Chapter 10: The Dungeon
The night passed slowly and painfully for Jafar al-Sharif. He was taken directly from his audience with the wali down to the palace dungeon, a labyrinth of dark corridors with cold stone walls that dripped moisture and were covered with scum. The air was rotten with the smell of human wastes and stale blood. Flickering torches provided the only light, as well as an oily black smoke that pervaded everything.
Aswad the dungeonmaster, also known as Aswad the stonehearted, received his new charge with a wide grin that revealed more blackened teeth than white ones. He gave a silly, highpitched giggle as he received the wali’s instructions, then told his guards to strip Jafar and bring him down to the interrogation chamber.
Aswad began with a simple torture. Taking a s
