The Rebel Assassin

Chapter 32: Prisoner

I felt a little sick. As unpleasant as talking to Iso was, it was probably preferable to whatever he wanted to do to me. I needed to distract him, slow him down, give the others a chance to get here first. Wherever here was.

"How long was I out?" I wanted to stay cool and uncaring, but the drug's retreat had taken my calm with it. I fought to keep my voice level.

"Two days and pieces. You did wake up a few times, I suppose you don't remember."

My stomach dropped. I'd hoped they'd just gotten me here. If it had been that long, though, it could only mean the others didn't know where I was any more than I did.

"I'd hoped you would give me more of a conversation than this. You seemed clever when we had our conversation over dinner."

"I thought I was a captive. I didn't realize I was entertainment," I snapped back, then bit my tongue. If he wanted me to be clever, I didn't want to be. But then again, the longer we talked, the longer it would be before he started... whatever he wanted to do to me. I had to swallow my pride and give in a little. I turned my head again to look at him.

He was smiling humorlessly. "I get the feeling you can't help but be entertaining. It comes from your unpredictability. You are hard to plan around."

It felt like he was choosing his words carefully. But I had always felt that around Iso, felt the invisible strings and delicate machinery he seemed to be adjusting witch each word, as if he were an actor on a tricked stage. There was a hidden meaning behind each pause. What I didn't understand was what he could be hiding when I was at his mercy. What was he playing at?

I scrambled uselessly for what kind of question he wanted to be asked. If he was sitting here, calmly conversing, then he was willing to be stalled. I just needed a topic.

But he beat me to it, apparently not feeling the need to pretend the conversation was equal. "I have a particular hatred for the Protectorate, but it really is lucky for us you travelled through it. Medea — my younger daughter, you met her —"

I certainly had, and I liked her about as much as I liked her older sister.

"— she recognized you when you visited the university. She passed word on, and we've been waiting for you to come through again."

"Why is Medea in the Protectorate anyway?"

He paused. "You know what the university is."

A glorified prison, yes. Still, I looked at him, thinking.

He seemed to take that as a lack of understanding. "Their Majesties the Monarchs of Englescroft saw fit to send Medea here for her education, and for my continued loyalty."

He must have thought I was stupid. I understood what he was saying alright, it just clashed with what I already knew of him. The fact that the monarchs of Englescroft felt the need to take Iso's daughter in order to keep him in line suggested they couldn't quite trust him. But everything I knew of Iso, from what Joshua had told me of his past service to Englescroft and his own behavior, had convinced me he was a very willing agent of the Englian crown. It didn't add up, unless I had completely misunderstood him.

Did Iso not really want to serve Englescroft this way? Was that why he had been such an odd ambassador, trying to sway my loyalties and then spouting threats? I could have believed it if he wasn't such a despicable person.

I had gotten too quiet, staring at him with narrowed eyes as I tried to puzzle him out.

He stiffened and changed the subject quickly. For a moment I felt a sense of power, of authority. Even chained down and a prisoner I could make him uncomfortable.