Dangerous Territory

Rake the Coals Hotter

They were again in the freezing cellar, and Caven looked nothing like the proud young woman she had been the first day. She shivered from a cold bath where she had been nearly drowned over and over again. Eren had half hoped she would just swallow the water and put an end to this. At times, it appeared like she tried. Then she would be yanked up and hit until the water vomited back out.

She shook now, starved, beaten ruthlessly, her blond hair still wet. Eren knew this woman went through worse—probably far worse—outside of the official interrogations with Levi present. There were cuts on her he never saw happen, she was now missing three fingernails although Eren only witnessed the removal of one, and she had hollow eyes as some of the surrounding men laughed crudely.

"Who was your contact here?" Kitz asked yet again, the same questions over and over.

Caven shook from the chill, her lips blue as she stared ahead blankly.

"Jäger, tell the bitch that she will not be killed. There is a camp outside of Paris. Drancy."

Even though he was speaking in German, that name made Caven look up in terror.

"It is under the direct control of the Gestapo." Kitz leaned in close to her pale blue eyes. "If you are afraid of me, the men there are worse. Far worse! If they don't simply rape and execute you, you will be sent to a different camp, one for troublemakers like you. Auschwitz, maybe? Ravensbrück if you are lucky. You will likely die, but it will not be quick. It will be slow, excruciating, and humiliating. You will not even be recognizable as a human before your skin rots off your body and you are tossed out for birds to feast on what little remains of your flesh. Translate all of that Make sure she knows what I'm saying."

Eren took a slow breath, then said the entire thing to Levi. He told her the words flatly. Caven dropped her head and gazed down with massive eyes. Kitz smiled to see the broken soul.

Levi glared up at Kitz. Then he added in a little extra, since he knew the Germans would have no clue what he was saying.

"Vous avez bien fait, chère madame." You have done well, dear lady. "Your friends escaped a long time ago. Even if you confess, these pigs can do nothing. If you speak now, you will not be betraying them. I will tell your family you were brave and honorable to the end."

She looked up at him, and her eyes showed she had enough.

"Sasha," she said softly. "If you escape, find a woman by that name and the surname Braus. Do not say those two names together. Do not tell them that name."

"I won't," Levi promised. "I think I met her some days ago. I honestly forgot about the encounter since I was feverish, but she gave me that name and said to tell you ... Chanson d'automne. She said you would know what that means."

"Yes." She smiled in relief. "They got the news, then. I'm glad. She was my destination here, her and Historia. They can get you and your people out of this country. Now please, let me die with true honor as a daughter of France."

"You don't need to."

She shook her head in anguish. "Do you really think they'll let me live? If I speak everything I know, I'll be shot. If I do not speak, I'll be deported to one of those German camps where no one returns. I'm dead either way, but if I don't speak, this Nazi swine doesn't get the satisfaction of breaking me."

"Sasha said they were going to get you out."

"How long ago did you meet her?"

"About a week ago. Just hold out a little longer."

Kitz bellowed, "Worüber reden die da?" What are they talking about?

Eren sighed in frustration at his impatience. "Ich weiß es nicht. Ich muss warten." I don't know. I need to wait.