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PART TWO: THE CELL
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III. Restraint
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Festus was brought into the Jedi enclave under cover of darkness, his presence known only to a handful of its residents, and for now he remained unconscious, deep within the healing trance Allana had placed him in. The enclave on Meraine hadn't been built for long-term containment, and its infirmary was even less suited for that purpose, but that was where Allana found herself now.
She watched through a layer of transparisteel as Ben, Tredo Kohr, and Renner Nal laid their Sith prisoner out across the medical suite's operating table. Between the three men and the medical droid, her view was mostly obstructed, and it wasn't until the droid shooed Ben and the others away that she got a clear look at Festus again. His head was tilted away from her, his hair and skin and clothes still coated in a fine layer of dust from the cave-in. She glanced down at the grime covering her own clothes, trying not to dwell on everything that had happened.
The soft whoosh of an opening door caught her ear, and Allana looked over to see Kohr and Renner exiting the medbay, their expressions troubled. They parted ways without a word, Renner nodding awkwardly at Allana on his way out, and Kohr taking up a guard position just outside the medbay door. A moment later, the door opened again, and Ben stepped through, looking more stone-faced than he had the entire flight home. He traded a few whispered words with Kohr, then left to join Allana at the window.
"Everything okay?" she asked. Ben extended a hand to her, and she startled a little to see him holding a knife.
"Did you know about this?"
It was a crudely-crafted metal blade set in a simple wooden hilt that fit easily in the palm of Ben's hand. Allana's breath abandoned her for a moment. "Where did you get that?" she whispered.
Ben's frustration simmered close to the surface. "Where do you think?" His fist clenched tight around the knife, his knuckles white. "You really didn't know he had this?"
"Wouldn't I have told you if I did?"
He hesitated only a fraction before answering, but she still noticed. "I hope so," he said in that distant way of his, the one he used when he was pretending not to be worried about her.
She bit her lip to stop from blurting a response and turned instead to face the medbay window. The medical droid was inserting an intravenous line into Festus's arm, and Allana held her breath, more than half expecting him to snap awake at any second.
He didn't move.
"Where was it?" she asked, releasing that breath.
"Hidden in his left sleeve. He had a sheath strapped to his arm." Ben held up his own forearm to indicate exactly where he'd found the weapon. "You said he lost his lightsaber in the cave-in?"
She nodded absently. "I thought he was unarmed. He—" She glanced up at Ben, catching his eye for only an instant before returning her gaze to the window. "He acted like he was unarmed."
Ben was silent again; she could feel him watching her, and she wondered if he already knew the thoughts that were running through her head. Why hadn't Festus tried to use the knife if he'd had it? Wouldn't he have at least threatened her with it? Or did he hold back because she'd still had her lightsaber? She knew what Ben would say if she expressed any of those thoughts out loud, that she couldn't assume anything about Festus's motives other than pure self-preservation. And he'd be right; she knew that. Of course she knew that.
Next to her, Ben let out a weary breath. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Allana turned to face him, taking in the grim set of his jaw and the hard look in his eyes. "You don't think we should have left him there? You know the Argenians wouldn't have been able to hold him."
"We could have left him in that cave."
His words sank in her gut like stones. "Would you really have done that?"
"I don't know," Ben answered quietly, not quite meeting her gaze. He ran a hand over the back of his neck and stared through the window, frowning at the unconscious Sith Lord. "He's dangerous."
"We've dealt with dangerous captives before."
He raised a fist, and for a second she thought he was going to slam it against the transparisteel. He stopped and lowered it, exhaling as he did.
"Why are you pretending this isn't a problem?" Ben said, his jaw tight. "That… creature in there has had it out for you for the last ten years. How can you act like him being here isn't a danger to you?"
