Chapter 8 #2
He dumped me unceremoniously onto the sofa, but I grabbed at the back of his shirt so he fell down next to me. He swatted my hands away, and within seconds, we ended up fighting as shamelessly as two street urchins scuffling over the last heel of bread.
“Stop hitting me!” he snarled.
We grappled with each other until he caught my wrists and straddled my legs so I couldn’t move. I was pinned to the couch and forced to stare up at the pathetic excuse for a man.
He forced a smile. “Maybe we got a bad first impression of each other. Shall we start over?”
“I’d rather bleed on everything you own,” I snapped.
His gaze flicked over my face, assessing, calculating. Then, maddeningly, he chuckled. “I did just save your life, you know. The least you could do is answer a few questions for me.”
“Get off me first.”
To my surprise, he complied, rising from where he’d sat on my knees and releasing my wrists.
“Let’s begin.”
“I’ll save you the time,” I interrupted. “I have no idea what sort of information you think you’ll get from me. I’m no Termarthian spy or anything of the sort.”
He drew up a stool beside the sofa, the ends of his long fingers touching tip to tip in front of his mouth. “I know you’re not a spy. No spy would get caught as easily as you were. I need to know the exact circumstances that brought you here.”
“Why should I tell you anything when I don’t even know your name or why I was arrested?”
He adjusted his sleeves and smoothed back his hair, which had become disheveled in our scuffle. “My name’s Zafir, and I’m one of Parliament’s viziers. I specialize in alchemy and I’m here to help you.”
“How hospitable,” I sneered. “Do you arrest all those you intend to help? What an altruistic vizier you are.”
He reached over to pick up my wedding ring from his desk and held it up to the light, slowly rotating it in his fingers. “Where did you get this?”
“I would say that it was given to me by my husband, much like most wedding rings, but no, that story is much too ludicrous to believe.”
“Is your husband extremely wealthy?”
I stiffened. “If you think you’ll get a ransom out of him in exchange for me, you’re sorely mistaken. He won’t pay to get me back. He was the one who stabbed me.”
This information did nothing to shock Zafir as I’d hoped, though his eyes narrowed and he took several seconds before responding. “So, you don’t care about him? You’d be willing to sign an annulment?”
“If such a contract would be legitimate in my country, then sure. Hard as it is to believe, I don’t actually want to stay married to the man who attempted to murder me.”
“Understandably so.” Zafir tapped the ring with his fingernail, eyes unfocused and half-glazed. “I want your help,” he said suddenly.
I rolled my eyes so hard that I could have examined my own brain.
“Well, after being arrested without being told my charges, having my possessions stolen, being insulted, and threatened to be held for ransom, I’m simply leaping at the opportunity to help you.
Why, I should have offered earlier. How rude of me to delay.
Shall I kiss your feet while I’m at it? What else can I do for you, Your Worship? Or ought I to call you Master?”
Zafir chuckled and stopped tapping the ring. “So much venom. Are you a woman or a viper?”
“Come closer and find out.”
“You will help me,” he clarified. “I’ll get the information out of you, one way or another. And if you want to call me Master, I won’t stop you.”
“Bite me,” I spat.
“Don’t tempt me.” His black eyes glittered.
I blinked, taken aback. “What did you say?”
He smirked. “I don’t repeat myself. Aren’t you interested in what I can offer you in return?”
“No. My price would be too high for a sniveling blueblood like you.”
“And what is it you want?”
“For you to kill my husband. Or at least find a way to stop him.” My eyes darted to the door. I could probably run if I needed to. This vizier looked bookish enough that I might be able to outdistance him.
“I assumed marriage to you would have already done that to any man fool enough to say I do to you.”
I bolted for the door, snatching my confiscated vials off the table as I did so. Zafir, who was faster than I’d expected, rushed ahead to block me, throwing out his arm to bar the exit.
“Get out of my way,” I snarled, elbowing him in the ribs and trying to shove my vials into my pocket at the same time.
He caught my shoulders and pulled me in close so I wouldn’t be able to hit him. “No. You have something I want.”
“Do I now?” I leaned in so we were nearly nose to nose and lowered my voice seductively.
“Then let me give it to you.” I sharply kneed him between the legs and he instantly crumpled.
For good measure, I hurled down my last scorpion sand vial in front of him, which shattered in a glorious explosion of glass and powder that I was careful not to inhale.
I wrenched open the door and ran.
“Guards!” Zafir choked from the ground behind me. I was pleased to hear the pain in his voice as it rose a full octave. “Guards!”
There weren’t any guards around. This was my chance. I ran down the hallway, but before I could turn the corner, something jerked my arm backward so hard that I wondered if my arm would pop out of its socket.
I looked back and saw a thin, golden chain wrapped around my wrist and extending back toward Zafir. Wispy tendrils of vapor swirled around the chain like the magical residue that hung around some of the amateur sorcerer stalls back home. I tugged on the chain, trying to wrench it off.
“You can’t get away from me now,” Zafir chuckled. He was limping toward me, the other end of the golden chain gleaming where it was wrapped around his own wrist.
“What did you do?” I snarled, trying to peel off the chain. It clung to my skin and proved impossible to budge.
Despite his eyes still streaming with tears from my exploded vial, he managed to smirk.
“It’s a vow bond—a magical enchantment that prevents you escaping—and it also punishes you if you attempt to injure me.
If you try, you’ll receive the exact same pain you inflicted on me. Handy little enchantment, isn’t it?”
I scraped at it again. “Get it off me.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
He pulled on the chain so I was forced a step closer. “If you answer my questions, I’ll gladly remove it.”
“You can’t interrogate someone without cause. I have rights.”
He wrapped the chain around his wrist several times so I was forced even closer. “You have no rights. You’re not from here, are you?”
I bit my tongue and didn’t answer.
He cast a shrewd eye over me. “Based on your skin tone and style of clothing, I’d guess you’re from Brisden.”
So he knew a little geography and made a good guess. “I still have rights and I could just be descended from Brisden.”
“You don’t have a fire tattoo on your shoulder, as all Pyrenese citizens do.
So I’m confident in saying you aren’t from here.
Nor did we find any immigration paperwork on you when you were arrested.
In order to have rights, you would need proof of your immigration status or the law dictates that you are subject to standard questioning before you are granted any refuge.
A vow bond isn’t painful, you know. It’s just an extra measure of reassurance that you won’t harm your interrogator. ”
“I won’t agree not to harm anyone,” I snapped. This time, I stepped closer on purpose so I could jut out my jaw and narrow my eyes at Zafir. “Particularly if you’re the one questioning me. I’d quite enjoy harming you, actually.”
He looked down his long nose at me and smiled. “I thought you might. Which is why I have the vow bond in place. Now, you have some questions to answer before I’m willing to release you.”