Page 37 of Captive

The woman studied her with deep emerald eyes. The intensity of her eyes made Novikke nervous. There was no hint of compassion in her face. She looked at Novikke like she was a thing, not a person. Novikke shifted uncomfortably in her chair, waiting for the inevitable. She expected to be attacked or killed at any moment. The room, at least, seemed not to be a torture chamber.

“My ranger tells me you were found hiding on the outskirts of our lands,” the woman said finally, in heavily accented Ardanian.

Novikke wondered if Aruna or Zaiur had told her that. She hesitated, unsure if she was allowed to speak yet. When the woman didn’t go on, she said quietly, “I… wasn’t hiding. I was on the road from Valtos to Livaki. I was only passing through.” Wanting to explain herself as thoroughly as possible, she added, “If it seemed that we were trying to be stealthy, it’s only because we feared attacks from Varai guards.”

She tensed, wondering if that second part could be taken as an insult. But if the woman cared, she didn’t show it.

She glanced up at something behind Novikke.

Novikke turned and found Aruna leaning against the wall by the door. He stood very stiffly, his eyes a little too wide and his mouth a hard line. He returned her gaze for a moment, then averted his eyes.

That didn’t exactly instill confidence.

The woman paused before going on, her gaze hard. “He also tells me you have a rebellious streak.”

This was Zaiur’s report, then.

“He tells me you fought. That you helped other humans escape them. A courageous act.”

The woman rested her elbows on the table and, to Novikke’s surprise, twirled her fingers and summoned a tiny flame between them. She was a mage.

Novikke’s eyes followed the flame. The woman swirled it and tossed it from hand to hand idly, not looking at it.

There was an eerie absence of emotion in her voice. “But we do not tolerate a lack of cooperation. Your life and death belong to us now. You will do as we say without hesitation and you will answer us truthfully when we question you, or you will suffer. Be obedient, and things will be better for you. Do you understand?”

Novikke had the strange sensation of not quite being in the room, like she was looking down on herself from above. Like it wasn’t real. She swallowed. “Yes.”

Another pause.

“Place your hands on the table.”

The woman’s gaze was terrifyingly cold and steady. Novikke hesitated, and she saw anger flaring in the woman’s eyes.

Novikke’s body went tense in anticipation of pain. She slowly raised her hands and laid them flat on the desk. There was a small sound behind her, like a shifting of feet.

The flame flared, suddenly huge and hot and blinding. Novikke flinched, and then the woman’s hand came down on her arm, along with the ball of flame. Her hand clenched around Novikke’s forearm. Fire engulfed her sleeve.

Novikke screamed. The woman held on for an agonizing second, then two, then three, before releasing her. Novikke fell out of the chair. White-hot agony shot through her, obscuring all other senses until she thought she would pass out.

Her jacket was on fire. She ripped it off. Her shirt sleeve beneath the jacket was black and half burned away. The flesh on her arm was bubbling and angry red and black. She could smell it, like smoke and burnt hair.

She was distantly aware of someone speaking, but she didn’t have any room in her head for understanding it. The only thing she could think about was pain. Overwhelming pain.

Someone held something in front of her face, then pulled her head back by her hair and forced something between her lips. Liquid ran down her throat, and she coughed and sputtered.

Then, slowly, the pain began to fade. She recognized the bitter, herbal, magic-tinged taste of a panacea.

She stayed kneeling on the floor, shaking. Her arm still throbbed with sharp pain. The burn had turned to red scar tissue roughly in the shape of a hand.

When a pair of feet in spotlessly clean boots appeared in front of her, she looked up, terrified that another attack was incoming.

The woman looked down at her. The flame in her hand was, thank merciful Astra, gone. She studied Novikke with little interest.

“Maybe you understand very well, now.”

Novikke tried to hold back a sob, and choked. She looked down, cradling her burnt arm.

The woman sighed. “It’s late. We will suspend this discussion until tomorrow.”

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