The Icrodeian spy sat slumped in the chair, his long brown hair covering his already blood-stained face. Though, through the matted strands, I could see his menacing golden eyes staring at my mother and I. No matter how much we attempted to question him, he wouldn't speak a word. He wouldn't even make a sound as I slapped him across the face.

The cell door opening as another person walked in made me jump, causing my heart to leap into my throat.

Standing beside the guard who had escorted us up was Sabre. Her short, raven-coloured hair was tucked behind her ears as it usually was, making sure it didn't fall into her face as she was doing something important. In the darkness of the tower, her golden eyes seemed to glow. They were completely different from the prisoner's. While his were menacing, blood-thirsty, out for vengeance, Sabre's were alluring. Her eyes tugged at my heart, the fear in them urging me to protect her.

What was she even doing in the tower of all places? If it was too dangerous for the species of the fae, then it was definitely no place for a human. Was it even allowed? All I wanted to do was drag her out to safety myself. I rolled my shoulders. Now wasn't the time. I had to get answers out of him, of what Icrodeia was plotting against Racaea.

"Why have you been sent over the borders? What information have you been told to collect?" I stepped closer to the prisoner, moving his hair out of his face so he could clearly look around the room.

The spy's glare raked my mother and I thoroughly, the corner of his lip curling up into the beginnings of a snarl, but when they found Sabre, they cooled completely, his mouth twisting into a smirk instead.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was hoarse and laced with a thick accent, one I had only heard once or twice before.

"You," my mother called out to Sabre, "hand over the shackles and take the measurements for the new ones. Now."

My friend approached the prisoner, not bowing to the High Fae Queen like she was supposed to, and pulled out a worn tape measure from her pocket. I had to stifle a laugh at the flare of annoyance in my mother's expression. There was a reason for me to believe she hadn't bowed to anyone in her entire life, she hadn't when the two of us met for the first time and I told her of my status as prince.

As she leant down to wrap the tape around the prisoner's ankles, he twisted his head to get a good look at her. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and that was enough time for the spy to decide his victim to torment.

A minacious laugh erupted from his chest. "Oh wow, you're from Icrodeia too." His features suddenly turned into ones of someone incredibly enraged and he spat at her. "Traitor. Why would you work for the fae when you could have everything and more back in our homeland?"

Sabre's jaw clenched and her hands tightened on her measuring tape. The urge to punch him square in the nose was visible in her stiff movements, but she refrained from doing so. Even from replying. Nothing good would come from interacting with him and she knew it.

As she wrapped the tape around the prisoner's waist, she tugged a little too tightly, cutting off the prisoner's blood circulation for a moment or two. Good, I thought to myself. He deserved it and so much more for speaking to her like that. When Sabre eventually left the room, I would make sure he paid for his mistake.

Writing down a few numbers on the back of her hand with a pen she found tucked inside her back pocket, she joined the guard's side once more. Giving me one last look, warning me to be careful, she announced, "I will be back later", before heading back into the maze.

The prisoner only smiled in her absence. "Well, I've found what I've been searching for."

"And what is that exactly?" I crossed my arms, resuming my place in front of the spy.

He merely shrugged. Of course he wasn't going to give us an answer. I hadn't wanted to bring the interrogation to this, not while my mother was in the room, but it appeared like I had no choice.

Walking up to the wall, I pulled a short dagger off of it and returned to the prisoner. The blade sat snuggly against the skin of his hand, a decent place to start drawing blood, a reminder that I could hurt him anywhere I wished.

"What are you going to do? Give me a nasty paper cut?" He mocked my threat, but there was a hint of hesitation lurking beneath.

"It's a good thing that people don't need both of their hands to survive. Perhaps I'll start with your fingernails." I circled the chair, letting the dagger scrape along the metal it was  made from.

The spy laughed again, this time it was less vicious and more fearful. "The more you torture me the less information I'll give you. Doesn't that defy the purpose of this whole ordeal?"

"Usually, it's quite the opposite when dealing with weapons and pain. The more you experience, the more willing you'll be to tell us what we want to know in order to end the suffering." I really didn't want to start drawing his blood, to hear his screams — punching and slapping the prisoner had been my limit — but all that kept running through my mind was the way he had growled 'traitor'.

Sabre was no such thing. It wasn't her fault that her own kingdom had turned her back on her. He knew nothing about the torment she had been through and had no right to treat her as he had done.

"That doesn't work on me. If there's a bargain to be made, however, then I might be more willing to spill Icrodeia's secrets. You do want to know why my kingdom has a sudden interest in Racaea, right?" The confidence that had faltered before rose back up. "Why we want to purge the world of the fae and possibly your kingdom too?"

"Do you know what you want in return?"

He shrugged. "I need to think about it."

My mother stepped forwards, eyeing the man warily. I hadn't wanted to get her involved in any of the gruesome parts of the interrogation, she didn't need to expose herself to any more than she had already experienced in her long lifetime. "Does your scheme involve the girl who walked in earlier? The other Icrodeian?"

A sickening grin broke out on his face. "Maybe. Maybe not."

My free hand wrapped around his neck. "If you or anyone working with you so much as lays a hand on her I will bring Icrodeia down with my bare hands." Strength rippled through my body, my fae blood reacting to my urge to harm him.

It couldn't be possible. Sabre had been living in Racaea for nearly all of her life, why was she a part of his plans? No. It had to be a facade.  He had only just met her and she was Icrodeian, that was why he was bringing her into this. The spy was creating a distraction so we wouldn't focus on the real plan being swept along beside us.

When I let go of his throat, he breathed heavily. "Was that a threat, prince?"

"Forget about it, Kay," my mother warned in a stern tone. "We will leave and discuss what will happen with the prisoner outside of the tower."

While it was a good decision to make as I wasn't thinking clearly, there was a part of me that couldn't move from where I was standing. Half of me knew it was wise to think about the situation from every angle possible to come up with a solution, but the other half desired to get some sort of revenge for how he spoke to Sabre.

"Go on ahead. I'll wait here until the shackles arrive in case he finds a way to escape." My grip tightened on the dagger as it found its way back to the spy's wrist.

The queen shook her head but left nonetheless, the guard stationed on the inside wall of the cell following to guide her out. As soon as the echoes of their footsteps left my heightened range, I drew my attention back to the prisoner.

He opened his mouth to speak, undoubtedly a snarky remark of some kind, but he was met with my fist, creating a sickening crack as his head flew backwards.

Do you think Sabre is involved in the spy's plans somehow?