by B. T. Narro
She looked down. The blood took its time before she felt it seep over her knee. A faint stain showed in a circle around the lower part of the rip.
“Tell me where Basen is now,” he demanded calmly.
Beatrix’s breath was heavy in her chest. Unlike Allephon, Jimmin hadn’t offered her a way out of this. Even worse, he’d shown joy at having her here. He doesn’t plan to let me leave.
He ran the blade over her knee, pushing harder. There was bearable pain as she bled, until he reached her shin and pushed harder still. She braced herself by her arms as she kicked his hand with her other leg. He flinched but didn’t let go of the knife.
Jimmin grabbed her throat and held the knife close to her eye. “Try that again and you lose this one.”
She tried to keep both eyes open, but the one being threatened closed on its own. “What are you planning to do?” she wheezed.
He let down his knife hand and released her throat. “I’m going to focus on one leg until I see more blood than skin, then I’ll switch to the other. I’ll work my way up your body until you’re bleeding everywhere. I’m curious how far I’ll get before you die.”
Beatrix wasn’t asking about torture but his plan for Kyrro and Tenred. However, now she couldn’t ignore his terrifying threat. “You’ll be tried for murder.”
He stepped back and feigned worried innocence. “I didn’t mean to kill her. She wouldn’t talk, so I gave her shallow cuts. I didn’t know they could be lethal. Allephon had entrusted me to do the questioning because he couldn’t hurt his own sister. I was sick with myself as I cut her. I pleaded for her to speak, but she never said a word. I feel terrible for what’s happened, but I was only trying to stop a traitor from threatening our kingdom with an explosion that’s likely to kill thousands. Beatrix refused to cooperate even though she understood the threat Basen poses.”
His expression returned to that of faint amusement as he put the knife back on her shin and opened another line of red down her leg. She screamed loudly at the sharp pain this time, because why keep her voice down anymore?
“He’s going to kill me and claim it was an accident! I demand witnesses in here!”
“I warned you!” He jabbed the knife toward her eye. She leaned away, but she couldn’t get far because of the rope that held her.
She kicked off the ground to bounce away from him, but he only moved closer until she had nowhere to go. She tried to knee him in the groin, but he maneuvered around to her side and grabbed her hair.
“I’ll start with your cheek to show I’m serious. Hold still and don’t speak, or I might stab your eye…accidentally.”
He sounded like a healer about to apply a salve. It made it that much worse as he pinched her cheek just below her eye and pushed the knife into it.
She screamed as she flinched. It was over in a moment. He moved away to leave her harshly swinging, her eyes blurred with what seemed to be tears. She was in too much agony to tell.
“No one’s coming in here,” he assured her. “They have my orders to stay far away.”
She couldn’t believe that the order of a councilman was enough to make everyone abandon a princess, but she was done underestimating Jimmin. He was a more powerful psychic than she was. She still felt hardly anything from his energy, even after all of this! No, he wasn’t just a powerful psychic. He was a monstrosity that should not be called human. How could he have no emotion except for a hint of gratification? At least she’d felt Allephon’s fatigue when he’d taken this potion.
“What have you done to yourself to keep your energy from changing?”
“It can change, Princess, but there are few things anymore that give me feeling at all.”
“That drug you gave Allephon—you’ve been taking it for your entire life!”
“No, I stopped needing it many years ago.”
Suddenly all was clear. “Can’t you see what it’s done to you? The only feelings you have left are your deepest and most powerful emotions. You can only be happy if you are the ruler of all of Ovira. All the damage you’ve done is because of that. You would murder thousands of innocent people if they got in your way.”
He lifted his eyebrows as if surprised, but his energy didn’t show it. “You are smart, Beatrix. You might’ve made a good ruler like your father said, except you’re wrong about something. You speak as if destroying emotions was a mistake, but I knew what I was doing.”
“You won’t ever be happy,” she chided. “Even if you do kill me and my brother and take the crown of Kyrro. Even if you manage to take Tenred. You’ll just want more. There will be no humans left to conquer here, and wherever you look next is unobtainable. No one will fight to take land from the Krepps or the Elves, and your army won’t stand a chance against any ruler in Greenedge. Their armies are too large. This is all for nothing. But you still have a chance to stop it. Take a boat to Greenedge and tell my siblings to return. No one will come after you, so you can safely start a new life there.”
His emotionless expression did not change. “I would pretend to laugh at this moment, to show my false amusement, but there’s no point with you. I don’t have time for more stalling. Allephon will return after his meal, which will make matters complicated.” He glanced down at her leg. “I really am curious as to how much I can cut your body from toe to head before you die, and there isn’t much else that intrigues me.”
He gave no indication of what would make him stop as he put the knife to her skin again. She knew she had only one chance, a small one, to save her life. He wanted to know where Basen, the akorell metal, and eppil vines were to be found.
She couldn’t lie when she told him about Basen or he would know and possibly take her eye. He dragged the knife down her leg as she tried to think. She felt herself breaking as she screamed. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this feeling. She wasn’t just in agony. She was trapped.
