Atel Santor guards a prisoner he must watch tortured every day. If he does anything about it, not only he, but his daughter could pay the price.
 

    Atel Santor stood guard at the archway to the upper prison cells of the palace dungeon.  His helmet didn't fit quite right, seeing as it had a large dent on the top right side from a previous fight, the one that had gotten him guard duty in the first place.  Good fortune in disguise, given the state of affairs in the kingdom for the past twenty years.  The rule of King Uron left many wishing for the earlier days, though none would dare say so aloud.  Better to be bored half the time than marching in the miserable winter weather, down a frosty road, and wondering if Milya was safe with his half-brother.  She was all he had left.

    Grind lounged against the wall across from him, oblivious, unconcerned, and half-asleep, as usual.  Atel sighed and returned to staring at the empty stairwell.  He knew that soon they would make their way to her cell.  There was only one prisoner in the section of the dungeon Atel guarded.  A woman—Atel refused to use her name, even to himself.  It gave her identity, made her more real, and did nothing for his conscience—the niece of the former queen who'd refused Uron's attentions.  The prison was her punishment and persuasion.  All she had to do was agree to be his mistress.

    Several sets of footfalls resounded in the empty stairwell, accompanied by raucous laughter and the ominous sound of chain clinking against stone.  Atel didn't have to wait long before Jarb appeared with five other, bored guardsmen.  Jarb swaggered down the stairs, just finishing a joke.  In the dim torchlight he didn't appear all that menacing, a slight man.  Had Atel not known better, Jarb could've passed for nobility with his light frame and high speech.  Karm, a pinch-faced man who reminded Atel of a weasel walked behind him and carried a silver tray with her meal inside.  Broad-shouldered Yor brought up the rear, holding four fist-sized balls of iron with chains attached.  Atel watched Jarb come forward, his halfway content mood sinking, knowing what was going to happen.