He snarled but even as I pressed him, I knew this wasn’t getting me what I came here for. I wasn’t here to argue with the dark entity that had stolen my friend.
No, I was here to see if even a piece of him remained.
For long moments, we simply stared at one another, both of us weighing up our next move, a battle of wits neither of us wanted to back down from.
“Tell me,” I said quietly. “Is there anything you fear?”
He laughed mockingly.
“There is nothing we fear. And if you think being captured and caught in this little cage of yours was ever going to break me, then you’re in for disappointment,” he said, sneering at his minimal surroundings.
His lie didn’t faze me because, despite his claim, I knew there was one thing he feared, so I took a moment, letting the silence stretch before I asked,
“And what about failure?”
His head snapped up, surprise flickering across my friend’s face before he could hide it, but he had confirmed what I already knew.
“Your master must have been planning this for quite some time,” I went on. “Using the king’s brother as just another pawn in this game you play.”
“You hear a few whispered names, catch a few seconds of a vision, and you think you know everything.” He scoffed, but I shrugged my shoulders, still playing the part.
“Enlighten me then, because you’re right. I don’t know everything. Hence why I’m here now.”
“You’re more foolish than I thought if you believe I would give you anything,” he hissed. I took a deep breath, watching him, his head centered down but his eyes up, holding my gaze.
“What makes you think I’m relying onyouto give me anything?” I countered. He frowned and, for the first time, I knew I had him and realization hit a moment later.
“Ha. You think you’ll be able to reach him? Your friend is my prisoner now, a slave to my needs. Nothing more than an empty husk, filled for as long as I require him.” I noted the twitch in one eye and took it for what it was…a bluff.
“I don’t believe that,” I stated.
“You can believe what you want. It is of little matter to me,” he replied, waving a hand dismissively.
“You know I was never really one for playing poker… I’m sorry, do you know what that is? Oh, wait, of course you do, silly me, you already expressed knowing all of Riley’s memories,” I said, making him narrow his eyes at me.
“And your point?” he snapped.
I smirked. “Poker… that’s my point. You see, I got quite good at it, and well, when you live for rations, I found out pretty quickly that winning is a sure way of getting a candy fix.”
“Why are you telling me this?” he barked.
“Oh, no reason, really, just thought I would give a little context as to why I know that you are bluffing.”
He scoffed, but for once it was laced with something else. A little drop of doubt. “You can think that.”
“Oh, I do, and you know why, because you may have control of his body, but right now, it's betraying you. Because the Riley I know, his left eye twitches ever so slightly when he bluffs. And as for me, I ended up stealing a lot of candy from him,” I said, ending this story of mine with a confident wink, making him snarl at me.
“You can think what you want!”
I nodded without getting riled up as it seemed the calmer I was, the more irate he was getting. Triggering his anger could end up being the key to helping Riley push back. Of course, I had no proof, but at this point, anything was worth a shot.
“You call him an empty husk, nothing but a body you’re using. The person gone, untouchable. Am I right?”
“You are,” he gritted out, and again, I couldn’t help but smile when catching him in his lie.
“But if that were true, why would he still have his memories?” I pressed. “Memories you admitted you’ve delved into. Memories you wouldn’t have access to if my friend were as dead or as useless as you claim.”
Now that did something.
