Chapter 29: The Interrogation

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The sass is high in this one, as Officer Magda's attitude just seems to bring out the stubborn, reckless side of Athena...

I should have been scared.

But I wasn't.

I wasn't, because a slow-building fury was rising inside me.

This had all been a ruse, just to get me alone so he could interrogate me. The enormity of how easily he'd deceived me was a shock – but so was how easily I'd fallen for it. I'd walked right into my own cage. Like a complete and utter moron.

"So all of that stuff you told me. About the things you needed, for the sleeping draught..." I clenched the bars between us in my growing anger. "That was all a lie? You were just acting?"

"Of course," Magda shrugged. "I wanted to speak with you, Señorita, where we would not be overheard, or interrupted by any other... well-meaning members of the crew. And down here, at least, you may drop all your pretences and finally tell me the truth."

I grated my palms over the rough metal, automatically thinking of ways I could escape – but I could already tell. There'd be no breaking of these bars.

"Sí." He smirked at me. "You will not be leaving here, unless I let you out."

"What about Capitán Salazar? He needs help. He needs to wake up –"

"He can wait."

"He's in a Nightmare!"

"And?" Magda rolled his eyes. "I've been in a Nightmare." He leaned in close to the bars. "I've been Cursed, for over thirty years. Without relief, without end, sometimes even without hope." He suddenly drawled in a mockery of polite deference. "But, ah! Por favor, Señorita, after thirty years I think the grand Capitán Armando Salazar can spare me a moment or two."

His smug, mocking words made my anger spike, but I managed to push it back down. I wasn't going to let myself lose control. Not when I couldn't be sure of the consequences if I did.

"And what about Lieutenant Lesaro," I said. "He ordered you to get me a sleeping draught –"

Miguel spread one hand out in a smooth circle, as if to emphasise the isolation of where he'd brought me, the sheer length of the dark and deserted hold behind him. Here, beyond the shark carcasses, deep in the bowels of the ship, there was no one else but us. None of the ship's crew knew we were here. There'd be no one to stop him doing… anything he wanted to me.

"But – but he'll be back soon, to see Capitán Salazar," I tried not to let that bolt of panic I'd had show on my face. "And if we aren't there, he'll want to know –"

"¡Válgame dios!" He sneered. "Should I be worried about Gui?" His eyes reflected the lantern light eerily. "All I have to tell him is that you tried to escape again! He won't ask any questions, especially when I am forced to admit to him how quickly you became an untrustworthy, deceitful woman, the moment we were alone. He will agree that I had no choice but to lock you up!"

He smirked at me.

At that, fear flew away, and anger burned again in its stead. I wanted nothing more than to call him every name I could think of, but it'd probably just make him laugh, and enjoy himself at my expense even more.

He thought he was so cunning. He was so sure of his own cleverness, in tricking me into my own cage, that for a second I wondered how much it'd hurt me if I thrust my fist between the bars and punched him in the face. I thought it was a pity he wasn't closer; I would have been tempted to try it. No matter how much it might've bruised my knuckles.

"But, do not be too angry Señorita Athena," he smirked again. "I did not bring you here for any other purpose, except to have you answer my questions."

"Questions." I said, trying to control my temper. "What questions?"

"Your real name, Señorita." Magda started to grow impatient. "Who you are. Where you are from. What you are. Why you were the one, out of everyone else, that this – magical 'accident' happened to. I do not know the exact details of what happened between Gui's French maid and this – Lady Stanhope, but..." He paused. "If it is true that you being here was an accident, then you must be very powerful in your true body, sí? Or else the magic wouldn't have been drawn to take you. So tell me. I will have answers now."

"Ah," I shrugged. "Well. Sorry to say, but no."

Magda frowned. "No?"

"No. I'm not telling you anything." I looked steadily at him. "Not until you let me help Capitán Salazar first."

"You are never going to see him! Not until you talk!" Magda snapped. "You are under my charge and I am the one who says what you will and will not do!"

"Oh, well. That's too bad." I stepped back from the bars. "I guess I have nothing else to say."

Magda stepped forward and glared at me. "You would do well not to anger me."

Anger him? I almost laughed. Anger him? He'd angered me.

"And what are you going to do about it, Officer?" I folded my arms across my chest, my anger winning out over everything else, driving me to be reckless. "You can ask me questions all day long, and I don't have to tell you a thing!"

