Riggs nodded, as if he'd expected that. "You have to try, I know. Go ahead. I want you to know there's no escape. Feel your wrists."
Penny glared at him but found herself doing as he'd instructed. Her wrists were bound tightly behind her to where she couldn't move them even a little. It was painful to feel the rope cutting into her skin. She moved her feet next and felt the same. The more she struggled, the tighter the ropes became. Finally she forced herself to stop.
"Now that we're through with that, I want you to focus on what I'm saying. Look in front of you."
Penny followed his gaze to the floor. There was a medium sized box, made out of a metal she didn't recognize.
"I don't know anything about you," Riggs said in a monotone, "or what you're up to. I have no doubt that you believe yourself above answering my questions. That box will change your mind. I don't know what you've been doing but that box cannot be touched. If you would like to try, go ahead. You can't manipulate it though; nor anything inside of it."
Penny only looked at him, meeting his gaze as calmly as she could. Her heart was beating wildly.
"Now," Riggs said, kneeling down in front of it, "Let me show you what it holds." From inside the box, he pulled out a pair of shoes. They were made out of metal. "I'm not sure these will fit you," he admitted, "but I think we can make them work."
Unable to say anything in response, Penny only looked. She thought about wearing metal shoes and grimaced. They would be heavy and cold.
"So I'm going to put them back in the box," Riggs said, placing the shoes once again inside, "and I'm going to light a fire." He pulled out a book of matches.
Penny watched him strike the match and put it inside. Flames leaped up inside the box. She thought, with a sick sense of humor, that at least the shoes wouldn't be cold. He turned the box so that she could see inside and left it like that.
"That fire will go on for six hours," Riggs said, standing up again, "In six hours, I will come back. In six hours, I will take off your gag, and you will answer my questions. If you do not, I will put those on your feet."
Without another word, he turned and walked out. Penny watched him leave with a growing sense of hysteria. She started to struggle again, knowing it was fruitless, but doing it anyway. The ropes grew tighten and more painful but she couldn't stop herself from thrashing.
Or from screaming.
Nearly choking, Penny finally went silent again. It had only been a few minutes, but she felt the dry scratchiness of her throat already. She told herself to think. There was a way to get out of this.
She looked down at the box. The glow of the flames nearly made her start freaking out again. She gagged and then closed her eyes, hunting. When she had control of herself, she opened them and looked around again.
There was nothing in the room other than herself, the table, the other penance chair, and the box. She carefully tested the roped on her hands again, this time trying to find a flaw instead of panicking. From what she could tell, he had been very thorough. The rope was more than an inch thick so she couldn't break it.
Her eyes fell on the box again.
With a start, Penny realized it was fire. She thought about George and the training that she'd received. If there was a time to be angry, this was it.
She focused on the fire and used her Chakran to reach out towards it. To her surprise, she felt a block. With a furrow of her brow, she tried again. The same block met her.
Cursing into the gag, Penny tried again and then again. She thought about what Riggs had said about the box being impenetrable. Refusing to take that as truth, she continued to try.
For nearly two hours, Penny tried. She cast her mind out again and again, helpless against the box, against the flames. She never touched them.
Penny started to watch the clock when she finally gave up on fire manipulation. She watched the slow movement of the hand, marching towards her doom. She listened to the tick. Time had never seemed to pass so slowly. She didn't know how she was supposed to keep from going crazy. With each tick of the clock, she wondered.
At three hours and eleven minutes, Penny closed her eyes and thought about Eldrin. She wondered if he would come looking for her. He couldn't think that he would; he knew she had a lot of places to be. She wondered if he would move forward with the resistance without her.
She knew he would. If there was a person suited for taking over, it was Eldrin.
It wouldn't matter if the soldier killed her. Of course, it would hurt. Her feet would burn first. Her eyes moved to the box. The idea of hot metal against her skin made her wince. She had been burned badly once, as a child, when she'd grabbed a hot cooking skillet. She had cried.
Penny knew that she would cry this time too. She was tearful by nature when she was in pain and no doubt this would be a painful endeavor. At least, she thought, she could go out doing something important. She would not say a word.
Unless she screamed. At four hours and twenty two minutes, Penny knew there was no way she would be able to sit through the entire thing without screaming. Her would be burning her feet after all.
She would try and stay silent but she knew that she would scream until she was hoarse. That she would scream until she had no voice. It was foolish to think that she wouldn't.
Of course she'd scream.
At five hours and nineteen minutes, Penny realized she would talk. She hated herself for it, but she knew that she would.
She couldn't let him burn her feet. She couldn't let him burn her. She wasn't the kind of person who could sit through torture. There were all kinds of things he could do to her. She would be like Janice and Sean. She didn't want that.
She could handle death; she couldn't handle torture. Despite the implications, Penny knew, without a doubt, that she would tell him anything he wanted to know. She wasn't brave. She wasn't a hero. She was just one woman, one woman in a large, cruel world, and what did anyone really expect of her? She was alone. And she would talk until Riggs killed her.
