"You're going to be the one to keep an eye on him." The Ender Lord said. Wraith glanced up from where she'd been buffing nicks and scratches out of her knives. "I'm not putting this in the hands of castle guards. I don't trust any of them."

Wraith went back to her knives. "And yet you trust me."

"I'm confident you won't try anything stupid." He looked at her pointedly. "If he escapes, you're the one I'll blame. Just do your job."

Either Wraith was eager to do exactly that, or she'd been looking for an excuse to get away from him, because just after that, she vanished from his hall. The Ender Lord tapped once on the arm of his chair, then stood. He still needed to decide what to do with Toxic.

He could kill her. He probably should kill her, so there wouldn't be any chance of her ever getting in his way ever again. But he had her here, so the logical thing would be to make the most of it. She must have some sort of information he'd benefit from knowing.

He didn't think he'd mind hearing her scream a bit. Wait first, though. Let her burn herself out trying to get free, like the soldiers said she was already doing.

"You sent for me, my lord?" Caken's voice broke him from his thoughts. He turned, finding the spy flanked by two guards. All it took was a dip of the Ender Lord's chin, and the spy dropped to a kneel. "What do you wish of me?"

The Ender Lord regarded him for a moment. "You have served me well, Caken." He said quietly. "You were my connection to Shadow's base. You only returned once with false information, which I can forgive. You were instrumental to my plans."

Caken bowed his head. "Of course, sir. I try my best to use my skills to serve your purposes to the best of my ability." He said. Unlike most others, who said such things for the sake of flattery, the Ender Lord knew that Caken was genuine. "Again, my lord, I apologize for my mistake."

He waved a hand. "As I said, such things are forgiven easily. You are very valuable, after all. You have been trusted with so much critical information in your missions - I am lucky to hold your loyalty."

"Only to you, my lord."

"However," the Ender Lord continued, "your remarkable skill along with the part you've played has made you a target." He looked at the spy. "You accept this danger, yes?"

"If it means that you prevail, I will endure any danger." Caken replied honestly. The Ender Lord nodded slowly, then jerked his chin towards the guards. Caken heard them draw their blades. "My lord?"

The Ender Lord merely said, "I cannot risk letting you wander free. I'm sure you'll understand."

Steel flashed. Blood dripped.

All Caken could do was let out a guttural groan, and then he fell limp. The two guards hauled him up by the shoulders and, under the Ender Lord's direction, left to dispose of the body.

The Ender Lord eyed the blood on the smooth-tiled floor of his hall. He'd send for someone to be rid of it before it dried. He knew no servant would dare ask what had happened.

By now, they knew better.

~

They wanted to be able to constantly monitor Shadow, so they shoved him into a cell with bars over an open square at about eye-level. Far too small to squeeze through. And anyway, what was the point?

He had no more plans up his sleeve. He didn't know what to do besides wait. But waiting killed him.

This time, they shackled him tightly in irons that refused to give way beneath the strength of his energy. Resistant to magic, then. Practically hung on the wall by his wrists, Shadow stared out the cell door to the outside. He barely saw anything, and his guards, this time, were silent and still.

And then a flicker of darkness, and voices, at last. It couldn't have been more than a day or two, but the silence...he couldn't stand it. The clearest of the voices he heard was curt, sharp, and left no room for argument. "You two, get lost. Be back here in three minutes or the Ender Lord will spike your heads to the gates."

He knew that voice. Wraith. Shadow tensed slightly, his wrists aching at the pressure.

The lock clicked, and the door to the cell opened. He didn't shift his stare when she stepped inside, looking over his shackles carefully. Only then did the assassin meet his gaze. "They said they searched you." Not a question, but Shadow gave a faint nod anyway. Might as well pretend to cooperate, he thought drily to himself. That could win me behavior points.

"Good." As always, Wraith was unreadable. She scanned the cell, as though checking for anything the guards had missed that might aid in his escape. She said nothing after that.

Wraith walked toward him. Shadow tensed again, then watched her grip the shackles at his wrists, testing them, silently making her own judgements. The sight of his wrists, chafed and red from the irons, didn't even give her pause. She just checked their tightness and moved on to the section that kept him pinned to the wall.

"You're very efficient." Shadow drawled in a rasp. Maybe because if he didn't talk now, he might not have any human interaction for a long time. He was too tired to care. "Satisfied that I'm thoroughly stuck here?"

"Yes." To his surprise, Wraith actually responded. Just one word, but anything was better than that deep silence he knew would swallow him. Pathetic. This was pathetic, and from the way Wraith watched him, she knew it, too, and thought the same.

Shadow knew that he was probably being held here while they planned his execution. How long would they dare to take? Maybe he could manage to swipe a key from someone, if anyone was foolish enough to come near him with it.

He doubted that. But he had to hope, he reminded himself as Wraith slipped back out of the cell and locked him in.

Do not let the revolution die as we did.