Of Crows and Songbirds (Part 2)

(Mm not sure, wanna go back to Aleth or skip somewhere with new material? If you wanna skip further I can give you a run down of what happens to Aleth and you can let me know how he responds)

(That sounds good! I feel like they’re both gonna be bullheaded and may as well just summarize it)
(Do you wanna do a big ish skip and go to Tomhas arrival? Or Aashi arrival? Or somewhere closer? No real preference and we can do a smaller skip if you’ve got something else in mind)

(Okie dokie
Yeah we can do Tomhas since that's sooner than Aashi and Tasia.
Bay will basically beat him steadily for twelve hours and ask the same few questions, pull his hair, strip him down if it's two weeks without progress. Between the beatings he only gets moldy bread and water and stays hogtied in isolation in that little room.)

(Damn lol
I’m assuming Bay won’t answer any question Aleth asks in return?)

(Depends on what he asks but it's unlikely)

(He’d probably attempts at asking about Ky and Tadaaki, if they were getting similar treatment, what sort of lies they were telling about him. If (when?) that doesn’t work he’ll ask what it is that Bay is wanting him to say)

Bay will ignore both those questions. The beatings will be worse and more targeted the longer Aleth goes without answering the questions, and Bay will very likely employ other techniques like humiliation and loud noises. And the fact that Aleth hasn't been allowed to go to any chamber pot is another thing)

(Oof Hahah okay I feel like Aleth will be stubborn a solid two days and then at that point on the third day decide they’re not just bluffing and take Loren’s advice to talk a little. So he’ll probably take ownership for the spies Bay has already mentioned and admit he was trying to get a girl worked into the kitchen here at Serpent Keep. I assume a spy wouldn’t get past Gaius’s vetting but that’s up to you whether she succeeded in getting in or not but Aleth wouldn’t know either way. He’d also be refusing the food and only drinking the water)

(She definitely wouldn't get in
And after about seven days they'd start force feeding him to keep him alive, I think, but with better food like water soaked stale bread. Bay would push him even harder after Aleth admitted that stuff and turn the questions to assassins and the contract outright)

(Aleth would vehemently deny connection to any assassins whatsoever and stick to that story. He’d claim his assignment from Tarr was seeing if it was possible to infiltrate Serpent Keep, but deny that he planned to do any spying himself. Just get a feel for security measures and then leave so that Tarr could send an actual spy in next. Maybe admit to planning to see if he could turn any servants while he was here to help. But he’s going to be adamant that that is the only reason he was here. And will also need to be force fed yes he’ll be trying to make himself weak enough he’ll pass out rather than have to answer)

(They're going to keep going with him, then. I can do a brief aside to him on the day Tomhas arrives to check in if you like)

(Dat works for me)

(Also I got it wrong Bay leaves 4 hours for himself to sleep and eat so Aleth has 20 hours with him with a couple breaks, for like two days, then Bay isolates him for two. So he alternates between too much contact and none at all)

A few weeks later, the caravans of Tomhas Loquitur and the Ladies Barraster arrived.
Captain Bay was, as he always was around 8 pm, finishing up with Aleth. He tied him down as always, then knelt in front of him to look him in the eyes. "This could have gone a lot easier, you know," he told him. "It still can. I can bring your clothes back, get you some hot food, blankets, put you back in your cell. I just need those questions answered properly."

(holy hell lol so ig that means he'd hold out the first cycle then after the isolation admit a bit. And... idk the timing lol He's going to be an ass and admit very, very little and what he does admit is going to be at least partially thought through -- he'll be trying trying to figure out what Bay already knows and get a read on what he'd believe from him. And, like I mentioned, will be refusing to eat because he's a snob and also because he wants to pass out so Bay physically won't be able to drag anything out of him and also because he doesn't want to shit himself haha)

Aleth scoffed, entire body relaxed as he was far too exhausted to even attempt to hold himself up. His eyes were only partly open and he panted as he looked at this absolute cock-sucker. "Sure."

"Let's have another go. Who did you hire to kill your slaves for you?"