At five hours and forty seven minutes, Penny stiffened. Every second seemed to last a lifetime for her. She decided to pray for help. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and tried to center herself.
She couldn't think of how to start. She couldn't think of what to ask help for. Nobody was coming. Nobody was going to help her. She was alone.
With a start, she realized she was praying for the wrong thing.
"Give me strength," she whispered into the gag, "Give me strength to get through this."
She planned to speak; she had planned to tell him everything.
Penny felt tears fill her eyes.
"Give me strength to stay silent through this. If I can't, then let me scream until I can no longer speak."
She closed her eyes and imagined Matilyn and Eldrin. She thought about the tree of them and their adventures together. She thought about the times they'd spent in the market and the times they'd spent on the beach. They were her best friends.
They would never have considered speaking. Penny was scared -- terrified, really -- but that was okay. Pain was scary but death was just another step. She would die with honor.
Like Matilyn had.
Penny smiled behind her gag and waited.
FORTY-TWO
Burn out the Sense
RIGGS WALKED INTO THE ROOM WHEN IT had been exactly six hours carrying a fire poker. He met Penny's eyes and must have seen something to cause a slight moment of hesitation, because he paused and looked at her.
"I hope you've had plenty of time to think," he said in that same quiet tone that he had used earlier. Penny no longer felt terrified of him; she felt sorry for him. His life had been full of death and destruction; hers had been full of friendship and joy.
He approached her, squatting down and touching his fingers to her chin. When she didn't jerk away, she saw a flicker of unease in his eyes and had to stop herself from shaking with silent laughter. This man wasn't some sort of childhood monster. He was just another man; a c
ruel man, perhaps, but still a man.
"I'm going to take your gag off," he told her, "and I don't want you to start screaming. If you start screaming, or begging, then it's going to get messier faster than I'd like. So be a good girl and don't yell. Can you do that?"
Penny could no more answer him than she could nod or shake her head. Riggs must have known that because he didn't wait for any sort of sign to tell him that she would listen. He reached up carefully and tugged the gag down.
Breathing in deeply, Penny worked her jaw. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Riggs said, while rising up to stand again. He stepped away from her and over to the box, peering inside. "See how the fire is still going? It's the box. I hope that you tried some sort of manipulation. I'd hate to think I bragged about it for nothing."
Penny said nothing.
Riggs turned to look at her again, "Are you ready to speak? I have a few questions that I want you to answer."
"I don't think we have untying to say to each other," Penny said in her normal voice. She could feel her heart beating wildly again but she refused to allow herself to think about what was coming. She would be strong through it.
"I hoped you wouldn't say that," Riggs said in an almost sad tone, "But I understand. Sometimes it takes a little more persuasion than just time." He used the poker to lift one of the metal shoes from the fire. Ashes fell off of it to reveal the hot metal.
Penny tried to keep her eyes from going wide with dread but by the look on Riggs' face, she knew he had seen it.
"Maybe," he said, turning to dangle the shoe in front of her, "You've changed your mind. Maybe you wish to say something now."
"No," Penny said in a strained voice. She could feel the heat from the shoe already. Her feet tingled in anticipation.
Riggs frowned and nodded, "I understand. I'm going to step out and get a pair of gloves then. You wait right here."
Before leaving, Riggs took the second shoe out and placed it beside the first inches from the chair.
Penny sat there, unmoving, staring down at the boots. She could feel herself sweating and her pulse still quickening.
"Give me strength," she whispered. She thought that she would be crying at this point but there seemed to be no more tears left in her.
She looked down at the shoes, forcing herself to accept what was coming. They glowed brightly at her. They had been heated with fire; fire that she couldn't touch.
Her eyes widened. She suddenly understood what she needed to do. There could be no hesitation.
When Riggs came back into the room, wearing gloves, Penny lifted her chin, looking at him.
"Are you ready?" he asked, squatting down again.
Penny stared at him, coldly, "I have something to ask you."
Riggs shook his head, "This isn't a time for you to ask questions. Only answer them."
Penny spoke anyway, "You haven't been trained for any sort of manipulation, have you?"
Startled, Riggs looked up again, frowning at her, "Why would you say that?"
"Because," Penny said, letting her anger at this man, at this situation, at the entire Lamonte military flow through her, "Then you would know someone who understands manipulation -- fire manipulation -- they don't need a spark to create a fire."
With a roar, the man exploded. Fire engulfed his entire body as he screamed helpless, his entire body lit up. Penny laughed hysterically. Despite her inability to move, she shook with laughter, howling. Riggs fell over on the floor, convulsing in the flames.
As suddenly as her anger started, it stopped. Penny watched the flames jump from to the floor. It flickered, caught, and started to spread.
She knew she was going to burn still. She had known from the moment that she had realized her chance of keeping silent was to kill him too. George had warned about control but she hadn't learned it yet. She had no way of putting out the fire. Penny was okay with that. She lifted her chin again, clamping her mouth shut.
The smoke was getting heavier as the fire spread to the other rooms. She could see the orange of the flames but barely through the grey.
