Chapter 3

One day later

Queneth woke up. His body began to drift back into reality. He groaned as he began to feel his head throbbing. The wounds that the goblins had inflicted on him stung with increasing agony. He would have preferred to have stayed oblivious to everything that was happening, but nothing could be done about that now so he began to examine his surroundings. He saw the jagged walls of rock reaching up for about twenty feet. They were cut off abruptly by a large rough stone that had been placed over an metal grate at the entrance to stop any escape that might be attempted.

His mind drifted back to his mother and father. They had been the descendents of the last king and queen of Narnia and their parents fled to Calormen to escape the White Witch and to live in exile. His parents had told him of the great lion Aslan, the son of The Emperor Over the Sea. These tales had never really had time to sink in for him though because while he was still young the army had torn him away from his family to become a soldier. His skin had been darkened by the sun almost to the color of the Calormens. His hair however was still the flashing blond it had always been.

Despite this he had thrown away the virtue of his parents while in the army and become as pagan as any solider in the Tisroc's armies. He regretted it now. He realized that Tash had never helped them win a battle no matter how many innocent were sacrificed on his bloody alter. It had been the cruelty of every man in the armies and their overwhelming numbers that had beat down any enemy that had ever opposed them.

He breathed a silent prayer to Aslan asking him for forgiveness for ignoring him for so long and for strength to endure through this trial. Then Yemfon remembered. He remembered what his mother had told him never to forget and what his father had told him to treasure. He remembered his Narnian name. Queneth was what he was called in the ranks of the Tisroc. But there was another. Then name his parents had bestowed upon him. He had never really forgotten it had always been in the back of his mind and he had finally unlocked the doors leading to it. "Kenth," he whispered to himself. He repeated it over and over again savoring the word in his mouth as if it was a morsel of delicious food suddenly he realized something was wrong. Yemfon was gone.

Yemfon had not had an easy time of it. A couple goblins had lashed him with the instruments that they had used to haul Yemfon to the pit to get him out. He was then brought before the minotaur. The beast stood tall next to the gruesome table that Yemfon had sighted before. The minotaur's face showed no emotion, but it was clear that he was anticipating at the pain that he was planning for this weak and cowardly human.

He growled to Yemfon, who was being restrained by the goblins, "Do you know what this is?" he gestured to the table that he stood by. Yemfon merely shrunk back from the huge beast and the cruel table. Do you know what this is!" the minotaur growled in a loud, harsh voice. Yemfon shook his head hesitantly.

"No," he said in a frightened voice.

A look of satisfaction crossed the minotaur's face. "Then you are lucky because if you knew what it was you would be begging for death right now." "You will first be lowered onto the spikes on the table. He gestured to the one inch, razor sharp spikes that protruded from the table. "Then we will set the logs below it ablaze." "The metal is engineered so that it will heat up very quickly." "The metal will be hot, but not too hot so that you will not suffer any permanent damage unless we choose to add more fuel." He spoke the last line so that Yemfon realized that it was a very real threat. "Would you like to escape this torture?" the minotaur asked. Yemfon nodded eagerly. "Then tell us why you're here!" the minotaur ordered. Yemfon slunk back as far as he could and shook his head. "As up wish," the minotaur growled.

The goblins then dropped Yemfon onto the table. They did this with more force then necessary so that the spikes would protrude they're full length into Yemfon's back. Yemfon screamed and pain, but still refuse to tell anything. He didn't give in because he was loyal to the Tisroc, but his fear of him kept his tongue in check. But then one of the black dwarves lit the wood below the table and the table began to turn from a dull grayish color to a glowing red. The spikes that had been sunk into Yemfon's flesh also began to glow with the heat and as his blood pooled at the bottom of the table the stench of burning flesh filled the room. He began to scream, but this time words slipped from his tongue.

"I'll tell you everything just let me off this cursed table." "I tell you everything!"

"Release him," the minotaur ordered.

Once again the goblins took out they're cruel instruments and began to drag Yemfon off of the table. He screamed as the sharp metal bit into his chest. Finally the goblins tore him from the table.

The minotaur approached the prisoner and asked again, "Why are you here." Yemfon simply rolled over on the rock floor screaming in agony. The minotaur kicked him viciously and Yemfon recoiled.

Then as the screaming lessened he began to whimper out all that he knew. "I am a solider in the Tisroc's army." "He wanted us to find a passage through the mountains so that we could successfully attack Narnia and Archenland." "The Tisroc himself is coming with all of his armies to take the northern countries." Yemfon fell quite.

The minotaur seeing that he would gain no more information ordered the goblins to take him back to the prison pit, He then turned to the fastest wolf under his command. "Remember all that you have heard from the human scum and tell it to the harpy at the next outpost. Tell him that my orders are for him to fly to the main cavern an tell Xateaz all that we have heard."

"To hear is to obey," the wolf responded. Then it dashed around the corner and out of site with such speed that it seemed to Yemfon that he could match and over take any of the Tisroc's finest horses.

As soon as the wolf set off Queneth was dragged back to the pit and thrown in with no gentleness what so ever. Kenth laid a comforting hand on his bloodied back and began to speak, but Queneth refusing to be comforted turned away and shouted back to him, "This all you fault you fool!" "This is all happening because of you." Yemfon then withdrew to sulk in silence.

Kenth whispered gently, "Yemfon there is something I need to tell you." but Yemfon shut out his quite voice and stayed silent as a misplaced, yet deep and burning of hatred of Kenth grew in his mind.