Page 42 of Ruthless Prince
It was quite literally what the doctorordered.
I shifted my eyes back to Chuck and spoke up in a boldtone.
“I, Willow Evelyn Rhoades,accept.”
9
Willow
After I accepted,everything happened quickly, but at the same time it all seemed to slow down, every second an unforgettable freeze-frame lit by the warm golden glow of thefirelight.
I took the golden goblet and gulped down a mouthful of the liquid within. It was sweet and very strong—some sort of port, perhaps—and it warmed my insides. When I was done, Chuck retrieved the goblet and told us the interviews would begin soon. Then the robed Order members cheered for their newpledges.
We were instructed to rise and follow the fifteen leaders (or sub-leaders, if Rich was correct) to an arched doorway on the other side of the room. The hall beyond was lined with flaming torches, but it eventually turned onto a dark windingpath.
The air was cooler and thicker on this new path, infused with an earthy scent. I quickly realized we were heading further underground, and I couldn’t help but think of Alice in Wonderland.Down the rabbithole.
We eventually came to a halt at the start of a new hall. The senior members turned back tous.
“Each of you will be interviewed separately by one council member and a selection of regular members. Please wait until you are called,” one of themsaid.
One by one, the pledges were asked to follow council members through different doorways. When my name came up, I was instructed to go to the far end of the hall and head through the last door on theleft.
I found myself in a hexagonal room with dark gray stone walls and a pebbled floor. It smelled of damp earth, fragrant oils and melting wax. In the center, there was a chair and a low table with what appeared to be some sort of medical device on it. In front of that was an assortment of black and red candles arranged in one of the Order’s main symbols—a triangle with an eye in it. The other side of the room was taken up by tiered stone seats similar to the amphitheater-style ones in the ceremonialchamber.
There must’ve been another entrance somewhere, because those seats were already filled with Order members; around thirty or so. It was impossible to see their individual masks without squinting because of the bright light from the candles burning right in front of me. All I could really make out was the general shape of their bodies with the pointy-hooded black robes. It made it look like I was going to be interviewed by a group ofshadows.
The council member who led me in asked me to sit on the chair in the center. When I did so, some other members stepped down from their seats to help him hook me up to the device sitting on the table. A cuff went around my upper arm, a strange-looking black rubber tube was stuck to my chest, and some adhesive electrodes were placed on my fingertips. Everything was attached to long cords and wires which led to a monitor near the center of the tieredseats.
“Don’t be concerned about this,” the council member said, picking up on my trepidation. “It’s similar to a polygraph. It measures your cardiovascular, respiratory, and sweat gland activity. We use it to ensure we’re getting truthful answers from subjects despite previousmeasures.”
“Previous measures?” My voice came out in asqueak.
“The drink you were given in the golden chalice contained a small dose of scopolamine. It’s known as somewhat of a truthserum.”
My brows shot up. “I thought those things weren’treal.”
“It doesn’t completely inhibit your ability to lie, but it slows messages from your spinal cord to your brain, and that makes it difficult to perform high-functioning tasks that require concentration. Lying requires a lot of concentration, so it will become very hard to do that. You might start to feel a little drowsy soon, but I can assure you that the dose we’ve given you is perfectlysafe.”
I rubbed my eyes. They were beginning to blur, and I was starting to feel quite strange, like I was in a twilight state between consciousness andsleep.
“Before we begin, I’m going to ask you a series of questions we already know the answers to in order to establish a baseline,” the man went on. He flicked a switch on the side of the device, and it started buzzingfaintly.
“Okay,” I murmured, blinking rapidly to try and clear myvision.
The man was sitting all the way over on the other side of the candles now. I wasn’t sure when he’d found the time to move, but there he was. This scopolamine stuff was nojoke.
“I should also mention that we are aware of your need for a regular security detail in the outside world,” the man said. “It isn’t necessary in here, but your Secret Service agents are right outside waiting, and when we are done here, they will take youhome.”
I frowned. “So they were in on this wholething?”
Until now, I’d pictured them lying out cold on the street somewhere with needles stuck in their necks, blissfully unaware that I’d beentaken.
“In a sense.” Even though I couldn’t see the man’s face, I could tell he was amused from his tone. “We have certain connections that allow us to override them onoccasion.”
“Oh. I see.” I sat up straighter. “Sorry, I just realized my father is probably still waiting for me at the restaurant we were supposed to meet at. If I don’t show up and my security agents aren’t able to tell him where I am, hemight—”
The man cut me off. “Don’t worry about that. Your father was never at the restaurant. He’s been an Order member for over thirty years, and he actually helped us arrange your capturetonight.”
