Three other guards joined the one with the captive in tow, and all four were needed when the man got his first look at the room next door. The heavy wooden table decorated with straps and chains clearly told was what in store for the prisoner, and he tried to resist being put on the table and into the straps and chains. His struggling was a waste of time, of course, and when the guardsmen finished and stepped back, Derand entered the room and gestured the guards out. Listan and Gardal had followed Derand into the room, neither of them looking very happy.

  “Now that we’re alone, let’s try that story of yours again,” Derand said to the prisoner once the door was closed. “Who paid you to make trouble in my kingdom, and why were you stupid enough to believe them when they told you you’d get out of this with a whole skin?”

  “I - don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said, his arrogance and self confidence shaken only a little as he strained a bit against the leather straps around his wrists. “No one paid me, and I wasn’t trying to make trouble. All I wanted was as much silver as I could get, and that’s - “

  “And that’s a lie,” Derand interrupted, showing how little patience he had left. “While you were being brought in here I did some thinking, and one important question came to me rather quickly: If all you collected from the farmers was coppers - and that is all you got, along with an occasional bit of silver -

  how did you expect to pay those ‘fighters’ of yours and still have anything left for yourself?”

  “I - wasn’t going to pay those idiots,” the man said with only a heartbeat’s worth of hesitation. “Just because they thought I would doesn’t mean - “

  “We were told that they and you all carried silver as well as copper.” Listan was the one to interrupt this time, his tone as hard as Derand’s had been. “And even idiots would know that you wouldn’t be able to pay them silver if all you collected was copper. But they were still riding around with you, and with fairly full purses. Stop wasting our time and tell us the truth.”

  “I’ve already told you the truth,” the man maintained, no longer pulling at the straps on his wrists. “And we both know that you won’t be torturing me, so just let me go back to that cell until you’re ready to throw me out of the kingdom.”

  “What makes you think we won’t be torturing you?” Derand asked, suddenly knowing the true answer to his question. “Is it because you were told that after being tortured myself I won’t allow torture to be used on anyone else?”

  “Oh, so you are the king,” the man said, his amusement clear only in the look in his eyes. “I thought you might be no more than one of his fighters? I didn’t know you’d been tortured, Your Majesty. Did it hurt much?”

  “More than you can possibly imagine,” Derand answered, letting his voice go dead with the memory.

  “You see the hellish things that are about to be used on you, but you can’t free your hands and feet to protect yourself. The torturer comes closer with a ? blade, say, and at first you don’t feel it when that sharpened edge moves across your skin. The fear plunging all through your body keeps you from the pain to begin with, but suddenly you become aware of a burning shriek where the blood is beginning to flow from. The pain is getting worse by the minute, but the torturer doesn’t care about that. He uses that blade on you a second time - and in the same place. That’s when you start to understand why men scream their throats raw under torture? “

  “That - that really sounds - terrible, Your Majesty,” the man got out, all amusement gone along with most of the arrogance. “But knowing what it’s like has to mean that you won’t let anyone else be tortured. I mean, how could you justify something like that, especially to yourself? “

  “Do you really think my king is more worried about you and your good opinion than about the safety of his loved ones?” Listan asked when Derand just smiled faintly at the man. “You’re less than nothing to him, and he doesn’t have to justify anything to anyone. You - “

  “He’s not hearing you, Listan,” Derand interrupted as he saw the captive start to pale. “Let’s get our men in here and then he can know what I’m talking about. But tell the men not to stop what they’re doing even if he immediately decides to tell the truth. Nothing teaches a man the error of his ways more than not being allowed to change his mind - “

  “No! Please!” the captive screamed as he started to pull at the straps again. “He said I’d never have to face torture of any kind, and that makes him a liar! Only fools keep their word to a liar, and I’m no fool!

  It was King Paltin who sent me to make trouble in your kingdom, King Paltin!”

  Derand stared at the struggling captive for a moment, then looked away.

  “Get the men in here, Listan, and give them the orders I just mentioned,” Derand said, pretending he saw nothing of Listan’s startlement and Gardal’s upset. “And also tell them that this one won’t be easy, so they can’t afford to play with him. There won’t be much left when they’re done, but that’s - “

  “Damn you,” the captive said, speaking bitterly to Derand after his struggles abruptly stopped. “You’re not doing anything the way you were expected to, but that still won’t help you. If you were able to take it, then I can take it. And it was King Lovar who sent me.”

  Derand studied the man again, then gestured his two companions out of the room with him. Listan and Gardal were looking confused and annoyed as well as disturbed, and Derand didn’t blame them.

  “Well, now we know that torturing him will be a waste of time,” Derand said after blowing out a breath of vexation. “He’ll name every one of the kings in turn over and over, and even if we think he’s broken we won’t be able to know for certain that he isn’t avenging himself in advance by begging us to believe that the last name he speaks is his employer. Just have his throat cut and let that be an end to the matter.”

  “Yes, my king, I’ll see to it immediately,” Listan said before moving off toward a group of guardsmen.

  Gardal watched him go, then joined Derand in heading back to the palace.

