"I told you, the bullet is weaved! I can't just turn it off!" Crow shouted, glaring down at the floor through narrowed eyes.
The reply earned him another hard blow.
Zeva swung the blunted sword into the side of his head with enough force to snap it sideways, the impact echoing through the cramped storeroom. Blood ran from the fresh split on his scalp as she calmly drew the weapon back and wiped the blade clean against a cloth.
"If you keep lying, this won't ever end," she said evenly.
Crow growled through gritted teeth, straining against the chains binding him to the chair hard enough to make the metal rattle. "I'm not fucking lying! That's the truth! You beating me isn't going to change the fact that I can't stop the bullet inside Amara!"
The sword slammed into him again before the last of his words had even settled.
"Do not yell," Zeva warned, lowering the weapon once more.
Annabel, standing beside her with her arms crossed, let out a quiet sigh. "Looks like he may be telling the truth about the bullet."
Quincy nodded slowly in agreement.
"Fine," she said, taking a few measured steps toward Crow. "Then let's move on to something else." She stopped in front of him, meeting his glare with one of her own. "Who sent you? You're definitely some type of assassin. An unofficial one, but an assassin nonetheless. So who paid you to try and kill her?"
Crow looked away without answering.
"Beat me all you want, but that's something you'll never get out of me."
Quincy watched him for a few long seconds before stepping back with a quiet sigh.
"This is bad. We aren't getting as much out of him as I thought we would."
Zeva turned toward her. "Then what should we do with him?" she asked before looking back at Crow. "Should I kill him?"
Crow's eyes shifted down to the blunted sword in her hand.
*She probably could kill me with that... at least it would be quick, I suppose,* he thought.
Quincy, however, shook her head.
"Just because he's not telling us anything doesn't mean we should just kill him."
She closed her eyes, trying to think of what to do next.
It was then that the door to the storeroom they were using as a makeshift interrogation room opened, and Zara walked in.
"What are you doing here?" Zeva asked as everyone in the room turned toward the doorway.
"My brother told me about this," Zara replied as she walked inside. "He mentioned a few details that sounded very similar to the one who tried to kill me a few nights ago."
She made her way over to Crow, stopping a few feet in front of him. Without saying another word, she looked him over carefully, studying every visible detail. Crow met her gaze for only a moment before looking away.
"There's no doubt about it," she said at last. "This... thing is the one who tried to kill me that night."
The other three turned their attention back to Crow.
"I had my suspicions," Annabel remarked, folding her arms, "but it's good to have them confirmed. Though I don't know how much this changes, other than giving him a significantly more severe charge."
"It changes something," Zara said, cutting in. She looked between the three of them before asking, "From what I can tell, he won't tell you anything, right?"
Zeva nodded. "Yes. He won't, no matter the beatings."
"Then because he attempted to assassinate me," Zara continued, "my brother and I can officially take custody of him and bring him back to Veridiania. The dwarves have a certain device capable of extracting information directly from the brain."
Crow froze.
"What?" he blurted out. "You have things like that?"
Quincy looked just as surprised. "You do?"
"Yes," Zara answered with a small nod. "It isn't used often because of how expensive it is, but someone attempting to assassinate a member of the royal family more than justifies its use. They'll use it to find out exactly why he did it."
A smile slowly spread across her face.
The other three exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
"Then it would be best for you and Prince Mark to take him," Zeva said, gesturing toward Crow.
For the first time since the interrogation had begun, genuine fear spread across Crow's face.
"Wait! Wait! I'll tell you! Don't let her take me!" he shouted, pulling desperately against the chains as the chair scraped across the floor.
"Information gained from torture is rarely good information," Annabel said with a small smirk and an indifferent shrug.
"Let me paralyze him for you," Quincy offered as she stepped toward Crow.
"No! No! Stop! No!"
The sound of a neck being snapped echoed through the room.