Ren felt what little heat had remained in his face fade and he let his head hang. “I'll do anything. Anything you want.”

“Anything?” Anik asked in the same tone.

Ren nodded.

Anik huffed and shook his head. “I didn't know you valued your own life so little.”

Ren said nothing. When he looked up, Anik's eyes had softened slightly. He wasn't sure what had caused it, but he'd cling to it like a raft on open waters.

“Someone drew my sword,” Anik said, and for a moment, Ren was confused. Then he remembered what he had originally come to ask. “They used it to stab the man in front of me. Before I could move, I was hit over the head. Falling off the wagon was the last thing I remember.”

“It was Niklas,” Ren said, the words pulling on his heart as he spoke them.

“So, are you going to apologize for talking shit behind my back, too? You two weren't exactly being subtle.”

Blowing out a breath, Ren felt his cheeks redden. He ran his hands over them. “I'm sorry.”

“You can apologize by letting me out of here,” Anik said.

Ren half-ran back across the courtyard to the overseer's office, where the keys to the cells were kept. His boots slipped on the thin layer of snow and he forced himself to slow down just enough not to fall taking the turns. He grabbed a torch from the wall, barely slowing. Anik could help him. He wasn't entirely alone now. Together, they would find a way to win this fight, and then they would at least be alive to figure out what to do next. There would be a way to save Frayne. There had to be a way.

The corridor was empty, only the men stationed outside currently awake. Pushing the door open, Ren placed the torch in the sconce by the wall and went straight to the desk, yanking open the top drawer. Then he froze. He wasn't alone.

He spun around. Niklas was standing in the corner, arms wrapped tightly around himself. Ren's gaze fell on the ring of keys in Niklas' white-knuckled hand.

“I knew you'd come looking for them,” Niklas said. His eyes were shadowed. It looked like he hadn't slept at all since Ren had left him on the ramparts.

“Niklas, give me the keys,” Ren said, jaw clenching.

“I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I swear,” Niklas said, his breath hitching as he inched his way around the room so the desk was between them. “I didn't mean for you to drink that poison. It was an accident. I warned you not to keep drinking.”