He thinks about it for a moment. “That gods-forsaken banquet when I returned from Vecturia,” he says, his voice raw. “I couldn’t stomach much, with everything.”
Everything. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the revealing dress the Kaiser made me wear that night, the way he treated me like I was his to display however he liked. His hands on me, searing like a brand. S?ren had looked ill, though I’d imagine it was a good deal easier to witness than it was to withstand.
“You’re supposed to be getting rations like everyone else,” I say. “Dragonsbane promised me you would be fed.”
He glances away. “Rations have been delivered thrice a day without fail. They force water down my throat but they haven’t yet forced me to eat.”
He still won’t look at me, so I let myself look at him. In just a few d