Allana wanted to argue that he was being overprotective again, as he had been for most of her life. She wanted to argue that she was a grown woman and a capable Knight, that he had trained her to be so. But even the thought of those arguments rang hollow after everything that had happened. Ben's fears were perfectly rational, justified even, and yet…
"Ben," she said softly, taking his clenched fist in her hand. "I know he's dangerous. I'm under no illusions that he isn't. But we have an opportunity to root out the rest of the Sith and finally put that part of our lives behind us. Shouldn't we at least try?"
He didn't look at all convinced, but his expression softened a little. "You know he's not going to tell us anything. Maybe Ferrus would have, but Festus is too clever."
"I think you're giving him too much credit. And you're not giving yourself enough." She let go of his hand and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "If I'm not worried, it's because we've got Ben Skywalker on our side. What could go wrong?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Trying to tempt fate?"
"I'm trying to get you to smile." She gazed up at him expectantly.
The corner of his mouth twitched even as he fought to look stern. "You're so annoying sometimes," he said, shaking his head.
Allana beamed up at him. "There he is."
Ben snorted in response, then sobered as he glanced through the window again. "His legs will take a few days to fully heal. We'll move him to the lower level when he's healthy." He met her eyes, brow furrowing. "You should get some rest."
"I will."
"Allana."
She hadn't realized her gaze was drifting to the window until Ben's quiet yet firm address brought her snapping back to attention. He raised Festus's knife between them.
"This doesn't mean anything," he said. "You can't assume it does."
She nodded. "I know. I won't."
Ben dropped the hand holding the knife and raised the other one to briefly touch her cheek. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Rest," he repeated. "I'm serious."
Allana nodded again and watched him go. Once he was out of sight, she turned to look through the medbay window.
I hate the way you make me feel.
I hate how badly I need you.
She inhaled quietly, watching as the medical droid drew a partition between the window and the table, blocking her view of the operation. After she had stood there a while longer – far longer than Ben would have been comfortable with, she knew – the droid emerged from behind the curtain, dimmed the lights, and retreated to a far corner of the room, where it would remain on standby.
Gathering her courage, Allana strode over to the door and reached for the keypad. "I'll just be a few minutes," she said as nonchalantly as she could manage. Kohr, who was still standing guard, stared at her in complete bafflement.
"You sure?" he asked.
Allana nodded, and after a moment's hesitation, Kohr stepped aside to let her pass.
"Be careful," her friend warned.
"I will." The door closed behind her, and she was once again alone in a confined space with a Sith Lord.
She stepped behind the curtain and approached the bed slowly, alert to even the most infinitesimal ripples in the Force – anything that might hint at a surprise attack. The room was quiet, however, and she sensed nothing in the Force from Festus, save for the strength of his beating heart. After a few strides, she was beside him.
It was incredible to her, how young most people looked when they slept, as if that restful state somehow smoothed away the burdens and experiences and knowledge, leaving them as close to innocent as they would ever again be. She'd seen it with Davin and Dolan, and especially with Roan. As much as they'd grown, all but losing any hint of baby softness in their faces, whenever they slept, she could see clearly the children they'd once been.
So it was, too, with Festus. The constant shadow that haunted his features was gone, and despite a few days' growth of dark stubble along his jaw, he so resembled the boy she'd once known that it was disconcerting. She wondered how long it had been since anyone had seen him like this.
Her eyes were drawn to the hand closest to her, lying palm up on the bed next to him. The sleeve of his shirt had been rolled up past his elbow to allow for the intravenous line, which was providing him fluids and nutrients; but that wasn't what held her attention. Her stomach dropped as she stared down at the web of scars that marred the inside of his arm – thin, raised white lines, nearly all of them uniform in length, save for a single long one that ran from the center of his wrist to the crook of his elbow. What could have caused that kind of scarring? He wouldn't have— no, he'd never been that type, surely?
She reached out one hand, hesitant, fingers hovering centimeters from his wrist. His expression in the cave when she'd first held her saber over him… Do it, he'd whispered, and for a moment she'd really believed he meant it.