"Stubborn girl!" He rapped once on the bars, and the sudden loud noise made me tense up and scowl at him. "You underestimate what a lack of food can do, especially for a stubborn wretch like you!"

"Oh, you think feeling a little hungry is going to make me talk?" I couldn't resist shooting him a smug look of my own, because he didn't know: I still had the three apples Bracero had given me, hidden in my cloak pocket. They weren't much, but they'd be enough to last me until I fell asleep. And once I fell asleep, I'd do everything in my power to wake Capitán Salazar up. The secret knowledge made me confident. "I think you underestimate me!"

He leaned in towards the bars. "You think you're going to sleep down here? Do you think I'll let you?" He tapped again on the bars, emphasising his next words. "I promise you, I will not let you drink, eat or sleep until you answer my questions. I will stand here and keep asking until you break – and I promise you, Señorita Athena – I know how women break."

"Oh, please." I stifled a false yawn, not caring at all if it enraged him. I almost hoped it would. Even if it ended up with me bruising my knuckles after all, it'd be worth it. "The boredom of your voice will send me to sleep perfectly well, I won't even need – opium, or whatever it was you were going to give me, anyway!"

"Laudanum." Magda's gaze narrowed. "It's laudanum." He paused. "Have you never heard of it?"

I saw his suspicion, but shrugged it off. "Whatever."

"Interesting." He suddenly shifted, angling himself as if to let the lantern light fall into the cell better. "You are being blasé, but you cannot fool me. You've never heard of laudanum, have you."

"Well," I feigned boredom, "Why don't you keep musing out loud to yourself, and I'll just make myself comfortable here –"

"Laudanum," he interrupted. "Was the one item missing from Captain Barbossa's personal medicine chest. I thought it quite curious at the time, when I was writing out the inventory."

He stopped and stared at me pointedly.

I stared back at him incredulously. "What – you think I've stolen it?"

"Did you?" His eyes brightened and he stepped in even closer to the bars. "Most amputees carry laudanum as a staple pain relief, Señorita. I don't need to examine him to tell you that Captain Barbossa suffers from acute muscle contractions. I imagine he feels constant pain in what remains of his leg. I imagine he took laudanum regularly, to assist him in sleeping at night…"

"I don't even know what it looks like!" I snapped. "And I can't imagine what I would want to steal it for anyway! What would I need it for?"

"Is that so?" Magda caught my admittance keenly. "And yet, I believe laudanum is sometimes used, in varying strengths, by women. Especially, as a relief for symptoms during their monthly menstruation. I've always thought women would be far more familiar with it than most men. So why wouldn't you want it?"

I stopped, aware that he'd just cleverly caught me out in something that I should have known. Should have, if I was from this time. From this century.

"Where are you from?" He repeated. "What country were you born in?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Do not refuse me!"

"Refuse you?" I snapped. "What can you do, to make me tell you anything?"

He paused, and then a sly smile started to stretch his grey lips.

"That sounds," he said softly, "Like you are making an invitation."

"I – I –" I started to backpedal, fast. "Look, I just want to help! I can answer your questions, but –" I squeezed my arms tighter around myself and refused to be frightened by his look. "I just want to help Capitán Salazar first. Please?"

He was silent. I saw that being earnest had made the sly smile fade, and that he was now regarding me thoughtfully; so I added, wanting to convince him: "I helped wake him up before. If you just let me out, I can – try and do it again. And then if you want to ask me questions after that –"

"How."

"… how?"

"How did you wake him up before?"

I paused.

Magda waited.

I could see there was no way I was going to get out of here to help Capitán Salazar without answering some questions. I was going to have to bite the bullet, and negotiate with Magda – at least, tell him enough to satisfy. Enough to convince him.

I sighed, and unfolded my arms.

"The reason I know about the Nightmares, is because I was in his Nightmare." I confessed quietly. "The last time I fell asleep, I… somehow, came into his Nightmare. And – it was really bad." Really bad didn't cover the overwhelming awfulness of it, but I didn't want to go into details. "I was able to wake him up out of it."

He shook his head.

"How. How did you wake him up?" His frustration increased when I hesitated again to answer. "None of us just 'wake up'. The Nightmare goes on until it tires of us, and only then, does it let us go. But no one has ever been able to just – wake up."

"He woke up because I touched him. In the Nightmare," I hurriedly clarified when his eyes narrowed on me in suspicion. "I touched him, and he turned human in front of me, and then he woke up –"

"You're lying."

