Eighth Circle

The questioning went on and on. The commander treated her as a spoilt kid who didn't know her right foot from her left. He wanted to know all about her. In particular, he wanted to know why she had gone out to the island in such rough weather.

When she told him about the Lord of Light he treated it as some sort of fairy tale. He didn't actually laugh. But she could tell, from his expression, that his opinion of her had reached rock bottom.

He made a remark about the guardians putting out a lot of folklore crap to fool stupid people. Liala didn't like to be thought stupid. But that was better than being regarded as a spy. That was clearly his big fear. The interrogation went on and on. The same questions were asked repeatedly but in different ways. She guessed he was trying to get her to contradict herself.

Bryn tried to intervene. He said it was no way to talk to a princess and was told to shut up. The man clearly regarded Bryn as naive. Liala wondered what they would do if they thought she was a spy sent by the guardians. She looked in the rear mirror and saw Balduur. He was no doubt wondering what might happen to him.

Eventually, the questioning ceased.

'We are taking you to a doctor, Princess.'

'Why?'

'To get that implant removed.'

'Has the doctor done it before?'

'There's nothing special about implants, Princess. We all get 'em at one time or another. That way the guardians can follow us with their computers. When we have them removed we become non-people and that's how we like it.'

He turned to Bryn.

'You'll get yours taken out too. You will vanish off the guardians' data base like you've been zapped by a troll. But it won't come out of your shoulder because you're not royal like the princess. It will come out of your bum because you're classified as common and that's where common folk get theirs.

'Do the trolls have implants?' Liala asked.

'You bet, Princess. That's how the guardians control them. They move them around like gaming pieces on a board.'

The commander switched his attention to Balduur.

'We'll get your friend, back there, checked out as well, Princess. See if he has an implant. Then we'll ask him lots and lots of questions and find out where he really comes from.'