Interrogation

Zan had been questioning the prisoner for hours. Gandr sat tied to a wooden chair with his feet off the ground. Thanks to some persuasion from one of the prison guards, the gnome had a gash over his left eye that allowed blood to trickle down his face. Now only Zan, Gandr and a couple of members of the Council were in the room. Cafer was noticeably absent.

"Tell us who sent you to murder the Empress," Zan said coldly.

"I told you it was the King of the Gnomes," Gandr reminded him.

"Who from the palace alerted you to the Empress's whereabouts?" Zan continued his questions.

"No one. I got lucky," Gandr shrugged. He had no interest in cooperating.

"I appreciate your loyalty, but we will find out who the traitor is and your suffering will have been in vain." Zan said sympathetically. "You may as well tell us now."

Gandr spat on the floor. His eyes stared daggers at the Chief. Zan sighed. He hated this, but the safety of the Empress and the world was at stake. It was his job. He changed the subject. "Tell me about the elves. Nurlan told the soldiers that you claimed the Empress was being followed by one."

The gnome laughed, "Elves? What are they? That old soldier must be losing his marbles!"

"Do not toy with me. I will be happy to let the prison guard back in here. He may be less inclined to listen to your nonesene." Zan said.

Gandr stopped laughing. He gave the Chief a wicked smile. "Fine. Yes, an elf was following your precious empress."

Zan turned to the council members, "Perhaps we should send a squadron of men to the ice barrier to investigate."

"Good luck!" Gandr interrupted, "You can't cross the barrier without the Fates' permission or help from a magical creature."

Zan balled his fists. "Do you think this elf helped the Empress cross?"

"I doubt it, but your little Empress is resourceful." Gandr emphasized the word little. "Once she is on the other side is when the real fun will begin. I wish I were there to see if the gnomes or elves get to her first." The gnome chuckled.

Zan knew that the gnomes wanted her dead. Gandr had made that abundantly clear. "What happens if the elves find her?"

Gandr motioned with his head for Zan to draw near. The gnome whispered something in his ear that made the Chief's face go pale. He punched the gnome across the jaw and stormed out of the room. "Try and get that image out of your head!" Gandr called after him, chuckling. The other councilmen were surprised by Zan. He was usually even tempered, and never resorted to violence. The councilmen filed out of the room to see what had happened, leaving Gandr alone.

"Peace at last," the gnome sighed. For a moment, everything was quiet. Then the stone floor of the cell began to shift and meld until a hole was present large enough for a person. "What now?" Gandr groaned.

Cafer rose through the hole, which closed easily below him. "That was quite a show. I thought they would never leave! How are you, brother?" The councilman asked. He placed his hands behind his back and leaned down toward the prisoner.

Gandr looked up at him, squinting so that blood did not run into his left eye. "I have been better," he answered casually. "Have you come to free me?" He struggled against his bound wrists.

"Report first," Cafer said brusquely. The councilman began to pace.

Gandr nodded. He was not in a mood to argue. "The Empress was alive when I saw her last. The elves have caught her trail. Perhaps we will get lucky, and they will be blamed for whatever misfortune befalls the Empress. There is no way that the elves will join the fight against us." Gandr was confident.

Cafer stroked his chin. "There is one way. If they found out about your mother, the elves would be inclined to help the humans."

"My dead mother? What does Bukuri have to do with this?"

Cafer shrugged. "The elves do not know that we took her. Those prideful creatures would happily seek revenge for her honor. Instead, they think Bukuri ran away across the ice barrier. They also do not know about you."

Gandr was surprised. "I thought you said the elves were revolted by me. You kept me hidden away because they planned to murder me."

"I am sure they would have if they had known. Those pesky elves are snobs. I did you a favor by keeping you away." Cafer touched Gandr's shoulder, causing him to wince in pain.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Gandr got a sinking feeling. "You have no intention of letting me go. You have come to kill me." Despite his effort, tears came to the corners of Gandr's eyes. His emotions spiraled. He had worked so hard to please the gnomes, and now he would be betrayed by them. Cafer removed the magical mirror from Gandr's tunic—magic had hidden it from the humans' search—and placed it in his own robe. Then he pulled out a knife and ran his fingers along the edge.

"Do not take it so hard, brother. It is not personal. You are a liability. If the roles were reversed, I would not it hold against you." Cafer plunged the blade into Gandr's chest. "Goodbye, brother."

The stonework of the floor opened again, and Cafer disappeared into the ground below, taking the knife with him. Gandr sputtered and groaned. Just then the wooden door to the stone cell swung wide. Zan came in with a determined look, "I should not have lost my temper. Now…what happened?!" The Chief spied the gaping wound in the gnome's chest. Gandr tried to speak, but he was too weak. He slumped over in the chair, unconscious.

"Guards, get the doctor immediately!" Zan yelled. Two guards peeked around the door frame, saw the blood and rushed off to obey.

Zan untied the gnome and laid him on the ground. "I hope this is not some elaborate attempt to escape," he said grimly, though he was pretty sure that it was not. Ripping at the bloody clothing, Zan examined the wound. It was deep and gushing. The silver-eyed man ripped at his own shirt and stuffed the cloth into the wound to staunch the bleeding. "The doctor will not make it in time," Zan realized. He pulled out a vial from a compartment in his councilmen's robe. The liquid inside the vial glowed like the sun. Zan squinted as he pulled out the stopper. "I hope this works on gnomes like it does on humans," he said to no one in particular. After removing the piece of his shirt from Gandr's chest, he let a single drop fall from the vial onto the wound.

The entire cell was engulfed in light.