The windows had no covers, just rusty hinges from the shutters that had ceased to exist decades ago. As a result, only the bars served as a barrier to the elements, and since the tiny windows opened at ground level, streaks of dirt mixed with rainwater trickled down the stones below them. During the rainy season, prisoners had been known to drown.

The lack of window covers also meant Gillian and her companions could hear the screaming as clearly as their own voices. They recognized a man's voice, warped into something almost inhuman by pain. Words made their way through the wails every now and then, usually something along the lines of "help" or "I'm sorry" or "make it stop." At one point, someone else must have passed him, as he had begged them to kill him to stop the pain.

Needless to say, Gillian was horrified.

"I don't understand how you two became so different. He couldn't have been raised that differently in magician society," Gillian mused. Realizing that Sonia's brother was the King had been shocking, but witnessing his brutality was worse.

Sonia shook her head. Gillian had noticed that she had become less depressed since her first trip to the castle, no longer moping about the brother she had lost to the magicians. She had replaced her sorrow with determination. Gillian had been proud of her. Since she had discovered the reason why Sonia had stopped moping about her brother, her pride had turned to concern.

Sonia glared through the bars at the dungeon guard. He didn't notice. She paced around their shared cell once, then glared again. She looked like a caged lion, trying and failing to intimidate its master. "I used to have hope for the King's Guard," she finally said. "He has morals, even if they're a bit lacking compared to ours. But when he and the King interrogated me, I saw the way they interacted. They feed off each other, the Guard wanting to impress the King as much as the King wants to impress him. The Guard encourages my brother to be kind, but my brother does the opposite."

Gillian hated how Sonia's pessimism had persisted even after her depression had faded. "I don't think we've seen enough of them to know what they're really like. Your brother might be nicer than you think."

Sonia snapped her glare from the dungeon guard to Gillian. "I've seen more of them than you have."

Gillian raised her hands in surrender. "Okay. So we need to make the King's Guard recognize that the King is ruining his morals? Is that your plan?"

Sonia laughed. Dungeon fever had infected her faster than Gillian and Chess. She laughed at everything and smiled at nothing. "We can't plan our fight with the magicians. We're prisoners. We need to plan our escape."

Gillian nodded, exchanging a glance with Chess. She would take any conversation topic to distract them from the screaming so long as it didn't rile Sonia up. It didn't matter that they had no chance of escape.

Chess spoke up for the first time since the wailing had begun, "Don't you have that checkup with the royal physician tomorrow? That might be your best chance, since you'll be out of the dungeons."

She was right. Gillian and Sonia both stared at Chess in awe. It was the perfect opportunity, since Sonia had already mentioned how they had untied her hands the first time they had treated her wounds. She only had one visit left, however, since her finger had almost completely healed from the failed severing.

"You'll have to escape on the first try," Gillian said. "Since it's your last visit."

Sonia was grinning. It didn't look right, like a door hanging from one hinge, but Gillian decided it was an improvement from her typical glare. She just hoped she would retain enough of her sanity before her visit to the physician to be able to escape.

~