Empire of Ashes

Chapter LXX - I Spy

"That was very stupid, Lyra," the king told me. Strangely, he sounded closer to irked than angry. "It has been a long time since anyone has made such a clumsy attempt on my life. A long, long time."

I spat on the ground. His fingers tightened on my windpipe, and my breaths became gasps. He was fast losing patience with my silence and my hatred, but I was sure I didn't give a shit. I wanted him to do something unforgivable, something monstrous, so I would find it all the easier to take his life.

"You get one of those," he snarled. "You get to snap once. Gods, I know I wouldn't be alive today if I hadn't been given that much. But you try it again, and I will take your thumbs and forefingers. Do you understand?"

I stared stonily over his shoulder, my mouth firmly shut, and he seemed to reach the end of his temper. His thumb dug into my throat, cutting off my air altogether.

"Do you understand?"

I was under no illusions what would happen if I kept up this game. Chains, bars and bruises. That was, if Herox didn't kill me on the spot. I would have to bend before he decided I needed to be broken. I had done it before, after all - begging and whimpering at the feet of the captain during that first, merciless beating.

I nodded my head and winced as it drove his fingers even further into my neck. The next second, they were gone altogether, and I could suck in a lungful of sweet, cool air. He released me and stepped backwards, his weight on his heels and his body loose, as if he was not sharing a room with someone who had just tried to slit his throat. The message was clear - I was not a threat.

The king even smiled. "Good. Now that we are friends, we may broach the reason for my visit. You may not be a spy, but I have no doubt you know plenty about Temris and his movements. And that means you can be useful to me. If you answer the questions I ask - honestly, mind - you will find that your life improves drastically."

There was the carrot. But where was the stick?

"If not, Lyra, you are just another slave, and I have tens of thousands. Worse - you are a slave who has spent the last few moons running around with a traitor, and you seem to want me dead. That path would not end happily for you."

Ah, there it was. Tell or die. How many times could this man threaten my life in the space of a conversation? And how could I escape this one intact?

You can tell him everything, Tem had said. I have nothing to hide. Perhaps they had been instructions and not taunts. That was most likely wishful thinking on my part, but the point stood. Whether or not they thought I was a spy, they wanted me to talk to the king. They wanted me to answer honestly. Otherwise, why bother bringing me all this way and throwing me at his feet?

So, yes - I could spill my guts, but that did not mean I had to do it for nothing. When I finally opened my mouth, my voice was hoarse but steady. It was a far cry from the commanding sneer I had used on our escorts.

"I will tell you," I said, "if you free me."

"So you can speak," the king mused, smiling his satisfaction. "I was beginning to wonder."

I kept my lips sealed, waiting for him to answer my offer. And eventually, he did, but only after he had tipped his head to the side to consider it.

"Freedom for information? It would be a fair bargain, but I am not bargaining with you. I do not have to. Your life is worth more to you than anything you can offer me."

I acknowledged that with a rueful shrug. "Ah, but I do know something of real value. Something worth my life and my freedom and more besides."