"No, no, I'm really not!" I stepped back up to the bars again, looking up at him, hoping I could convince him. "I promise, that's what happened! I touched him, and then he woke up."

"You touched him." His thoughtful gaze dropped to my hands at my sides. "Your touch... is different."

Too late, I saw his intention; I tried to shift back, but his hand darted out and he closed his fingers around one of my hands, pulling me hard until I all but slammed against the bars.

The cold sensation was instant.

But unlike before, this wasn't just cold – this time, it was like pure ice: so cold my skin felt like it was burning.

"Stop!" I gasped out loud and tried to wrench my hand out of his, but he would not let go.

"Is this really why he won't let anyone touch you?" Magda's eyes had brightened to a light copper, his gaze avid on my face. "Is this what he feels when he touches you?"

"Let – go!" I pressed a foot against the bars and leaned all my weight back; he loosened his grip without warning, making me stumble back awkwardly.

I clutched my hand like it had been injured, clumsily trying to regain my footing on the uneven grating of the cell, but Magda wasn't finished.

He passed through the bars at once towards me, purposefully backing me up against the bars on the other side. I had nowhere else to go.

Faintly, I heard a distant sound of La María's timbers creaking, but it seemed very far away as Magda towered over me.

"Does it hurt you, when he touches you?" His hand came up, and I shrank back from him; he left it hovering, just an inch from my cheek. "I told you before, I've seen it. How his touch makes you react. I saw it during that duel, I saw it in the cabin." His voice softened to a bare whisper. "It hurts, doesn't it."

I shook my head wordlessly. All the rage I'd had at Magda for tricking me, all my frustration at him for locking me in here to question me, all of it now melted away under the panic of how close he was right now. I couldn't even look him in the eye, the panic was so overwhelming. I took deep breaths, forcing myself to focus on the blackened buttons of his uniform, the charred edges of his grey cravat, just visible at the base of his throat.

"Doesn't it?" He insisted.

"It's not – not the same." My voice was a hoarse whisper. "Your touch is – cold. But his is – his is like fire."

"Why?" He shook his head a little, frowning. "Why would our touch be different?"

I could barely speak; my throat was dry, and I swallowed; unable to even summon an answer.

Suddenly, to my surprise, Capitán Salazar's rich, low voice suddenly came to my mind, and I remembered how he said to me: distract yourself... try speaking about something else.

Something else.

I could do that.

"You – you don't like him, do you?" I blurted, my voice cracking a little as I pushed past my panic. "You don't like Capitán Salazar."

He drew back a little in surprise, before saying wryly. "How very observant of you. No, I do not 'like' him. I never have. But it is hardly a secret."

It was a clumsy subject change but I persisted: I needed to get my panic under control, so I kept him talking.

"He knows you don't like him?"

"Of course, the omniscient Capitán Salazar knows," he said disdainfully.

"But if you don't like him... and he knows that... why do you stay? Why do you keep obeying his orders?"

"You mean, why don't I disobey him?" Magda sneered. "Should I give him the satisfaction of being able to punish me? No."

"Aren't you disobeying him now? He won't be happy you've put me here."

"But his orders were to put you wherever I wanted." He arched an innocent brow, his forehead wrinkling in false confusion. "He cannot fault me for carrying out his orders perfectly," a corner of his mouth slid up in sardonic amusement, "To the very letter of his law."

I scowled, and it made that amused lift of his mouth a full blown smirk again.

"Trust me, Athena. If I were serious about disobeying him, I would not stop at merely ignoring an order of his. I would see Capitán Salazar dead, if I could."

I was floored. "What."

"Surprised?" He said, with a wry expression. "What alternative would I have? I would have to start a mutiny, I would have to fight him until the end, until his death. Or mine. Because if I failed, it would be my death. On a sandbank somewhere, a shoreline, a rocky outcrop. He would throw me onto the ground, and everybody would be made to watch my dissolution." His eyes gleamed with faint satisfaction at my horror. "But until that moment, I am the model officer. El Capitán does not care how I feel about him, so long as I am perfect in my duties. And I am. He will never fault me for anything aboard the ship I helped build."

"But ... why?" I frowned, genuinely wanting to understand. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Ah." The corners of his eyes wrinkled as if he were wincing in a slight recollection of something distasteful, but he only said, "How… very clever of you. To distract me like this. But I am the one asking questions, not you, Señorita. You are the one giving me answers, not vice versa."

