A clank and a rattle heralded the arrival of food.

Vander cracked an eye, peering at the guard in the dim light. Taben today, that was unusual. More prone to guilt than some of the others, Taben usually avoided Vander’s cell if at all possible. He didn’t like the living reminder of his willingness to betray his king and every vow he had ever made.

Vander sighed inwardly. He was being too harsh on the boy, on all of them really. Could he really blame them for choosing to serve a usurper over death? Kade had already made it plain that he was not above killing the wives and children of those that defied him. Would his choice have been theirs had he his own family to protect? Hard to say, but he should not be so quick to judge. Vander sat up, stretching muscles stiff with disuse, smiling in grim amusement when the younger man started, nearly dropping the tray he carried.

“Make some noise, would you?” Taben muttered, purposely not-looking at the prisoner as he set the food on the floor. He moved back towards the cell door and paused, looking Vander in the eye for the first time since his imprisonment. “Look, Captain,” he snapped, “My little girl is barely two. I’m not going to see her on the executioner’s block out of some sort of misguided loyalty to a dead man! You can sit there feeling superior if you want, but I’m the one who gets to go home at night.” He sighed, agitated. “Listen. King Weylan is dead. For better or worse, Kade is in charge now, and if you had half a brain in that noble head of yours, you would grovel when he sees you tonight.” He lost whatever courage he had garnered and dropped his eyes. “There’s talk of an execution.”

An execution. Vander was surprised to find he felt more relief than fear. At least there would be an end to things. It was a kinder fate than being left to rot in prison. “It’s easy to be noble when your ideals are all you have to fight for,” he said gently.

Taben looked up, catching Vander’s gaze for a moment and nodding slowly, accepting the peace offering for what it was. “No one wants to see you dead, Captain.”

Vander managed a dry smile. “I don’t think I’m being given much choice.”

“Kade likes you,” Taben said, shaking his head slightly. “He always has. He’ll only kill you if you force his hand.”

Of course Kade liked him. Vander had always been his favorite student. It made his blood boil, to think that the man who had taught him everything he knew, the man who was father to him in all ways but blood was never anything more than a traitor. Jalen Kade had betrayed all the ideals Vander held dear, ideals imparted to him by the man himself. In a swift and brutal coup, he had murdered the king he had sworn himself to and taken control before anyone outside of the palace knew what was happening. It was just like him; quick and efficient.

“I couldn’t live with myself,” In betraying his country, he had also betrayed Vander. Taben might think him noble, but in reality he was just angry. He would sooner walk to the gallows of his own free will than he would ever serve that snake. “If it earns me execution, so be it.”