Page 126 of Staff of Nightfall

“What are friends for if not to sleep on uncomfortable chairs and take care of your girl because you’re too busy being captured?” Dresden gave a forced laugh. “Oh, also, if we ever run away to become mercenaries again, please take her with us. That mage healing is excellent.”

“Wait, you were hurt?” If Dresden had been hurt, that meant he had fought Carrick, and that meant...I could have lost him. “How bad—”

Dresden snorted. “Compared to you? A scratch.”

“Is that what Adelaide will tell me if I ask her?”

“I’m alive, you muscular nursemaid, relax. It was definitely nothing compared to Antar’s leg.” He straightened. “Which reminds me. As soon as I heard that you two had shown up at the palace with a couple of severed heads—nicely done, by the way, I heard you dumped them out and disgusted the guards, excellent style—I came straight to the palace with the aim of giving the staff to Adelaide. A pretentious Lieutenant Beale who’s very concerned with protocol confiscated it.”

Regulus plopped back on the bed. “Sounds about right. He insisted on locking up Adelaide until the king can decide if she should be charged with desertion.”

Drez shook his head. “This is why I was on board when you decided to become a mercenary. No tradition and nonsense, just whoever fights best and whoever comes through when they need to. Justice is simple, effective, and fair.”

Regulus laughed. “No nonsense, says the man who is still sore he lost his collection of lucky rabbit feet.”

“And look where we are now.” Dresden spread his hands. “Bet you we never would have met that sorcerer if I’d still had ‘em.”

“That is the definition of circumstantial and you know it.”

“We both know I’m never wrong.” Dresden laced his fingers behind his head. “And I bought those as a laugh, but we had the best luck for the month I had them.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. It felt good to have this easy banter with Drez again. To laugh and have some normalcy. “I’m glad you’re here.” He laid back on the bed. “I just wish Adelaide was, too.”

Another day and a half passed before the king arrived. Regulus tried several times to see Adelaide, but every time the answer was no. He watched the entrance to the dungeon and only ever saw servants enter with bags of bread and buckets of water. It infuriated him, and he told Beale off twice. The first time Regulus was denied dinner. Drez snuck in food from town. The second time Beale wanted to put Regulus in the stocks for two hours, but Antar convinced Beale to give Regulus a warning. Beale agreed, but told Regulus his next offense of any kind would get him five lashes. Regulus kept his head down and grumbled only to Drez—particularly when the king didn’t call them in for a hearing the moment he arrived back.

Chapter 45

Adelaide awoke froma nightmare, a scream on her tongue and a pinch in her neck. Her body ached from lying on the hard stone. The cell was only around four feet deep and five feet wide. Bars separated her from empty cells on either side. The only item in the entire cell was a stained and odious wooden bucket shoved back in the darkest corner. Water dripped somewhere, and some other prisoner coughed in a distant cell.

She had naïvely hoped her incarceration would give her time to rest and process. Rest was difficult to come by on the cold stone floor with mice burrowing into her skirts. A few times she had caught herself wondering what Father would say or do when she saw him, how he would react to her being thrown in the dungeon. Then she would remember, and the pain in her heart would start all over again. But the nightmares were worse.

Once she dreamed of Nolan killing Father. She was stuck on the other side of one of Kirven’s barriers, able to see but unable to help as Nolan ran his sword through Father’s heart. In another nightmare, she stumbled past Father’s corpse to where Nolan and Kirven were torturing Regulus. By the time she reached Regulus, she was so weak she couldn’t even conjure a barrier. This time, she had awoken from a dream of Kirven burning his mark into her arm and handing her over to Nolan.

Every time, she woke to her screams echoing in the dungeons. No one checked on her. No one cared. She longed for Regulus’ comforting arms around her. She curled up alone on the stone, surrounded by the unfeeling darkness and iron, and cried into her arm.I’m safe,she reminded herself.They’re dead. They can’t touch me, or Regulus and my family. We’re safe.Except for Father. Father’s words about her nightmares after her rescue seemed prescient.

“They’ll fade. The memories. The dreams. And the pain. They won’t last forever.”When?“I don’t know. But they will. You will heal. You’re so, so strong, my dear. Don’t doubt that, all right?”

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