Jon Chess laughed in the darkness of his cell, a high-pitched maniacal sound, teetering on the edge of madness. The guard outside his cell flinched at the hollow resonance of the laugh, but wrote the occurrence down in his prisoner log.
Everything Jon Chess did or said was faithfully written down.
Inside the cell, Jon felt ashamed of his outburst, but could not help himself; any surcease or mitigation of his pain was eagerly, desperately sought.
He remembered hearing the story from his gnome mage colleague and friend, Phred. She had relayed the story while the both of them had been safe and snug in the Pig & Whistle tavern in Stormwind's Old Town section, while under the influence of perhaps one too many Hearthglen Ambrosias.
"One of the new students had said 'Mistress Groll, will you do a magic trick for us?'. So Mistress Groll had brought the new student up before the rest of the class, and announced she would do her famous Time Distortion trick. Without warning, Mistress Groll had kneed the poor kid in the balls. The kid dropped to the floor, clutching his privates in agony. Mistress Groll had said 'Notice how every second seems stretched to an eternity? We don't do tricks here; we work with primal arcane forces. Tricks are a cheat for mountebanks and frauds!'"
They had taken Jon Chess from Dalaran at night before he could reach the section of the Underbelly where he would be safe. They had rendered him senseless, and he had awakened in his vault-like cell, his wrists and ankles bound by chains of iron.
They had not even asked him any questions before the beatings had begun. A very unsympathetic fellow with gloves laced with lead shot had done quite a thorough and professional job of softening Chess up for his first interview with the woman he was to call the Dark Lady.
"Jonny, Jonny Jonny... has it come to this? Treason, Jonny? really?" she had begun. Jon had wondered if she had known how much he hated to be called "Jonny". She probably had.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Chess had replied. "I am no traitor."
"That's not what I hear, Jonny... I hear you've been making life easy on the so-called Ren'dorei which foul the Alliance. Shame on you, Jonny... you're a smart guy. You must know they're Sin'dorei at heart - why would they work against their own families?"
"They've been cast out by those families, they are Ren'dorei now," Chess said. "Since a handful of Alliance bigots pushed the Sin'dorei to the Horde in the first place, this is our chance to make it right. Our king believes it so; welcoming them can't possibly be treason."
"I am sorry you feel that way, Jonny. We'll have to talk again about that later," she said. "But for now, I have a thing to ask, Jonny. It is very important. You see," she explained, "they ARE traitors, and you need to be punished for helping them and betraying your own people. Your. Own. People. Do you know who I mean when I say that, Jonny? Your own people?"
"The Alliance."
"No, Jonny... think smaller."
"Humans?"
"Smaller."
"Stormwind?"
"Closer, but no, Jonny. Your own people are SI:7, Jonny, and you put them in danger by welcoming these blue blood elves." She laughed light-heartedly. "Oh, I like that, I must use it later! But Jonny... You are refusing to see. So let's give you some time to think, and consider your feelings, shall we?"
The Dark Lady left Jon Chess alone in the darkness.
Everything Jon Chess did or said was faithfully written down.
Inside the cell, Jon felt ashamed of his outburst, but could not help himself; any surcease or mitigation of his pain was eagerly, desperately sought.
He remembered hearing the story from his gnome mage colleague and friend, Phred. She had relayed the story while the both of them had been safe and snug in the Pig & Whistle tavern in Stormwind's Old Town section, while under the influence of perhaps one too many Hearthglen Ambrosias.
"One of the new students had said 'Mistress Groll, will you do a magic trick for us?'. So Mistress Groll had brought the new student up before the rest of the class, and announced she would do her famous Time Distortion trick. Without warning, Mistress Groll had kneed the poor kid in the balls. The kid dropped to the floor, clutching his privates in agony. Mistress Groll had said 'Notice how every second seems stretched to an eternity? We don't do tricks here; we work with primal arcane forces. Tricks are a cheat for mountebanks and frauds!'"
They had taken Jon Chess from Dalaran at night before he could reach the section of the Underbelly where he would be safe. They had rendered him senseless, and he had awakened in his vault-like cell, his wrists and ankles bound by chains of iron.
They had not even asked him any questions before the beatings had begun. A very unsympathetic fellow with gloves laced with lead shot had done quite a thorough and professional job of softening Chess up for his first interview with the woman he was to call the Dark Lady.
"Jonny, Jonny Jonny... has it come to this? Treason, Jonny? really?" she had begun. Jon had wondered if she had known how much he hated to be called "Jonny". She probably had.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Chess had replied. "I am no traitor."
"That's not what I hear, Jonny... I hear you've been making life easy on the so-called Ren'dorei which foul the Alliance. Shame on you, Jonny... you're a smart guy. You must know they're Sin'dorei at heart - why would they work against their own families?"
"They've been cast out by those families, they are Ren'dorei now," Chess said. "Since a handful of Alliance bigots pushed the Sin'dorei to the Horde in the first place, this is our chance to make it right. Our king believes it so; welcoming them can't possibly be treason."
"I am sorry you feel that way, Jonny. We'll have to talk again about that later," she said. "But for now, I have a thing to ask, Jonny. It is very important. You see," she explained, "they ARE traitors, and you need to be punished for helping them and betraying your own people. Your. Own. People. Do you know who I mean when I say that, Jonny? Your own people?"
"The Alliance."
"No, Jonny... think smaller."
"Humans?"
"Smaller."
"Stormwind?"
"Closer, but no, Jonny. Your own people are SI:7, Jonny, and you put them in danger by welcoming these blue blood elves." She laughed light-heartedly. "Oh, I like that, I must use it later! But Jonny... You are refusing to see. So let's give you some time to think, and consider your feelings, shall we?"
The Dark Lady left Jon Chess alone in the darkness.
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