Marix pulled another needle out from under Eilownia's nail bed.
Her nose scrunched up and her eyebrows furrowed as he began to squeeze her fingers, one by one.
The ache shot down to her knuckle and she could feel her pulse throbbing hard against his fingers as he squeezed.
'Well trained. Very well trained indeed. Hardly any reaction. Must be trained well. Probably most of her adolescence. Thick skin, probably compartmentalizes the pain. Scarring on her body...…'
His eyes trailed to her clothed back.
'.....shows signs of injury and re-injury. Probably to enhance pain tolerance. Naivety is most likely an act to confuse the enemy if caught by driving them mad with frustration. Whoever taught her, taught her extremely well.'
Marix gentled his touch and let up on his squeezing.
"You pledge loyalty to Sola. My curiosity grows. Your precious Sola, do they care you are here? Or would they have you kill yourself with cyanide?"
She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.
"No. You didn't have any poisons on you."
He squinted his eyes as he looked off to the side, "It would be a blaring red sign. 'Sola has infiltrated.' If you were to do that, it would be obvious. No. This way is smarter. More calculated. This way you seek to frustrate and confuse me until I go crazy, until you die or I let you go. Then, your innocence becomes more believable. Yes. Then suspicion on Sola is removed….."
"What-?"
"What were your training methods? I'm curious. I'd love to train our own spies using the same foundations. Truly you must be very valuable."
He held her fingers up and examined them. Blood painted the underparts of her nails a light shade of red.
Eilownia shrugged. "I don't have any training methods. I'm getting tired of having to repeat myself."
Her shoulders slumped and her eyes rolled as her voice dropped in energy, "I haven't been trained. I'm not a spy. I'm not valuable. Repeat and repeat."
His eyebrow lifted and he tilted his head as he stared at her.
"You barely react to what I do to you. The interrogation seems like child's play. A normal person would react by now, they'd probably falsely confess even. Spies who are lesser trained would've given up too. Yet you do not. You continue with your charade."
"Share aid?"
Marix pinched the bridge of his nose, "Lies. Act. Falsehoods."
"Because I'm not lying!"
"That's what makes it suspicious. Others would. At this point, no...…before this point, others would've falsely confessed by now, just to make it stop. But not you."
"I'm telling you the truth, but I don't think you are treating me so bad…..even though I'd prefer you not to do things like this." She wiggled her fingers in his grasp.
He stared at her incredulously, "You don't think I'm treating you so bad huh? Then perhaps I need to be harsher with you."
She frowned, "I'm telling you to do the opposite. I think you're not a very good listener."
"You're mistaken. It's my job to listen. Listen and filter the truth from deceit."
He released her hand and she started to gently suck on her fingertips.
His eyes fixated on the way her lips puckered around them. He quickly averted his gaze upon realizing what he was focusing in on.
"Rest now. I'll be back to question you more tomorrow."
As he left, he couldn't help but continue to wonder, 'What if her other half is a hidden contender in this war we don't even know about? Surely by now they'd assume she'd been captured?'
His mind reeled at all of the possibilities and he found himself practically dying of hunger for the truth. This puzzle had been his most fascinating and most challenging yet.
Hours later, Marix was consulting with the other high-ranking officers in the war room when Briggs entered and whispered in his ear.
"General. The scouts who went to Sola returned."
Marix nodded, "Everyone. Out."
Without hesitation, all of the officers saluted and filtered out the door.
Briggs saluted him before continuing.
"While they were gathering intel, they overheard a maid. Apparently, her daughter went missing a few days ago and matches the description of your prisoner. They brought her back to Viraaz."
Marix nodded, then jerked his head upwards.
Briggs snapped his fingers and a group of their guards brought the maid in.
She knelt in front of Marix, trembling hard. Her black hair that had been tied up in a neat bun now had strands fraying out of it. The perfectly ironed long black maid uniform had suffered from wrinkling and dirt around the hem.
"You're searching for your daughter, are you? Lift your head. I want to take a good look at you."
The maid looked up and sucked on her bottom lip, her eyes full of tears.
Marix grabbed her chin and tilted her head from side to side.
'Solan. Pure. Does that mean our Little Flower's father is the foreigner? No.....it doesn't make sense…..'
He pulled out the pouch of coins and poured out a few into his hand, then held them out for her.
"Tell me. Do you recognize these at all?"
The maid reached out for one, then pulled her hand back. She stared up at Marix, seeking permission to take one.
"Go on." He lifted an eyebrow and nodded his head upward.
She took a deep breath and grabbed one of the coins, holding it up and examining it carefully. She then shook her head and placed it back in his hand.
"Have you heard of anyone else who is missing from Sola? Do you know anyone who might have odd coins like this?"
She pursed her lips and took a moment to search her memory and consider those that she knew.
"No. I haven't heard of anyone else going missing. I haven't seen any coins like these in my life and I don't know anyone who would be in possession of such odd things either."
Marix glanced at Briggs who shrugged one shoulder.
"Off with you."
As the maid left, one of the guards grabbed her arm hard and yanked her towards him as he whispered in her ear.
"You better not speak a word of this to anyone else. We will find out and we will find you if you do."
He then tossed her forward, propelling her and causing her to stumble.
Briggs leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
"Verdict?"
"I don't think it's her. That maid was pure Solan. The prisoner is half, and these coins came from her mother. It wouldn't make sense if her father was the foreigner, unless they were gifted, in which case you'd think they'd be described as a family heirloom. A mere maid wouldn't be lying about the coins either. Keep tabs on her just in case, though."
Briggs saluted Marix, "Yes sir," before he headed out to inform the intel unit.
After he called the other officers back in and finished up his business, Marix headed back to the dungeon to question Eilownia further.
'Little Flower, just what are you hiding? I have so many questions for you.'
However, when he arrived in her cell, she was curled up tight and fast asleep.
He stood there and stared down at her.
'Why do you look so peaceful? How....can you look so peaceful? Are those nails not pressing into your flesh? What's your story Little Flower? I long to uncover it.'
Without realizing it, his hand had reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. A shiver ran up his spine as his knuckles made contact with her soft cheek.
As if burned, he yanked his hand back and cleared his throat.
Then he grabbed her shoulder and violently shook her until she awoke.
She sat up and rubbed her eye as straw scattered onto the floor.
"Hmm….? Is it time for more questioning already? I'm so tired...."
Marix squatted down so he was eye level with her.
Why was he feeling guilty for having woken her up?
"Little Flower. I need you to answer my questions."
She covered her mouth as she let out a big yawn.
"More? What more?"
"Was it your mother....or your father who is Solan?"
Eilownia stared at him, her eyes half lidded from sleep.
"I don't know. I never knew my mother. Solan...not Solan...mixed...I don't know these things."
Marix's head dropped as he let out a loud huff.
"Have you never seen any other races? You don't know if your father is Solan or not?"
She slowly shook her head, "I didn't know there were others....I didn't know there were things like Solan or not Solan. I just know I'm from Sola and this is Viraaz."
"Describe your father to me."
Eilownia began to describe Lord Evans' facial features, using her index finger to point and draw on her face to help his visualize.
"I see. He is Solan indeed."
"Can I go back to sleep now?"
Marix held up his index finger.
"One more. What do you know about the North?"