"I know. I know you want answers." I tried to clear my throat, to sound less nervous than I felt. "But I can't tell you who I am. I can't tell you where I'm from." His gaze started to harden, but I kept going. "I can't, because if I did, it would put in danger everyone I know. Everyone – back home."

He was suddenly quiet, listening to me.

I took it as a good sign when he didn't immediately bombard me with more questions, so I added: "And I don't know why the magic chose me. I'm – I'm no one, really. I'm just a normal person."

He started to smile, as if I had told a good joke.

"You? A normal person? I think not." His hand came up again, hovering near my ear; I immediately shrank back against the cage bars behind me.

"I – I am." I sucked in a breath when I felt his fingertips brushing against my loose hair. "I'm – just. I'm not really anyone important." I tried to move slightly away from his fingers, and rushed out my next words, "But that doesn't matter, because I'm here now, so I want to help –"

He snorted in disbelief. "Are you saying you're not important because you believe it, or because you want me to reassure you that you are?"

I shook my head, annoyed. "I just want to help Capitán Salazar wake up –"

"You're lying." Magda dismissed my words with an elegant flick of his fingers. "Lying won't convince me to let you out –"

"Why would I lie about that!" I said hotly. "I want to help him, I want to help break his Curse, and –"

"I don't believe you!"

"What is so hard about believing that I want to see you all human again! Why is it so hard for you to believe that I actually want to do something right, something good for you all –"

"Not us." He tapped an icy finger on my cheek. "Why would you want to help him?"

The shock of his touch was the only thing that saved me from spilling the words that had nearly slipped out of my mouth in the heat of the moment. I stared at him helplessly, for the first time unable to deny any longer the real truth of my feelings for his Capitán.

"Why?" He persisted. "You could have escaped. So many times, you could have left. When you broke out of the brig that first night. When that British Lieutenant tried to take you. Every time you've been alone in Capitán Salazar's cabin. You could have smashed through the windows, you could have thrown yourself overboard, you could have just slipped down the side of La María. You could have left." He tilted his head, considering. "He might have raged, he might have killed a few loathsome pirates to make himself feel better, but considering their crimes, their deaths would have been a mercy. You chose to stay. Every time. Why? Why does it matter to you to stay?"

But I would not say the truth.

I could not.

Not to Officer Magda.

"Tell me," he commanded softly, tracing a slow line down my cheek.

"Because Capitán Salazar," I turned my face away from his finger a little, breaking away from the cold sensation. "Thinks I was sent here to help him. He thinks I was sent here as a – as a Protector. But I think he's wrong. I don't think I am. I'm nothing like what he wanted. I don't think I was ever supposed to be here. But he really believes I'm something I'm ... I'm not." I sighed, dropping my eyes to the floor, embarrassed but needing to admit it. "All I've done since I've been here is make things harder for everyone, and cause trouble for everyone, and I wish I could – I wish I had the power to change everything, but I don't." I took a deep breath after the stumbling words that had poured out of my mouth slowed to a stop. "None of that matters anymore. Because I've decided to help him, however I can. Even if I'm only able to help a little bit."

His eyes narrowed again, and he closed his hovering hand into a fist, dropping it to his side.

"You really mean to help?"

I nodded.

"How are you going to make any difference to our Curse – even a 'little bit'?" He scoffed lightly. "If you are so 'unimportant', how do you expect to do anything?"

"I don't know, I just know he needs to turn human and –"

"¿Que?"

I shut my mouth, but it was too late.

"Human." His stare was heavy on my face. "You are suggesting this is something he can just – do?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have – I'm sorry."

"He can turn human. Before the rest of us? Unless..." He leaned in, his eyes bright, his understanding immediate. "Why would he need to turn human to break the Curse for the rest of us?"

"I can't tell you. Please, I really can't tell you."

Magda's gaze hardened at the same time that he suddenly gave me a sharp smile.

"You have been given many comforts, under Capitán Salazar," Magda said. "It has made you stubborn. Too stubborn. I think it is time you learned what it is like, being a prisoner. Perhaps, after a few days of hunger and thirst, a few days of being alone in the dark, you will start to be more reasonable."

"Capitán Salazar made the same threat to me before," I shook my head. "And I have to tell you, threats won't make any difference to me."

"Do you think I'm like him?" Magda said softly. "I'm nothing like Capitán Salazar."

