Thais coughed into the palm of his hand and the sound made Ren look over his shoulder like a cat about to be caught with its paw in the milk. Little shit.

“I just saw some Skarlan guards unload a slave into the castle dungeon,” Thais said. “He wore more chains than a raging bull. He looked like a Lowlander. He had their tattoos all over his arm. I asked the guards who he was, but they wouldn't tell me, not even when I told them I was a prince.” Thais puckered his lips in a bemused expression. “They were very rude. I want to know why they've brought him here.”

Ren narrowed his eyes. “And you want me to go and ask him what he's doing here? Why are you so interested in a Lowlander? They're dangerous – you should mind your own business.”

Thais just shrugged. “If you don't do it, I'll tell Father on you.”

“You're a little shit,” Ren said, voicing his earlier thought aloud.

“So you'll do it?”

“Fine,” Ren said, eager to get Thais to stop bothering him so he could escape his precarious hiding place behind the pillar.

* * *

Sneaking into the dungeons was easier than sneaking into the party, but it was the last place Ren wanted to be. He rarely had cause to venture there – in fact, he made a habit of avoiding it at all costs. The dark and clammy atmosphere made his skin crawl. Worst of all, it was the entrance to the lion pit.

Ren could hear the animals growling the moment he reached the bottom step. The corridor was dark and narrow and despite pressing his body against the opposite wall, he couldn't avoid their piercing stares as all three massive cats turned towards him.

They were behind thick iron bars, each chained to a ring in the floor, but their pit was the only cell in the dungeons without a ceiling. Scattered on the ground were the remnants of a carcass the beasts had been feasting on that same morning, their muzzles still stained with blood. When Ren had been younger, he'd had frequent nightmares of the cats scaling the walls and making their way into the castle.

Once Ren was safely past the lions' cell, he could breathe again. Now that he was out of their view, the lions seemed to calm and Ren could focus on locating the cell that held the mysterious prisoner.

All the cells he passed were empty. Ren couldn't remember a time when the dungeons had ever been full. Only the lions were permanent residents in the claustrophobic darkness.

Ren nearly walked straight by him. He sat in the shadows in the corner of his cell, still as a statue and almost invisible, but his head turned just an inch when Ren walked by, and the movement caught Ren's eye. He stopped and turned back towards the cell.

The prisoner was a Lowlander, all right.