Page 53 of The Nightmare Queen

“Yeah. I’m just going to let her.” I say, stalking away from him to mount my own horse. His screams became deafening, to the point that I begrudgingly let out my own Wield and knocked him out for the rest of the ride. By the time we got to Bair’s post his skin was so torn he looked like ground meat.

Will tried arguing with me the whole ride about how inhumane it was but I ignored his protests. If the soldier wants to leak information and risk all our necks, I won’t regret severing his. “This isn’t right. This isn’t the way we do things Rorin!” He tries again once we get down from our horses, but I push past him, guiding the queen and the captive to the cells.

Eveera had Bennett chain his limbs in an “X” position against the damp stone wall. His head hangs in front sweat and blood drip from his hair and pool at his feet. “Bennett?” She calls out. He steps up behind her, the dim light illuminating his gold armor and bronzed skin. “What’s its name?” She asks.

“Baron Wriercliff, Your Highness. He’s a second lieutenant in our ranks. 34 years old. No family of note.” Her head tilts at the man. Hisprone position places him more at eye level with her. She taps her chin while pacing in front of him, mulling the information over.

“No family of note. That means no wailing wives or weeping children.” Bennett retreats back to stand next to Will and me. Only the three of us followed her down here. The rest of her men, she ordered back into their rooms. Apparently she doesn’t like too much of an audience during these…interrogations. But I want to know everything, the how, the why, the when. My men feel similarly, or at least Bennett does. Will’s down here based solely on his moral compass. “We do this my way. If I require you, you’ll know. Keep Mousy at bay. Understood?”

My eyes flick to my friend briefly while I move around the wall to quietly bring myself closer to her, “understood.”

I see the corner of her mouth twitch, a magicked claw extending from her finger to lift his chin up. “Tsk tsk tsk. Baron, dear, you’ve made a verygravemistake. Do you want to tell us about that?” Her voice is an octave higher, feigning sweetness. His upper lip curls in a snarl and he spits at her face. Her eyes glass over into the inky black as her Wield builds beneath her skin, the wave of power pulsing through the room.

“Wrong answer.” she growls, stabbing the tip of the claw up and into his lower jaw. Blood drips down her finger in a thick stream and then the screams start again.

The interrogation, if you can call it that, has been going for hours.

Every orifice on Baron’s face has a trail of blood dripping from it.

“Come on, Baron. Give me something here.”

“What exactly do you expect him to give you? You’re melting him from the inside out!” Will snaps.

“Control him.”Her bark rattles through me.

He looks to me desperately. “Why are you not stepping in here? You’re sovereign, Rorin.” His voice is tired, laced with both anger and fear.

“I told you why already.” I snap.

He takes a step towards him, shaking his head. “He’s one of ours.”

A dark laugh rumbles out and I push him back against the stone. “He isn’t.” Will grunts against my hold. “He isn’t.” I say again, lower this time, my eyes bearing into his. “When he crossed the line over to Baelor’s men, he disgraced himself. He dishonored Vellar. HebetrayedVellar.”

Will scoffs struggling against me still, “and what do you think we did when we crossed the line over to Obsidian, hm?” His tone matching mine.

CRACK!

Will’s eyes dart over my shoulder at the noise. The man hooked to the wall now has his right arm bent at an unnatural angle. “Do you want to answer me now, Baron?” Eveera taunts, her voice taking on that distorted unnatural lilt.

“You’ve damned us all, Prince Rorin. Bringing the likes ofherbehind our walls.” The words are raspy and raw from his screaming. I shove away from Will moving to stand behind her.

Almost imperceptibly I feel her shiver when my chest brushes up against her back. “How’s that lieutenant?” I ask.

“Does the King know you’ve brought her here?” Baron asks, blood sputtering out of his mouth as he speaks.

I grit my teeth together, “that didn’t answer my question, traitor.”

His body shakes twinging from both laughter and pain. “Ha. Oh, they have a plan for us, Prince. What side will you be on when that snaps into place?”

“Why did you turn on your own men, soldier?!” I shout, the rage consuming me as I look down at Eveera’s bandaged chest and stomach. Her arms are folded and she’s taken to leaning slightly against my chest. From this angle I can see that her eyes are still fully blackened as her Wield slinks beneath her skin, the black magic spreading across it like veins. I enter her mind, probing for her, but all I am met with is a black hole - her magic fully consuming her mind as she works to manipulate him telepathically.

His back arches pulling the unbroken limbs taut against the chains. “The Wield you’re experiencing is not so different to say your Vellaran Illusionaries. However, I will admit that it’s better. It’s specific. It’s mental, emotional,andphysical. Do you know what I see, Baron?” He whimpers and she rolls her shoulders back, settling more snugly against me. “I see you cowering in front of Hadar’s Guards. Selling out your friends, your Prince, and your home. And I know it’s not just because of me, oh no. You’ve been selling information formonths.”Her words are low, low enough that I’m not even sure Will or Bennett can hear her. “And like a coward, you feared them more than us. What a mistake that ended up being.” His whines grow louder as she assaults his mind.

“I think this kill is yours.”She whispers through the seal. Her body turns slowly so that she can look up at me through her lashes, the gold returning to those irises.Her hand lays lightly on my chest. At her touch my Wield slinks out of my hands curling around her body and seeping directly into Baron’s lungs. I could make this quick - so quick he wouldn’t feel a thing. But he doesn’t deserve to die quickly. There is a strong urge inside that begs me to stop. To not use the cursed magic so frequently, but as her icy palm burns my chest the decision to keep him suspended in this agonizing pain for as long as necessary wins out.A minute for every life he cost us. And not just for today, but for every day he was complicit in his sin.

Eveera was face down in the chaise’s pillows the moment we stepped back into the apartment. I drifted by her and into my office where the pile of paperwork still waited along with the faint reminder of the queen and I’s previous interaction here. Despite exhaustion threatening to pull me under, there wouldn’t be any sleep for me. Not when there was so much to fix, so much to change, so much to clean up.

The sun was rising when we’d left the cells but it burns brighter now, streaming through the windows and the orange glow that casts throughout the room warms up the space.

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