The Seven Deadly Kingdoms

Chapter 35

                                                Adelaide

Adelaide had barely made it through the night, and she felt as though she had already been locked in the cell for eternity. A sliver of the beginning stages of a sunrise peaked through the small slit of a window in the top of the back wall of her cell. No birds chirped, the only noise being a sharp whistle of a breeze coming from outside. The temperatures in the cell were beyond freezing, and Adelaide had only her stolen uniform and the outfit she wore previous to that to warm her. Goosebumps pricked every inch of her skin, not a second passing where shivers ceased rocking her body. .

The cell was empty, aside from one metal chair that was placed in the center of the cell. She preferred the frigid floor to the chair, though. She had sat in it once in the night but immediately felt uneasy, choosing to take her place in the back corner of the cell for the night.

Adelaide had forced herself to come to terms with what was likely to be her fate during her hours in the damp dungeon. She could complain. She could have wailed and screamed until someone finally came to end her misery. But these types of consequences were exactly what she had signed up for when she decided to commit treason. She had run through countless scenarios just like the one she was now in. She felt stupid to admit, but she hadn't imagined that any of them would feel quite as hellish as this. And really, nothing had even happened to her yet. The man who had captured had not returned. There were no guards near her cell.

Adelaide assumed that eventually someone would come to either question her or kill her, but she silently prayed that maybe they would simply forget she was down there, and Caspian would burst through the doors to come save her. Though, realistically, Caspian would not come for her. She wasn't really even needed at the camp anymore. Aside from helping recruit a few soldiers, Adelaide really had no use there. Caspian would probably realize that and head back to the camp as soon as he grew impatient waiting for Adelaide.

The jingle of keys rattled from the end of the row of cells. Adelaide didn't bother lifting her head to see if she was the unlucky prisoner to grab the person's attention, her body too exhausted from her severe lack of sleep. She had attempted to drift off a few times that night, but each time her eyelids grew too heavy to lift, an icy breeze would rattle her out of her sleep.

Heavy footsteps grew louder as they approached her cell. Adelaide forced her head up to look at the beautiful man standing in front of her cell for a second time. He was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing last night, though they were now a bit more crumpled, as if he had slept in them. Though, his face was still just as gorgeous, despite his gruff state. He stood tall, hands in is pockets as he looked down on Adelaide. He shifted, taking a step to lean one shoulder on the wall to the right of Adelaide's cell. He was silent for a moment, his seaglass eyes scanning her.

"Feeling more talkative this morning?" He asked, and it wasn't until then that Adelaide had noticed the slight lilt in his voice, drawn out and low as though he had sailed every sea and scaled every mountain.

Adelaide let out a flat laugh, resting an arm over a propped knee. "You gonna let me out if I talk?" She asked humorlessly, though she already knew the answer to the question.

"Depends on how guilty you are."

"In that case, I'm not guilty at all. My conscious is crystal clear."

"You're conscious may be clean, but that doesn't mean your hands are, love. So," He started, pulling a chair from the wall that Adelaide hadn't noticed, flipping it and sitting on it backwards, his arms crossed over the back of the chair, "Here's what's going to happen, since you seem to need answers before you give any. I'm going to ask you questions. And you're going to answer with the truth. Simple as that. And if you're innocent, I set you free. And if your hands are dirty, you rot in here until you are properly tried. Sound fair to you?"