Lazarus: Land Of The Elements

Bardra nodded and held Aurora's hand while she sleep that night, he sat next to during the night watching over here. He had gone days without sleep during sieges and battles so one night wasn't going to hurt him.
They spend the next several days talking, playing, and working to make sure she recovered both mentally and physically. Bardra made sure could act like a child for the few days she stayed with them.

"Very well, bu before you go....." Bardra handed her two sacks, one of the candy and one filled with medicine "Both are medicine, one for your health the other, well you'll know when to use the other"

As she left Bardra turned to Angela and sighed. "Well just as our little ruler has much to attend to I as well have matters to settle, two days worth really." She laughed and patted him on the back, before he left to check on the council once again.

 

Aurora smirked at Cinder. “You wouldn’t be able to annihilate me anyway. You work for King Zael that’s how I know your name. For I know everyone that serves him since he is the king I appointed over the Fire Kingdom…cruel as he can be…he has a soft side too…anyways…”


Aurora felt weird talking about Zael in that way. He’s been very nice since she brought her to his realm. Aurora realized that Cinder probably didn’t recognize her because of her appearance. She forgot she went back to her normal appearance. Aurora changed her hair color and dress color again back to pink. “You recognize me now, correct? You fought me in the Fire Kingdom.”


“As for what I want from you…I’m here to warn you to be careful. You are in danger. Some assassins are likely after you considering I sense the earth element coming from you. I know you have fire abilities as well which is illegal in this country. I decreed that law ten years ago after my parents were murdered because they had children born from two different elements. What the assassins didn’t realize is that each child only inherited one of the elements from their parents. For example my sister inherited the air power from my father. I inherited the water power from my mother. It is rare for a child to inherit two. I will not have innocent people being murdered. Cinder, I will continue to allow your freedom for now…you may be arrested later…but that is up to Calista or Uncle Bardra.”

 

Cinder listened to her before making his response, mildly surprised at her transformation.
"Yes, I remember you. You were the one who swatted me, so that was no fight."
He moved onto the next subject, and not wanting to dwell on what happened earlier, he began pacing back and forth
"So, assassins could be after me? Is that so? They have far too much time on their hands if they are willing to go after someone as lowly as me, a house-call executioner. Yesterday was the first time I was able to perform earth magic, having grown up with and used the fire element my whole life. Why, I do not know. Both of my parents were natives to the Earth Kingdom, and I was declared to have no inherent magic by the ones who adopted me into their forces when my parents died from plague. After that time, I was given a mask that was supposed to give me powers to be of some use. Little did I know that it was intended to limit and convert earth magic to fire magic."
Cinder stopped pacing back and forth, turned his face to her.
"Since you are the ruler of Lazarus, I shall take this opportunity to speak my mind. These assassins. These assassins are sent by people who wish to keep our nation weak and divided. United, we are strong. If they wish to destroy us for mixing our magic and uniting, this is a sign that we are feared."
Cinder took a step towards her.
"Subjugate."
He took another step.
"Intimidate."
He took another step.
"Destroy."
He took one last step, standing directly in front of Aurora, looming over her, a dark, menacing expression on his face.
"This is what our enemies wish to do. By making a law that forbids the mixing of our people, entirely based on your own experience and fear, you surrender us to our enemies and insure our defeat. Our strength is their weakness, yet you cater to them by limiting Lazarus. By holding back, we become the servant, and by letting loose all we have, necessary blood is spilled. The gears of a nation's progress are greased in the blood of its citizens, and without greasing these gears we are a subservient nation, enslaved by the superior ones."
He remained silent for a moment, still looming.
"So make your choice: Live in fear or rise up. Time is running out."
His menacing and rude attitude was only done to try giving effect of his description of the enemy. He did not truly mean to be threatening to Aurora, but it would be easy to mistake his actions for that. The attempt at trying to remove restrictions was risky.

OOT: EDIT:
Added three more sentences at the end, and italicized some words.

 

Lain took her seat and began eating. Though she had asked to sit with him, she had no idea what to say to Riko. The silence lengthened.

 

Riko looked at Lain for a moment.
"Not much of a talker, eh? No worries."
He resumed eating his meal, making certain to finish off his high-stacked breakfast.

