Chapter 6.6

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I struggled as they forced me out of the hall, through the rain-soaked back gardens, and down a stairway cut into the mountainside. In a rough-cut room, dimly lit by smouldering torches and ringed by barred cells, they chained me to a table. Iron rings cut into my ankles and wrists as I strained against them.

"Lively one, aren’t you," muttered the Captain.

Two men rose from a bench at the side of the room. One was grizzled and balding, with sunken cheeks where he had no teeth. The other was young, probably an apprentice. Both wore leather aprons and high boots, and they stank of old blood and offal.

"What’s this?" asked the older man.

The Captain jerked his thumb at me. "His Lordship wants his tongue."

"What does he want to know?"

"Nothing. Just take his tongue and be quick about it."

The old man shook his head. "I don’t like no audience. I’ll send for you when I’m finished."

The Captain stared at him; the old man stared back, arms crossed. Finally the Captain turned and left, taking the other soldiers with him.

"Well, now," the old man said, slapping his hands together. "We’ve got work to do. Jesse, get those irons on the fire."

The stench of smoke, the sizzle of iron on the coals, the clank of tools by my head – it all brought back bad memories. The old man tightened leather straps on my face, and forced my mouth open. Then he paused, and brought the lamp closer.

"What’s this?" he said, poking inside my mouth with a stick.

If he couldn’t see for himself, I certainly couldn’t tell him.

The younger man peered in. "That’s a problem. Should we take what’s left?"

No, by all the gods. No.

"Nothin’ to gain by it." The old man tapped his stick on the table by my ear. "If his Lordship wants to see a tongue, he’ll want to see all of it. Tell you what – run over to the butchery and tell Elias I need a pig’s tongue, and it’ll make us even for last weekend. If’n he stays silent."

Then he leaned over my face. "And you better stay silent, too."

"Who’s he going to tell?" asked the younger man.

The old man shrugged. "If his Lordship finds out about this, it’ll be the pear for all of us."
I felt the blood run out of my face at that, and the young man whitened. He left without further comment.