He led Fenice all the way to the dungeons. She hardly ever came down here; it was dark and damp and smelled weird. They didn't stop until they came to the chambers of [Mesrat], the chief jailer and executioner. Three more strange lupines were there; they looked up when Fenice and her captor entered, closing the door behind them. [Mesrat] was tied to a chair; he was covered in blood and his arms were bent at unnatural angles.

"Where is she?! What did you do with my daughter?!"

[Mesrat] grinned; he was missing several teeth. "You'll have to be more specific. A lot of people's daughters come through here."

"You think this is funny, you cur?!" Fenice's escort kicked [Mesrat] in the chest, knocking the chair backwards onto the floor. "Her name was Isabel. She had light brown fur and gray eyes. The king had her arrested a year ago for [something]. She was a pup! My pup!"

"Ah, yes. I *forgot* about her." [Mesrat] chuckled at his own little joke.

"What did you do?!"

"Why should I tell you? I know you're going to kill me no matter what I say." [Mesrat] spat out, suddenly serious.

"You slimy little--!"

"Let me handle this," one of the other strangers said, and knelt down beside [Mesrat]. "You're mad, aren't you?"

"Not telling."

"You like pain. It gets you off."

[Mesrat] only grinned.

"You sick little bastard. Here's the deal. Tell us what you did with the pups, or..."

"Or what? You'll kill me?"

"Yep."

[Mesrat] laughed.

"...With a long-drop hanging."

[Mesrat]'s expression turned to one of horror in an instant, like an expert wine connoisseur being told he could have anything he wanted to eat for his last meal, but would only be given water to drink. "You wouldn't."

The interrogator nodded. "We would. But we promise, if you tell us what you did with the pups, we'll give you a nice long dance just like you gave everyone else."

[Mesrat] looked around at the circle of faces. "Promise?"

They nodded. "We might even do it twice," one of them added.

[Mesrat]'s expression brightened considerably. "Alright then. The king didn't want the princess to see anyone her own age be executed, so we kept them private."

"What did you do to them?"

"The room at the end of the hall."

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed.

"You bastard!" Fenice's captor shouted. He let go of the princess and made to attack [Mesrat], but the others held him back. Fenice was bewildered.




--
Author's Notes:

[Mesrat] was never intended to be the jailer's name in the final draft; it was just a placeholder until I could think up a better name for the character. I cut the scene before I got that far, though. You receive one bonus point if you know where I got the name from.

An additional bonus point will be awarded if you get Mesrat's joke.