Shizukesa allowed Cinder and Aurora to speak in peace, but seeing how a transformation took place and that Cinder did not appear to be acting very friendly, she began to prepare herself for anything that might happen. Seeing Cinder walk directly to the girl, standing less than a foot away from her, Shizukesa began to fear for the worse. She could easily detect the monstrous aura of magic emanating from Aurora.
Only the ruler of Lazarus would have that much power! Cinder must know this by now, but he is either foolish or very brave to approach her in such a way.

 

The crowd seemed unsure at first, then there was scattered applause, then they broke out into loud cheers. The people of the Air Kingdom, for the most part, trusted Gideon's words and the general consensus was that he would make a fine king in Yuri's absence. Gideon bowed and left the stage while Nero took over, delivering a grand speech to reassure the people of Gideon's right to the throne and bolstering their spirits with words of encouragement and unity in a grandiose way that only Nero could deliver. This further cemented Gideon's legitimacy in the eyes of the people and while there would still be doubters, dissenters and even those who dared to think that Gideon was some sort of evil mastermind who stole Yuri's throne, the majority of the people saw reason and rallied behind their new king. As Gideon was making his way to the throne room, he was stopped by a courier who handed him a scroll. Gideon gave the courier a curious look.
"Who is this from?"
"My king, as sure as I stand here, it comes from the Earth Kingdom!"
"The Earth Kingdom...? Ah, yes. That makes sense, actually."
He turned to the courier and gave him a nod.
"You have done well, thank you."
The courier bowed deeply.
"Thank you, my king! It is an honor to be of service to you."
With that, he walked away and left the castle. Gideon walked to the throne room with the scroll in hand, intending to read it once he sat down on the throne again.
"No doubt a temporary king was chosen for their kingdom as well, by this point. I wonder who it is and what their intentions are towards the Air Kingdom."

But as he made his way inside, Gideon saw Zayne waiting for him in the throne room.
"Lord Zayne, it is good to see you again. How goes the search for Verbena's assassins? Do you have anything to report?"
As he was speaking, he made his way to the throne and sat down, waiting for Zayne's response.

 

Haseo thought over what the guards captain had said. He chuckled a little.

"Your right on some of those points, and we are against a organization of assassins... but thats not where the problem may lie. It's the country that they come from and are aligned with that is the problem. They where responsible for the death of the last Ruler to say the least." Haseo Got up and stretched. " But thats a history lesson for another day. I didn't think it was getting late.... you must be wanting to head home. I won't keep you much longer, but as for your request. I admire your commitment to Zael, but I can assure you that he's in a pretty safe place. You see the ruler's realm is a space that only a select few can enter and exit at will. Not saying that it's completely inaccessible, there is one or two portals that still stand in existence. But they might be hard to get to..... that is if they still exist." Haseo started walking around the room, still talking towards Shunsui.

"If you want to find Zeal and help him out, know that this task will be rather hard and with Aurora's family background there will be people who want to know where she is as well. You will be followed and you will become a target. If you can accept these dangers and take them head on, then I can grant you your request. But before you can...." Haseo walked up to Shunsui before he said anything else.

"You have to help introduce me to the council as the temporary king tomorrow since they will listen to you over anyone else. Yes, I do have my position in my family and in the Haseo ranger's, but It really isn't that high up there...." He opened the door and smiled at the captain.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you here so late captain. I didn't think we would be talking for so long and you must have had a long day. We can pick this up tomorrow."

 

King Bardra reconvened the council, this time calling three of the nobles and three military leaders. The would voice the concern, needs, and wants of their group. After a few hours of deliberation and minor fights Bardra had caught up on his work. He then moved to today's work and his own plans.
"Now then have we begun securing vital business and trade to keep the Kingdom running?" Bardra asked his council. An older noblewoman spoke
"Yes your highness, several families uneasy at our current situation did so already, but since then we have began to formally do so. We are securing banks, trade and monasteries, This will keep the coin flowing even in event of an attack as well as have treatment areas ready."
Bardra nodded "Good, move to secure water supplies for the capital and villages. Then ensure the farmlands are safe. After that I will use my power to fortify the villages of the kingdom" A general then spoke.
"Your Highness don't you think the extra guards will be enough, we don't need to fortify every village"
"Your right we don't, however if we do not a village could fall giving a foot hold. In my years it is better to go in overly prepared rather than then under." Bardra answered the general then stood.
"After we have done this i wish for you to gather all our troops, I will address them and test their skill myself" The council all went wide eyed. "After all what good is our army if it can't even spar with an old man 10,000 to 1?" Bardra had a gentle smile on his face that hide terrible aura.
As he left for the first village a thought occurred to him, with the distance of each village conventional travel would take weeks. With no time to spare he decided to 'tunnel' his way to the villages. The earth around him opened up and swallowed him, he then began moving the earth around at incredible speeds. While underground it was as if he was swimming in earth before resurfacing at the first village. He spoke to the chief and explain what he could of the situation before erecting the earthen fort around the village.
One down, time to the next. Hopefully I'll have this done within the day, and gotten a response from the other Kingdoms.... But this must be done be we meet, should one of them be an enemy

 

Lain finished eating most of her meal and looked over at Riko. He seemed like a cocky sort, friendly though.