Allana took a deep breath, and she traced her fingers over his wrist, dragging lightly across the palm of his hand, the hand that had held hers on Kurin.
Could you have ever loved me?
How could she answer that question? It wasn't fair of him to ask her that, especially not after what he'd done. How could she conceive of loving someone who'd tried to kill her? She couldn't. She wouldn't.
Allana withdrew her hand, holding it to her heart for a second before letting it drop to her side. She had to be clearheaded where Festus was concerned. She couldn't afford to be taken in by him again, no matter how much she pitied him. That was all she had to give him, her pity.
It could never be anything more than that.
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The bacta treatments worked quickly, and by the end of the week, Festus had been moved to a detention cell in the lowest level of the enclave and brought out of the healing trance. His presence was still known only to the Masters and a few of the Knights, mainly the ones who took turns standing guard outside his cell, and Ben said he wanted to keep it that way. Allana found that she agreed; there were, after all, several families living among them, and it wouldn't do to cause any unnecessary distress, or worse, panic. Better not to spread the news of their prisoner.
The morning after the transfer, she made her way down to the detention area – a long, narrow corridor with only a small handful of holding cells – and found Kohr standing guard again, along with Geridan Ames.
Great, Allana thought as she approached the pair. As if this wasn't already awkward enough. Even though she and Geridan had settled into a fairly comfortable friendship in recent years, she couldn't help feeling strange about the idea of him watching her talk to Festus.
"How did it go?" she asked, aiming her question at Kohr.
Her friend shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I haven't actually looked in on him yet."
Allana nodded and squared her shoulders. "I'd like to see him, please."
"What for?" Geridan asked skeptically.
"He was one of Krayt's top lieutenants, and Ben thinks he could have information that will help us find the rest of the Sith. Give me five minutes?" She ignored the pointed look on Geridan's face and fixed her gaze instead on the red energy shield that stood between her and the heavy durasteel cell door. Kohr sighed and took a step over to the control panel, tapping a series of keys.
The inner door slid open, and on the other side of the energy shield was Festus, on his knees with hands bound behind his back. He looked up at the doorway, and the sight of him made her gasp.
There were bruises along the left side of his face, and though his dark hair partially hid it, he had at least one black eye; but the most startling change since she'd last seen him was the smear of dried blood that ran from the corner of his eye down along his jaw. Rather than appearing defeated, he seemed energized by the treatment. The crimson tinge of the shield enhanced the threatening gleam in his eyes.
Those eyes locked on her, and she slapped the wall panel without thinking, closing the inner door.
"You okay?" Geridan asked, suddenly beside her, one hand hovering near the small of her back.
She looked up at him, trying to control the tremor in her voice. "What did you do to him?"
Geridan's eyes narrowed a fraction. "It wasn't me, Allana. I haven't seen him since before he woke up." He withdrew his hand, crossing his arms over his chest. "But thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Sorry," Allana exhaled. "I didn't— I was just startled." She looked between Geridan and Kohr. "Do you know what happened?"
Kohr exchanged a troubled glance with Geridan. "Ben is the only one who's been in there," he said quietly.
Dread pooled in her stomach. "Ben did this?"
Kohr nodded slowly. "Do you want to go back?"
Allana took a steadying breath. "No, it's fine. I need to get it over with." Her hand hovered over the control panel as she smiled weakly at her friends.
"We'll be right out here the whole time," Geridan reassured her.
"Right." She tapped the panel and watched the inner door open again. She stepped in front of the shield, waiting for Kohr to lower it.
"Five minutes," he reminded her.
The shield came down, and she descended into the cell. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the energy shield reactivated, locking her inside.
Festus was leaning back on his heels, eyeing her with dark curiosity. "I thought you were running away from me again," he said, a trace of his usual careless exterior covering an emotion she couldn't place.