When she could no longer help it, she drew in a breath. The smoke filled her nose and her mouth and she coughed and gagged. Her eyes started to water. She wondered which would kill her first; the fire or the smoke.
Penny forced herself to think of her friends as she breathed in more smoke. Her head was getting light-headed. She felt herself slump against the ropes, her chin going down. She coughed again, weakly. She forced herself to think of Matilyn and Eldrin.
She thought about how they would walk the beach together, how they would laugh, and run, and live. She could almost see them in front of her. She could almost see Matilyn, and gods did she look beautiful.
"I'm going to join you," she said to the wavering figure, "We'll be together soon, Mattie."
Matilyn held out her hands and seemed to wait of her.
She coughed. Her vision was dimming. It was though she was peering through a tunnel that was growing smaller and smaller with every breath she took. It would be over soon.
"The two of us, always," she said to the figure. It made sense now. The two of them, forever. Matilyn and Penny. It would be a fitting end. "That's how it was supposed to be."
"Penny!" Suddenly the figure yelled at her, "Hold on!"
"Matilyn?" she asked, her head spinning. She remembered there was a fire now. "You have to get out, Matilyn. There's a fire! You have to go!"
She felt hands on her, fumbling against her ropes. She had to explain why she had burnt down the Chapel, she had to know. "I had to do it or I might have talked; you would have done it too. I know you would have. You would have done the same thing."
"Don't talk."
Penny felt herself being lifted before she finally let herself go. Darkness was a blessing.
"Breathe."
She couldn't though. Penny felt lips against her own, and hands against her chest, firmly pressing. Once, twice, three times.
"Breathe."
Penny opened her eyes and took a breath. Sweet, clean air filled her lungs. She blinked against the moons above her and breathed in deeply again.
"That's right," Eldrin said, putting an arm around her and helping her to sit up. "You're alright."
"Eldrin?" Penny asked, blinking again and finally focusing, "Eldrin, what are you doing here?"
Eldrin wiped a strand of hair from her face with a surprisingly gentle hand. He looked as though he were close to crying. "You should be thanking me. Are you okay? Are you able to stand? We need to get out of here. I can carry if you can't walk."
Penny wriggled a little and shook her head,d "I think I can walk," she told him. He stood and offered her a hand. Accepting it, she pulled herself to her feet. She swayed for a moment before nearly falling.
Eldrin caught her before she could hit the ground. Without hesitation, he put an arm around her waist and another beneath her legs, sweeping her into his arms. He quickly strode away.
"How'd you find me?" she asked.
Eldrin shook his head, "I've been looking for you to tell you that Erin let me know we're good for the docks. I couldn't find you and after awhile, I thought to check the Chapel. I followed a soldier and heard the two of you talking. I was about to intervene, but the next thing I knew, there was fire everywhere. I had to move one of the rafters that fell in order to get to you."
"I had to do it," Penny said weakly, "He was going to torture me and I didn't want to end up talking. I could only think to take him out with me in the fire."
"That was brave," Eldrin said, cutting his eyes down to her briefly, "I'm not sure I would have been able to do the same thing in that situation."
"You would never have gotten in that situation," Penny said with an eye roll.
Eldrin laughed. Sometimes it still surprised her to hear that sound. He shrugged self-consciously, "I've been in my share of situations that could be considered worse than that."
"Thank you for saving me," Penny sai
d.
"Just don't get yourself into that situation again," he said, setting her back on her feet.
Penny laughed and the coughed. She rubbed her face with a sigh and felt grime swipe off. She grimaced.
"Go take a bath," Eldrin told her. They'd reached her home.
"Good idea," she said hoarsely.
Eldrin left her side once they were indoors and turned to head down the hallway that would lead to the guest room that he sometimes stayed in.
"I couldn't get the robes," Penny called out in sudden realization. She had suddenly just remembered her entire reason for going to the Chapel.
"I guess we'll just have to go naked," he said with no hesitation. He hadn't even looked back.
Penny felt her face burn red.
FORTY-THREE
Poison Temper'd by Himself
STINI STARED OUT AT HIS MEN. "I called you all together for a reason," he said. "As you all know, we recently had someone in our troops that was passing along information to Lamonte soldiers. Jonathon Trimble."
There was a small muttering at that. Stini waited it out. Like the rest of them, he was still angry at the betrayal. He had trusted these men and one of them had been a rat. A dirty rat.
When the muttering had faded, he shook his head, "I know how you feel," he told them, "I feel the same way. I feel hurt. I feel disgusted. I feel angry."
He met Aeliana's gaze in the crowd, then Carl's, then Rose's. "This experience doesn't have to be all bad, though. We can learn from this."
Now there was confusion amongst them. They shared looks, their brows furrowed. Stini had expected this.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking you shouldn't trust your neighbors. You shouldn't trust the men and women you're fighting with. Maybe you shouldn't. I certainly am looking at things a little more thoroughly," Stini said.
Revolution (Cartharia Book 2) Page 44