The sound of low male voices drifted into the cell but the prisoner didn’t stir from the narrow cot where he lay curled, knees drawn tightly to his chest. There were always guards stationed in and out of his cell so he had gotten used to hearing them speak to each other in hushed tones.
He was never without proper supervision but the guards never spoke to him. They were not allowed to address him directly, as ordered by the prince himself.
Their muffled conversation and the little he could glean from them had been his only source of entertainnt since being detained in the dank room. It had gotten to the point that he could scarcely tell most of their voices apart.
His body stiffened when he heard keys jingling in the lock, followed by the sound of the stiff hinges creaking as the door was pushed open.
It could have been anyone entering his cell. It was probably a shift change as new guards ca in to replace the ones that had been in there with him for hours. But his paranoia had been on an all ti high for weeks since he first ntioned Narfor to Prince Ragnar.
He expected the assassin handler to have sent soone to kill him by now and tie up any loose ends that were left from the failed mission. Every ti the cell doors opened, he expected it to either be one of Narfor’s trained missionaries or the prince himself and given the present situation, he didn’t know which option was worse.
So far none of them have co but instead of feeling relieved, each uneventful day that passed only made him fear what was coming even more, and the anxiety that ca with it was eating him up from the inside.
Soone walked into the cell, footsteps slow and deliberate, each one thudding like a warning of impending danger.
The prisoner still didn’t stir, refusing to look at the newcor in case it was the person sent to end his life.
The newcor stopped at the center of the cell.
" Leave." The sharp order was directed at the guards in the cell but it didn’t stop the prisoner from flinching.
The guards did as they were told and soon a chorus of footsteps shuffled out the cell, leaving the prisoner alone with the newcor who he was now sure was the prince.
" Have you grown too comfortable in your new accommodations that you can no longer greet your prince?" Ragnar asked, as he stared down at the prisoner who had curled up on himself and although his tone was calm, there was a subtle threat hidden in the words.
The prisoner sat up at that, turning so he could properly face Ragnar. He looked horrible, down to his overgrown beard and his dirt stained clothes.
Ragnar had made sure that he was fed twice a day and was offered enough water but it was usually without fresh sets of clothes to change into and the food wasn’t exactly the type a dignitary like him was used to having.
At the far end of the cell was a steel bucket that was given to the prisoner to use as a chamberpot. It was changed each ti food was delivered to the prisoner.
Even after returning from the palace, Ragnar hadn’t been in a hurry to visit the cell, choosing to keep the man in a perpetual state of confusion and anxiety as he wondered what would be his fate. It was sothing Ragnar learned from the king and he found it to be an efficient tool for interrogation.
" It’s been a while, has it? Do you have anything else to say to ?" Ragnar asked.
The prisoner stared up at Ragnar from his small cot, an air of hopelessness and defeat clinging onto him like the dirt on his clothes. " Your highness, I have already told you all that I know."
" You’re lying and what’s worse is that you aren’t very good at it. So I will ask you again, is there anything else you wish to tell ?"
Ragnar’s voice hardened with each word. " And I want you to think properly about the words you say to this ti. I will not stand here and lie about you having a chance of leaving this place alive because you don’t. Make no mistake, you will die by my hands. But your answer here determines whether the process will be a swift and painless one or one filled with prolonged suffering. I would choose carefully if I were you."
The prisoner’s eyes flashed and for the briefest mont Ragnar could see the defiance that hid behind the air of hopelessness.
" You can’t treat like this. My family is part of the nobility. I am a dignitary!" The Man said, his face twisting into a mask of anger.
" Yes, you might have been important once but your title doesn’t matter in this cell and you will co to understand that soon enough. Now you are my prisoner, one who has the answers I need." Ragnar said and in that mont, he felt like a completely different person from the man he was around Circe. " And I intend to get them out of you by any ans necessary."
This made the prisoner shrink back a bit, his earlier bravado and defiance quickly deflating at the wake of Ragnar’s words.
" Is his majesty aware that you killed my companion or the fact you detained in your dungeon for weeks?" The prisoner questioned, looking for any way to avoid giving the answers that Ragnar ca for.
Ragnar knew this as well. He had quickly seen through the prisoner’s action.
But it hardly mattered when Ragnar already had everything now tilted in his favor. Power over the situation and ti. While He had it in abundance, the prisoner could not say the sa.
" You would be shocked how easy it was for to forge a correspondence stamped with your official house’s seal and have it sent to the palace right after. But you would have known that already, wouldn’t you? Given your long history of forgery. As far as anyone knows, you and your companion left my estate three weeks ago, and decided to journey further east."
Ragnar could have just sent word back to the king detailing how the dignitaries conspired with assassins to kill Circe. Harming a royal or anyone related to one was a serious and punishable offense in Lamora. But Ragnar knew that telling the king about it would an handing the investigation and his prisoner over to the crown and he didn’t want to do that yet.
He didn’t know how many other people were involved in this and he didn’t want soone else interfering with the interrogation.
The prisoner’s mouth parted, eyes widening in surprise." I—"
Ragnar’s eyes darkened dangerously, his patience waning. His shadows slowly spilled out of him, swirling nacingly at his feet. " The next words out of your mouth better be answers to my question."
" Please. I already told you what I know. I made a deal with Narfor, and the assassin you killed that night was from him as well. Please, I don’t know anything more, I swear." The prisoner said, his words a plea as he tried to appeal to whatever shred of compassion that was left in Ragnar.
But what he didn’t know was that the well of goodness in Ragnar’s heart had dried up a long ti ago. He no longer showed rcy to those who hard what was his and Circe had beco very dear to him.
Looking down at the prisoner now, Ragnar found that he had no compassion for him.
" Your story was quite believable at first, but there is still so much about it that wasn’t and it was those parts that stood out to ." Ragnar said, taking a step closer. " Like the fact that you apparently have never t this so-called Narfor or know where he is from but sohow you trusted him enough to go on a mission for him that you knew was full of risks. Do you often make it a habit to risk your life and well-being for people you don’t know or have any true connection with?"
There was a small pause before Ragnar continued. "And if that is true, do you really expect to believe that the money he promised you was the true motivator when your family is already rich enough as it is. So it’s either you are truly that horrible at lying or you thought I was stupid enough to believe your lies."
Seeing that his lies had been discovered, the prisoner went on his knees imdiately, making sure to keep his gaze downcast.
" I swear I would have told you more if you could. Narfor made sure I knew as little as possible about the mission."
ntioning anything about Narfor was dangerous. He wasn’t like a ghost who knew whenever his na was being muttered but he had so many eyes and ears around Lamora that he might as well be. He had so many people that reported to him that it was difficult to know who to trust and once he sank his claws in a person, it was over. There was no chance of escaping or leaving his service alive.
"You keep ntioning him." Ragnar mused. " How I see this going, you have only two choices, you either tell the truth now or I will use you to lure this Narfor out and find the answers myself."
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