He nodded now in answer to the King’s question. “Not at first. Genovesans are notoriously closemouthed and they’re not afraid of death threats. He fully expects to be executed. He accepted that risk when he took the job.”

“So how did you persuade him to talk?” Erak asked.

“Genovesans aren’t afraid to die. But they are afraid of the sort of suffering their own weapons can cause,” Halt told him. He nodded to Horace, sitting on the edge of the Baron’s desk, close to Cassandra. “I took a leaf out of your book, Horace. I threatened to infect him with one of his own poisoned arrows. He went a little green about the gills when I told him that the only man in Araluen who could produce an antidote lived eight days away in the north. Then he seemed quite willing to talk.”

“He really believed you’d do it?” Cassandra asked, and Halt turned to her.

“I have a very honest face,” he said with great dignity.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories - The Bridal Dance; Chapter 6