Allana took a step to her right, out of the path to the doorway. She'd heard of prisoners ramming their captors against the shields to get them to open the doors, and even though his leg restraints kept him in one place, she wasn't willing to risk it. He watched every movement with that unnerving, icy stare. Now that she was here, she wondered why she'd ever thought she could get any information from him.
"I guess I'd run away, too, if I were you," he continued. A smirk twisted his bloodstained lips. "Seeing me like this." He raised his chin for emphasis.
Allana found herself shaking her head. "I didn't know."
He glanced away, still smirking, and shrugged. "He probably didn't know he was going to do it, until he got in here." Blue eyes found hers again. "I thought it would be harder to rile him up, but I guess he's a Skywalker through and through."
It was the same mocking tone he'd used in the cave, the one that made her feel so small and foolish, and her heart ached thinking of Ben, of all he'd suffered and persevered through and overcome. Of how good he was, in spite of everything. How dare Festus try to bring him so low? How dare he?
She crossed the tiny cell and stood before him. Then she slapped him hard across the face, across the bruises and the blood. He didn't move to avoid it or to lessen the impact.
"You're despicable," she said, hurling the words with every ounce of disgust she could muster. Righteous fury filled her. "Ben Skywalker is so much more than you could ever dream of being, light or dark. But if you think it's a good idea to try to wake that sleeping giant, you're a bigger fool than I thought."
He stared up at her, silent.
She noticed some of his blood on her hand, and yielding to a sudden, petty impulse, she leaned down to grab the front of his shirt, wiping the blood off on the dark fabric.
He made a strange sound in the back of his throat, and she realized then just how close their faces were and that the last time he'd made a sound like that, he'd been twining his fingers through her hair.
She snatched her hand away, stepping as far back from him as she could. The memory returned with force, and try as she might, she couldn't stop feeling his lips on her neck, branding her over and over. It didn't matter how much venom she threw at him; it wouldn't erase what had happened in that cave.
"Kohr," she called over her shoulder. "I'm done here."
The energy shield lifted before she'd finished speaking, and she ran up the stairs, feeling a static jolt in the air as the shield activated behind her. She turned to look at him through the sheer red curtain. He was still staring at her, something unidentifiable in his eyes. She didn't want to know what it was. She wished she could forget everything she knew about him.
The inner door closed, and she could breathe again.
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Allana sat at the small dining table in her quarters, the nuna sandwich she'd prepared lying untouched as the space before her filled with a hologram's blue-tinted glow. The source was a holocube, one that typically sat on her bedside shelf. She'd only meant to look at it for a moment before sitting down to eat, but once she'd begun cycling through the treasured holos, she hadn't been able to stop.
The current image was an old one, captured during a time of relative peace for the galaxy, before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and the second civil war and the reemergence of the Sith. The girl in the holo was framed by a beautiful waterfall with a sparkling azure pool at its base – Allana could just make out several people in the water behind her, swimming and laughing without restraint. But the girl was deadly serious, her copper-red hair arranged in many thick braids, her gray eyes focused on whoever was recording the holo. One elegant eyebrow was slightly arched – the only sign that she was tempted to smile. At least, Allana liked to think she was tempted to smile, just as she liked to think it might have been her father on the other side of that holo, trying to get the Princess of Hapes to laugh.
Everyone said she looked like her mother, but Allana still didn't really see it. Tenel Ka Djo had been strength and beauty personified. Graceful without being frail; refined, yet fierce and uncompromising. She had died as she had lived: a warrior queen devoted to the light and to her people. She hadn't allowed anything or anyone to stand between her and her principles – not even the father of her child.
Allana tried to imagine what she might say to her mother if she were here, but it was difficult. She'd only been six years old when she lost her, and she sometimes wondered if the things she remembered about her were more a product of the stories she'd heard than anything else. Would her mother be angry at her for endangering herself? For putting the entire enclave at risk? For not guarding her heart as she should have?
Would she be disappointed?
