“Are you alright?”she tried to whisper, forgetting her own woes for a moment. His face was pale and thin, but it was mostly covered by a soft, white beard.
“This humidity in the air has gotten to me,” he said when he had finally caught his breath. His earlier humor had disappeared.
Aizel breathed in, feeling the cold air inside her. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
When she didn’t respond, he turned to look at her. His eyes were a soft brown, hidden under bushy, white eyebrows.
They were kind to look at, but she dropped her gaze. She wasn’t quite ready to make another friend.
“You’re a Majis.”
She instinctively shrank away from him, glad that their cells were separate.
“And they’ve muted you.” His voice was kind as well. “If you would like, I can remove the necklace for you.”
Aizel glanced up at him. The expression on his face told her he was serious.
Part of her wanted to curl up on the wet, cold, stone floor and cry herself to sleep. What would it matter if she never opened her mouth again?
But he was offering, and she had nothing to lose.
She scooted her back toward the grill between them and flipped her voluminous hair around her shoulder.
A moment later, she felt the ties around her neck loosen as the necklace slipped away.
She exhaled in relief. The weight was gone.
Turning back to face the old man, she smiled. “Thank you.”
He held the necklace out to her through the bars.
She took it from him. She could at least pretend to wear it whenever someone came down for her—if someone ever would.
“How long have you been here?” she asked, hoping to keep the fear from her voice.
“Six seasons. Eight,” he replied. “I can’t remember.”
Aizel felt a scratchy sensation at the back of her throat as she breathed in the thick air. Her lungs seemed to seize up. Would she be rasping and coughing in six seasons? Or would it be sooner?
The thought of spending more than a few days in the dank, dark cell made her lungs seize up again and she struggled to breathe.
“Why did they put you in here?” For all she knew, he could be a murderer, but she could use the distraction. Besides, from what she had witnessed of the king’s justice, the man was likely anything but.
“I helped Majis escape from Istroya,” he answered. “My ship was intercepted on my last journey and I was arrested for treason. And I don’t regret it.” He said the last words with force and Aizel heard a spark of the man he had once been.
If he was arrested six or eight seasons ago, that would mean...
“Peter,” she breathed. “You’re Peter.”
He glanced away. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard my name.”
“You didn’t show up to the meeting place for your last delivery, so we assumed you were dead. Or worse.” Aizel looked at the gaunt man sitting across from her. “I guess it was worse.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t arrive in time. I have worried ever since about the ones I was supposed to get out.”
Aizel’s heart broke at his kindness. He had been rotting in a dungeon cell for years and he was apologizing to her. “Thank you. I heard that you were once a rich nobleman in your old life. You sacrificed much to work against the horrible injustices of King Gareth.”
“I’m not a hero, girl. Just a man who couldn’t bear to sit in comfort when others were suffering. I did what every man and woman should.”
