Protector

unbroken silence

A couple of days passed, and the guards came back not to give us any food, but only to add to Jaron's collection of injuries, to taunt my helplessness, to ask again and again where that damned cave of wealth was, and to ask why a large number of Jaron's forces had gathered on a bluff so far away from the fighting. These questions he aimed at Jaron, as they had still refused to take my gag out. 

He never gave them any answers.

Life began to return to an endless routine, dragging on and on, never relenting.
But I wasn't alone anymore.

Then one day it changed.
A group of guards came in looking more vicious than usual, with Kippenger at the lead. Jaron and I both sat up with sudden awareness and as usual didn't say or do anything.

"Still won't talk?" Kippenger asked. Dead silence was the only response he got.

"Fine then." Came his answer as he moved not toward Jaron as usual, but me. I stared him down, even though my heart was racing like crazy. He removed my gag, but regretted it immediately as the string of curses that flowed out of my mouth was enough to make my mother curl up in her grave, gods bless her soul. Jaron added a healthy amount to my outburst, reinforcing the threats I threw his way. Kippenger ignored them, pulling my up on to shaking legs. My hands were rather forcefully unchained and transferred to another pair of shackles hanging from the ceiling.
I knew where this would lead. A whipping. Nothing new, but still quite scary. A guard ripped the back of my ratty shirt open, then stepped back almost to admire the canvas of scars that had he had administered over these past six years. I heard inhale sharply as he saw my back and I shook my head, begging him not to tell them anything, no matter what they did to me. And I knew they would do their worst. They wouldn't hold back this time. My well-trained ears heard the sound of a whip being unrolled and readied.

It wasn't like it was the first time they had used this tactic on me and I had learned to build strength against it inside, but I would never be able to get past the absolute terror I felt as I waited for the pain.

The first lash caused my knees to collapse and my breath to abandon me. I cried out as I stumbled, the shackles cutting into my skin and made little effort to right myself. It was partially because of that fact that the next lash caught me so off guard and it hit me in a way that left me gasping for air and silently pleading with the devils to turn their fury on someone else for a change. I guess they had no interest in doing so, as the whip cracked again.

"Stop! Please!" Jaron shouted, the anguish in his voice clear.

I shook my head again, still gasping for breath. "No," I choked out. "I'm fine."

Gathering all of my strength, I forced my wobbly legs to stand and stood as straight as my screaming back would allow. Turning my head, I looked directly at Kippenger, fire in my eyes, the pain that filled me turning to strength in the face of fear. Spitting in his face, I whispered with as much spite as I could muster, "We will never tell you anything. You can torture us, threaten us, even kill us, but our silence will never be broken. We have a duty to our country as their rulers, one that neither of us takes lightly. Do you understand?"

A smile slowly broke across his face as he shook his head.

"Oh, I'll enjoy finally breaking you," he smirked, wiping the spit off his face.

The moment was broken by another crack of the whip and a cry burst from my lips as a tear fell down my cheek.

I lost track of how many lashes I was given after that, partly because I passed out soon after my speech.

Oops. So much for my "inner strength".