"You're exactly like him!" I shot back. "You change your mind like him, you make threats like him, and you're always trying to intimidate me, just like him! But I will say one thing," I added, "At least he values the truth. So there's that difference between you."

"The Señorita with the sting in her tongue," Magda's smile was so sharp now, it could have cut glass. "Pity you can't find a better use for it."

I laughed shortly. "Pity you can't do more than just make threats."

"I don't make threats, Señorita Athena. I just do. So do not be mistaken: no one is going to intervene for you. No one is going to come for you. Once I speak with Lieutenant Lesaro, he will not allow anyone to interfere with how I treat you here. Santos can be as offended as he likes," he murmured. "And Antonio will no doubt cry about it – but who is going to be brave enough to counteract an actual order of Lieutenant Lesaro? Especially once he gets into one of his tempers? Who is going to be brave enough to interfere? Who is going to say ah, no, Miguel, don't do that?"

Without warning, he placed the whole palm of his hand on my cheek, cupping my face; the ice of his touch freezing my skin. He used his full height to tower over me, dwarfing me; and bent his head closer than ever to make his threat plain.

I'd had enough.

I'd had enough of these Spaniards with their constant need to threaten me. I'd had enough of being ordered around, and having my personal space invaded, and being treated as if I was just a thing, an object, a mere toy that they could play around with, that they could treat however they wanted. My anger peaked, and what I did next happened with an almost unconscious force.

"Me." I slapped his hand away. "I am. Don't ever touch me again without my permission."

The slap had hurt, a deep bone-jolting pain that shot right up my arm. But nothing could diminish the satisfaction I felt at seeing the surprise on his face.

Magda stared down at me, holding the hand I'd slapped away at a stiff angle.

I waited unflinchingly for his response, expecting rage. Expecting him to snarl, and spit cutting words at me. I think I even expected, dimly, in the back of my mind, that he might be incited to hurt me back.

He did none of those things.

Instead, he looked… conscience-stricken.

"I apologise," he whispered, quietly; so quietly I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly. "Lo siento, Señorita."

And then he melted back through the bars, to stand outside the cage door again, his expression back to being the impassive mask he usually wore. I stared at him, surprised at how quickly he'd backed away.

After a long moment, he said, in a different voice, "I will give you one last opportunity, Señorita. Will you answer my questions now, or shall I leave you?"

I knew what he meant. If he left now, I wouldn't know when he'd be back. He'd leave me here for as long as it took for me to break.

In the silence, Magda reached slowly for the lantern, unhooked it, and held it up, his eyes flaring almost white for a moment as he studied me.

"Well?"

I knew once that light was put out, it would be pitch black again. I was so deep in the ship's hold there would be no way to tell the time down here. I could be here, in this cage, for a very long time. I closed my eyes, steadying the anxious tightening of my stomach, the rush of panic rising up again. You can do this, came that inner voice of mine, surprisingly confident. You've survived worse.

"Fine. Leave. Because until I see Capitán Salazar," my words came out far more evenly than I expected it to, and it gave me courage. "Until you let me help him, I'm not telling you a thing."

"You think you are strong enough?" Magda said. "I can be very patient."

I drew in a deep breath. "Yes."

Magda nodded, as if expecting my answer, and put out the light.

In the sudden blinding dark, I heard nothing; and then, a moment later, the softest of sounds, the sounds of his soft steps as he started to walk away.

An irrational need to cry out for him to come back rose up, but I refused to open my mouth. I was not giving in. I knew all I had to do was hold out until I fell asleep, and then I'd be fine. I promised myself, I'd be fine. It would be alright. I could do this. I just had to fall asleep.

But my skin prickled with involuntary anxiety; and, alone in the dark, I could have sworn for a second that I heard them again, the old voices, the ones the Curse had used against me in the nightmare I'd shared with Capitán Salazar. I could have sworn I heard the faintest of echoes, hissing directly into my mind, repeating those same words that I hadn't heard in years. Hadn't heard until now. Until I'd been drawn back in time to this body, to this place.

But with the echoes came that same hardened determination that had forced me to keep going all my life. I would not break. I would not cave into fear. I was stronger than they knew. Stronger than any of them knew.

So I said nothing, and resolved to wait out the dark.

SPANISH TRANSLATIONS:

Por favor – Please

¡Válgame dios! – Good gracious! / Oh my God!

¿Que? – What?

Lo siento – I'm sorry