Collecting broken thoughts

Still trembling from your ordeal, you are wrapped in a thin grey robe and led down a gloomy corridor by the Jester. There is no ornamentation here, simple stone flags under your bare feet and rough, whitewashed walls lit sparsely by brands. There is a strangeness the sound of the place which you struggle to identify.. until you realise that it is the absence of something you have registered. There is no buzzing orb following you down here as there has been since you woke. Despite this, and being what could be called dressed for the first time in what feels like hours, you can’t seem to muster your thoughts for an escape plan. You are struggling to hold yourself together at all.

You come to a place in the tunnel where there are two panelled doors, opposite each other on either side. Your escort puts a hand on your shoulder to silently stop you, and produces a dull bronze key to unlock the left door. He ushers you in, not unkindly, and then leaves, locking the door behind you. In the sparingly furnished room is a long table and a wooden chair. There is nothing else of note, and in truth the room does not offer much more floor space than that required to hold the table.

Alone with your thoughts, you drop onto the chair, fold your arms on the table with your head resting atop them, and close your eyes. Your body still swirls with emotion and desire. You wonder when the effects of Alina’s potions might diminish, and also whether the feeling is being prolonged by the device embedded in your flesh. Your brain is a whirl of emotion too, your thoughts scattered and disjointed thanks to your experiences over the last day. You have been betrayed, trapped, manipulated, and driven to extremes in ways you could never have predicted. Even reliving it in your mind brings tears to your eyes and for a few minutes you allow yourself to sob silently in the crook of your arm. Pain, guilt, shame and loss all wash through you and you allow yourself to be slowly cleansed.

One thing is quite clear to you. Whatever thought you had of holding out against this enemy is gone. With the kind of techniques you have been subject to, coupled with the taming of your magic, you see few options. Feeling clearer and more resolved after allowing your emotions to flow, you collect yourself and wipe your face with the corner of your robe. Visualising yourself on the edge of ecstasy, you know that given the choice sooner or later you will tell them what they wish to know to allow yourself release. In that burning flame of pleasure all else seems to fade. You are under no illusions that one time or another you will lack the willpower to say no. It’s humiliating to admit to yourself that your physical and mental strength count for little here. You have always valued your independent spirit and self reliance. It is hard to meet your limits in such a definite way.

So then. Your choices seem to be laid out in your head. First.. simply tell them what they want to know. This might mean giving up your magic for good, as no doubt they will want you as a test subject. It might mean that the elves are given up for good and the downfall of the queen. Given what you have heard, and what has been done to you by both sides, you can’t honestly say if that would be good or bad. But your heart wonders if it can really handle what most elves would still feel is betrayal of your people.

Your second choice is to try to fight the losing battle and hold out as long as you can through their experiments and tortures. You would be gambling that the opportunity may yet rise for escape. Or… failing that, you may be even be accidentally killed in one of their infernal mechanisms or whilst trying to run. Rescue in the limited time you have left seems a very faint possibility.

The only other thing you can think to try is to plead with someone you have met on the enemy side who may be favourable to your cause. If you can manage to get them to meet you then you could try and talk them around or persuade them to let you free. You wonder who may be on their way to interrogate you further, or whether this is simply a moment’s rest between the snares meant to break you. You shudder at the possibilities of what may be done to you next.. and what you might say to have it not stop.