Read Online War In The Winds (Book 9) by Craig Halloran - Free Book Online Page A

bringing the news directly to you as ordered.”
    “Hmmm,” she said, “is that all the news that you bring?”
    “They are shackled,” he said, “three in all. Ready for torment.”
    “And are they the leaders of this movement?”
    “I fear not,” he said, “but I’m certain they’ll lead us to them.”
    “Certain, Commander?”
    His downcast head lifted the slightest and drifted back downward.
    “I’m fully confident in our methods,” he said. “They’ve never failed before.”
    “Everything fails,” she said. “Especially people.”
    The commander, a stout veteran judging by his appearance, trembled.
    “Commanders,” she continued, “take me to them. I want to see these culprits for myself.”
    “Er,” he said, standing up as she came down the dais, “it would be an honor.”
    “Yes, yes it would.”
    She made her way out of the chambers, followed by an entourage of acolytes, the commander, and a draykis. Taking the steps down the Great Tower took almost an hour, but Selene was in no hurry. She had plenty on her mind. Word had come earlier in the day. Bayzog had obliterated one of her finest servants in Quintuklen. The real Sasha and their sons had escaped. She rubbed her temples.
    It’s starting. And it hasn’t even been a year yet.
    She and her escorts bottomed out at the street level pavilion and were now passing by the gawking onlookers. It wasn’t often she came down from the tower. Many people kneeled and bowed, most averting their eyes from her gaze. Across the market, another series of steps under heavy guard led down below the tower. They stopped at a double gate of iron bars guarded by two lizardmen. Both saluted.
    “Open,” the commander said.
    The doors creaked open, and inside the dungeon they went. The air was rank with rot, mold, and sweat. A staleness hung in the air. The commander led Selene and her entourage toward the back, where they passed many cells crammed with moaning people. Many hollow eyes were pressed to the bars. Stomachs groaned. The miserable cried.
    Selene’s breathing eased.
    Ah, the sound of suffering. It does my heart well.
    She stopped inside a cove carved out of stone, lit by two torches on the wall. Three prisoners huddled on the ground, shivering in heavy metal shackles. A table with many crude devices was pressed against the cove’s wall, and a burly man with a dropped shoulder and a crooked jaw stood alongside it.
    “Well,” Selene said to the commander, “let’s see these torments you boasted about.”
    “Yes, High Priestess,” he said, nodding to the tormentor.
    The man grabbed a lash and shuffled toward the huddled crowd. He grabbed one man by the hair and pulled him aside.
    “Tell us,” the tormentor said, glaring into the man’s weary eyes, “who were you putting those signs up for?”
    “A man,” the prisoner said, trembling, “a man paid us. I swear it! We just did it for the money.”
    The tormentor lashed the man.
    Wupash!
    Wupash!
    The prisoner squealed, and the other two wailed.
    “You’re lying,” the tormentor said.
    “No, I swear it!”
    “What did he look like, this man who paid you?”
    “He was just a man, as ordinary as I am, with deep green eyes.”
    The tormentor glanced back at the commander.
    The commander nodded.
    Wupash!
    Wupash!
    “You lie!”
    “I don’t lie!” the prisoner said. Tears streamed down his face. “We just needed the money.”
    “Don’t you raise your voice to me!”
    Wupash!
    Selene folded her arms over her chest and said, “Oh please. Do you expect me to stand here all day while you beat him until he cries himself to death?” She pointed at the prisoner. “Do you know who I am?”
    “Y-Yes,” the disheveled man said, “you are the High Priestess.”
    “And you wouldn’t be stupid enough to lie to me, would you?”
    He swallowed and shook his sweat-soaked hair.
    She approached within arm’s length of the prisoners and turned her stare toward the tormentor.
    He backed away and