He crushes one corner of the hardtack into crumbs beneath his thumb, eyes unfocused and narrow.
“The symptoms started slowly, but we both knew what they meant. His skin was hot to the touch, like he was always running a fever, and he slept less and less until he finally stopped altogether. We never talked about it, not in so many words, but we hid it as best we could from the guards. We managed for a while, but there’s no hiding mine madness forever.”
So the weight on his shoulders isn’t about Elpis, then. I lean toward him.
“Did they kill him on the spot?” I ask, hoping they did. At least then it would have been a quick death, a less painful one. A mercy killing, though I know the Kalovaxians aren’t capable of mercy.
But Frederick shakes his head, swallowing. “They took him away. For