“If I go quickly,” he said, “I should be able to cut more of you before you die.”
His next swipe, down her calf, was faster and harder. She could feel her blood pooling in her shoes as she continued to scream.
“That one was deeper,” Jimmin complained. “Cutting quickly might not be the best strategy after all. I really am enjoying this game. Are you?”
She was tempted to shout for her brother, as he seemed to be the only one who could help her, but her fear of losing her eye stifled her voice.
“Look at all this blood! It’s already time to move to the other leg.”
There wasn’t a spot on her pant leg that wasn’t ripped or stained. “How do I know you’ll stop if I tell you where Basen is?”
He looked disappointed. “As much fun as I’m having, I’ll stop when you tell me because it will make this easier.”
“What is this?”
“Everything going forward.”
“Which is what?”
“For you? A life in Greenedge with your siblings. For your brother and myself, you’ll have to come back to Ovira to find out.” He winked.
Even if he was telling the truth about sending her to the much larger continent inhabited mostly by humans, she was certain he would make it near impossible for her to return here and live. He could be king by the time she got a boat back. He could have thousands of men loyal to him, who would believe she had killed her father and fled to Greenedge. Everyone in Ovira would believe that if she ran. It was worse than dying.
But at least agreeing to tell Jimmin of Basen’s whereabouts would give her time.
Basen and his daughter, along with Desil and Adriya, should be safe even if Beatrix told the truth of their whereabouts. It was the only reason she would say anything about them.
“I don’t know where they are right now,” she admitted. “They could be on their way here in hopes of freeing me, but I doubt that. They should know that’s impossible for them.” She halted as she realized she had a complete lack of power; she was utterly useless for the first time she could remember. She hoped to be right, th
at she wouldn’t be responsible for Basen’s capture, but she couldn’t be sure anymore. “I imagine they are still near Kyrro’s army outside Tenred.”
“Doing what?”
She’d already committed to the truth, seeing no other option available. “They’re getting a potion from a chemist that causes akorell metal to separate from rock.”
“Where are they going to obtain this akorell metal?”
“The Dajrik Mountains.” They should be able to get it and get out before anyone else reaches the dajriks’ home. “It’s in an area impossible to get to without climbing.” And especially without a portal. “There’s no hope of anyone reaching it before Basen does.”
He studied her as her blood dripped from his knife. “Where will they go afterward?”
“That hasn’t been discussed.”
“Would they give the akorell to the Wind Knights or hold onto it?”
“I could only guess they would give it to the Wind Knights.”
“Where and how is the exchange to be made?”
“I have no idea.”
“Think!” He aimed the tip at her eye.
But her fear was beginning to fade now that he was no longer opening up her skin. She was realizing that he wouldn’t really be able to cut out her eye and excuse the action with any explanation, even if he could lie to psychics.
Her leg felt hot and cold at the same time, full of air. Her wrists were rubbed raw and bleeding. She had to get out of here, nonetheless.
“I’ve told you all I know,” she said, exhausted and aching to let her arms down. “Get me out of here now, and I will continue to cooperate.” Until my opportunity comes.
Without a word, he walked toward the door. She watched over her shoulder as he opened it and stepped outside the room.
She heard him calling out, “Can anyone hear me?”
After a moment, Jimmin returned and shut the door after him.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“I’m going to start on your other leg now.” He moved in front of her and knelt to grab both legs with his arms. Still holding his knife, he positioned it above an uninjured ankle.
“I’ve told you everything I know!” she repeated as she tried to squirm free.
“I believe you.” He stabbed the blade through her pants and skin, then started to run it up the side of her leg.
He was still going to kill her and claim she’d refused to cooperate! She thrashed as hard as she could but was in no position to free herself. “I demand a witness in here!” she yelled. “Allephon! Anyone!” Jimmin had sent them away in preparation for this, no doubt.
He stood up to show her a furious expression. “I told you not to yell or you would lose that eye.”
She kicked him in the leg. He was too close for her to reach higher. It did nothing to stop him as he grabbed her hair and put the knife at the corner of her mouth.
“I wonder what you’ll look like if I cut out your mouth!” He stuck the tip into her upper lip.
The pain was intolerable as she tried to swing away, but he still had hold of her hair. He pushed the blade deeper into her face, her cheek this time. She screamed louder than she knew possible, pulling on the rope near to the point of separating her hand from her wrist.
Something gave. She fell away from Jimmin. She hurried to her feet as she stumbled back. Her wrists were still bound, she saw, but the rope attached to them had pulled down the metal square from the ceiling, nails scattered about.
She ran for the door, but Jimmin was already there. He eased toward her with his knife.
She sprinted to the table as Jimmin chased her. She grabbed the largest dagger there and spun around. He stopped short and took a fighter’s stance, then grinned.
“Now the real fun begins.”
“You had the nails loosened,” she realized. “You knew I would thrash enough to break myself free eventually.”
