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“Give me a moment. I'm dressing." Jagger undid the ties after several seconds to reveal him dressed but with his coat undone and his hair a wreck. “What?”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah. I just woke up, and I haven't even combed my hair. What’s got you all worked up?” Jagger tapped a little glass lantern by his bedroll to make the Norian crystal shards inside glow brighter.
“Worked up?” Luke took a deep breath as he closed the flaps. “Can I be honest with you?”
Jagger sat on his bedroll. “I would hope so because I don’t like lies.”
“Elbannon is fucked up for what they allow now. The mines are fucked up. This trip is fucked up, and this wholefuckingsystem is fucked up!” Luke clenched his fists on the floor as he kneeled since the top of the tent was low and slanted.
Jagger raised an eyebrow. “I think that’s clear.”
Luke pointed at the entrance. “The guy with stringy blonde hair was two bedrolls away from me, and he was raped by two guards last night. Other guards saw it, and they did nothing. The two took turns with the guy like he was some street whore, and the one spit on him because I guess the prisoner had a chance to be his slave, and he refused. They held him down!”
Jagger took a deep breath and looked away. “Oh.”
“Oh?! That’s all you have to say?!”
Jagger held up a hand. “Watch how you speak to me. I’m not punishing you for your mouth because seeing and hearing…” He lowered his hand. “Luke, I thought you knew this happened already. You wanted my protection and seemed to get this.”
“You never said the guards would be forcing us on the march.”
“Surely you knew this happens in the mines?”
“Well…yeah, I’ve heard the guards rape the prisoners there, and a bunch of rough men locked up might turn on each other too, but that place is some lawless land-”
Jagger rubbed his forehead. “The place is manned by the same guards who march the prisoners there. Do you think they restrict their violence to the compound? No. Plenty of those employed in the prison and mine are shit. They see prisoners as lesser beings, like when a soldier rapes a civilian in wartime. It’s us and them in their eyes for the most part.”
“Why don’t you do something about it?”
“If I could, I would, but I’m one man,” said Jagger. "What exactly do you expect me to do?"
“You’re a senior guard.”
“That doesn’t mean I make allof the rules,” said Jagger. “I do have power, but I can’t change the whole system in the prison and the mine even though it is fucked up. I’ve taken you as my pet, and I’m helping you so you can get through as unhurt as possible and get out. Guards have their own system that we have to follow. You’re mine, so if anyone raped you, all you’d have to do is name them, and I’d kill the fucker. That's allowed. If I went and killed those two guards who raped that guy last night, the rest would come after me because he has no protector. If you’re not a pet, you’re fair game, and the others would kill me. With me dead, the same shit would happen in the future. I have rules I have to follow too, not just you.”
“Then why are you working in this shitty system?” asked Luke. “Why would you pick a job where you might have to tear someone apart on the rack, not to mention deal with this other shit? How the fuck do you talk to rapists?"
Jagger’s jaw tightened as he drew up his knees to rest his arms on and continued in a low voice. “When I started, I was twenty-one, I needed money, and I thought I knew it all. I had to learn a lot of shit pretty fucking fast. I considered leaving, but I decided to stay because I can have a pet and at least ease things for someone else. Once I knew why you did what you did, that’s partly why I decided to take you. You’re also smart enough to take advice, and while you fight me a little on some things, you’re also compliant in general. You asked, and I made you mine. If you refused, or you never came there, I probably would have tried with the whipped one who stole a loaf of bread. I'm sure he was hungry.”
Maybe Bread wouldn’t have been stupid enough to try and run after a few obedience lessons from Jagger.
“As for torturing confessions from prisoners, I despise it, but I haven’t had to rack as many as you probably think. Some confess before they even get to that room. More break after I have a chance to speak with them and describe what they’re facing like you did. Some confess once they’re tied down or it only takes a few whacks of the cane. Some of the ones that suffered hours of torture for a day or even more and were torn apart were murderers and rapists who were truly foul. Even though I hate it, I’d rather stay and help a few at least. Some say my attitude can be intimidating when I walk in and I have a natural flair for making them talk before they’re even tied on the rack.”
Luke swallowed. “You were quite intimidating with the way you spoke. You scared me, but there was also something about the way you held my face and made it seem like I was doing you a favor besides helping myself.”
“See?” Jagger shrugged. “If I left, I’m sure they could find someone else who’s good at it, but who knows what that person would be like? Someone quite foul might end up in my place. I hate what goes on here, but I can’t stop it. I certainly can’t report it to the lord because he doesn’t care. I'm not perfect, but at least I can do a little.”
He was right, and now that he explained how the guards had rules, Luke understood why he couldn’t do anything about last night. Lord Smith of Elbannon either didn’t know or didn’t give a shit so he did nothing, and since their Earl stayed out of it, the guards had created their own rules among themselves. Any who entered their fold had to follow them too.
“I guess you can’t talk to those two men or any of them and somehow convince them to not do it?”
“Pfft. If I could have turned the tide a little, I already would have. They won’t listen. If I bitch about someone’s cruelty, they could find something to complain about me, and it would cause a lot of tension and strife. I can’t even say anything about how Nrek beats Mick. That’s the one with the black eye, and I bet Mick regrets saying yes.”
Luke crossed his legs on the floor. If Jagger openly showed his distaste, the others might start disliking him, and being the odd one out would have consequences. “I’m sorry I came in here like that. I didn’t really think about what it might be like for someone in your position.”
“I also thought you understood that anything that happens in the prison can happen on the trip. I should have double-checked.”
