Once again, Andyr slumped against the wall, looking downward, and Renae returned to her corner to sit on her straw bed. Faint footsteps slowly entered the hall, walking towards them. A soft hum echoed through the hall and Renae’s ears perked up as she recognized Sera’ voice. She seated herself near the bars as the footsteps approached. Sera was accompanied by two guards as she stopped in front of their cells. She was carrying a small wooden tray. She calmly knelt in front of Renae’s cell with the two guards standing impatiently behind her back. She gave a soft smile as she placed a small loaf of bread and a mug with a murky liquid in front of the cell.

She made eye contact with Renae as she spoke softly with an eyebrow raised, “Sorry, the bread’s a little stale.”

“Hey! No speaking to the prisoners!” one of the guards scolded her.

“Right,” Sera turned towards the guard indifferently, “my apologies, sir.”

“It’s not like it matters! These two fools will be beheaded by dawn, anyways!”

Renae furrowed her brow as she reached for the loaf. Sera then turned to kneel in front of Andyr’s cell and placed another loaf and mug in front of his cell. He looked up at her as she whispered with a smirk, “Wait for it.”

She got up, dusted off her dress and was escorted out of the prison.

“What’d she say to you? I couldn’t hear it,” Renae asked, playing with the bread in her hands.

“She just said ‘Wait for it’,” he responded with a shrug, “I guess she’ll give us a sign when she’s ready to come get us.”

Renae brought the loaf to her lips and tried to bite off a piece, only to wince, “By the divine! I’ll be grateful if I didn’t break a tooth!”

“Sera did say the bread was a little stale,” Andyr responded as he lightly tapped his loaf of bread against the wall of his cell.

“Oh, shut it!” Renae quipped, throwing her loaf at Andyr, barely missing his head.

“Hey! Be careful where you throw that thing,” he chided, “I don’t need another lump on my head.”

“Fine,” she pouted, “Give it back.”

“No,” he refused.

“Andyr!”

“Alright, alright,” he gave in, “but don’t throw it at me.”

Andyr tossed her loaf back at her. Renae caught it with ease and placed it on her lap. She reached for the mug and swirled it in her hand. She sniffed the musky-looking liquid, recoiled in disgust, and placed the mug back down.

“You know,” Andyr spoke after attempting to chew the stale loaf, “I almost expected that she’d hide the key to the cell in here, like she did last time.”

“Yeah, I’m almost surprised she didn’t. I guess she couldn’t find a way to get them.”

Renae lightly tapped her bread against the floor, “I hope she’ll come get us soon, though. I won’t last long here. Their bread is wholly inedible.”