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A burly woman with short hair ties my arms behind my back. I make myself stay still, obedient. If I want them to let us sleep outside the cell, I need to remain docile for now.

We’re dragged back into what I assume is the mess hall, where the Raiders are having a breakfast of bread, honey, eggs, and what I really hope is bacon. And here they want us to believe they need more of our resources than what they already steal.

Dornao and the other Elign guards aren’t here anymore. They must have gone back to report on their success. I might not be able to stop the treaty from happening, but I hope that Clea and Anne will manage to convince everyone that Dornao’s a monster, at least.

Reno is strung to the pulley, just like I was yesterday. He’s looking straight in front of him, eyes vacant. That might be for the best. If he dissociates, it might spare him the worst of the pain. Something feels wrong, though. He looked the same way when he arrived in the cell, but seeing Cirail had seemed to jolt him out of it. What does it mean that it doesn’t work this time?

I’m shoved to the floor. The burly woman sits on a bench behind me, holding my head so I’m forced to look at Reno. My patella is still hanging from his neck. It’s a weird sight, almost surreal. For a moment, I’m sure this must all be a nightmare, but I know that’s not true.

“We’ve gone easy on you until now.” Cirail caresses Reno’s cheek. “We didn’t want to mark our pretty little doll too much. But you need to learn a harsh lesson, it seems.”

Reno remains limp in his ropes. Cirail steps away, and a short woman with feathers braided in her strawberry blonde hair approaches. She’s dressed in a light grey dress, combat boots, and leather bracelets.

Cirail turns to me. “This is Meli, our very own doctor. She’s great, you’ll see. She spends her time studying pre-apocalypse medicine books and practicing on corpses.”

I make myself take a deep breath, trying to keep the fear I feel for Reno at bay. Cirail is trying to play with our heads. He wants to scare us, that's all. He clearly loves toying with us, so he wouldn’t risk killing him so soon. At least, I hope not.

Meli opens the worn brown leather satchel at her side and pulls out a scalpel. She makes a deep incision across Reno’s torso, right under the left side of his ribcage. Reno tenses, but his eyes are still lost. She presses two fingers against the opening, pushing and twisting. Once she’s knuckle-deep in the wound, she pulls her fingers out, only to go back in with four this time. She pushes again, creeping inside him until her whole hand is inside the opening, feeling around. Reno grows so pale that he looks almost green, strangled gasps escaping from his lips. The woman holding me presses her elbows on my shoulders hard enough to hurt, while two men sit down on each side of me, taking hold of my arms. Did I try to reach for him? I hadn’t even realized I had moved.

Meli’s hand comes out of the cut with a wet plop, caked with blood. She slides the scalpel back in, frowning in concentration. More blood oozes from the gaping wound. After a few cuts, she shoves her hand back in to rip out a reddish-brown bean-shaped mass of tissue roughly the size of a fist.

A kidney.

She just pulled out his freaking kidney.

God, I sure hope she truly knew what she was doing.

Meli throws the organ toward us with a laugh. It lands on the ground with a wet plop. One of the men beside me picks it up. Meli takes a sewing kit from her satchel, but I can’t see what she does with it. The man is now standing in front of me, waving the kidney in my face. “Open up, doc. Time for your breakfast.”

I shake my head. He can’t be serious. I can’t… No! I can’t do that.

The man grabs me by the throat, cutting off my air supply. “I said open up, you bitch!”

My eyes widen in panic. I open my mouth, desperately trying to gulp down some oxygen. The man pushes Reno’s kidney down my throat and presses his large hand over my mouth to prevent me from spitting it out. I choke around the organ as he lets go of my neck, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. By the time I’ve managed to swallow, Meli is done sewing Reno back up. I have to admit, she seems to have done a pretty good job. Maybe Cirail was right when he said she was a great doctor. The relief I feel is almost strong enough to make me forget the disgusting taste still lingering over my tongue.

Cirail pats her back. “Nice job, Mel, as always. My turn now.”

They’re not done. Of course they’re not done.

Cirail motions to Tyb, who unties the pulley’s rope so Reno is lying on the ground on his back.

Cirail shows him a towel. “You know what’s happening now, don’t you?”

When Reno doesn’t react, Cirail lets out a frustrated sigh. “Don’t tell me you’re broken already, bitch? We have no need for broken toys, especially now that we have a replacement at hand. You remember what happens to broken toys who don’t entertain us anymore, right?”

This seems to reach Reno’s brain. His eyes go from vacant to terrified in an instant. “No, please, I’m not broken! Not broken! I can still entertain! Want me to suck you off? I can suck you off! Or I can dance for you! I’ll be good, I’ll be so good! The best damn jester ever! The best toy!”

“Mmm, that’s better.” Cirail grins before showing him the towel again. “So, you know what this means?”

Reno shakes his head. “No, please, not that! Please! I’ll be good, I promise! I’ll be a good toy! You don’t need to do this!”

“Uh oh.” Cirail shakes his head. “You’re not being good right now, are you? Good toys take whatever’s dissed at them without complaining, and they say thank you afterward, don’t they?”

I can almost sense the struggle Reno goes through to remain calm. He swallows hard, then manages to hide his true feelings behind a mask. He grins at Cirail. “Of course, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” He bites his lips, letting out a loud moan. “I love it when you remind me of my place, Sir. Thank you.”

I’ve always disliked violence, but right now, I want nothing more than to punch Cirail’s teeth in and erase the smug smirk from his face.

Cirail lays the towel over Reno’s head. I can see Reno’s fists clenching, but he remains motionless. Cirail extends his arm, and Tyb hands him a carafe filled with water, which Cirail starts to slowly pour over the towel. Reno immediately starts to thrash around, but he can’t do anything to dislodge the cloth. Once the carafe is empty, Cirail removes the towel. Reno sputters and gags.