The Clan of Outcasts [Season 3]

Part 15: "Out of Range"

The White Castle (North)

Commander Edri sat at the table outside the interrogation room with her arms folded. Her eyes remained fixed on Queen Azelie, searching for any sign of vulnerability or danger. She could barely hear the conversation between Risyn and the prisoner--King Jaran had decided that the Mage was versed enough in the workings of someone else's psyche that he could keep the conversation flowing, perhaps pulling information out of Raedyn in a flow of words--while the King and his brother engaged in alternately threatening him with their Gifts to encourage the steady communication. While that was going on inside the room, Azelie sat outside to probe his distracted thoughts without him knowing.

At least, that was the hope.

The Queen grimaced and let out a frustrated hiss between her teeth.

Edri sat forward. "Something wrong, your Majesty?"

"No," Azelie grunted. "It's just... He's very resistant, that one. One moment, I've got a focus on his thoughts and he seems to want to reveal information very soon.... And then in the next, I find I've been following someone else entirely!" She shook her head. "Okay, I think I've got it now... Let me see, he's got something in his pocket... it's hidden away, I can picture him holding out his hand, while someone gives it to him... Now he's grabbing--" She stopped and pinched her lips together. "No, wait, that wasn't him."

Edri made a note to pass on to Risyn. "Well, the thing in his pocket is something, anyway. But who was that you saw grabbing something?"

The Queen kept her eyes down, focusing on a tiny ant crawling across the tabletop. Edri rolled her eyes and squashed it with a finger. "Your Majesty?"

Azelie shuddered, and she lifted her eyes, blinking several times. "What? Oh, I'm sorry, were you saying something? I wasn't listening."

Edri had several years of dealing with ignorant, difficult, and powerful people to give her experience with not letting her frustration show. She kept her face neutral and her voice level as she asked, "Did you find out anything else from Raedyn just now?"

It seemed almost unnatural, the way that impeccable face formed a frown. "Well, no..." Azelie even blushed a little as she admitted, "I wasn't listening to that, either." She stood up and began pacing, the worried frown still contorting her face.

Edri released the urge to slam the table in half and suppressed the raging lion inside herself by drumming her finger on the table. She watched Azelie pace a few times, and asked, "Your Majesty, if there's something--"

"Nothing!" Queen Azelie snapped in a frantic tone, coming to a stop. "I'm not--I mean I wasn't--" She ceased stammering and merely clapped her hands to her head. "It's too much, I've got too much to deal with right now!"

Edri sighed and stepped to the doorway. A page appeared only a moment later.

"Fetch the Archivist's assistant," she instructed him. "We need his help." The page bowed and scampered back toward the main halls of the castle.

Azelie flopped into the chair. "I'm sorry, Edri! I know how important it is to get into this man's head, and that there are only a few of us who could actually do that--"

Edri shrugged. "And one of those few is currently occupying some strange imperceptible plane of existence," she muttered, hoping as she did so that the Princess wasn't accidentally nearby to hear her speak so disrespectfully.

Just then, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Mage Risyn stepped out, followed by the two brothers. He bowed low to the queen, as Edri rose to attention in deference. He laid an object on the table in front of them.