A chime sounded from the hallway, and Allana sensed a familiar presence enter her quarters – one that was tired, uncertain, and more than a little agitated.
"You didn't wait for me," a disgruntled voice said from the doorway.
She looked up as Ben stepped into the room. "I didn't know I had to," she replied. She shut off the holocube, and her mother's face vanished. "I saw your handiwork."
He shrugged and sat down across from her, silent as he tapped the fingers of one hand on the tabletop.
"That's not like you, Ben."
He gave her such a withering glare that she almost looked away. "It is like me, Allana. It always has been." He blew out a bitter, frustrated breath. "Remember when Anakin and I came back from Tatooine?"
Even after ten years, she still remembered every detail of that week when her great-grandfather had mysteriously universe-hopped right into their lives. She also remembered how Anakin had returned from Tatooine with fresh injuries unrelated to his disastrous duel on Vjun, and that he'd refused to tell her what happened.
"I remember," she said quietly. "I knew it was you."
Ben nodded slowly, eyes focused on the tabletop. "I was so afraid back then, of falling to the dark side, of destroying everyone I loved. I thought I had it locked down deep, but Anakin brought it all roaring to the surface."
A dull ache in her chest, familiar and almost as comforting as it was painful. "I miss him."
Ben looked up at her and flashed a sad smile. "Me too." He paused, rubbing his thumb along the edge of the table. "I don't fear the darkness like I did back then. I know it's part of me. It'll always be part of me. But I shouldn't have lost control with Festus, no matter what he's done."
She hesitated a beat, unsure if she really wanted to know. "What did he say to you?"
She could tell by the spike of tension in the air that he really didn't want to have this conversation. "It was more what he didn't say."
"What do you mean?"
Ben was so obviously uncomfortable that she felt sorry for him. "He made a couple of backhanded remarks about me, but when I started asking questions he wouldn't answer."
"So you tried to beat the answers out of him?"
"No, I—" Ben shook his head and let out a short breath. "I questioned him about why he was on Argeneen and about what happened in the cave, and he just had this look on his face, and I kept pushing, but he wouldn't talk… and I was going to give up and leave when he asked if you were here, and I just… I don't know, I lost it."
She'd refused to tell Ben what happened between her and Festus – how could she, when she still didn't understand it herself, when all she wanted to do was forget? – but now a cold weight settled in her stomach, and she wondered how much he'd inferred from Festus's silence, and from hers.
"What are you trying to say?" she whispered.
"I'm saying he's obsessed with you, and I don't know how to protect you from that." Ben's voice started to break. "I understand you don't want to tell me what happened in that cave, but I've already driven myself crazy imagining the worst possible scenario."
Her eyes widened as she stared back at him, at the pain twisting his features. No, she didn't want to talk about what had happened, but she also didn't want him thinking that.
"Ben, it wasn't like that," she reassured him. "He wanted to kill me. I defeated him. End of story."
"Allana—"
"Ben." Her tone turned hard. "I promise. That thing you're thinking? It didn't happen, and it never will."
There was a flicker of relief in his eyes. "Yeah. Okay." He stood up from the table. "I don't think you should talk to him again."
She quirked her lips in a small smirk. "Is that an order, Master Skywalker?"
"A strong suggestion, Knight Djo." He still had that worried look on his face, but it had eased a little. He paused in the doorway. "You should talk to someone, Allana, even if you can't talk to me."
She nodded solemnly and watched as Ben closed the door behind him.
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Out of respect for Ben's wishes – and due in no small part to her own reluctance to return – Allana stayed away from the detention level, and for the next few days, she listened with increasing unease as her cousin grudgingly recounted every failed interrogation attempt. It didn't matter who spoke to him, and it didn't matter what they offered or what they threatened to take away; Festus flat-out refused to speak to any of the Jedi.
