Page 49 of Chasing the Night
I gave a solid throaty sound of affirmation and waved toward Chalice. “Put that one in the cell and you’re free to go, gentlemen.”
Keifer’s jaw dropped, Ender afforded all of a snap glance my way, and Chalice tried to break for it. Ender caught her on a whirl. She kicked her feet, connecting with Keifer a time or two before Ender secured her on the floor. The pair of them took the better part of a half an hour trying to get her into the cell.
“M… Messiah.” Keifer’s eyes were on the cage and his mouth hitched just so. His concern didn’t have to be voiced, he wore his heart on his sleeve.
“She is a Krypt. This is Krypt business.” I tipped my head toward the door, and Ender patted his shoulder.
“Try not to kill each other on the way home,” Chalice spat from her cage.
In the drawer of my desk I found the familiar cloth bundle. The metal within clinked together all but offering themselves to my cause in their own language. On the table beside my prisoner, I spread out the array of instruments that would extract the woman’s every secret.
Candle sticks offered enough light to make them gleam. I picked up the scalpel and held it to the flame. My attention lay on the prisoner in the chair, her head was still slumped and a bit of drool rest on her lip.
“They really did a number on you, hmm, love?” I softly mused.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Chalice stammered behind me.
Ah. There it was. That little spark of fear. The one that would sober her almost instantly.
“Messiah?” Chalice panicked further.
I left her with my name on her lips and grabbed the prisoner’s forehead, my thumb and index spanning her hairline. Her lashes fluttered enough for me catch a pale blue flash before they closed, and a groan escaped.
The scalpel was still smoking. I used the blunt side and brought it closer and closer to her temple.
“Messiah stop,” Chalice hissed behind me. I ignored her and held firm to the task at hand.
A breath from the prisoner’s flesh, her eyes shot open and she started screaming. I threw the scalpel down and sniffed like I was bored. The instrument landed atop the other tools and made that dreadful noise again.
“Messiah please! Stop.”
“First you follow me from one end of town to the next… now you don’t want to see what I do…” I tsked and grabbed the prisoner’s jaw, forcing her to look at me. Chalice’s cries were suddenly being matched by the prisoner. “Stop screaming. I haven’t even started yet, darling. Surely, you’ve some dignity under all that dirt,” I said to the prisoner on a soothing tone. I pressed my thumb to her upper lip, and she froze. Her eyes went wide, and she clenched her thighs so tight and fast the chains holding her ankles screeched back at her.
“Silly woman. I’ve no use for you.” I laughed, shaking my head and hopefully dismissing any notions toward improprieties.
“Leave her alone! She’s done nothing to you,” Chalice yelled. She banged her fist against the bars as if they stood some chance against the metal.
“No. You’re quite right. She hasn’t done a thing against me.” I sighed and stepped back a bit to study the chained woman. “Care to tell her what you’ve done, dear? You could save us both a great deal of time… and pain.”
“Don’t be a monster,” Chalice begged, “Please don’t be another monster…”
The way she choked on her words tore at my heart, but I couldn’t give in. I had a job to do, and Chalice had a lesson to learn. A few, actually. Better I teach them than Atticus.
A scroll lay in wait on my desk. I stretched it out using my utensils to hold the thing open so I could read it at a glance.
“Tamara of House Rocham, wife of Sir Lochlan and standing accused,” I introduced her with all the gusto she was looking for. Scandalous wench that she was, snaring one prince while conniving with another over his throne. “How do you plead to the charge of treason?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Chalice slowly rise to her feet. She peered through the bars with a bit more interest. Lady Tamara, however, was trying her best to bring her arms toward her torso. It was natural, the guarding.
“Please,” she whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear it.
“Say again?” I did my best to bark.
“Please!” she shrieked. The startle of it caused her chains to rattle and the sobbing started once again.
“Ah, now, you must have some… opinion. I mean it is your faults and fate we are discussing here, is it not?” I encouraged, pulling my stool over toward my work area.
Her lower lip quivered, and her teeth started to chatter, but she held her silence. An amused hmm escaped me. Both at my luck and her resilience. I didn’t want to turn to blood and nastiness, nor had I looked forward to humiliating the woman… but she had to work with me. Give me something.