"I'm a stalker," Isabella said. Her vocal timbre was serious and low, as if she were talking about a secret mission. "I'm your number one fan" that wasn't a lie. "I'm obsessed" she continued, "and I think I need therapy" she added, which she probably did need.
Fenrys turned around, his back facing her. And it was because of the way his whole body shook that told her he was trying very hard to contain his laughter. Lorcan seemed unimpressed but he always looked like that. Rowan hissed through his teeth, a clear sign that he was losing his patience. Gavriel remained the same: a kind smile on his face that never seemed to shatter. Isabella had realized that it was, indeed, a fake smile. One that he might probably only use for "civilized" interrogations. He was playing the good cop, while Rowan was the closest to a bad cop in the tent. Fenrys was just a clown cop and Lorcan...well, he was a boring cop.
They had asked her plenty of questions already. Where she was from, how she had ended up in the forest, who she was, how did she know them, etcetera, etcetera. She had wanted to tell them the truth, had decided to tell them the truth, but then she panicked. They had gotten closer and closer to her with each question, encircling her as if she were an object they didn't quite understand, and she had felt like a prisoner all over again. She had even feared they might try to touch her, manhandle her, and that had been the last straw. She had been so afraid and nervous, with memories running through her mind, that she almost attempted to run. It was irrational and a destined failure because they were literally in. Front. Of. Her. Covering any possible exit. And the soldiers were still outside her tent. And there was no way she would have been able to even take a step outside with them so close to her to stop her.
But she didn't.
She would have if Rowan hadn't taken several steps back until he was standing back in his place behind and close to Gavriel. And if he hadn't practically snarled an order to Fenrys and Lorcan to also step back. She hadn't understood the order because they hadn't spoken a language she knew. And Isabella had realized that Remelle had probably only allowed her to speak one language from this world; and it wasn't the one that the males spoke between each other. It was a strange tongue, she couldn't place any word and nothing sounded similar to anything she had heard before. Isabella imagined they were speaking the Tongue of the Fae, a language no mortal could speak because their predisposed biology made it impossible for them to do so. It was very frustrating, especially after she had just finally managed to understand them. She also thought it was very rude but she prevented herself from telling them so and asking them if their parents hadn't taught them manners. And it wasn't hard to stop herself from doing so after she remembered that most of them were orphans.
"Isabella, please," Gavriel told her. And the way he said it would have reminded her of a man begging if it weren't for the fact that Gavriel's hands were in fists. It was inevitable for her to stop one of her eyebrows to shoot upward at the sight of the male's hands. Interesting. "I'm just asking for the truth"
She wanted the same. She wanted to admit everything and for them to say that she was not crazy and that it was actually all part of a new TV show. She wanted everything to be a misunderstanding. She wanted them to be humans, for her to be safe and for everything to be normal
And yet...
And yet a part of her wanted everything to be real.
But she also wanted a rational answer.
"I am telling the truth" she said to Gavriel, but she knew that her tone wasn't convincing. She wasn't really trying.
"No" he muttered, and dropped his smile for the first time since the interrogation had started. "No, you are not. The only real thing you have told us is your name"
"Which is very pretty, by the way," added Fenrys. Gavriel shot him an incredulous look and Fenrys shrugged. "It is" he said to the male. As if that was reason enough and he were being completely sensible.
"It's common," she murmured. She hadn't meant to say it but the words had left her mouth before she could contain them. It was stupid to mutter a complain about her name now. It didn't really matter but she had met plenty of Isabella's through her short life and she'd always wished for a more exotic name. A unique name, worthy of a character from a book, a name that sounded like adventures and fire, magic, and never-ending love.
Rowan was the first one to direct his gaze away from the two males to look at her instead. His shoulders were tense. Was it because she had spoken? But he didn't speak, not even after she turned her gaze away from him, because just the sight of him was enough to make her heart beat fast. Damn my crush, she thought.
"Could you repeat that?" Gavriel asked her. And maybe, if she had unintentionally grumbled about something important, she wouldn't have answered him.
But she hadn't, so she did. "It's common" she repeated, much louder this time. And she had to clear her throat before speaking again. "That's what I said"
"Is your name common from where you are from?"
"Yes"
"And where is that? The place you come from" Okay. She should have seen that coming.
"Far far away" she answered, and she wished they understood her Shrek's reference. If they did, it would have been much funnier. Instead, they all wore serious expressions.
"How far?" Gavriel asked.
"Far far"
Lorcan rolled his eyes while Fenrys purred himself a glass of water. She swallowed. She was thirsty and they hadn't offered her food or drinks since they had served her lunch. And it was nighttime already! She had gotten used to eating three meals a day and they were restraining her from eating. Would they also prevent her from bathing? She almost slapped herself in the face for even thinking that. Of course they were not going to give her any food or allow her out of the tent for her to bathe. They were interrogating her! And her hunger was something they could use in their advantage, to get answers from her.
"Would you be able to tell me where if I showed you a map?" Gavriel insisted.
Isabella considered it. It would be good for her to see a map and know where exactly she was; maybe she could even remember it and use that knowledge for trying to escape. But surely they knew that. Did they not consider her capable enough to escape, even if they showed her a map? Assholes. She nodded to him anyway. Rowan grabbed a folded yellowish paper from under a book and unfolded it before leaving it in front of her. She leaned closer to the table to take a good and long look at it. She didn't know a thing about maps but this one was beautiful. It had drawings of trees and flowers, the ocean and fishes, small rivers running in between territories, and names for everything marked. Isabella noticed that it was a map made by hand, definitely a talented artist because the drawings were not just alluring but also extremely accurate. She also noticed that she could read the names written on it, which meant that they were showing her a map in the tongue she could speak.
She pretended to be looking for the town where she was from –which she knew she would not find because it was not in this world- and used that time to try to memorize the geography of their world. Isabella considered pointing to a random place and pretending that she was from there but it was too dangerous. She couldn't risk pointing to a place where people speak a certain language because they would expect her to actually speak that tongue and she still had no idea what language she could speak. And even if they assumed she hadn't spoken her "mother tongue" before because it was all part of her "plan" –which she didn't have- was still too risky. It was all too tiring and confusing and she wanted to throw a tantrum but she didn't.
Instead, she shrugged and looked at no one in particular when she spoke "The place where I come from is not in this map" She was being honest so she hoped they would be honest to her too.
"That's not possible," Gavriel told her. She just shrugged, "It is" she said back. But she was too focused on what he had said to care about her answer. Based on what Gavriel had said, they had shown her a world map, with every kingdom and continent. That was good, she had feared for a moment that maybe they had just shown her a map with missing information.
"It is not" Fnerys said, and the surprise of him actually engaging in her interrogation made her look at him. "Everything is there so where are you from?" He finished and pointed to the map.
She looked back at it. Adarlan, Erilea, Eyllwe, The Deserted Land, Terrasen. Isabella felt the sudden need to touch the map, to make sure that it was real, to trace the words of the kingdoms she had read about; and believed it to be just a fantasy. But she didn't.
"I'm not lying" she looked back at the map one last time before locking eyes with Fenrys, then Gavriel and Lorcan, finishing with Rowan; before saying "It is not there"
Fenrys opened his mouth, ready to object but Rowan was faster than him. He spoke instead. "This map doesn't show everything" and the statement was for Fenrys but he was looking at her. Only her. "It just shows everything from this world" he continued and she could feel the changing looks on the other males' faces but she only focused on Rowan. She couldn't tear her gaze away from him. "And she is definitely not from our world".
Well, that didn't go as she had planned.