"He just sits there, staring," Ben said one evening, after both he and Karanya Nal had apparently failed to elicit even a sound from the Sith Lord. "Or smirking," Ben added, not even bothering to temper his disdain.
Allana tried to keep her tone even. "What did you offer him?"
Ben sighed. "Nothing we haven't already tried. A fair trial, life imprisonment, a nicer cell… it's not like there's a whole lot we can give him. The only reason he's here instead of an Argenian prison is because they agreed he was too dangerous to hold, and the only reason he's not in a Republic prison is because they don't know about him yet. We don't have the authority to pardon him for his crimes, and even if we did, I would argue strenuously against it."
There was something odd in Ben's tone that caught her attention.
"Ben," she said quietly. "What is it? What's wrong?"
He rubbed both hands up and down his face. "Nothing. I don't know, it's just… he has this— this murky, evasive presence that makes him hard to pin down, even when you're staring him right in the face. The only time he feels at all genuine is when he mentions you, and even then it only makes him marginally easier to read."
Allana hesitated a moment. "You're saying he's not as guarded around me?"
A switch seemed to flip behind Ben's eyes, and he looked at her with a sudden, frightened intensity, as if he'd seen what she was thinking before she could finish the thought. "No. Absolutely not."
"You just said he's easier to read when he mentions me."
"So?"
"So, he's been here nearly two weeks, and we're still no closer to finding the rest of the Sith. But if I can get him to talk—"
"Yeah, like he wouldn't see that coming from a parsec away—"
"If it gets him time with me, he won't care—"
"—and setting aside your suddenly inflated ego—"
"This isn't about ego—"
"Then what? Are you trying to prove something? That you're not afraid of him? Because you don't need to prove anything to anyone, and nothing you say to him is—"
"Will you just listen to me for a minute?"
Her words rang out raw, settling uncomfortably between them as he went quiet and stared back at her. Allana took a breath and continued.
"I am afraid of him, okay? I'm afraid because he's so screwed up that he can't have a single, decent emotion without twisting it into a reason to kill me. And for some reason, that's more terrifying to me than any actual battle I've fought, including all the ones where I fought him. But I can deal with it if it means we get the answers we're looking for. You faced your fears, and now it's time for me to face mine."
Ben gave a slight shake of his head, and his response was softer than before. "This isn't the same."
"Maybe not, but I still need to do it."
"Allana, you're too honest for something like this. Why do you think I left you behind when I went undercover all those years ago?"
"Because I was too young and you were worried I would get hurt?"
"And because you couldn't lie to save your life. You still can't. Festus will know right away that you're trying to manipulate him. You think he'll be happy about that?"
She met his skeptical stare head on. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it makes him like me more."
Ben looked so deeply appalled by what she'd said that it was almost comical. "That's not funny," he snapped. She sobered quickly in response.
"Ben, I can do this. I'm asking you to trust me."
"It's not you I don't trust, Allana."
"Are you sure about that?"
She didn't miss the hurt in his eyes, or the way his expression hardened a split-second after. "Fine. You think you can get him to talk? I'll allow it."
She didn't bother hiding her surprise. "You will?"
"Yes," he replied grimly. "But you get one try. If he doesn't respond, if he doesn't show any sign of cracking, that's it. You're done."
Allana bit the inside of her lip and nodded. "Okay. One try."
.
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They met in the detention level the next morning. The mood was tense, and Ben exchanged a troubled glance with Geridan – who was standing guard over Festus's cell – before turning to greet her.
"You know you don't have to do this," he said quietly. "We can find some other way."
Allana looked up into his face and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Besides, you'll be watching over me, right?"
"Always." He reached out and tapped her lightly under her chin. "Be careful."
She inhaled and nodded. "I will."
The durasteel door opened to reveal Festus in much the same state as when she'd last seen him. The dark stubble on his face had filled in a little more, becoming less patchy, and the purplish bruises around his eye had begun to yellow – and even though some of it had flaked off, there was still a fair amount of dried blood crusting his skin. But in spite of all that, he didn't appear the least bit cowed.
