She looked up, her human eye beginning to run with tears, which she tried to blink away as best
she could. She was hanging by her arms from the ceiling, her wrists encased in heavy iron manacles
that were connected by chains to metal loops in the ceiling. She looked down, swinging her legs,
angling her feet to try to touch the ground, but she was hanging just a few inches short.
She swung again, harder. The chains rattled, but held firm, and her actions only made her
shoulders ache more

She tried to relax, letting the weight of her body pull her down a little, but the floor was still out
of reach. She realized now that it was the pain in her shoulders that had woken her. The way she was
chained, the loops in the ceiling wide enough to pull her into a Y-shape, was designed to cause
discomfort—not pain, exactly, but to stress and fatigue her muscles and joints. She knew that after just
a few hours in this position, she would be in total agony. A person held long enough in such a position
wouldn’t last long under interrogation

She hoped she would get some answers soon. In the meantime, she shifted her position, levering
herself up using her arm muscles, feeling her biceps and triceps burn as, elbows locked, chains held
taut, she rose up six inches or so. She held herself there, counting the seconds, feeling the pain, glad to
have kept herself in top physical condition all these years, despite her intake of Green Lady. Still,
there could have been worse habits. Addermire Solution, for instance.
Then she gently lowered herself, until she could let the chains carry her weight. Her shoulders
sang in protest, but the sudden relief from her arm muscles more than made up for the discomfort.
And then she went back to her patient wait.