Private Tales Broken Fingers

[Cenric]

Cortos - Kortes; Outskirts

"P-please." The word, if one could even call it that, was barely audible.

In the din of dock-works just outside the warehouse one would have had to shout to even have a chance of hearing anything at all. Which of course, was why they had chosen this place. Couple that with a few conveniently stacked crates, a little warding magic, and one very effective rag used as a gag and this interrogation had gone rather swimmingly.

Well, aside from the Red-Guard still refusing to spill his guts. "I-I don't k-know anything."

"I very much doubt that Selero." Cenric, cloaked in a blonde man's body said as he crouched down in front of the man. "You're the Bishops First Guard. You know his movements, what he has for breakfast."

The man's eyes were swimming as he looked at the suit of skin in front of him. There was recognition in his eyes, of course, the blonde man had been Selero's friend before Cenric had taken him. "Wh-why are you doing this? Y-you-."

Cenric stopped listening as the man began to plead his case once more. Echoing arguments he had made about 'their' bond half a dozen times before.

It was remarkably frustrating just how resilient the man was proving to be. They had been interrogating him for nearly two days now, and soon his absence would become noticed. Before long the other Guards would come searching, and not long after the Solar Choire would be alerted. They had to do something, and soon. A long sigh escaped Cenric's lips. "Family it is."

He said, patting Selero on the cheek. A look of wild panic crossed his features, but before he could say another word Cenric elbowed him across the jaw and sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra came back into view as Cenric knocked him out.

"Still nothing?" She asked, knowing that he had not.

Sen had been trailing the family of Solero for the better part of the afternoon, and her findings were quite boring to say the least. He was a happy, loving husband to a wife that looked after their two children, but after spending all those hours surveilling, Kit discovered that Solero had a daughter that was older, definitely before his marriage.

This girl had intrigued the Lyrebird so much, disregarding the love and patience of her step-mother. Just watching from afar told Kit that the girl was adored by her father, but the sentiments were not returned in the same aspect.

It would be her Kitra would take.

"Brought his daughter, she's still asleep from the draught I snuck her. Should I wake her?"

 

[Cenric]

Many Anirian's had difficulty paying their enemy respect.

Growing up at the Academy they had been taught through many lessons about the superiority of their people. How Dreadlord's were the strongest, most intelligent, and unbreakable backbone of Aniria. Infrequently mentioned were that other states believed much the same.

Selero and the rest of the Red-Guard were strong in their own way, but unlike Cenric and his peers they had weaknesses which could be pressed.

In this case, the man's daughter would do just fine. "In a bit."

Cenric said with a slight frown.

"I left him with the thought." It wasn't that he had any qualms about using the man's daughter as leverage, but he had a better thought than a simple threat. "You said she was...distant from him?"

He had left tailing the girl to Kitra, figuring that his new face would be better for interrogating Selero himself. His second body having been set as a watch.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra shrugged one shoulder. "His daughter, but not his wife's. It is obvious he has been trying to win her favour with all the jewellery, dresses, and even some nice first edition books I saw in her room... but they were all hidden away." Snooping in places she shouldn't be came naturally to her, more her expertise than when it came to interrogations. Kitra would have to feel what they felt, and there were times when it could be all too much even for her, but they persist.

"I have also learned to mimic her voice, if we would like to further disturb him." She relayed, her voice taking on a youthful and more disinterested cadence. "If I had proper time to study, I could take on her features, but why waste time? She is here."

Kitra stepped forward and held her hand out, brandishing a piece of parchment to Cenric. "She was receiving the mail when I grabbed her. Sealed with the Bishop's mark."

 

[Cenric]

Cenric took in every piece of information Kitra offered, frowning in thought.

There were two paths they could take. Doubtless with enough effort they could take the girl and turn her against her father, though that might take time. The other option was to have Kitra pose as her, let the quiver in her voice betray a false knife at her throat and see if that alone would be enough to break the man.

The third option, of course, was to just actually threaten her. But that would take away another avenue. "Have you read it?"

He asked, taking the parchment and playing it over in his hands. Noting the ornate seal before he popped over and scanned the contents.

"An affair?" Cenric asked with a shake of his head. "So pedestrian."

Perhaps that was why the girl had no respect for her father, his employer clearly didn't. Cenric clicked his tongue, noting that the letter contained no real details. He doubted the girl would be any more help in getting to the Bishop, much less his vaults, but she would be useful nonetheless. "These religious types. Always so hypocritical."

He tossed the parchment onto the table.

"What do you think?" He mused to his fellow Vigilite. "Break him, or try to play her?"

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra snorted.

The news of an affair was not surprising. She had figured he had a dalliance earlier in his life that resulted in the daughter Kit had taken, and his current wife trying so hard to accept her as one of her own. This forced love would make anyone one else uneasy and distant.

"Why do I have to pick?" She scrunched her face, already tossing about her ideas... With a sigh, she looked up at Cenric, fixing him with a steady look of intent. "We break him. There is something we haven't tried yet."

Kitra looked around, finding another chair and bringing it to be placed before their target. Moments later, Kitra was hauling the adolescent into view, placing her onto the chair and began restraints. "Keep her like this, let him see you have been to your word. We wake her, let her see her father like this, and the letter on her lap to read. Perhaps she may break him for us."

 

[Cenric]

"Because I'm feeling generous." The Dreadlord said with a grin. "And Lazy."

He said with a shrug of his shoulders as he leaned against one of the crates. Lips pressing thin as he listened to her plan. A smile spreading across his face as before she could even finish Cenric caught the play she was wanting to make.

Clever.

As Kitra began to move the chair into place, Cenric whispered a small spell beneath his breath. Letting Selero sit in his silence a moment longer before wandering over and grabbing the parchment. "The bishop's fate brought about by his own lascivious heart?"

Though he supposed it would be more the vengeance of a daughter's vengeance. Cenric's steps echoed in the warehouse as he gently dumped the piece of paper in their prisoners lap.

"How dramatic." He commented, motioning for Kitra to wake the girl. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you'd stolen the idea from a stage show."

 

[Kitra Sen]

She fixed him with a large grin. "Oh? You hear Lyrebird of Vel Cirak and think, what? No dramatic flair?" She teased, pushing the sleeping girl's head forward to droop so that her fingers could press the right spot to alleviate the slumber.

Kitra grabbed Cenric by the arm and pulled him away. "I am a mimic. First instinct is dramatic, but as someone that survived the Academy at a young age? My first instinct is to succeed." Releasing him, Kitra wandered over to a mass of pillows she collected in a pile to lounge across. It had been boring listening to a man cry and plead, but Kit had managed to finish reading her book that morning.

"Let her panic for a few moments before waking her father. I am very curious as to what she has to say seeing him. And time to read her letter..."

 

[Cenric]

"Maybe you should try joining the Opera." Cenric suggested as they stepped out of the light and beyond the sight of their guests. Head turning over his shoulder and watching as the girl began to stir. "I hear the Trafalgar Company is hiring."

Mostly because he and Adira had killed their lead a few weeks back. The woman had been a Dreadlord, or rather, a rogue. Running from the Republic with knowledge that she wasn't supposed to have. Knowledge that was now his, along with the voice she had so cherished.

"Pa-papa?" The girls voice echoed out just as Cenric turned fully. Motioning for Kitra to follow as well.

Panic echoed through the girl's voice already, though tinged with confusion more than anything else. Her head shaking as she tried to look around herself. Eyes flickering back and forth in desperation, seeking for any sign of where she might be. "Papa!"

Her voice called out again, though this time there was something...else. Anger? "Look what you've gotten us into!"

The girl spat, much to Cenric's surprise.