'I will be the judge of what you know.' Glokta wiped some sweat from his face. The room was hot as a busy forge and the glowing coals in the brazier were far from helping. 'If a thing smells like a liar, and is the colour of a liar, the chances are it is a liar, would you not agree?'

'Please! We are all on the same side!' Are we? Are we really? 'I have told you only the truth!'

'Perhaps, but not as much of it as I need.'

'Please! We are all friends here!'

'Friends? In my experience, a friend is merely an acquaintance who has yet to betray you. Is that what you are, Harker?'

'No!'

Glokta frowned. 'Then you are our enemy?'

'What? No! I just… I just… I wanted to know what happened! That's all! I didn't mean to… please!' Please, please, please, I tire of hearing it. 'You have to believe me!'

'The only thing I have to do is get answers.'

'Only ask your questions, Superior, I beg of you! Only give me the opportunity to cooperate!' Oh indeed, the firm hand does not seem such a fine idea any longer, does it? 'Ask your questions, I will do my best to answer!'

'Good.' Glokta perched himself on the edge of the table just beside his tightly bound prisoner and looked down at him. 'Excellent.' Harker's hands were tanned deep brown, his face was tanned deep brown, the rest of his body was pale as a white slug with thick patches of dark hair. Hardly a fetching look. But it could be worse. 'Answer me this, then. Why is it that men have nipples?'

Harker blinked. He swallowed. He looked up at Frost, but there was, no help there. The albino stared back, unblinking, white skin round his mask beaded with sweat, eyes hard as two pink jewels. 'I… I am not sure I understand, Superior.'

'Is it not a simple question? Nipples, Harker, on men. What purpose do they serve? Have you not often wondered?'

'I… I…'

Glokta sighed. 'They chafe and become painful in the wet. They dry out and become painful in the heat. Some women, for reasons I could never fathom, insist on fiddling with them in bed, as though we derive anything but annoyance from having them interfered with.' Glokta reached towards the table, while Harker's wide eyes followed his every movement, and slid his hand slowly around the grips of the pincers. He lifted them up and examined them, the well-sharpened jaws glinting in the bright lamplight. 'A man's nipples,' he murmured, 'are a positive hindrance to him. Do you know? Aside from the unsightly scarring, I don't miss mine in the least.'