In the winding hallways of Ashgate Prison Lothar steadily weaved his way through while passing guards who gave Lothar odd looks. Understandably so because Lothar was walking through the complex with his upper half exposed. His lean scared body was visible to all the attention he drew only grew once others notice small spatters of blood on him. Most of the blood was wiped off but a good portion of it was impossible to wipe away immediately. Not wanting to dirty his garments any further Lothar stayed exposed.
The guards around Lothar gave him his space since Lothar's presence there was sanctioned by the king. As Lothar neared the hallway leading to the exit he stopped because the unsettling form of Zephyr entered his eyes. The two stood in front of each other with a strained tension between them. Lothar's browse furled together, he simply wanting to leave the prison so he asked Zephyr, "why are you standing in my way?".
Zephyr in a somewhat odd sounding voice said to Lothar, "you seem to have quite a strong relationship with the spy I captured. Tell me what you know about him I need a full picture of who I'm dealing with before I end this matter".
Lothar muttered, "I don't know much of anything about him I don't pry into my colleague's lives especially his. I don't need that filth in my head any more than -".
"Answer me".
With a stern voice, those few words stopped Lothar's ramble and got him saying what Zephyr wanted to hear.
"As I said before I don't know much about how he is personally. What I know is that he is an odd man that doesn't enjoy doing anything mainstream. The lesser know topics are what catches his eye. The man is rebellious he doesn't really submit to anyone only compromises which makes him smart. He has proven to handle tasks that even 10 men of similar caliber would have difficulty completing. If he's ever lacking the words then he speaks with action. He doesn't break easily under pressure he endures the pain. How he does it I don't know. The point is Nathaniel is many things he honestly has the potential to achieve something even greater than he already has. That's why him being an actual spy for another nation is unlikely. I've seen real spys he doesn't fit in with that lot".
Zephyr grunted then replied, "I was arriving at a similar conclusion, but I must be thorough about this matter. So, I'll be his bunkmate for a bit until all becomes clear. Thank you for your insight on the matter".
After those parting words, Zephyr left Lothar's side to join Nathaniel in the interrogation room. Lothar felt a cold chill run down his spine and watched the source of it disappear down the hall. Uncharacteristically Lothar's resting scowl changed to a more sympathetic expression because while he wished ill will on Nathaniel he wasn't a monster that would purposely sick the likes of Zephyr down on him. To torment the already tormented in such a way is sickening even to him. Unable to do anything about such a thing Lothar promptly left before he began feeling anymore sympathy for Nathaniel.
Walking back down the same path Lothar just walked was Zephyr. It didn't take long for Zephyr to reach the interrogation room holding Nathaniel. He promptly opened the door allowing to come into view Nathaniel's beaten form. Personally not caring about Nathaniel's current state Zephyr stepped in and closed the door behind him paying no mind to how Nathaniel looks.
Nathaniel's head was still hanging low in the same position it was when Lothar left. He was thinking about his family that he put in danger and not really caring about Zephyr approaching him. Zephyr stood a foot away from Nathaniel from above he saw Nathaniel's body unmoving only his blood slowly flowing from his face as it dries on the floor. Zephyr in a monotone voice greeted Nathaniel, "Hello Nathaniel this obviously isn't a good time for you but we need to talk".
Nathaniel took in a deep breath in preparation for this conversation and steeled his will before replying, "What do you want to talk about?".
"A great deal many things for instance how you got in the wall, what were you doing there, who if anyone you could possibly be working for? You know basic stuff like that but mostly I want to know who are you Nathaniel?".
"Those sound like simple questions but are actually quite complex. I don't even know who I really am I'm not sure if anyone does really, so explaining that is quite difficult".
"Then just simplify the problem I've spoken to many people who've known you and they all praise you for your intellect, but were all rather quick to paint a nasty picture about you. You've made many enemies during your time here you should be proud of what you achieved".
"In this line of work, it's hard not to step on a few toes on the way to the top. But, those people are only battering me because their afraid of you and want no association with me given my current situation".
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"Indeed your correct but let's focus on the matter at hand".
Nathaniel grumbled, "before we speak any further on this matter tell me what did you do to my family". Nathaniel's head that was facing down through the who conversation picked up at this point and he looked at Zephyr's face with his one unswollen eye. Zephyr having nothing to hide answered truthfully, "you have no living family members on record after investigating your house we discovered your connection to a person named Helen. Her location is unknown but we are searching for he as we speak to ascertain what she knows".
Nathaniel said firmly, "she knows nothing I never speak about my job to her your wasting your time".
"I'll be the judge of that if it as you say nothing will happen to her. Now tell me how did you get in the walls?".
