CHAPTER 36

   The really bad part was that Angie could not even remember being asleep. She searched her mind and drew a complete blank. She was sure that she had awakened and, didn't that mean you had been asleep? Angie shook her head and tried to piece together the last few moments. Her failure to do so was quite distressing because she realized that it meant she was probably not going to figure out how she got this way in the first place. All she knew for certain was that her hands and feet were tied and that she was wearing a blindfold. She squirmed in place and thought she was sitting in some kind of chair.. Finally she gave up and meekly called out, "hello?"
To Angie's surprise she got a response, "I have to admit that I have asked myself if I would ever see you again."
Angie knew the voice very well, "Falla? What the hell?"
"Come now Angie," Falla replied. "Did you really believe that I would trust you that much? Then you show up here, unannounced, and this is the last place you should be."
Angie nodded to her arm, the one with the brand prominently on it, the one she had used to get past the outpost, and she told Falla, “I thought I was a sister. I did what you told me to do. The whole country has been overrun by orc, what was I supposed to do but come back here."
It was definitely the back of the hand. Angie never heard it coming but, its impact across her face was not as hard as when her head hit the floor. Falla did not sound the least bit amused and she was very close as she told Angie, "do you really believe that you can lie to me little girl. Did you think I was so foolish as to ever trust you? Do you actually believe that I ever thought you were telling me the truth?"
Angie did not waste time with denials. She simply told Falla, "they took more of them. You told me that would never happen. What was I supposed to think?"
"This is not about me, "Falla had obviously moved further away, "if you had just stayed gone then I would have just forgotten about you."
Angie decided she needed to stay on the offensive, "if you were going to kill me, you would have already done it. Come on Falla, you know that it's wrong. I know you know that. You would have never given Sayers back if you didn't know that."
"I had my reasons for what I did," Falla replied. "None of which concerns you my dear."
Angie had some real venom in her tone. There was no pretending, "so that's it then? What? You're just going to sell me to the orc, is that it?"
The only answer that Angie got was her chair being lifted back to the upright position. She was still waggling her jaw in response to the impact. She listened and she could sense where Falla was walking and Angie looked in that direction. Finally, Falla stated in a matter of fact way, "I still have use for you. I may not trust you but, I really do not have to." After another pause, and a bit more pacing, Falla told Angie, "I could purify you but we both know that would probably be a waste of time. You are still one of us Angie, even if you don't think so."
Angie reacted to the last statement with scorn, "if you thought I betrayed my oath then you would have already taken back my pledge." Angie subconsciously looked down to her arm where the brand was and knew the punishment for betrayal was expulsion from the Deg. The brand would still belong to them and they would take it and the arm that it was on.
Angie felt Falla's iron grip as the woman squeezed her face. Falla sounded angry and when her lips were next to Angie's ear she told her in no uncertain terms, "don't lie to me Angie. It will do you no good. I know everything you've done. The only reason you still have your arm because I can still use you. You can still serve the Deg and will continue to do so. I have things of yours that are more precious than your arm, certainly more than your oath."
Angie let it play out and remained as defiant as ever, "what I have Falla, is a loyalty to my kind. I also happen to know the difference between right and wrong. I thought that saving the human race was our entire purpose. Why do you think I joined?"
Falla sounded very self-assured, and even a tad arrogant, as she told Angie, "do not think that you can lecture me about my purpose, about our purpose, I know it far better than you."
Angie hit back with abiding tone, "I know that double dealing with the orcs is not helping our kind one bit. You seem to have other ideas."
This did not seem to phase Falla in the least, "that is because I know more than you child. I have always known more than you Angie. That is why you are such a disappointment, you have not figured that out yet." Angie was not done with this conversation but, apparently, Falla was. Right now she had the power to be. She she cut off Angie's next remark with with, "where is John Snow?”
Now Angie paused. She pretended to think about it for a moment and then acted confused as she replied, "that English commando guy? I heard he went home."
This brought another backhand only not hard enough, this time, to send Angie falling to the floor. Falla was even more angry when she stated, "I know he came back to Feyland. I know that you have operated with him. I told you that you could not lie to me. What I do not know is where he is right now. I suggest you tell me."
Angie did not hesitate and she gave up the pretension, "he went south before the attack. I assume he's still there." Falla must have believed that because the expected slap did not come. There was a moment of silence that Angie finally interrupted with, "why do you care about John? He doesn't have anything to do with this."
Falla sounded very self-assured when she replied with, "because I want you to bring him to me."
"Oh yeah," Angie sounded very unconvinced as she replied, "exactly why would I do that?"
"To put it very simply Angie," Falla replied with even more confidence before she stated, "7320 Admiral Drive."
It took Angie a second to realize what Falla had just said, even if Angie recognized it instantly. Angie felt a terrible nausea in the pit of her stomach and the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. How did this bitch know that? Even more important, and to the point, did it really mean anything? Angie gambled that it did not, "you're bluffing. There's nothing you can do on that side of the Dell. It's not even open."
Falla sounded very certain when she replied with, "try me and see."