Clash of Captains

Chapter 15

Aneira's eyes fluttered open and she was suddenly aware of a deep, profuse ache in every part of her body. The pain in her head and around her temples seemed most prominent, a dull throbbing that made her want to curl up in a ball and never wake up. She groaned as she reached up to massage her forehead. Instead of reaching her head, her hands jolted to a stop halfway up. Aneira's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before she came to realize her dilemma: she was shackled to the thick stone wall by her wrists, and while the chain was of a decent length, it was not long enough for her to stretch her hand up to touch her forehead. She shoved as much strength as she could muster against the metal of the manacles, but it was no use; all she managed was to press manacle-shaped indents into the skin of her wrists. Groaning from the effort, Aneira slumped against the wall and slid down to sit on the cold floor.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light of the cell, and she glared at the wall across from her. Part of her thought that it was pointless to construct such an elaborate cell if her captors were just going to chain her to one wall anyway. But I guess that's their business, she thought to herself. Aneira considered the mess she had gotten herself into. I'm captured here. I assume it's the Dregian dungeons, which I've never seen the inside of... She studied the cell, finding nothing better to do with the seemingly endless amount of time she'd been left with.

All four walls were made of the same thick grey stone, which could have been slate or some morph of dark marble -- not that it made much of a difference to whoever was being held in the cell. There were no windows whatsoever, giving Aneira no sense of what time it was, or how long she had been unconscious. The only light came from outside the barred door, where a single lantern hung on the opposing wall, which Aneira assumed was a part of the dungeon's hall that her cell was off of. She heard no other noise; either there were no other prisoners, or the dungeon had multiple halls and the other captives were all kept somewhere else. The idea was a little unsettling.

Except for a single rickety wooden stool positioned in the center of the cell, the room was void of furniture. Even worse, the seat was out of reach, leaving Aneira nowhere to sit but the floor. For now, she was too exhausted and overwhelmed by her current situation to mind. Her eyes drifted shut. I can just sleep for a while. That is, until someone comes for me... They've got to send someone at some point. They wouldn't just leave me here to starve... right?

Aneira felt herself growing tired, and her mind began to drift off into a light sleep. Just before she fell asleep completely, the sound of footsteps echoing down the dungeon's hall made her jolt awake, eyes wide. Soon, a tinkling of metal, like a ring of keys, joined the footsteps. A silhouette appeared in front of the lantern light, all broad shoulders and slender hips and short hair. She squinted, but it wasn't until the figure unlocked the cell door and stepped inside and out of the back-lighting that Aneira recognized her. Devyn.

"You." Aneira stated simply, the words coming out in an annoyed hiss. The dark-haired captain's eyes shot up, and a crooked smile graced her lips.

"I can't tell from your tone, blondie; are you happy to see me?" Devyn chuckled as Aneira let out a frustrated groan. She sidled further into the cell and glanced at the wooden stool. "Is this seat taken?" Aneira didn't bother to voice a response; the stool was nowhere within reach of her currently restricted movements.

Devyn pulled the stool closer to her and sat down, straddling it so casually that Aneira half wondered if this was something she was used to doing. How much experience does she have with interrogating prisoners? Devyn leaned forward a bit, still just out of Aneira's reach, so that the left side of her face was lit with lantern light. Her jawline was sharper than Aneira had noticed before, and in the flickering light from the lantern flame, she seemed to be cut at all sharp angles. She was a deadly blade just waiting to meet its match.

"You must really be in love with me," Aneira murmured when Devyn had finally settled herself down and had stopped fidgeting around. "Considering you could have just sent one of your friends to talk to me, and you felt the need to come here yourself."

The captain's eyes narrowed slightly, some of her previous amusement draining from her expression. "My friends wouldn't be able to get the job done as well as I'll be able to." Somehow, the mystique of the words made them all the more intimidating, and Aneira found herself regretting her teasing.

"So why are you here, then? To try and get me to talk? You think I'll spill all of Ledah's battle plans?" Aneira demanded as the cell fell into a tense bout of silence again.

"That would be great, yeah," Devyn responded, some of her seemingly characteristic cockiness back in her tone. "I guess we can start with that, if you're willing."

Aneira couldn't tell whether the young woman was joking. She raised an eyebrow, her grey eyes fixed determinedly on Devyn. "Don't get your hopes set too high. I'm not telling you anything."

"I was worried you'd say that."

Aneira flinched slightly as Devyn leaned closer, her lips curled in a mocking smile. She refused to show fear, and yet a shudder still visibly passed through her as she saw the light glint off of the young woman's dark eyes.

"Let's start off simple," Devyn murmured at last, tilting her head back slightly as if to give Aneira a little more space to breathe. "Why don't we begin with Ledah's war strategies? What are your plans regarding the coming battles? Do you have any attacks already staged?"

Aneira sank against the wall, pressing her back further into the rough stone. "As I already told you, captain, I'm not saying anything."

Devyn's eyes narrowed for a moment, before her expression relaxed suddenly. "Hm."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how the tables will turn within a few days. How you'll soon be on your knees in front of me begging for mercy, spewing information like a geyser." The amusement in Devyn's gaze was the last thing Aneira saw before the captain stood up, pushed the stool away with an unsatisfying creak, and left the cell without another word.