"Hello, boys."
The words fell heavy, wrapped in a voice too deep for a child yet too controlled for a brute. The dungeon swallowed them whole, letting the echo linger across the stone walls until it felt like another presence had joined them.
The two prisoners collapsed further. Their chains scraped the stone floor as their knees pressed deep into the grime. Their trembling hands dug clawlike shapes into the dirt.
Caelith, half-hidden in the shadows just beyond the barred cell, stilled. His silver eyes fixed on Evelisse. She stood small and cloaked, her hood tipped low, yet something in the air made her appear impossibly large. The rune under her skin flared faint, bending torchlight until shadows seemed to bow at her feet.
He had seen men break before. He had never seen them break like this.
The shorter prisoner dared to speak first, his voice a rasp. "M-Magister… we obeyed. We stayed silent. We held your words close."
