Prisoners of war have little left to lose so I wasn’t surprised when Velador brought me down to the dungeons full of Crasmor dissidents from the war nearly a year ago. He dismissed the guard and Velador asked, “How long will you need?”

“Five minutes,” I replied but didn’t let go of his hand when he handed me the key for the first cell. I gave him the torch I carried in with me.

“Alright,” he mumbled and I felt his thumb rubbing my hand during the ...