Page 5 of Knowing Trust

“And the princess has been very upset since her friend was killed,” Shael purred.

“I have.” I pulled the trigger and he let out a sob of relief that nothing happened. “That talent works even with metaphorical metal since I’m a telepath. Unfortunately, given you guys are all so fucked up, when I shattered his metal mental shields his brain kind of splattered.” I shrugged. “Live and learn.”

“It was incredibly fascinating,” Shael agreed. “It taught us a lot. The way our healers and scientists are studying him is teaching us a lot, especially to help you with your continued progress to heal others. Now we have a whole other way to interrogate and warning signs to watch for so we don’t lose the information we could need.”

I nodded, smirking at the general. “Hence, Russian roulette!” I flicked open the gun and spun it around, closing it again before aiming.

“But you already broke my mental shields!” he yelled. “You have access to everything then. You are just torturing me for fun.”

That wasn’t true, but it worked better for his fear if he thought that, so we didn’t correct him. The truth was more complicated, and we still couldn’t put on the normal runes to have him confess or tell us honestly what we wanted. His brain, magic, and nerves were all a mess worse than Mary Craftsman.

Which meant he wouldn’t register as a lie. Things he thought true or had happened could lead us astray. We needed him this distracted and afraid while fairies were combing through his mind beyond just telepathy so we got the real story.

So I spent another thirty minutes fucking with him before his fear grew too much and he passed out.

“He lasted longer than the others,” Shael muttered. “And he was the toughest to catch.”

“That means he’s probably the strongest with the most information. Keep extra people watching him so he doesn’t kill himself or damage the information we could get.”

“Yes, Your Highness. The healers have been keeping them in comas while they recover,” she told me.

“Right, even better.” I thanked them all and walked out the door, ready to eat the lunch I didn’t get.

“This is why I’m so worried,” Julian said from my right. His eyes were full of almost panic as I looked at him. “A gun? You are holding a gun, Tamsin! You hate guns! Of course, I’m going to worry and ask Mel to—”

“Julian, calm down,” I cut in, finally saying something. I had been too shocked that he was there at the prison in Faerie and even what he was saying. I pointed it at Neldor and pulled the trigger, my eyes going wide when Neldor swore.

“What the fuck, Tams?” he demanded, rubbing his hand over his chest.

“Nel, it’s fake,” I hissed, nodding when he couldn’t seem to get his mouth to work. I looked at Julian and tossed him the gun. “It’s fake. It’s not real. Neither is the bullet.” I glanced at Taeral. “You didn’t tell him? He thought I was really fucking around with a real loaded gun in there?”

“No, I told him not to worry and it was a joke,” he muttered, giving Neldor a worried look. “It’s a joke like in the movies.”

“That’s a prop, idiot,” I growled. “They’re prop guns, not joke guns.”

“Oh.” He frowned. “I thought joke or toy guns?” He glanced at Iolas.

“I thought the same. They used to have them in cartoons with those flags that came out that said ‘bang’ for the joke.”

“For the love of fuck,” I groaned and went over to Neldor. “I’m sorry. Seriously, I thought—”

“I get it,” he cut in, letting out a huff. “I just aged ten years but yeah, I was worried because everyone knows you hate guns and I told Julian I didn’t know what to do.”

“That’s why the ploy was so effective,” Shael explained as she joined us. “Everyone does know that the princess hates guns. It gives a level of fear to them that she has broken.”

I swallowed a groan. Which Neldor thought was true.

And told Julian.

Who talked to Mel.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Mel and explain,” I chuckled, rubbing my forehead. “It’s over anyways. We got the last bigwig.”

“Where did you come up with a fake gun?” Julian muttered as he moved closer, handing it off to Taeral.

“A movie.” I shrugged when they all stared at me funny. “I remember thinking it was cool that the character did something with a person’s fear instead of using pain because he was Special Forces or something and could handle a lot of pain. It’s different nerves and parts of the brain. So when Onas said the pain part was fried…” I shrugged again.

My stomach growled loudly before anyone could respond.

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