Nathaniel knew that this first question could potentially be a trap because he knew of two ways to get into the walls of the palace. If he lied and they knew about the entrance to behind his bookcase he was dead. If he told the truth he would be incriminated further and still be killed. It was a lose-lose scenario where the only benefit at the end of both was the ability to choose how quickly you wanted to die. Nathaniel couldn't care less how quickly he would die in this scenario, but him also being a man not willing to roll over and die without a fight Ignited his will to live for a bit longer. Time was the key he knew that if he bought enough time he could potentially live because his brother would not let him die like this.
With renewed vigor, Nathaniel answered, "In the third level of the basement there is an old archive room. A part of the wall deteriorated there its an easy entrance into the walls that's how I entered them".
Zephyr in silence stepped a bit closer to Nathaniel, grabbed him by his chin, lifted his head a little, so his eyes can look directly into Nathaniel's, and said, " why did you lie to me? I've been truthful to you why are you not the same".
Nathaniel with his gaze fixed on the dark eyeholes of Zephyr's mask answered, "because I'm not scared of you".
"Many have said the same thing, but rarely is it true. This makes me wonder what secrets your hiding and question whether this was an isolated incident or if you are truly working for someone else".
"My refusal to answer isn't because of any big secret or because of some hidden puppet master behind me that I'm protecting it's about you".
Puzzled and intrigued by this statement Zephyr asked, "what do you mean?".
Clarifying Nathaniel stated, "This will be simpler to explain if you just see for yourself. The color of my eyes is fake I'm using contact lenses, remove them for me will you".
Without hesitation, Zephyr obliged Nathaniel's request and peeled off both contact lenses on Nathaniel's eyes. The once blue spheres in Nathaniel's socks were revealed to be dark brown in color. Zephyr's reply to this reveal was simple, "so you have cursed blood".
Nathaniel replied, "indeed I do my reputation is going to be ruined anyway, so it's not like revealing it now matters. By the color of my eyes you should know of at least some of the difficulties that I've faced".
"I do because many people believe your kind to be cursed or at least descended from people that are cursed the lot of them face widespread prejudice. We may not have ever done something like segregate them from the rest of the masses as some zealot believers have consistently suggested, but in your own neighborhood, there is a likely chance that you will face some kind of problem.
Even at your workplace that includes places like at the palace where there would most definitely have been no chance for you to ever become a senior treasurer if they had known. Your plight is real, but what does that have to do with you not answering my question truthfully? If anything this shows your potential aggregation towards the king".
"I assure you even now I bear no hate for the king. What I'm alluding at is my resolve, my unwavering determination, by sheer willpower I made my way to the top few believed that I could ever reach. Unlike you Zephyr you're feared as the unbreakable spear, yet you bend over backward at a single word. Amongst the people in this room, I'm the only one that remains unbroken. To be questioned as a traitor, to be looked down on, spat on, I need not confirm anything I know what I am. Even if I die to reaffirm that for you is disgusting. No matter what I shall remain unbroken".
Nathaniel's words flipped a switch inside Zephyr's head. His words filled Zephyr with energy enough to the point he was positively throbbing. Nathaniel looked closely at the growing mass in Zephyr's pants and wanted to reel back in disgust. Because of Nathaniel's knowledge about Zephyr though as sparse as it was he knew about Zephyr's interest in torture. Zephyr's title of unbroken wasn't given because he can not be broken it's because he breaks others. Nathaniel didn't know if his plan to garner Zephyr's interest in such a way would actually work but the end results were obvious. Now all he has to do now is endure the consequences.
Zephyr in his heat of passion walked closer to Nathaniel and straddled him as he was bound to the chair. Zephyr's weight was crushing Nathaniel's legs. Nathaniel was boggled at the reason to how Zephyr could be so heavy. The uncomfortable situation was made worse when Nathaniel noticed the feeling of Zephyr's mass poking into his gut.
With his heart palpitating faster by the second Zephyr released heavy breaths as he said, "you are different more so than those people said your a rare find indeed". Following those words, Zephyr grabbed Nathaniel's head and pushed it close to his chest. The two stayed interlock like that for a while during the whole time of which Nathaniel was freaking out about the whole weird situation in silence. The cold sweating for Nathaniel only stopped after Zephyr lifted off of him.
Nathaniel's legs were sore, but his mind made him wonder if he made the right choice at all. During this mental debate, Nathaniel suddenly felt a searing pain. The source of was a thin needle that Zephyr shoved under his fingernail and into his thumb. Nathaniel made not a single unnecessary sound as this happened he watched as blood dripped from his finger and Zephyr said to him, "I wonder how long you'll last".