"My name is Lain, I apologize for not introducing myself. As for my wound, I have it taken care of. If I might be a bit forward, why were you staring at that man with the priestess?"

 

Riko leaned back in his chair.
"Well the simplest answer is, I'm gay. I like men better than women. All that masculinity..."
Riko was lying, and hoped to only lead Lain along long enough to see that she was fooled before coming up with a different answer.

 

Lain stared at Riko for a few moments, unsure of what to say to that. It's just like with Shizukesa. Why do people have to say such weird things? Looking down at her plate again she formed a few words that came to mind.

"Oh... well he is quite handsome. I don't know if I find him all that endearing, but the priestess sure seems to think so." She thought back to her battle with Cinder and his executioner sword. "He has quite a large blade, too." She said with a meaningful look at Riko

 

"As they say, 'Bigger is better'! So much that can be done with that size..."
Riko smiled and remained silent for a few moments before making a disgusted face and leaning forward, covering his face.
"Ugh, alright, alright, I'll tell you the truth. Just acting like that makes sick! That guy was just one I had a run in with. Got all angry when I bumped him, so I swatted him back into place. When I saw him, he hid a rapier in his robe. Anyway, thought I would mess with him, but he's already gone."

 

Shunsui simply nodded to the Ranger now Temporary King as he spoke. He walked with the Ranger to the doors and stopped before heading out. "It may seem like a fruitless or pointless venture to follow the King, but if there are indeed these assassins after the Ruler of Lazarus and our Kingdom's Monarchs, they will need as much help as they can get. You know as well as I do, that people in my position don't get here by being a bureaucrat. I was due to be promoted out of City Captain into the Royal Guard and probably to Royal Guard Captain soon after that. Our society if heavily reliant on strength and the brains to that strength. All of us are angry bastards too, which makes us strong as Fire wielders. I would be honored to be one of the men to be there to take out the assassins before they are even able to get to my King and the Ruler. I am certain the Shadow Guard have already dispatched their own forces."

Before he left he turned again. "I'll be here tomorrow, early. Be ready Ranger, mentally and physically, Court Life isn't like being in the Rangers. You won't be fighting foes like you have before. Politics is a totally different beast. You're biggest fight will be the youngest of the Lords who don't know much about the monarchy or how it works. I'll introduce you and get your foot in the door, but after that, my job will be done and I won't be able to help you any more. Our duties as Captains actually doesn't have any weight on the Council. We just make reports. Nothing more, nothing less. I'll see you in the morning."

With that he excused himself and headed home. It was clearly late and he knew his sister would likely be home with some kind of noodles or something for him. As he walked down the streets of the Capital towards his Family Home he began to do the tally. His sister had beaten him home for 3 days straight. She was probably going to let him have it when he got home. Since they traded chores by who got home first, he was likely going to have to make it up for her somehow. If we weren't siblings this would almost be like being married. Shit, she's going to beat my ass today. Oh well. She's probably going to issue that challenge again. Every time she beats me home she always challenges me to a duel as punishment.

As he neared the house he noticed the lights on. Yep, she got here before me again. I better get ready. He opened the door and slipped off his shoes and set them off to the side. "Hey sis. I'm home."

Sakurako popped her head out from around the corner of the living room and gave her brother a blank look. "You're late. Again."

He shook his head and held his hands up. "Today was a little crazy. Between a mob of people, assassins, and the advent of a Temporary King, it's been a full day for me sis. I know it's been hard for us since mom and dad died, but cut me a little slack today sis."

She simply sighed and waved her hand. "It's fine I guess. Today was busy for me today. Noodles for dinner, already done. It's on the stove." With that she disappeared behind the wall again.

He stalked into the kitchen and got a bowl of the (what appeared to be) ramen that she had made. He carefully picked out the hot peppers among the noodles that his sister loved to sabotage the food with and walked into the living room to talk to his sister about what had happened.

