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She stood in the htly lashed to a thick iron bar suspended above her head

"You will tell us ish to know," the Lord High Sovereign&039;s interrogator demanded brusquely "You will tell us today, or you will die tomorrow"

Kylene shook her head She&039;d been iht, and she still had no idea why they thought she could help them find the elusive Hardane

"The lash is a crude weapon," the Interrogator mused "Crude, but effective"

He nodded in the Executioner&039;s direction and Kylene&039;s body tensed as she waited for the lash to fall The thick leather strap cracked through the air with the sound of thunder, biting deep into her skin, sizzling like su under the lash is a ator re time"

It was an effort to hold her head up, to stay the words of pleading that rose in her throat It was fortunate she didn&039;t knohere Hardane was, she thought, for she feared she would tell the Interrogator everything he wished to know if it would spare her the pain of the lash But she could tell hiain Tears stung her eyes and clogged her throat The blood trickling down her back felt like sunfire A red haze hovered before her face,else seem distant and out of focus

Tre convulsively, Kylene closed her eyes, and he was there, standing before her, his slate gray eyes ith coertips as soft as fairy ently wiped away her tears

"Lady, come to me"

Startled by the sound of his voice, so near, so real, she opened her eyes

And he was gone

Mad, she thought I er in the roo her in its war her pain

"Where is he?"

The Interrogator&039;s voice cut through the silence, sharp as a blade

Slowly, sadly, Kylene shook her head "I don&039;t know I don&039;t knoho Hardane is I don&039;t knohere he is"

The Interrogator nodded and the whip fell again

She heard the sibilant hiss, felt it strike across her shoulders From deep within herwith fury

As if froator order the Executioner to put away the lash

Sick with relief, she closed her eyes and surrendered to the darkness that dragged her down into blessed oblivion