Sitting in a slightly gory cellar, I held a nice cup of tea in hand. The contents swirled around as I stirred them with a spoon, completely ignoring the woman who sat in front of me, crying desperately.
“Wow, you really stepped up your game Hannah. Nice tea!” I commented after I took the first sip of the peppermint tea. It was honestly a bit too sugary, but whatever. She improved considerably since the first time serving tea.
“Thank you very much.” She said, standing beside me while looking at the woman. I couldn’t feel any pity within Hannah, but there was certainly a bit of hesitation. This woman did absolutely nothing, neither to me, nor to Hannah. She was an upright civilian, but she had the information we needed.
“We heard you said something about a unicorn in the north? Apparently, your husband is on the way there?” I asked with a smile on my lips.
“I will say nothing, you monsters!” She screamed and flung her tears everywhere as she shook her head hard.
“But you just did say something, right?” I said calmly and took a sip once more. I savoured the flavour on my tongue, graded it appropriately and nodded towards Hannah. “What else have you prepared for me?”
“A simple stew, made from the finest vegetables around here, and most importantly meat. It is easy to digest, nearly perfect for someone who hasn’t eaten anything in … let´s say three days?” Hannah said, placing a soup plate in front of me with a steaming meal in it.
“Wow, that looks delicious. Did you say three days? Who would be so dumb to hunger for three days?” I asked sarcastically and picked up the spoon right next to the plate.
“Nobody, milady.” Hannah commented as I puffed against the hot, steaming stew on the spoon.
“Alright, maybe we have started on the wrong foot, eh … uhm …” The woman in front of me certainly knew how to anger me as she spitted towards me, hitting my precious food in front of me. Shrugging, I eat the bit on my spoon by letting the contents fall into my mouth and moaned theatrically. “Delicious!”
“Her name is Freya.” Hannah said and strolled towards the shelves.
“Ah, right, Freya. You only need to tell us where the unicorn was spotted.”
“I will not lead you to my husband!” She screamed in defiance.
“How troublesome … and I booked a trip into the north three days ago. Do you know how hard it is to gather all the proviant needed, even for a few humans? And by the way, I´m a human.” I said without even trying to sound convincing. “We already have a carriage, lodging and everything prepared, but we cannot wait any longer. You have to look at everything from our perspective as well. You see, we really need that unicorn, so in a sense, we are the victims here.” I had to admit it was quite hard to follow my twisted logic, but whatever. Taking a sip from my tea, I looked in her eyes which stared back in hatred.
“I will not tell you anything.” She repeated once more, as if she had a chance to keep her mouth shut.
“Oh, my. I´m getting some strong vibes from you … something along the lines of ‘Power of Love’ or so. Let me tell you how this will work. You tell us where we need to go. And then, if we are hundred per cent sure you spoke the truth, you will take these drugs which will eradicate every memory from this point in time to a week ago … or to a month ago … or to a year ago … and maybe even more, depending on how lucky you are.” I explained and watched Hannah how she played with a tong in front of her face. The woman shrank back visibly, and her demeanour changed considerably.
“I … I would forget everything.” She muttered, probably thinking about the day when she and that adventurer met.
“They say love transcends everything … even though I can tell you this isn’t the case.” I smirked and took another sip of my tea while she thought about the offer.
“Do you promise me they won’t be hurt?” She asked, still looking at the tool in front of her.
“Would you trust such a claim?” I smirked and let the contents of my cup twirl once again.
“No … they are in Affenland.” Her soul brightened up by a notch, she looked away from me towards the table, and her heartbeat increased a bit. Some people just weren’t born to be liars.
“Hannah, if you would be so kind.” Hannah grabbed the woman´s chin and forced her mouth open as she slowly pushed the tool into her mouth. Sadly, Hannah did also block my view, but the screaming filling the room was already good enough for me. Nodding, I took another sip of my tea as I noticed how the hands of the woman cramped and then relaxed considerably.
With a tooth in the pliers, Hannah stepped back from her, only to slap the woman´s cheek hard. She awoke nearly instantly and screamed her life out of her lungs. Smiling happily, I took another sip and waited for her to turn into a sobbing mess until I repeated my question.
“Darling, you only need to tell us where the unicorn is.” I said soothingly.
“… in the north. There is a forest called Schwarzwald where a hunter apparently noticed it.” She muttered, blood running out of her mouth. Even though she was crying because she sold out her husband, I didn´t pity her one bit. I mean, it was obvious she would break under a little bit of torture, so trying to resist it was foolish in the first place.
“Thank you very much. Hannah, if you would retrieve a map from upstairs? I think I saw one earlier.” I said and smiled brightly.
“Certainly.” Hannah nodded and left the room, closing the sturdy wooden door behind her. Shortly afterwards, I placed my cup of tea neatly in front of me and stood up. My foot carried me towards the shelve, where I picked up a rather short, but insanely sharp knife and strolled back towards her.
I flashed it in front of her eyes, making her shrink back in fear and placed the flat side of the blade on her cheeks. I let it run downwards, from her throat, over her tense shoulders and arms. Only then did I turn the blade around and cut through the ropes binding her, chuckling about her cute reaction as she relaxed once more and placed the knife in front of her on the table.
“Feel free.” I said, walked around the table and sat down on my chair, one leg over another. At first, she stared at it as if this was some kind of trap, but then took the knife and cut through the ropes on her wrists and ankles with difficulty. As she finished, I pushed over the meal towards her and was even so kind to slide the used spoon over. “Go on, eat it.”
Slowly, she placed the knife back onto the table, probably hesitating if she wanted to use it for more. But in the end, she chose not to, which was a wise decision in all honesty.
“Is it …” She said while looking down at the food.
“Poisoned? Don’t worry about that.” I said and smiled brightly. Slowly, she took the spoon into her hand and filled it with stew. It didn´t take long for it to wander in her mouth, while I looked at the spectacle with slightly parted lips myself. It didn´t take long for the drug we spoke about earlier to take effect. It was a mixture Tom provided, claiming it as the best and costliest there was. Sadly Hannah wasn’t so keen on torturing someone innocent to death yet and so this was the best solution for everyone involved, even though her head fell face-first into the stew, sending it flying everywhere.
“Eww…” I said, stood up and pulled her head out of the food shortly afterwards. Her breathing was a bit slow, but at least she wasn’t suffocating. “Have a great sleep.”
Shortly afterwards, I strolled out of the room, cleaning my clothes with a cloth I found inside the room. Hannah waited for me outside, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms in front of the chest.
“How did you do it this time? It wasn’t in the soup, was it?” She asked, raising her eyebrows and curious about all the ways of poisoning someone.
“No … the drug was heated up and brushed onto the spoon. Easy to get off, but it doesn’t dilute in water this way.” I answered, smiling brightly from ear to ear.
