I laughed. “That’s absurd.”
His armor clanked as he shrugged.
“If anyone here’s guilty of that, it’s me,” I said, gripping the cell bars. “I dragged these three into this. Punish me. Let them go.”
“I don’t make the orders. I just carry them out.”
Panic snaked through my stomach. I had to get us out of this. I bit back a grin as an idea took root.
With a dramatic sigh, I said, “Well, if it’s our final night alive, surely we get a last meal request.”
The guard lifted a brow.
“And a lute.”
His face scrunched. “A what?”
“A lute, ” I repeated. “Naturally, as a learned man of the capital, you’re very familiar with the importance of the instrument when it comes to religious funerals. It’s something we all learn as children before even taking our first steps.”
Maintaining eye contact, I waited for him to take the bait.
“Uh…yes. Everyone knows that.”
Clenching my jaw to keep from smiling, I cast the guard a sidelong glance. “And…you do know what a lute is…right?”
His face went red. “Of course I do!”
“Wonderful!” I clapped my hands together. “As a fellow soul beneath the Saints, I knew you wouldn’t risk offending them by denying us a proper rite.”
The guard narrowed his eyes at me. “You want dinner and a sing-along before you die?”
“The food is for our bodies,” I said, bowing my head in false humility. “The music’s for our souls.”
Branrir clasped his hands in faux reverence. “We’re very devout.”
Thistle nodded solemnly. “The hymns are of the utmost importance.”
The guard snorted. “What do you want, then?”
I straightened, as dignified as I could muster in a prison cell. “Steak. Butter and rosemary, if the kitchen’s feeling generous.”
“And potatoes,” Branrir added. “Crispy. None of that mush nonsense.”
Thistle chimed in. “Fresh vegetables with a citrus balsamic glaze.”
“And cream!” Vesper insisted.
The guard rolled his eyes. “You want dessert too?”
Branrir perked up. “Actually, a nice chocolate cake would?—”
Thistle elbowed him in the ribs. “That’s all, thank you.”
We had six hours until the next guard change.
Six hours until we’d break out of the castle dungeons.
43
