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Ugly, she thought, he was truly ugly

That ht have soh a throat cracked and raw

One of those ears seemed to twitch, but he didn’t halt his steady, relentless pace toward the dungeons She tried again, got the same response He wouldn’t stop, she realized, no matter what For the e created by that kind of fear, she went silent, conserving her energy

It was as well, for this Bard’s long, slow strides soon brought theht coli h that Bard’s head scraped the topShe felt her feet brush the stone, too, but Bard just held her in ashe took no injury

She didn’tit was because of any care on his part No, he si why the prisoner had been harmed in a way that had not been mandated by the Lord of the Black Castle

The stairs seemed to spiral down inter taken into the very bowels of the Abyss itself But the dungeons they finally caave just enough illumination for her to see that each cell was a black square broken up by a smallset with bars She strained her ears but heard only silence Either there were no other prisonersor they were long dead

Opening the door to the nearest cell, Bard stepped inside and placed her in the corner, atop a bed of straw His eyes e and dark and full of sorrow, they were the eyes of a scholar or a physician, shi with compassion But he shook his head when she parted her lips

There would be no runted and rattled so in the other corner Then the door slaian But no - a scrap of light flickered in froh to allow her to navigate the cell

Gathering her strength, she crawled to where Bard had rattled what sounded like a metal bucket Her hands touched it after what seemed like hours, and she felt her way carefully up its side until she could dip her fingers within

Water

Her throat suddenly felt as if it was lined with broken glass Sheer need gave her the strength to pull herself up onto her knees and cup her hands, drink her fill The water was cool and crisp and sweet, the droplets trailing down her wrists It was beyond tee, but she stopped herself after a bare few mouthfuls, aware her eed