The metal drive rubbed against my skin, slick with nervous sweat, as I tried to stand normally behind Jack. The interrogation room was empty except for us, and two other mercenaries. They were dressed all in black, with masks over their faces, and bloodlust in their eyes.
I wasn't ready for this, I didn't have time to hide ALYX, or even decide what I was going to do with her. I was going to get caught, and worst of all, it was going to happen in this stupid room. Probably while the Cynabarrians watched.
"I'm glad you're joining us Holly." Jack spoke with such sincerity, like it was at all my choice to be there.
"I think this will be very enlightening. For you, for us, just an all-around success."
I had become very good at internalizing my eye-rolls, so I shot back blithely.
"Sure. Happy to be here, Boss."
He turned around suspiciously, smiling when my blank facial expression matched my words and tone.
"I told you I wanted you to take on a special role here, and I did mean that."
"I didn't doubt it."
"Yes, very well. I guess it's time to clarify what that special role will be."
Silent, still, no reaction, Holly. Don't react.
"Ooh, do I get to be the line leader?" So much for silence.
"Sarcasm, that's attractive. Really, Holly, you'd be much more bearable if you kept your mouth shut." Acerbic, sharp. Mr. Nice Guy was gone, replaced by the real Jack. What a condescending prick.
"Noted." I needed to stop instigating him. My life was already a living hell, but Jack was the one person with the power to make it even worse.
"Anyway, you seem uncomfortable. Maybe watching this will be too much for you." His smile was like a shark, I could see all his teeth. I felt unnerved, every bone in my body wanted to run, like I was about to be eaten.
"Well, either way, I have a better idea. I don't want you to watch this, I want you to participate."
Silent, no emotion, no reaction. Honestly, I don't know if I could have spoken if I wanted to.
Jack turned to the mercenaries in the masks. "Smith, get Holly here some gloves. We're going to keep her face uncovered, but we want to make sure she doesn't bruise her knuckles." Cue more smiling.
There was nothing I could think of to do. So, I stood there. I stood silent as more people filtered in and out of the room. I stood unmoving as they lifted my hands and outfitted me with thin leather fingerless gloves. The knuckles were padded and they velcroed on tight. These were evil gloves, made so that bad people could do bad things in comfort. And I stood pathetically cold, wearing them.
I jolted back into personhood when someone brought over torso padding and attempted to dress me. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered ALYX tucked close to my chest, and I had enough wherewithal to indicate I would dress myself.
It seemed like hours passed, but it was likely within the span of 45 minutes that they prepared the room for some sort of advanced interrogation. I noted two sets of restraints lowered from the ceiling, low enough so the prisoners' feet touched the ground, but so high they would have to wobble uncomfortably on their toes. I knew from experience that they would feel half choked by the position, and endure the chest compression that came from having their wrists raised so far above their heads. If they were beaten, they would swing from the chains.
Eventually the room cleared of people; it was once again just Jack and I, and the two interrogators.
"Okay. Let's get this show on the road." Jack rubbed his hands together like we were waiting for a live theater performance to commence.
"Bring them in."
Don't react. Do not react. Holly, don't you dare react.
The doors opened and two men were dragged into the room. Tall, Cynabarrians, they were each escorted by two mercenaries. Their heads drooped low as they were basically pulled across the floor and fitted into the shackles. My gaze was fixated somewhere above their heads, unfocused and unseeing.
Once the handcuffs were secured, and another chain put in place that rooted their ankles to the floor, the men escorting the prisoners left the room.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Let us begin."
With that one quick statement, the two masked men walked over and each grabbed the head of one of the prisoners. They wrenched their faces upward by their hair, so both of them had no choice but to look at Jack. That also meant they had a clear view of me, standing right behind his left shoulder.
I shuffled over like a coward, my head still down. I knew they would recognize me eventually, but some small part of me hoped that if I didn't make eye contact, I would melt into the floor.
"Hello, good sirs. Thank you so much for joining us today! We have some really fun stuff planned, so let's get right to it."
"Thank you... for having us." The voice was clearly drugged and slurred, but I still recognized Koryn as he tried to force his inebriated gaze focused on Jack. He was being brave, and my heart lurched thinking of Akara. They were on the brink of marriage when we left, but I had barely seen him since the ceremony. I wondered if she was back on Cynabar, still hoping that he would make his way home.
Focusing on Koryn was painful, but it delayed the inevitable. I looked on in sorrow as his response earned him a forceful jab in the kidney. He could handle this, we could handle this. When this was all over he would make his way back home to Akara...
"And, you." Sadly, Jack decided it was time to draw my attention to the man next to Koryn.
"Holly, why don't you step up."
Stefin, who was previously glaring daggers at Jack, shifted his gaze to me. I heard Koryn's disbelieving curse through the roaring in my ears, as I walked slowly forward, taking my place next to Jack.
"Gentlemen, a lot has changed, fairly recently. You see, you are no longer free men. You no longer have power, and you are no longer in charge." Jack gestured to me, his every word like a dagger to my chest. "Holly knows what that is like. That's why she's going to do everything I tell her to, now."
I wanted to smack him, hurt him, kill everyone else in that room and set Koryn and Stefin free. Heartbreak was one thing, at one point I had wanted Stefin to suffer, but now that such an outcome was inevitable, I was terrified. I had recently come to the realization that my feelings for him would lessen, but never truly go away. Now, I had to torture the man who I would love for the rest of my life.
