Interrogating the Prisoner

It is several hours before you are able to leave your guests and the tournament, pressing though the next piece of business is. Liesel stays behind, for which you are grateful; it is preferable that she not be present for the what comes next, as it may prove unpleasant indeed. And, with every one of your noble guests having sworn to defend and protect her, there is reason enough to be confident in her safety.

You enter the castle dungeons flanked by Captain Navarre and Lady Trina. Sir Magnus guards the prisoner, who stirs slightly as his cell door is opened, glances up at you, and then back down.

"I assume you know who I am," you say to him.

He responds with stony silence.

"Consider the treatment you have received from me, as my prisoner," you tell him. "Your arm has been set and splinted, sparing you a life as a cripple. You have been given water and food. You are chained in a cell, but it is clean and free of rats. You have not been whipped, or branded, or otherwise mistreated. Now consider whether this would have been your fate in any other dungeon on this Earth." You pause for a moment to allow that to sink in, and then continue. "Just so there is no doubt in your mind, I am King Xavier, first of that name, Ruler of Elyssia. I am about to give you a chance to speak in your own defense; I suggest you take it. You are accused of attempted ****. Do you deny the charge?"

The man remains still and quiet for so long that you almost turn and leave, but then he finally looks up at you. "I am guilty only of defending myself against a thief," he says in a low voice scratched with gravel. "And, of failing to die when attacked viciously from behind by the man who now accuses me of a similar crime."

"You claim, then, that the women you faced had attempted to rob you?"

"She is the Vixen, it is what she does."

"And of all the people she has ever robbed, you are fortunate enough to be the first that she threatened with a sword rather than a bow? A sword which we both know she had no idea how to use?"

"So it would seem," the man says, keeping his expression neutral.

"Would you also have me believe that you habitually stroll about in a black mask and armor, particularly in those parts of the woods which have been clearly marked as off-limits to guests at the festival?"

"I wear my armor when I walk because I have no horse to carry it; I am not a wealthy man. And I saw no signs to tell me I was trespassing."

"Your armor was forged by Lord Velimir's blacksmiths. You do realize that I have some expertise in that area, I trust."

"The corpse I took it from did not say where he acquired it," the prisoner says.

"This is your defense, then?"

The man is silent once more.

"Very well, I believe I have heard enough to make my ruling. Unlock his chains; this man is free to go."

"Sire?" Magnus blurts, astonished. The prisoner snaps his head around to stare at you, equally shocked.

"Clearly, he was only trying to defend himself, and I have made a grievous error in judgement," you say, taking the keys which Captain Navarre offers. "Here, good sir, allow me to personally alleviate you of those irons. We will escort you to the edge of the city, where you may be on your way. Captain, please take him as far as the clearing northeast of the covered bridge... I think that should be a sufficient distance from the crowds at the festival that he will have no trouble."

The man's eyes go wide, then narrow. "Why would you leave me there?" he whispers.

"Why not? It is as good a place as any. Please, turn your leg the other way if you would, I cannot seem to reach the lock."

The prisoner shrinks back, scrambling away. "Someone told you of the encampment there," he says.

"Certainly, you did not," you say with assurance. "But yes, come to think of it, I believe I did hear of someone camping in that spot. Well, no matter; my Captain will personally see you safely past our borders. Come now, I do hate the idea of holding an innocent man in chains."

"They will think I told you where it was!" he almost shouts.

"You'll just have to tell them that they are mistaken, whoever they are. Besides, it is well known that prisoners are not tortured in Elyssia - you would have had no reason to tell me anything you wished to keep secret. Well, unless I simply paid you for the information, of course... but I can't imagine anyone would be so foolish as to betray one such as Lord Velimir for coin. Just think of what he would do to someone who did that to him!"

Magnus chuckles softly, nodding at you with an impressed look on his face.

The prisoner has gone white. "Do not jest about such things! You... you cannot begin to imagine of what you speak!"

"Then let us be done with the games and the lies," you say, the levity in your voice gone. "I know that you work for Lord Velimir. I know that his daughter Katyana is in the woods and that she commands at least a score of his men, including you. I know that you had orders to capture the Vixen alive and return her to your camp at the northwest clearing. But there are still many things I do not know, and you are the one who can tell me. It is true that we use neither the rack nor the whip here in Elyssia - but if you work for a master who has no such qualms, that is your concern. Tell me what I wish to know, and you may remain safely in this cell until the matter is settled. Afterward, you will leave this city and never return; what you do with your life then is your own business, but you WILL still have your life. Otherwise... I imagine you will soon find yourself begging for the Warlord's mercy, for as long as he allows you to keep a tongue in your mouth."