”
“They’re better now.”
“OK.”
“Landos, we need answers from him. And we may not have time to wait.”
“What do you--”
“I mean I don’t think these assassinations were the endgame. Do you think the Turin organized this whole attack just to make us angry? There must be a next step, and if there is, then we have to assume they’re already at least that step ahead of us.”
“I do wish Michael were here. At the end of the day, he was always the guy with the plan. Do you think he’s alive?”
“I always assumed he would live forever. But for now, we have to make do with what we’ve got. And we’ve got your smarts and my sword. And if we ask nicely, we have Gabriel’s
Similar Books
