Two days I am kept without food or water. My lips are cracked, and the guard who gave me the blanket was severely punished and removed from his duty. I feel bad for him. He was simply trying to pay me back for a kindness.
On the third day, I hear footsteps approaching my cell. I’m leaning against the back wall, my body limp. I don’t even have the strength to move my arms. My vision is blurry.
Are they going to do it now? I wonder dimly. Can’t they just get it over with? Is Cedric back?
“Oh, Your Majesty,” I hear someone cry, and then the cell door is opened. Something is pressed to my mouth, something wet, and I taste it. It’s water. Eagerly, I swallow it. Harriet’s voice is horrified. “What have they done to you?” I hear her sob. “Rothan!”
“I know, Mother.”
Something else is held to