Her heart raced as she met his gaze through the energy shield. After everything she'd said to Ben the night before, she couldn't turn back now. Festus was their best chance at learning the whereabouts of the remaining Sith, and she was their best chance at getting him to talk.
She couldn't start off being too nice or accommodating, or he'd know it was a trick. Force, he probably already knew it was a trick; he'd probably figured it out the moment he saw her. He'd always been far better at reading her than she was at reading him, and he knew it. How could she hope to match that? How did you play someone who knew you were trying to play them?
Think, she ordered herself. Your mother was a queen, and your father ruled the galaxy. You can handle one man.
The shield vanished and then reactivated behind her as she stepped down into the cell. His eyes never left hers.
"You got me here," she said indifferently. "Care to tell me why?"
He shrugged, donning an air of earnest sincerity. "I'm trying to be a good guest, and yours is the only face that doesn't make me want to murder everyone here."
She eyed him carefully as she stayed near the wall opposite him. "How flattering," she said, raising her chin just a little. "But you've already tried to murder me on more than one occasion. Try another lie."
He dropped the guileless façade and studied her for a minute, his gaze partially obscured by the hair falling into his eyes. "I wanted to see you."
That couldn't be the only reason – if it was truly a reason to begin with – and she worked the various possibilities over in her mind. If he was refusing to speak to anyone but her, it was because he thought she could give him something the others couldn't… or because he knew that he'd been able to deceive her in the past. She took a breath, pushing the memory of Kurin to the back of her thoughts.
"That's all?" A hint of the impatient tone she'd heard her mother use so often when dealing with the Royal Court. The one that said, you would dare waste my time?
He took notice of that all right, straightening up as best he could, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "What else should I want, Princess?"
For the first time in ages, she found herself actively drawing on her early training, lessons she'd learned among the cutthroat Hapan nobility. Show no weakness. Show no emotion. Be so far above them that they can't even hope to drag you down.
If he wanted a princess, she'd give him one.
"I don't care to presume what it is you want," she said haughtily, "but if you don't spit it out, I'm gone."
She couldn't tell if that made him angry or eager, or maybe both at once. He puffed out his chest – a motion exaggerated by the fact that his arms were still bound behind him – and nodded over his shoulder. "I wouldn't mind sitting on that ledge back there instead of being bolted to the floor."
She glanced at the narrow ledge extending out of the back wall of the cell. So he was tired of being on his knees. She wondered if it hurt.
"That's not my decision to make," she said. "But I'll pass along the message." She was about to turn to leave when a thought struck her. It was a risky move, one with the potential to backfire, but if she could maintain the poise her mother had been known for, maybe it would work in her favor.
She strode over to him and reached for his chin. He jerked away, suddenly wary. "What are you doing?" There was a definite warning in his voice.
She kneeled down in front of him, schooling her features into an indifferent mask. "You still have blood on your face." She held her hands up on either side of his head. "May I?"
He was still suspicious; maybe he thought she was going to put him in another healing trance. She was about to reassure him when he leaned his head toward her.
She gripped his chin in one hand, turning it slightly to the side, her fingertips brushing against the stubble on his jaw. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. She wet the thumb of her other hand with her tongue and rubbed at a bloodstain near the corner of his mouth, taking care not to touch his lips or look him in the eyes.
She wasn't able to accomplish much in the way of actual cleaning, but then that hadn't been the point. Beneath her fingers, the muscles of his jaw were taut.
She released him and frowned. "That didn't help much. I'll bring some water when I come back." She was about to stand when he leaned closer, forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"You know I'm going to get out of here," he said quietly, with a surprising lack of menace.
She inhaled a bit too sharply. "We'll see." She stood and walked up the stairs, waiting for the energy shield to open, and she felt his eyes on her until the solid inner door closed between them.
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