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Eva slowly started to realize the world around her once again, although her mind still felt foggy and each part of her body weighed at least a ton. This was the precious moment where she didn’t feel any pain yet, but the bitter taste in the back of her mouth indicated that it will be pretty bad. Only one thing she knew of tasted that way – on the streets they called it Kahla or ‘a small death’. Extracted from a rare plant growing only in western deserts, it was a drug for the rich. One or two drops would give you an evening of foggy happiness, where nothing in the world really mattered and no problems existed. Around five drops would kick you out for a few hours, sending you into a deep dreamless slumber. Ten or more was a deadly dose, and frankly, it was one of the nicest deaths you could get, passing away happy with a smile on your lips.

Aside from being quite expensive, there was another huge flaw to the substance – it was incredibly addictive, and Eva tried to avoid it as much as she possibly could. This time she didn’t even remember drinking it, someone must have poured it down her mouth. What was it that happened? It was so hard trying to concentrate when the blissful flow was trying to carry her away again, but some vague feeling of danger forced to at least try to wake up. There was a lot of pain, she remembered that, coming in waves through her body. And some other pain, sharp and burning at one spot on her neck. Bright red iron was so close, but wasn’t she the one who was supposed to be holding it?

The memories came to her slowly, she remembered questioning Fenros, the short fight that could have very well ended with her death and most importantly the beautiful sound of the bastard’s bones cracking and his short scream full of pain. The rest was gone, deleted by the drug. She squinted, trying to determine where and when she is. The room was dimly lit by one candle, it seemed like it was one of the rooms in the castle reserved for the inquisitors, and it was dark outside. She must have been out for a couple of hours, yet she didn’t feel rested at all. The pain was waiting behind a corner, but she could already feel every muscle in her body sore, as if she had been running and lifting enormous weights for hours.

She tried to move her fingers and tilt her head a bit, slowly waking her body up, while thinking about the things Fenros said. Something just didn’t add up, this whole case was a strange one, she could already feel it before, but got a bit too excited about the idea of torturing the man. How unprofessional. Usually she wasn’t driven by emotions rather than reason and logic. Now, that the emotions nearly cost her life, she pushed reason back in charge.

All the time he claimed he was innocent, even at the moment when he had the upper hand over them. That didn’t really pair well with the idea of an overly confident person who uses his nickname to name an underground rebel party. Someone like that would no doubt take every chance to brag about his accomplishment and make threats. The only time she ever got a reaction from him was when she threatened the princess. It would be a great play by Eleanor – using this man as a pawn while keeping herself safe from any suspicion. If anything were discovered, it would have always been Fenros behind all of it, ready to take the blame.

Except for the fact that he didn’t actually take the blame. Maybe not that well trained pawn? There were several angles of the whole matter that didn’t make too much sense. She was ignoring them before, fully concentrated on the one that was perfectly clear, but now it was painfully obvious that she didn’t know the whole story. Actually, there was one more theory that she chose to ignore even now, one that would mean she had made a terrible mistake. But for the time being her pride wouldn’t even let her acknowledge that, let alone think about how much more logical this theory would be. She needed to talk to the assassin again, this time properly, break her completely to reveal the full truth. 

A short groan escaped her lips as she tried to lift her body up on her elbows. After heroic, several minutes long effort, she managed to sit up in bed, leaning against the cold wall. There was a bowl of soup and a few papers on the stool next to her bed. She reached for the soup, starving as always after the drug left her body, wandering where Garret was. Hopefully Fenros hasn’t harmed him in the fight. She had another assistant, but it was a consistent talker, his constant blabbering sometimes driving Eva to the point where she wished he was the one tied up to the chair instead of whoever they were questioning at that moment. She glanced at the papers, realizing that as she was unconscious, Garret was the one who had to report to the Superior what they found out questioning the former bodyguard.

It took her a while to realize what was in the first folder she grabbed, but when she did, a wide smile appeared on her face. It was full of information about certain Annabelle Tyler, originally a freeholder from Yeruse, now an outlaw renowned for her hatred against the nobles. There were several warrants with increasing reward and a rough sketch of a woman Eva interrogated. She quickly went through the personal information, stopping on a note about closest living relatives – a younger sister and older brother, both still living in Yeruse, the brother even being the captain of the city guard.

Under the folder she found a note from Jennal. She gasped for air as she read it. So, our dear princess isn’t king’s daughter? Who would have said the queen would do such thing. Eva was actually quite surprised that the king raised Eleanor as his own, never mentioning anything, even when he was furious with her at times. She wondered whether he would hand her over to the inquisition, or he would rather deal with the ‘problem’ quietly using his own resources. Most likely the later, since he wanted to keep it a secret even from the ones most loyal to him. Good thing the Superior has half of the servants in the castle on the payroll. And the other half is terrified of him, so they tell him everything even without getting paid.

There was a postscript at the bottom of the note that even widened Eva’s grin.

[center][i]“As for Annabelle Tyler, the king’s most loyal knights have been dispatched to bring her family members into the capital, so we could provide them with proper care. Get some rest before they get here.”[/i][/center]

Although she was a bit disappointed not to be able to question the assassin immediately, she had to admit it is better to wait until they have ways to properly motivate her. Eva was looking forward to providing such motivation.