*Warning: Strong language
Iris raised an eyebrow at Zayn, but the moment the words had passed his lips, he looked away. With a small smile, she walked along with the two men as they began their way downstairs. Before they even reached the inn's lobby, Iris heard Ra speaking, perhaps to the other members of the group. Gods, his voice was loud.
"Seems like they're up," Kayde commented, hearing the voice too. The general simply nodded. Iris looked over at Zayn to see that he seemed to be lost in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about, and she guessed that he was most likely coming up with something to say to the Token captain. No doubt she would be using this time to think about what she would say if it were all up to her. On this thought, she realized that it might be, in fact, all up to her. Her stomach coiled in a knot.
"Shit," she muttered, not loud enough for Kayde or Zayn to hear. She wondered what she would do if the talk with General Zayn did fail. After all, earlier when he had mentioned this part of their mission, he had left it up to her if he was not able to get information out of the captain. She wished that he had also told her what he wanted her to do if all didn't go as planned, because she had no idea. She knew that he wanted her to use methods of deceit. After all, when he had suggested that he might need her help, he did comment how duelists were good at conning people. If only she could have told him then that she wasn't very good at lying. Then again... that itself would be a lie, she realized. So, therefore, she would be lying about her ability to lie.
Now she had gone and confused herself.
"Morning to you, General. Ingred. Kayde," Ra greeted gruffly, giving Iris a good slap on the back. She almost stumbled forward at the contact. After reinstating her stature, she nodded in his direction.
"Morning to you," she said.
"Is there anything that for us to do, general?" asked Dregar.
Zayn looked over at the swordsman.
"As for now, we all need to find somewhere where we can sit... and perhaps eat," he started, "I have a few things I want to discuss with all of you before we go and meet our prisoner."
"I see," Dregar replied, "We should get going, then."
"Yes. We should," the general agreed, and began for the door.
As Zayn walked, he succumbed himself to thought again. But this time, it was not about what he would say to the captain. At this moment, he pondered on what he had heard Iris and Kayde had said this morning. She'd called him interesting looking.
He remembered that Kayde had indeed heckled her for a good minute over it too. He looked to her as he contemplated, not able to discern at this moment how exactly he felt about what all had been sasid. Zayn had never really received lots of attention from women. Of course, maybe that was because he hardly spent any time at all around them. After all, he'd been in the military since he was old enough. But it was more than that, he knew. Before now, he hadn't met a single one who'd shared any of his interests. Any girl he'd ever found attractive became less so very quickly because they'd all been so vapid.
As he looked at the armor-clad Iris, he wondered why more of them weren't like her. Even if it was illegal, he liked the prospect of a woman soldier far more than a simplistic, impeccable woman. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had decided not to kill her when he found out, because she broke the mold of every woman he had ever spoken to. Her eyes were filled with more determination than anyone's he had ever seen, men included. Then he looked away.
Next, his eyes cast to Kayde, who seemed to also be watching Iris. Immediately, Zayn noticed that the guardian looked at her differently when she wasn't watching. From the little that he had seen of Kayde, he had seemed to be nothing but a somber man with an occasional biting sense of humor. Now though, as Kayde looked at Iris, the general noticed that his eyes were filled with a sort of reverence he had not yet seen. But not only that. In the guardian's eyes, Zayn saw a lot of things: pride, adoration, and dedication. He looked as if he'd do just about anything for Iris.
Even stand against a general, Zayn thought, remembering that day in the woods.
Then, Zayn looked forward, halfway searching for an eatery. Even without full effort, he was still able to find one close by. Wordlessly, he led his group inside. Instantly, he noticed that it seemed like a slightly nicer place than the taverns and diners he was used to. He also noticed that there were quite a few people here.
"This is different," he heard the rogue's gruff voice say.
Everyone's head snapped to Iris.
"You've never been to a city like this before," Shen said smoothly, "I assume that this isn't the only different thing that you've seen here."
Iris nodded.
"You would be right," she answered, "Everything here is very unlike what I am used to: the buildings, the people, and even the atmosphere."
Then, they were led to a table.
----
The conversation and the breakfast had really done well to ease Zayn's mind. Though he didn't know exactly what he would say to the captain, he had a few good ideas. He wondered whether he should try and take the intimidation route first... or try to reason with the Token. As much as he hated the very idea of it, he knew that he just might have to go with the latter. After all, surely the others had tried to scare information out of him.
He would have to choose very soon, as he was entering the dungeons at the very moment. Upon opening the door, he saw one of his lieutenants speaking with a jailer.
"You're here, sir," the soldier said upon recognizing Zayn, cutting off the conversation with the warden, "We've been expecting you."
Zayn nodded. "I'm here. Is the prisoner... prepared?"
"Aye," the lieutenant answered, "But I warn you, it's not going to be easy. He hasn't said shit since he got here, despite our better efforts."
