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Annabeth knew from the feeling of the room that Captain Eliot was standing before her, hands resting on his hips, his stance wide, and his shoulders squared. He was staring at her—it felt more like he was staring through her. It was his hands had that twisted the wheel of the rack.
Numbly, she wondered how she was standing. What was holding her up?
Captain Eliot seemed to sense her coming to consciousness. Moving forward, he tilted her head back and poured water between her parched lips. The movement of her head rippled a spasm of pain through her body, and she sagged against the cold damp wall, suddenly realizing what was holding her up despite her weakness.
Chains with weights pulled at her arms, holding her upright even as her legs were unsteady as water beneath her. The weights held her, forcing her against the cold wall. Her mind sought a refuge, but pain haunted every corner of her existence—numb, blaring, searing, and pulsating through her core. Her head seemed to swim in circles; Annabeth knew there would be no stopping it.
Eliot was silent. His hands barely touched her wound. Pain seized her and she let out a cry of pain as a chill ran through her body. Waves of hot and cold pulled her into a whirlpool.
The gentleness in his touch was strange as he bound her wound, but even his lightest touch of mercy caused pain to gnaw through her worse than before.
Something strange pricked her heart and mind awake as he finished. She shoved it aside.
“Lord Raburn told me you’ll have a day to think over your decision. If it doesn’t change, you go back on the rack.” His voice was steel-like, and he turned to go.
The words pricked her mind again, and she wanted to push them away. Then the thought flashed through her mind:
“For Ransom’s sake, tell him.”
“Be careful of Raburn’s wine.”
“What?”
Using up her strength she repeated the words. “Be careful of Raburn’s wine. It loosens the tongue more than most.”
Suddenly his cool hand was pressing against her hot cheek, sweeping a stray hair away from her face.
“I will be.”
Then he was gone and Annabeth was left with the numbing pain in every atom of her body.