"Holly, we want the Prince to talk, now don't we?" Jack expected a response, a verbal response.
"Yes, Boss." I sounded like a robot.
"Very well. Punch him in the face."
So sudden, so immediate. No choice.
I walked over to Stefin, holding my breath because I knew breathing the air around him would be too intimate. To smell him, would be proof he was really there. His face showed the betrayal I expected, but there was no surprise in those blue-grey eyes. He knew I would be here. Well, good for him. At least one of us could be prepared for this.
I hauled off and punched him, hard, gloves and all. My knuckles glanced off his cheekbone, and his head whipped back and to the side with a sickening crack. When he slowly lifted his head again, there was a small cut under his eye. Leather is unforgiving.
"That was awesome!" Jack yelled from behind us, chuckling with glee. "Okay, do it again, other side!"
I stepped back and adjusted my footing. I looked Stefin in the eye, not shying away, and prepared for another swing.
"Wait, I changed my mind, uppercut. Really get his jaw."
My arm swung, fist primed, and Stefin's head was again thrown back by the force of my punch. During the past few years I had thought a lot about hurting him for what he had done to me. In reality, every time I hit him it felt like I was being slowly forced to kill myself.
To Stefin's credit, he didn't utter a word. My eyes never left his, except when they squeezed shut in pain, not for the whole time. I was a puppet, punching and kicking on command. My master pulled my strings and where he wanted, bruises and cuts bloomed on Stefin's face. His breath eventually started coming in short gasps, and flecks of blood lined his dry lips as he coughed. Earlier, I felt my foot break some of his ribs.
When we first met, it seemed like nothing I could do would shake Stefin, like his strength was such that the pounding of my fists would be nothing but an annoyance. That feeling was misguided. Now, in the most unfair matchup in the world, I was beating him to death.
"Okay, that's enough for now." I barely heard Jack's command, it was with whatever instinct I had left that I heeded his words and retreated back to his side.
"So, that's how this is going to go. That is, unless you cooperate. I wanted to give you a taste, just so you could really weigh your options. Prince Stefin," Jack sneered, "I want details about the Terran stronghold on Cynabar."
"You can beat me as much as you want. I'm not saying anything." Stefin spoke for the first time, and somehow his voice sounded as strong and powerful as ever. I looked up in hope, maybe we really would survive this.
"Oh. Disappointing. Okay, Plan B." Jack snapped his fingers and the masked mercenaries dropped Koryn and Stefin's heads, and slowly started to walk over where we stood.
I wasn't aware of any Plan B, and I realized why as soon as the two men surrounded me, each grabbing one of my arms and dragging me over to the prisoners.
"What the fuck is going on, Jack? Stop it, you assholes!" The last words were directed to the men, who brought me in between the Cynabarrians and held me unable to move.
"I want to know some very specific things. Like, how many Terran ships are currently operating in your jurisdiction?" Jack addressed only Stefin, as I swore and fought back to no avail.
Jack waited for several seconds, and tutted disapprovingly when no response came. Stefin was silent. Staring at the floor.
"Smith, break Holly's left ring finger."
Crack. The pain was immediate, searing, and I screamed out.
"See, because you were going to be married. But then you didn't love her, and none of it was real, isn't that right, Stefin? Holly and I talk about it all the time."
"You're an absolute maniac!" I was enraged. It was one thing to be used as an executioner, but a pawn?
"Yes, I know, but that's off topic. Let's try again. Your Majesty, how many Terran ships are in your jurisdiction?"
I refused to look over at Stefin. He had endured an hour long beating from me to refuse to answer any questions. The least I could do was stay strong for this. I'd done it before.
"Very well. Smith, knee to the stomach."
Smith prepared to follow orders, and I had the sickening realization that the hard drive was about to be jammed straight into my solar plexus. If it broke, ALYX was gone forever.
"Wait!" I screamed out, and succeeded in stalling the inevitable.
"Jack, you're being stupid. Cruel, I understand, but this is wasting everyone's time. We've already been through this, everyone here knows I can take some physical damage. Also, in case you forgot, these Cynabarrians don't care what the hell you do to me."
I paused, and spit at the floor by Stefin's feet. "Fucking filthy aliens would probably love to see you beat up on a defenseless woman."
Jack cocked his head, and I saw I finally had earned a reaction from Stefin. Now he looked at me with revulsion, which hadn't been there even as I broke his nose.
I rolled my eyes, still in character.
"If you want to get something out of these barbarians, I know exactly what you need to do. Really, you should have just talked to me about this. I already told you I was game."
"Fine. Enlighten me. But don't waste my time, Holly." I was in a very precarious position. I just needed to bide a few days, and the only way to do that was to tell the truth.
"On Cynabar, there is a small town, a days trip by train from the Capital city. They have no defenses, it's just hidden in the jungle. These two men have family and friends there. Individuals who they would do anything to protect. And I can take you there."
"What the fuck, Holly, no!" Koryn yelled out, earning himself a jab in the ribs.
Stefin, to his credit, spoke calmly, as if he was still trying to hide what a big threat I had truly made.
"If you go anywhere near Cynabar, you and your little girlfriend are going to pay." He addressed Jack, I was dead to him.
"Sounds good to me!" Jack was smiling again. "Boys, let our Holly go. Sweetheart, why don't you stop by the infirmary on your way back to your room? We need you in tip top shape for tomorrow."