“That’s not what others will believe. You broke free because the nails were rusted. You tried to escape. I wanted to stop you without killing you, but you gave me no choice as you fought back.”
Her wrists and legs were bloody. She had no training with a knife or any form of combat. He was immune to psyche, while she was not.
But he had killed her father.
“Then come get me,” she said with a sneer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Desil hadn’t seen Beatrix since Allephon’s men beat her unconscious outside Tenred. He thought he might’ve heard Kirnich yelling at someone while men took Desil into the dungeon, but he hadn’t seen the warrior, either. Ionrad stayed right behind Desil as they walked deeper into the castle. It gave him a sense of comfort to know at least one of these men cared about his well-being, but Ionrad couldn’t do anything to help Beatrix or Kirnich. Only Desil could.
He kept track of the route. They went down a long hall, the air cold and damp. After a turn, however, the air was freshened by lightwells. The dungeon was underground, so to see the outside through barred openings meant diggers must’ve made these lightwells somewhere within the keep. They might not lead to outside, so escaping through one did not guarantee freedom. There were grates in the ground, no doubt leading to a sewer. Here might be a route of escape, albeit an unpleasant and potentially dangerous one, if Desil found a way in.
Eventually they stuck him in an empty cell. There was only enough room for him to take a few steps in any direction. A bed of straw with a clean sheet, at least, would be where he spent most of his time if he were to stay the night. He would leave long before then, though.
Ionrad stayed put as the others left.
“It might be a few hours, but the king will send someone to speak to you eventually.”
I won’t need that long. “All right.”
“Remember to behave.”
“I will.”
“I’ll see if someone can come sooner to bring you some water and bread at least.”
Desil was parched and hungry, but he couldn’t allow the disruption. “I’m fine. I’d rather rest as I wait.”
Ionrad chuckled. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to do that. Goodbye, Ben. Don’t let me see you in here again.”
“Goodbye and thank you.”
Once Ionrad left, Desil had a chance to study his cell. The bars were too close together for him to fit his head through. He checked from every angle to determine whether there was anyone who might spot him leaving. An empty cell identical to his was across from him. There were others to its side. He had partial view of a hallway leading into this chamber of cells, but that was everything he could see. He’d noticed another hallway on the other side of this cell cluster before being brought here, but he didn’t know where it led. There seemed to be about ten cells that he’d noticed, five on each side. He hadn’t seen or heard any prisoners in this section, although on the way here they had passed by other cells that were occupied. Most of the prisoners had been gossiping about Beatrix’s arrest. None showed any interest in Desil.
“Is that you?” a voice asked on the other end.
“K?”
There was no reply. Desil had almost been certain that the faintly asked question was spoken by the warrior’s bass voice, but everything could be ruined if someone else found out Desil was here. He didn’t speak as he waited.
He realized that Kirnich was probably waiting to see if anyone else was within earshot. It was the same reason he hadn’t used Desil’s name.
Now that Desil thought of it, Allephon’s men probably wouldn’t have done anything differently even if they’d known he was Desil Fogg, the manipulator of land and water, because they didn’t know everything he was capable of. But if they chose to be cautious, they would take precautions that would make breaking out impossible. There was no point in risking that.
Eventually the warrior spoke again. “Yes. Do they…you?”
“No.”
Desil still wasn’t sure if someone was listening. He couldn’t reveal his plan yet, listenin
g instead to Kirnich breathing and grumbling as if furious.
“You must’ve gotten yourself arrested on purpose when you saw Beatrix and I would be taken,” the warrior said.
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.” There was no gratitude in his voice.
Desil was going to do everything he could to get them all out of here, but there was something he had to point out now that Kirnich had made it clear just how much he appreciated Desil’s help.
“The two of you were fools. You shouldn’t have gotten close and definitely shouldn’t have said anything.”
Kirnich didn’t reply.
“It’s all right. I know what to do,” Desil tried to tell him.
“You’re not going to do anything. Listen to Ionrad’s advice and you’ll live.”
“You know Ionrad?”
“Yes. There are many who actually care, like him. Not every soldier below my rank is a Girgis brother. I tried to tell you that when we first met.” Kirnich let out a groan. “None of that matters now. Just stay where you are and let me speak when someone comes. They can’t possibly kill her. She’s a damn princess.” There was no doubt in his voice, but Desil had doubts of his own.
He checked one last time for someone coming down the hall and saw no one. He sat with his back to the bars. It was time to begin. His heart beat like a thumping fist.
Yes, he could do as Kirnich said—nothing but wait—and he would probably be freed eventually, but Desil hadn’t joined Basen just to give up when he was afraid.
It was an odd way to sit, with his back against the hard bars and his knees up. Someone would investigate if they saw him. He could only hope no one came as he softened the stone just in front of him. He scooped it out little by little, pushing it away to make a hole. Progress was quick at first, though the stone remained rough against his ungloved hands even though it was softer. He tried to work so as not to open old wounds, but he wouldn’t slow if he saw blood.