  “Obviously Listan is as relieved as I am that there won’t be any torturing done,” Gardal said after a moment of silence. “The only thing is, how can you be sure that one of the others doesn’t know who’s behind all this?”

  “In order for one of the others to know something, he’d have to be as associate of the one we questioned,” Derand explained, privately reflecting that Gardal didn’t know the meaning of the word relieved as well as he did. “If that man had an associate among the ones in black leather, the others would have unconsciously drawn away from the associate in the cell in an effort to distance themselves from whatever would be done to him. Did you notice any one of those men sitting alone?”

  “No, they were all clumped miserably together,” Gardal agreed with a look of surprise. “I hadn’t understood what that meant but now I do, and I’m really impressed with how clever you are. But I still don’t understand why you didn’t bother to ask that man’s name. Once he’s dead we’ll never know who he was.”

  “If you ever have to have someone tortured, you’ll be happier if you don’t know the man’s name,” Derand said, the closest he could come to an explanation. “Now we’d better get back to where they’re probably waiting lunch for us.”

  Gardal’s exclamation showed that Derand’s friend had forgotten all about lunch, but now that he’d been reminded he increased his pace just as Derand did. They both hurried to rejoin Derand’s guests, but Derand doubted that he’d have the stomach to eat much at all?

  The inn had been cleared of other guests, so the only occupied room was theirs. There were guards out in the hall, but they were picked men and even they weren’t very near. The two people had eaten their meal before coming to this room, and once the door was closed behind them it began.

  “Get out of those clothes instantly!” she snapped, treating him the way he deserved to be treated. “I’ve had to wait much too long to give you the next installment of the punishment you’ve earned!”

  “Yes, mistress, I obey immediately,” he said at once, suiting actions to words. His swordbelt came off first and then his boots, and a pair of moments later his finery lay piled on the floor. He himself knelt beside the clothing, his head down and his shoulders rounded.

  “You disgust me,” she said as she walked back to him from the trunk she’d gone to. “You’re supposed to be a king, supposed to be completely in charge of everything and everyone, but you still jump to obey when your master calls!”

  “It’s simply a matter of politics, mistress,” he begged, trying to make her understand. “The others will all be at this celebration the High King is holding, so staying away would be - impolitic.”

  He’d almost said “foolish” rather than “impolitic,” a mistake that would have cost him dearly. He was already in for it, which meant he didn’t need to add to the punishment unnecessarily.

  “You were a fool to allow that man to defeat you in battle,” she growled, letting him hear the sound of the switch she’d gotten from the trunk striking her hand. “I told you that you had to win, that you had to be High King, but you disobeyed me. Have you any idea how long you’re going to pay for that disobedience?”

  “I tried, mistress, I really did!” he begged, already knowing she’d refuse to believe him. “The man is gifted with extraordinary talent in strategy and tactics, and that’s why I lost to him. But I did do as you instructed and sent men to assassinate him. With any luck at all he’ll be dead before we reach his palace.”

  “Luck,” she said, disgust dripping from every word. “I talk about planning, and you talk about luck. Take the position you’re best suited to and do it fast!”

  He didn’t waste an instant bending forward and putting his forehead to the floor, his arms folded across his middle. The pose put his backside in the position she wanted it, and she didn’t waste a moment either.

  The switch struck him with a loud “crack!” that left a line of fire all across his seat, but he didn’t voice the shout of pain he wanted to make. He wasn’t allowed to make noise, and wouldn’t be allowed that release for quite some time.

  “You pitiful excuse for a human being!” she snarled, a second and third stroke of the switch adding to the fire of the first. “You promised me all of Arvin to do with as I pleased, but I haven’t even been able to do as I please in our own kingdom! If that fool found out he’d lead the others against us, because he’s the High King rather than you! As long as that state continues, the punishment I’d be giving others will be yours along with your own. Only by displacing that fool will you change that, and I’ll make sure you don’t forget.”

  “I won’t forget, mistress, I swear I won’t!” he choked out, writhing to the constant strokes of the switch.

  The flames now burned his entire seat, and the pain would get much worse before the punishment was over. Today’s ride had been pure hell after last night’s punishment, and tomorrow’s ride would be even worse. He had to do something to let him go back to the milder punishment he’d been given at first, he just had to! If that meant the death of Derand Du Bahr, then so be it. There was a limit to how much a man could reasonably take?

  But that limit was passed to the accompaniment of the switch striking his seat. It kept on and on, and when he finally found it impossible not to wail and beg, the slashing strokes came even harder to punish the disobedience. When tears came to his eyes he made sure not to let them be seen. If she saw the tears, it would go even harder for him?

  Chapter 14

  Elissia was surprised when she walked into the small dining room to find a crowd waiting. She’d expected it to be another day at least before people began to arrive, but here were Derand’s parents and her own!

  “Elissia, my dear, we’ve missed you,” her father said, coming over to give her a gentle hug. “You look fine after all those adventures you and Derand have had.”

  “Oh, my poor child, you must be exhausted to trembling,” her mother said in that ? helpless way of hers as she patted Elissia’s cheek. “Someone really must speak to Derand and explain to him that women aren’t meant to be imposed upon so terribly. Sit down, dear, and your father will have the servants bring cool cloths for your head.”