"Mm," Zayn grunted. "Hopefully I'll have better luck with him. Take me to him."
Thedorn wordlessly saluted Zayn and began walking towards the cells, and both the scouting group and the jailer followed after. It was quite a walk, as the captain had been put in the furthest chamber, and the keeper scurried ahead of the others to unlock the stone door. Before Zayn walked in, Thedorn spoke again. "He is yours to interrogate." He frowned, "May I say one last thing? Advice, if you will."
Zayn looked over and motioned for him to continue.
"If he refuses," Thedorn started. "...well, he has killed many Eldians. Even women and children. He doesn't deserve mercy."
General Zayn nodded and stepped inside the dark cell, with the rest of the scouting group falling in step behind him. Everyone's gaze fell immediately on the Token, who looked positively haggard as he was roped to the far wall.
A wicked smile contorted his face. "So more have come. I'll bet you're here for answers, aren't you?"
Zayn didn't play into the conversation terribly much. "Smart man." He walked and knelt in front of the captain.
"I'll bet you're a smart man too," the prisoner said. "Smart enough to know that you're not getting shit from me."
"Is your life worth so little to you, then?" Zayn asked. "Are your secrets worth dying over?"
"Ha!" came a loud laugh. "Listen at you talking like I'd live if I sold out my country. No, I'm a dead man walking." Now, the captain snarled. "If you could somehow guarantee you wouldn't cut my head from my shoulders the moment you got what you wanted, then I'd still have a Token knife waiting for my back. And then there's the option where I don't say shit to you, and you kill me. There's no different ending there, except one way, I don't die a traitor."
"You think there's no difference?" it was Zayn's turn. "Perhaps you're not as smart as I thought. There is a big difference in both endings."
The prisoner snorted. "Humor me, then. What's the difference?"
"The difference is how quick the blade is," came the answer. "The Tokens won't ever get the chance to lose a knife in you. The last face you'll ever see is mine, I guarantee it. You cooperate? Your death will be clean. I'll take your head from your shoulders and that'll be your end." Zayn slammed his shoulder back into the wall. "Otherwise? I'll take you apart and oh, you'll suffer. I'll cut all pieces from you, one at time. Fingers first... then arms. I'll even feed them to you, if I'm so inclined. I'll have your hair torn from your head, strand by strand. I'll let them scoop your eyes out with a hot spoon." A vicious smile tore apart Zayn's face, one that Iris had not yet seen. "Make no mistake, I'll hear your screams for days and days without end. You'll beg me to kill you... oh, but I won't. I'll take all those pieces from you until you have no limbs to move, no tongue to speak, and no eyes to see. And then I'll leave you. I'll go on the road and know that you'll only die as you slowly starve." Iris didn't imagine General Zayn would actually do something so horrible, but still, chills racked her spine at how convincing he'd been.
The captain spat at Zayn. "I won't ever beg you for shit," he hissed. "So you go ahead and do your worst."
Zayn busted his nose with the pommel of a sword, sending blood everywhere. "Who started this?" he asked calmly.
The captain recovered from the blow. "Oh, look at this Eldian fucking honor." There was something mildly horrifying about way the Token spoke to Zayn. "To be such such self righteous pissants, you sure know a lot about torturing the helpless, don't you?"
A metal-clad hand back-handed the Token captain. Zayn pulled the prisoner's face back for another blow. His voice dipped lower than Iris had ever heard it. "That's a groundless accusation coming from a man who kills children."
"You're just like me, aren't you?" came a gurgled laugh. "Except you're worse because you think you're the good guy, don't you?"
"I never said I was the good guy," Zayn said. "I'm only a man that would do anything to protect the citizens of this country."
"You failed," the prisoner rasped. "And you'll fail again. It doesn't matter if you have me, they'll only refill the role." He grinned a bloody grin. "I hope every single woman in child in your Eda dies in agony knowing that you failed them... you all failed them."
Iris immediately recoiled at the words.
Eda?
"Eda?" Zayn asked, "When will they attack Eda?"
He shook his head. "You'll know when they're all dead."
As they spoke, Iris's heart dropped into her belly. Her father... her aunt... Even though she was no longer in her village, they were. The rogue went into a sort of panic, not able to stop the image of their graves --of her home in ruins, from forming in her mind.
Zayn hit him again. This time, he went unconscious.
Iris saw Zayn raise his blade to kill the man. She couldn't help but yell out in Ingred's voice, "No! Don't!" The general stopped and turned to see her begging him with her eyes. "Don't kill him yet. We... my family. They live in Eda. They... we have to know when that attack is coming. Give it another day..." quietly, Iris added. "...please."
The general stayed his hand. With a nod, he sheathed his sword. "As you wish," he said. "We'll try again." He looked sympathetic. "But I have to tell you that I have no idea how I'm going to get him to say more than he already has."
"That's fine," Iris finally said, a wild idea coming to mind. "Because I might."