Raya couldn’t see the sun from her cell except for one hour each day through the slot in the hefty bronze-banded door of the cell that contained her. It was just a small streak on the floor, widening and narrowing rapidly as the hole through which it shone allowed. On days like today, when rain was pouring out of what she presumed were dark, drowning clouds, there was no sun at all on the floor inside her room.
“Siblings?” asked the thin voice from behind the wall.
Her neighbour was a thief, an inhabitant of this prison for some twenty days so far. His name was Drimmo. He talked with her a lot the first day or two after learning they could hear one another, but then he became a man of few words.
“One,” Raya replied. “A brother. He went his own way, you know? I haven’t seen him in three years. You?”
“Two dead, two living. Last I heard.” His voice seemed faint and far away.
They didn’t speak for a while. Raya had a mouldy corner of bread left from the meal brought to her by servants. Hunger drove her to pick apart the better parts of it and swallow them.
That afternoon, a pair of guards opened her cell door and brought in a cushioned armchair. Commander Ramas entered and stared at Raya’s accommodations. They had not spoken since before Domeran’s death. He turned to the guards and spread his hands as though dismayed at these conditions. “We’ll speak in the hallway then. Fetch another seat.”
The guards bowed and hurried away.
When Raya finally sat on a stool near the Commander, it was in the long corridor of cells outside her own. The guards didn’t go far, but the Commander didn’t sit threateningly close. He shook his head before he spoke. “This is… unfortunate, to say the least. Please let me assure you that your friends are unharmed. I am trying to determine a way to free you, but thanks to your ‘friend,’ Axar, my hands are now tied.”
“Things are a little more than unfortunate,” Raya said, around grinding teeth. She stunk and was constantly wiping her nose due to the chill of the bare stones upon which she sat and slept.
“After Domeran was killed, my captains decided to bring you and your friends back here,” Ramas tried to explain. “It was the only way they could see to salvage the operation. But now the whole City Watch knows you are my captive. If I release you now, I could face losing my position or even court martial.”
Raya leaned forward. “Was someone working with Axar or did he do this all on his own?”
Ramas shrugged unknowingly. “I didn’t know what Axar had planned, or we would have scrapped that plan altogether. The goal was to take Domeran alive and sentence him to execution at a public trial. His actions jeopardized that, and the only way for me to take credit for Domeran’s downfall was to also take you captive. Though—” Ramas held up a hand defensively. “I did not give that order, Raya. I would not have betrayed you like that.”
It was starting to make sense to Raya. Axar had once told her that he planned to rule Ith, not join its current leaders. They had worked together to bring about peace. But Raya should have known that peace would not be enough for the magician. In one move, he had eliminated Domeran’s alliance and Raya’s leadership. She wondered errantly if her people near the Blue Evening Inn were still there.
Ramas opened his mouth, but closed it as he considered what to say.
“What about my friends? The ones that went to that meet with me?” Raya asked.
Ramas waved down the corridor. “They are staying here as well.”
Raya nodded and shook her head. She should never have trusted Commander Ramas. Or Axar. Or Lotha. Any of them. She sighed. “What’s going to happen?” she asked. “And what happened to Axar?”
“I’ve made a deal,” Ramas assured her. “A few, actually. Once everything is done, I will ensure your release. But you must be patient. It cannot happen before this civil unrest has ended.”
“What deals? With whom?”
Ramas scratched his thick moustache and leaned back in his chair. For a moment, he considered what he knew. He curated it for her. “Don’t ask me these things, Raya. The City Watch will win—soon, I hope. In the meantime, the less you know, the safer you are.”
Raya trembled, and not from her damp clothes. She leaned forward. “Let me see my friends, at least. Please! You must.”
“I will try to arrange it,” Ramas said with an assertive nod. “Maybe I can even get you a better room during your stay here. I won’t deny that you are a prisoner, but it is not my intent to harm you or punish you.”
Raya shrugged. It didn’t matter what he said. She stood up as Ramas did. He paused a moment longer as though he was considering embracing her or reassuring her. Knowing it was in vain, he soon strode away. Raya shambled back into her cell and guards locked the thick cedar door behind her.
When she was sure they were gone, she spoke through the wall once more. “Drimmo. I need to get out of here. Please—is there any way to escape?” Her voice echoed dully as she waited for him to reply.