  “I’ve been sitting long enough and my head doesn’t need any kind of cloths,” Elissia said as her father turned to a bell pull. She’d thought there would be more time before this particular scene had to be gone through, but since there wasn’t? “Actual, productive work is more enlivening than exhausting, Mother, something you’d know if you ever tried it yourself. No, I take that back. For you, work would be exhausting, not that you’d ever get any of it done.”

  “Elissia, for shame!” her father exclaimed as her mother put a hand to her throat and acted as if she were about to faint. He quickly put an arm around his wife and helped her to sit in the chair behind her before turning back to his daughter. “How dare you be so rude to your mother, young lady?” he continued, as angry as he ever got. “She’ll hear an immediate apology from you or I’ll know the reason why.”

  “You should already know the reason why, Father,” Elissia said, grimly going on with it. “I’ve kept quiet for most of my life, fighting silently against nausea because I lived under your roof, but those days are over. How can you encourage her in that ridiculous act without gagging?”

  “Your mother isn’t acting, child, she’s simply very delicate,” her father said, anger receding in the face of needing to explain something. “If she had the choice, don’t you think she’d be just as robust as everyone else?”

  “She does have the choice, and she chooses to play the limp, helpless female,” Elissia countered, unreluctant to finally get the words said. “For a long time I thought that Mother was the way she is because she was taught to be like that, but I’ve since changed my mind. She uses her little act to manipulate you into expecting nothing from her, so she’s free to do only as she pleases. She’s always tried to make me do the same just to camouflage her own actions, and that’s what I’ll never forgive her for.

  Her rotten way of life is more important to her than I am.”

  Elissia left her father openmouthed and silent and went to get herself a cup of tea. Behind her she was aware of King Almis moving in her father’s direction, and then Queen Rildin was beside her to her left.

  “You’re feeling hurt and betrayed, but you mustn’t,” Rildin said very softly, putting a gentle hand to Elissia’s shoulder. “Your mother has been ‘delicate’ for so long that she probably believes the act herself by now. She went pale when she heard what you said to your father, but instead of fainting she turned thoughtful. I sincerely think she never meant to cause you harm - or to lose your love. The act worked for her, so she fully expected it to work just as well for you.”

  “All of which means she was too wrapped up in her own wishes and wants to notice that I’m not like her,” Elissia countered, for once adding sugar to the tea she poured. “If you really care about someone, you do what’s best for them rather than what’s best for you. I know you’re trying to help, Rildin, but I’ve already insulted two of my guests so there’s no reason not to try for a clean sweep.”

  “You must have had a really bad morning to be in such a foul mood,” Rildin responded with a short laugh.

  “Is it possible that my son is working you too hard?”

  “Working hard has nothing to do with how bad my mood is,” Elissia said with a shake of her head as she turned to Derand’s mother. “I started out annoyed that that fool Railsley kept people with real problems away from their king, and then I started to get more deeply into what those problems are. One family almost lost a child because they couldn’t get help.”

  “What do you mean, almost lost a child?” Rildin asked, her own teacup stopped half way to her lips.

  “Was the child sick and in need of a doctor?”

  “It’s the people involved who are sick,” Elissia answered with a shake of her head.

  “The child’s father was out of work for a while, so he had to borrow money to keep his family fed. He’s a craftsman so he did find another job, but the man who loaned him the money refused to wait for the money to be repaid. His bullies took the family’s oldest son as repayment, and the fighters I sent to get the boy back were only just in time to keep the boy from being sent out of Arvin to where slavery is legal. They also took the rest of the children being sent at the same time, then put the moneylender under arrest for kidnapping. I can’t wait until he faces his king during audiences this afternoon.”

  “Oh, Derand will have his heart!” Rildin exclaimed, furious as well as outraged. “I can’t believe anyone would think that he could get away with something like that!”

  “He’s been getting away with it for years, so why would he expect things to change?” Elissia countered, still furious herself. “It may be possible to get back some of the other children he’s sold, but certainly not all of them. And what has all this time as a slave done to the ones we do get back? I get sick just thinking about it? “

  “What’s wrong?” King Almis asked, coming over to his wife. “What are you two getting so wild about?”

  Rildin quickly explained what she and Elissia had been talking about, and Almis’s expression turned grim.

  “No, Derand won’t have his heart,” Almis said to his queen, his hand supportively on her arm. “If Derand is as smart as I know him to be, he’ll send this moneylender into the same slavery he sent those children to. That would be true justice.”

  “Oh, look, Derand and Gardal are coming in,” Rildin said, pointing to the door. “Let’s speak to our son right now, Almis. If we don’t I’ll get indigestion from whatever I eat.”

  King Almis nodded and joined his wife in going toward their son, which let Elissia sip at her tea. The morning would have been bad enough if the moneylender had been the only blight involved, but he hadn’t been. There was more waiting for her to tell Derand about, but after lunch would be soon enough. No sense in his appetite getting just as ruined as hers had been.