Golden afternoon light spilled through the high, barred window of their holding cell, casting a deceptively warm glow across furnishings that betrayed their status as "honored prisoners" rather than common criminals.
Unlike the notorious hellpits that festered beneath the Castle of the Sun—where the empire's most reviled offenders endured torments designed to extract confessions before their inevitable exile or execution—this upper-level chamber offered certain concessions to rank.
Wall-mounted sconces held actual candles rather than mage-lights. The stone floor had been partially covered with woven rugs in gold and crimson, bearing faded patterns of the imperial crest. Three separate cots lined the walls, each furnished with proper linen and a single woolen blanket. Even the washbasin contained clean water, a luxury denied to those imprisoned in the lightless cells below.
Yet prisoners they remained, regardless of the gilded cage.
