Caylus closed his eyes, his hands pressing harder into the wood. Slowly, as if afraid of spooking a wild animal, I stood and placed my hand over his. Gradually, his shaking stopped, and he collapsed into his chair. I pushed myself onto a clear space of the workbench and waited.

“My family’s in Seahalla,” he began softly. “My mother was a baker, and my father…” He clenched his jaw. “My parents were poor, so my siblings and I learned trades. I apprenticed with a blacksmith. That’s where I learned…” He trailed off again, gesturing at the workshop.

“When I was thirteen, my dad lost his job. He started drinking. Picked up gambling.” He pulled his hands into his lap, wrung them. “The Drexels run the gambling houses. He took me with him one day, and I figured out pretty fast if you kept track of the cards, you could cheat the game. I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, but my dad did. He pulled me out of my apprenticeship and started bringing me to the gambling house whenever he went.”

My stomach churned. I’d heard stories of what the Drexels did to people they caught cheating.

“They found us out a few weeks later. Didn’t know how we were cheating, just that we were. We ran for it, and my dad… He said they’d go easier on me since I was a kid. He left me to be caught, but they asked who I’d been with. At first, I didn’t answer, but they…forced me to.” His left hand curled around his right. “Then they broke my hand for stealing.”

I swallowed hard, a quiet heat gathering in my stomach. I wanted to hurt whoever had hurt him.

Caylus seemed to have forgotten I was there, as if the only way he could tell this story was to pretend he was alone. “They went to my dad demanding he pay back his winnings. He said he couldn’t pay the debt, but he’d give them me instead. That I was good with numbers and fixing things. They agreed.”

“He sold you?” I asked weakly.

“He called it a job. I would be paid, and once I’d earned back my father’s debt, I’d be free to go,” he said. “I served Malkin Drexel. He started training me to fight. I didn’t want to, but… I kept thinking, especially with the fights I was winning, that I’d pay off my dad’s debt soon. But Malkin kept finding other things for me to owe him for. Food, clothes, lodging, lost fights. Years passed. My room, it didn’t have any windows. That’s why…” He trailed off again, flexing his hands in front of him.