The hallways of the Emperor's palace were ridiculously long and numerous. Luckily, that would probably make it harder for their pursuers to catch them, but it did make escape from the palace quite tricky, seeing as how easy it was to get lost. Deryn realized it was a pretty stupid idea to take the elevator to the top floor. Now it would be even more difficult to get back downstairs and outside, especially with Alek in the barking wheelchair.

While pushing the chair in front of her, Deryn ran down the main hall and took a left down another passage which tilted downward. Perhaps it was a ramp.

Midway through the hall her stocking feet slipped on the marble floor and she fell with a loud curse. Alek's wheelchair, which she had let go of during the fall, was rushing toward the end of the hall without her.

"Alek, you dummkopf, STOP!" But it was too late. By the time Alek turned around and realized she was no longer pushing him, a tall man in black had swooped in front of him and pulled him out of the chair. She would have continued to scream but a large hand clamped her mouth shut.

"Now, now little one, we've had quite enough out of you." Said a smooth, terrifying voice. Deryn looked up from where she had fallen and saw another man in black holding her. He picked her up easily even though she was thrashing and kicking with all her might, and carried her out of the hallway. They went down a small staircase and into a dimly lit room where she was lowered into a wooden chair. Another man grabbed her wrists and tied them down to the arms of the chair so tightly it hurt.

She kicked as hard as she could; occasionally making contact with someone's body although she doubted it did much harm. Her pointy heels were back in elevator, useless.

"Let me go!" She screamed. "Get your filthy hands off of me, you son of a…"

SLAP

Deryn felt her cheek sting where he had hit her. She turned her head to face him, yelled some colorful words and spit right in his eye. That was rewarded with another slap. This time she held her tongue and looked the man straight on and fumed.

"That's better." He said. He had a plain face and a wiry build. His hair was black and he had a day's worth of stubble growing on his cheeks. She could make out the man who had tied her down standing to her left. He was shorter than the other but with a similar build and lighter hair. "You're a feisty little one, aren't you?" The first man added.

She tried to kick him again, but he threatened to hit her, so she stopped.

"Good, we understand each other." He grinned. "Now I need to ask you some questions."

She grimaced. Was this some sort of interrogation?

"Who are you?" The man asked. She didn't respond, only glared. He took a step back from her and nodded to the other man at her side. Without warning, Deryn had a pistol pointed at her temple. She gulped.

"Dddddderyn, Deryn Sharp."

"Sharp, huh? That's curious." He began to pace in front of her, his black boots clacking against the marble of the floor. "Would you happen to be related to a certain, Dylan Sharp?"

She didn't know what to say to that, just widened her eyes.

"I guess that's answer enough," he said with a grin, "so you were the midshipman that was friends with the Prince? Good to know. Now let me ask you this…" He stopped and faced her, placing each of his hands over her wrists and leaning down so they were eye to eye. "Why kill the Demon? What good does it do for you?"

She tried to squirm. "Bugger off, you ninny! I didn't kill anything!" He leaned even closer so their noses were almost touching. He pulled his right hand forward and she winced, thinking he would hit her again. But this time he brushed her cheek gently with his fingers.
"You certainly are very pretty for having such a foul tongue. What do you think, Jenson, should we believe her?"

The other man shrugged in response and then walked behind the chair so Deryn couldn't see him. She could hear his footsteps come closer until he had leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I think she's telling the truth sir, but I wouldn't mind some further questioning m'self, just for the fun of it." He gently wrapped his fingers around her shoulders and squeezed.

Deryn felt her breath catch and her skin grow cold. This was not good. She began to kick harder than before, and screamed.

"HELP! Please, someone! Alek, HELP ME!" Jenson clamped his hand over her mouth and the man in front of her held down her legs. She suddenly realized, horrified, that his hands were beneath her dress and sliding dangerously upward.

"Your friend can't hear you now, sweetling, so be good and stay quiet. Otherwise this will be a lot more painful than it needs to be." Jenson let go of her mouth and moved to unbutton her blouse. She took that moment to lean down and bite him, hard, on his upper arm. Immediately he let go of her, swearing. The other man who was holding her legs stopped for a moment in confusion. It was enough time for her to pull one leg free and knee him with all her strength, right in the nose.

"ARGHH!" He screamed, standing up and glaring down at her with a fire she hadn't seen before. "You little bitch!" His nose was bleeding profusely, and she managed a bit of a smile, realizing that she had broken it. But before she could answer him, he had shoved her, chair over heals onto the marble floor. Her head hit the ground with a loud thud, and she screamed in pain. Suddenly they were untying her from the chair and pushing her down onto the floor with their weight. She tried to fight back but the two of them together were too strong and the dress was horribly difficult to kick in. All she could do was scream and pray that someone would hear her.

This chapter was REALLY long. So I split into two. Therefore ch 15 and 16 are being posted at the same time