Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams

The Prisoner

We'd taken prisoners before, and I'd even watched Old Bjorn interrogate Arald, but I'd never actually interrogated anyone myself before. Jafnadr made it a little easier, because he could lift some things straight out of people's heads. However I wanted to be able to get my own interpretations and hear it directly if I could. Somehow I didn't know how far to trust other people's views of the world, even Jafnadr's.

The Board of Trade safe house had its own guards, and it was a sturdy property that would withstand being entered for long enough for the local authorities to intervene. So long as they weren't the people that wanted us out.

Noren sat the prisoner in a chair in an otherwise empty room. He'd soiled himself when Noren pushed him up against his erstwhile comrade, and he'd realised that his other comrade was no longer with him. We'd removed his soiled clothing and allowed him to clean himself up as best he could with a bucket of water and a cloth. We didn't have any spare clothing for him though, so he was clad in a jerkin with a towel wrapped round his nether regions.
'What's going to happen to me? Are you going to kill me?'
'We're not going to kill you. In fact we might let you go if you answer the questions well.' I said.
'I don't want you to let me go, they'll kill me if they think I've told you anything, but they'll torture me first to find out what.'
'Well, I'll have my friends put you on a ship to somewhere else if you like.'
'That would be good.'
'Well if you help me, I'll make sure you're looked after.'
I gave him a moment to let that sink in.
'So, tell us your name and who you were working for.'
'My name is Adan, I was employed by the Duke Xaime as part of his outer guard.'
'Outer guard?'
'Duke Xaime has a personal bodyguard that protect his person. The outer guard do other things, and prevent threats to his person from becoming real.'
'So why did you and your comrades attack us?'
'We were told to detain you for questioning, it was a standing instruction from our commander to stop Skyssian agents that we didn't recognise.'
'Why did you have instructions to stop Skyssians that you didn't recognise?'
'The boss said Skyssians always poke their noses in where they shouldn't.'
'Does your boss have a name?'
'I told you, Duke Xaime.'
'That's not helpful. I meant the one that gave you the instructions.'
'The commander of the guard is called Rojden, he made the standing instructions. The guy that told us to do it today was Llucas, he's the sergeant in charge of my section.'
'What can you tell us about Rojden?'
'He's a foreigner, but fiercely dedicated to ensuring Duke Xaime is the one that succeeds to the throne.'
'Is he here, in Beretha?'
'No. He hardly ever comes here in person.'
'When was the last time you saw him?'
'I've never seen him.'
'How do you know about him then?'
'Sergeant Llucas sometimes mentions him. Says he's very scary, but also the cleverest general he's ever served under.'
'Has Sergeant Llucas met Rojden?'
'I think so.'
'When was the last time Sergeant Llucas went to a briefing where Rojden might have been present?'
'He hasn't been away since I've been with the outer guard.'
'How long have you been with the outer guard?'
'Since the spring. I spent a few weeks at a training place after we did the spring plantings and then I decided to be a guard.'
'Best choice you ever made. I'm going to send you to Kronstadt.'

I didn't think I could get anything else useful from him, so I stopped the questions. Noren and I went into another room.
'So, what do you think, Noren?'
'He's small fry. He thinks his guard commander is Rojden, but he hasn't seen him. So it could be our guy. It could just as easily be a decoy, a trap or someone else with the same name.'
'So what?'
'We'd be foolish to take on all of Duke Xaime's guard just to try and chat with someone that might know something.'
'So we ignore this part of the scheme too?'
'Not ignore, just skip it for later. I don't feel that we're ready to face Rojden yet.'
'We might be able to take him by surprise, if we do something quickly.'
'I doubt that. We've already left two of his men bleeding on the street, and they had friends coming. So the word we're here is already out. Being the river is the right thing now.'
'A boat for Caratis then?'
'Either that or an overland trip. I think we need to speak to Erik about what's happened and give him some despatches for Kronstadt.'
'as well as a prisoner.'