The reflection of the Queen: Exile

Chapter 30: The captain and the beast

He opened only one eye when he heard an unpleasant creaking sound, undoubtedly one of the heavy rusty hinged doors opening. He stood up as straight as he could, not without effort after the many blows he had received from the soldiers. He could have healed them, but it hadn't seemed like a good idea with the look of his watchers not leaving his side for a second.

Who had come through the door was a young, tall, sturdy man in a green uniform with the captain's stripes. His hair was somewhere between brown and gold, but what would have made him recognize him even if he didn't know who he was, was that pair of obsidian black eyes, an inheritance obtained from a man for whom he felt nothing but contempt. He looked like his father, especially in that pair of annoying eyes. How had Persephone been able to overlook him for so long?

Despite being chained hand and foot to the chair he was in, he leaned back in it, acting with a calmness with which he hoped to disconcert him.

"Hello, Rodion." He greeted not without mockery, putting on his most arrogant smile.

"Everans," he replied, keeping a serious, stoic expression.

"If you are a captain, how old are sergeants, fourteen years old?"

The young man's nostrils flared, but that was all that denoted his anger.

That was going to be fun.

"I advise you to change your attitude while you are with us, Mr. Everans."

"Call me Asreyn, please, unless my name hurts your sensibilities."

"I don't see why I should."

"Of course, I almost forgot that you're just a poor ignoramus. And you call yourself a true Ethryn?"

"I doubt very much that a servant of the murderous Queen could be considered more Ethryn than any insurrectionist."

"Why, is there more honor in rebelling against legitimate rulers than in being faithful to them?"

"In that you are wrong: you are not loyal to the legitimate ruler of Ethryant, because that is Eneas Garathard and it is against him that you are rebelling."

"Now I am the rebel? I was not giving trouble in my kingdom, taking care of killing those vermin you sent against the Queen, without bothering you at all. In any case, it is you who are a nuisance to the new Ethryant. By going to this dump with your heads down and your mouths shut you could have lived in peace, but, no... Your father wanted his war."

Still unperturbed, Rodion motioned to the soldiers guarding him to unfasten the chains from the chair and drag him behind him through the dungeons. He put up no resistance, not even when they led him into the kind of room he had stepped into too many times before: an interrogation room. He clicked his tongue when they attached his chains to a hook hanging from the ceiling, so that he had to keep his arms straight. If he wasn't so tall, he would have to stand on his tiptoes. One of them took a sachet and poured its contents over his face: metal powder. He coughed as it went into his mouth and nose, making it difficult for him to breathe and sapping his already depleted energy. This was how they had managed to capture him in his own hideout, how the insurgents who attacked him had avoided being consumed by its flames. Somehow, they had figured out how to make him vulnerable, to strip him of all his power, and if he wanted to get out of there alive, he was going to have to deal with it.

He took a quick look around the place. There were the typical instruments of torture, most of which he was familiar with. He whistled when he saw a whip hanging on the wall and a cauldron with burning coals.

"Whatever you're going to do to me, someone should cover little Aursong's eyes."

"We will not do anything to you, Mr. Everans, if you collaborate with us. Contrary to the methods you are used to, the Insurrection will be lenient if you help us in our fight against the Queen."