update, 12/23/16: Added chapter titles to each chapter, & a bit more information to this one, in particular, for clarity's sake.
Chapter One: das vorwort
The Military Police dungeons were small and cramped, just shy of salubrious. There were no windows.
"Anything to report?" asked Captain Kenneth Ackerman.
The soldier snorted.
"She's not exactly been that cooperative, sir."
The Captain smiled. He knew her type, proud and unflinching, with near-enough guts to back up her bravado. She wouldn't break without an honest effort, but he wasn't here to watch her crumble. There'd be plenty of time for that later.
The door creaked open and Ackerman made his way over to the group in the cell with a practised ease.
"At ease, the lot of you. She ain't gonna tell you a damn thing when ya give her what she wants."
The guards stepped aside, and Ackerman stopped in front of the girl. She was smaller than he'd expected her to be, hunched forward, head drooping, not quite motionless. In the light from the torches her poor condition was unmistakeable; dark blood, caked in her hair, oozing down her face. There were raw, angry looking patches all down her arms and ribs, a sharp contrast to her fairer skin.
Ackerman sighed. "Kindly excuse us for a bit, won't you?"
"Yes, sir."
The two men left, shut the heavy door behind them. Ackerman turned to look at the girl, who stared right back.
Ackerman lowered his head to her level, hands on knees. "You're a right tough nut to crack, ain'tcha?"
The girl did not stir.
"Don't play dead with me, darlin'. I ain't an easy one to fool."
Nothing. Without pause, Ackerman grasped her by the back of the head and yanked her up that way, his gesture violent but simultaneously smooth, effortless. The girl rasped, breath thin and painful-sounding, but kept motionless save for a slight shudder. He might as well have tapped her on the shoulder.
"Now I'll admit, I'm mighty impressed with the extent of your control, Leonhardt. But we're a touch short on time, y'see. And unlike those sorry bastards, I'm not picky about breakin' some bones."
She sneered up at him. Her teeth were chipped, her nose broken.
"Your little limbs oughta heal, anyways. Am I wrong?" The girl offered nothing in the way of confirmation or declination. Ackerman tutted. "Surely you've got something more to offer me than resistance? I'm not nearly as stupid as you might think."
"You're wasting your time on me, sir. I know nothing."
Her voice was remarkably unaffected for someone having suffered such grievous injuries. Once again, Ackerman was almost impressed.
"There's no need to play innocent with me. I wouldn't bother comin' down to pay you a visit if I wasn't of the mind to know somethin'." He let her go, circling around her. "Ever heard of some tricky little formula called a Coordinate?"
The girl did not move, but he detected a brief flicker of fear in her eyes.
"So you know of it. Someone must've told ya. Were you in contact with one of those royal devils, by chance? Or are you one of them outsiders?"
Again, there was silence.
"If you ain't gonna cooperate, I'll just hafta' go pay your friend another visit." The sound of his steps echoed as he toward the door. "You're really somethin', you know. He broke faster than you did. Then again," his lips curled, "it's a different sort of harm than what's been done to you. More of a mental exercise, if you catch my drift."
The girl was watching him very closely. Ackerman let the silence between them thicken, lingering on the uncertainty he'd left behind.
A/N: Thoughts? Criticisms? Requests for more?