"We already know." She said before he got to say anything. "The Verbena have returned. This much I can tell you. I've got new orders. It's going to take me out of the city for some time. The Shadow Guard wants to confirm reports in other kingdoms by some of our operatives. Unfortunately, many of them have gone dark and silent. Something is happening around the world that we don't have any information on. So in response, our top operatives are going out on missions." She looked at her brother and stared at the bowl of ramen in his hands. "You took the peppers out again didn't you? You know that without those peppers you can't get the full flavor."

"That's your opinion sis. I don't like those peppers because you put too many. You're a friggin dragon sis. Only you could eat those peppers and live." He ate some noodles and a piece of beef before continuing. "I figured that the Shadow Guard would have had their hands full in the wake of the loss of the Rulers. I know as of today, that all of the monarchs are with the Ruler of Lazarus. I have requested to follow the monarchs and hopefully find them and aid them. I'm not sure if our temporary king will allow it though."

She kind of cocked her head to the side. "Who would take your place as Captain of the Guard? Your Lieutenant? You know he's not ready. He isn't strong enough."

He slurped up some more noodles before countering his sister's argument. "My lieutenant is more than capable. Just because he isn't on the same level as we are, doesn't mean he isn't able to fulfill the duties that would be given to him. Besides, he can already handle everything that the office entails. He's had to do it all day and he's done just fine."

"He didn't stop that mob from chasing the girl." She stated with more than a little venom.

"That 'mob' should have never become a mob in the first place. Your people didn't do their job. There was obviously a leak in our information net. A leak that YOUR department should have isolated and handled before it became an issue." He dealt his rebuke back with just as much venom as she had spoken to him. "We are getting off track."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I guess we are." She spoke with a bored voice. She enjoyed a healthy debate with her brother but knew when it was time to call it quits. "I'll be leaving tomorrow on my assignment. Thought it probably won't be till at least afternoon. If you aren't leaving either, then I'll drop by your office to let you know I'm leaving."

He nodded and continued to eat his ramen. She shouldn't be going alone. Despite being a high operative, she is younger than I am and she's never been outside the Kingdom. "If I do get to leave, then it would be best if we traveled together. According to Cross's report, there have been an increase of bandits and outlaws on all roads leading out of the Kingdom. As strong as I know you are sis, you would still be a target because you are a girl."

"As if they'd even be able to find me or see me." She snickered. "They'd better be worth my time if they can even track me." Her voice had a little more than a challenge in it.

"Is it that unfathomable that there might be other people out there who could beat you sis? There are some people out there who don't get their power from the Monarchs of the Kingdoms. You haven't really been out there yet Sakura. Being arrogant is exactly how you get dead in our world."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, but I really don't think there would be many people who could track me. I can move faster on my own. My shinobi arts allow me to move quickly and silently. Faster than most other people. Anyone traveling with me wouldn't be able to keep up. It would only slow me down."

"Unless that person was just as good as you." He said as he slurped more ramen.

"Very few people are as good as me in this city. You know this." She gave her brother a look that told him that she knew where he was going with this conversation.

"Then I guess you wouldn't object to teaming up with me if I get to leave?" He returned the look.

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Whatever. I'm headed to bed. I've got a lot of planning to do tomorrow and I've got to get documents from the Cap before I head out. IF you are able to leave, we will talk about our plan of action. Night bro."

He smirked. Score, Shunsui: 1, Sakurako: 0. "Night sis. I'll leave some breakfast on the counter in the morning."

She gave a disbelieving snort before heading off towards her room. "If you even beat me in getting up." She continued down towards her room and just plopped down on her bed almost immediately falling asleep. When she came to the next morning she noticed that she had been tucked in. She looked at her clock and found that she had woken up about 5 minutes before her alarm was supposed to go off. She yawned and sat up in her bed. Shun must have came in here and tucked me in. Always playing big bro even when he doesn't need to anymore. She sighed and got up. She was still wearing her cloths from the night before and shrugged after noticing it. She began her morning routine which included a shower, some calisthenics stretches, and then a trip to the fridge for breakfast. Only when she made it to the kitchen, true to his words from the night before, her breakfast was already on the counter.

Shunsui had already taken off a couple hours before his sister would even wake up. He had a full day ahead of him and much he had to do. For him, getting up at the ass crack of dawn was a normal routine. As Captain of the City Guard, he was almost always on duty. Even if that meant pulling a double shift when he didn't really need to. A sense of duty made him push himself to be better than his predecessors. He was walking down the streets in full uniform, once again, and headed straight for Haseo's family manor to meet with him and introduce him to the Council. I hope he is ready for this.


OOT: I apologize for the long post. Due to the amount of time that has transpired between the myriad peoples of Laz and the progression of time being faster than Rogue could reply, I pushed myself to make up for the posts that were lost. We should be caught up now. Again, I apologize.

 

Angry tears entered into Aurora’s eyes. She wiped them away quickly. She glared deeply at Cinder. “Do you really think I did this because of just personal experiences?”


Aurora laughed darkly. Her voice went cold. “No, I didn’t. Other people besides me were affected by the attacks of Verbena assassins. King Zael and Queen Calista included. Their parents were murdered by Verbena assassins just like mine were. Many others suffered the same fate. Of course I would set a law protecting more innocent people from getting killed. If I hadn’t there would have been more death and bloodshed. Verbena hasn’t attacked others since, but I know they are going to be after you. They are after someone else too, but I will be protecting her.”


Aurora couldn’t control her anger. She didn’t know what it was about Cinder, but he was bringing out the worst in her at the moment. Aurora’s eyes started darkening. She grabbed onto Cinder and slammed him into the wall. Her hands were around his throat. Her powers started running wild. “If you question my authority again I will kill you.”


Aurora snapped out of it after a few seconds before she really did kill him. She was breathing heavily. She knew she needed to get away from him. She ran into the building looking for the person she really came here to see. “Where are you?”


Aurora started to concentrate and sensed who she was looking for. She smiled when she realized that she was in the bar. Aurora quickly changed her appearance back to normal. Her hair had returned to white as well as her dress. Her essence started to glow again too. Aurora walked towards the bar. She walked towards a girl with a hood on her head. “You must be Sylvia.”

--


“I found an assassin here in the Air Kingdom. He will gladly answer all of your questions,” Zayne responded. He bowed down to King Gideon. “I will take him to you if you wish. I brought him to the dungeon to be on the safe side. You never know what they will be planning, King Gideon.”


OOT: I will try to make my next post longer. I will try to get excited for this RP again.

 

Cinder stood at the wall, watching Aurora run off before moving away. Though she had slammed him into the wall and threatened to kill him, he felt no fear. Shizukesa ran up to him.
"Cinder! Who was that, exactly!? Was it the ruler!? What did you do to get her angry!?"
"Quiet down, woman. It was just the ruler of Lazarus telling me to be careful for assassins. Apparently, I am a target because I used two different magics."
"'Just the ruler'? You can't act irreverent like that! And you should be more worried about assassins!"
"Why should I?"
"Most people get scared when they get slammed by the ruler or are an assassin's mark!"
"Fear has been purged from my mind long ago."
Shizukesa looked at him in disbelief, shocked by his lack of care for his own safety. To this look, Cinder responded with a mocking tone.
"Surprise... now let's go."
Cinder began walking down the road, with Shizukesa running to catch up with him.
"She also mentioned something about 'Calista' and 'Uncle Barda', whoever those are. I seem to be under their jurisdiction, even though I am under the fire king's rule. Not that either one really matters."
"Again with that attitude!'
"Well, bite me!"
Shizukesa, without hesitation, bit him on the neck from behind. Cinder flinched at the surprise attack, then tried to pry her off.
"Get off! That's not a literal term!"
Shizukesa gave a slight growl, still hanging on. Cinder had no plan on hurting her or killing her, but still tried to shake her off.

 

Gideon stood up, the slightest hint of surprise showing in his expression.
"An assassin...? You've found one already?"
He composed himself and continued.
"Excellent work, Lord Zayne. Please, by all means, take me to him."
He then turned to one of the guards.
"I need you to deliver a message. Tell Lord Nero that he is needed in the dungeons posthaste. We must begin interrogating this prisoner immediately."
The letter would have to wait until later. Gideon knew that the information they could learn from this prisoner would be invaluable if they could convince him to talk.

 

“Yes, I’m Aurora, I really need to talk to you,” Aurora responded smiling at the girl. She could tell that Sylvia was really confused.


Aurora held out her hand to the girl for a quick handshake. She whispered into the girl’s ear. She really couldn’t have any one in this bar know who she really was. She was worried that an assassin was close by. “I know your name because I know everyone in every single Kingdom. For you see…I’m the Ruler of Lazarus…I know everyone that dwells in this country. I really just need a few moments of your time. Will you follow me to someplace a little quieter so I can talk more freely? I promise I don’t bite.”

--

“Yes, King Gideon,” Zayne responded. “I found him closer to the border. I was surprised to find an assassin so quickly myself. I will take you to him whenever you are ready.”


“I still can’t believe that the assassin is my nephew…I just never expected that…I thought his family was doing well…I guess not...I should check on my family more often to see how they are doing. I will make sure to let Yuri know about that too…,” Zayne thought.

--


“Why hasn’t she returned yet,” Zael barked.

“Oh quit complaining. She should be back soon, you brat,” Elena responded.

“Oh, shut up! You have been bellyaching for the last few hours! I should be able to complain if I want to. Just like you,” Zael responded. He was getting tired of waiting for Aurora to return. She had been gone for a couple of days now. She didn’t really explain the real reason that she brought the Kings and Queens to her realm. He was starting to get impatient.

“Brother, you really do need to learn patience,” Calista responded while giggling. She had found something to do while she waited for Aurora. Luckily Aurora had a lot of books in her realm. Calista found herself entertained by some of them. Plus she was learning a lot of information about the past Rulers of Lazarus.

“Don’t start in on me now too, sis,” Zael responded with annoyance.

“Guys, guys, if you want to fight…fight somewhere else…not in front of my daughter,” Yuri responded with sigh. He has been hearing them argue for the last few hours. They kept interrupting Amelia’s nap. “Why don’t you find something else to do like Calista? At least she is actually doing something instead of bickering like children. Can’t you two just get along?”

“Oh, come on, Yuri…you don’t really expect me to get along with that thing, do you,” Elena asked pointing at Zael.

“Oh…Ms. Perfect here…can’t get along with me can she…well I can’t get along with her either,” Zael responded.

Yuri sighed as the arguing continued."Aurora, please hurry back...please...I'm going crazy!"

 

Gideon nodded back to Zayne.
"We must discover what he knows as soon as possible. Please, take me to him."
With Zayne leading the way, they made their way to the dungeon, meeting up with Nero along the way.

Gideon and Nero stood in front of the prisoner's cell, sizing up the man inside inside with cold, unflinching stares. Nero was the first to speak up, calling out to the man.
"On your feet, prisoner; your king wishes to speak with you. Answer him quickly and choose your words wisely."
As he spoke now, he was completely unrecognizable from the way he acted earlier. His voice was no longer loud and boisterous, his eccentric mannerisms had completely disappeared and his gaze became a soul-piercing glare; he even exchanged his clothes for a black garb that was wouldn't look out of place in an executioner's wardrobe. He gave off an aura of dread and his words seemed to send a chill through the air.
"Does that surprise you, that this man is now the King of Air rather than king Yuri? You should know that you played a part in that. Before the day ends, you will wish he were still here to grant you the mercy he is so well known for."

When Nero finished, Gideon stepped forward and addressed the prisoner. Much like Nero, his demeanor was entirely different from before. This was the side of Gideon that marked him as the greatest strategist in the Air Kingdom. While he is certainly capable of great kindness and compassion towards his own people, he has no such feelings to spare for enemies and traitors. To him, they are only obstacles to be dealt with in the most efficient way possible. Some would call his methods excessive and even cruel, but they cannot deny his mastery in the art of war. That Gideon, not the Gideon that the people of the Air Kingdom knew, was the one who spoke to the prisoner now, which must have certainly been a frightening visage.
"I will make this as simple as possible. You are a traitor to the Kingdom of Air and you will not leave this dungeon alive. However, I will present you with a choice, and I suggest you consider it carefully. If you tell us everything you know right here and now, I will allow you to live out your days in peace, imprisoned yet very much alive."
He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. When he spoke up, there was a grim tone in his voice as he stared down the prisoner.
"If you refuse, you will die in agony. But not here. You will be dragged through the streets beaten, bloodied and made a mockery of by all the townspeople you betrayed and then you will be publicly executed as a traitor to the crown deserves. We will make an example of you, burning you at the stake so that your lamentations will serve as an example to our enemies in Verbena. They will know that we will not bow. They will see that we are prepared to rise up in resistance."
When he finished, he pulled back slightly, speaking in a more even tone.
"Make your choice. Though before you do, you should know that if we discover that you've deceived us in some way, we can arrange that execution at any time."