Time passed. Not much, perhaps half an hour. No one in the prison said anything more. What was there to say?

Just a few minutes after he'd left, Grung was back, Mousey upside down kicking in his arms, two guards following with their shortswords drawn. Marcus was in the lead, with someone just a step behind who had the helmet of a sergeant, limping on a bandaged foot. Grung, a gentle smile on his face, led the two guards right back to his cell, pointed out the stuck door, and rattled the bars as evidence. The guards stayed silent, pale faced, brows crinkled with worry. Lucilla could only imagine what was going through their minds.

Marcus pulled out a key and reopened the cell, letting Grung walk back inside. The little frog did so, even cheerfully thanking Marcus for his helpfulness. Mousey hissed and struggled, but Grung held firm - again, seeming unaware of what was going on. The rat did not try to attack Grung.

Both guards shut the door behind Grung and he went up onto his tip toes again to test that the latch would open and close. He unlatched it, latched it, unlatched it, dropping Mousey next to his ankles where it stared daggers at Marcus through the bars. Satisfied, Grung thanked both men and went to sit down in the middle of the cell again. The door was no longer stuck.

Marcus and his sergeant exchanged a look, then left. They still hadn't said anything. And the frog settled down on his rump, waiting for ... well, waiting for 'spells' apparently. Now in an unlocked cell. That he remained in. Voluntarily.

"nice men," Grung muttered as they departed, playing with Mousey's feet.

And so the wait continued.

Around the half-hour mark is when someone finally came to retrieve Lucilla. First she heard footsteps echoing down the stairs, then light began to pour in and chase away all the gloom. This light wasn't that of a flickering torch, though, but of a brightly glowing white orb. Soon it appeared, hovering by the shoulder of a straight-backed, well-kept older man wearing the flowing black toga of a provincial Monitor, well-decorated with gold embroidery and unnecessary extra tucked and tied bits.

Gaius.

Blah.

Gaius Ferrarius, most senior of the Southerlands Council of Monitors, second-ranked to the Dominus. A bitter man, narcissistic, hoity-toity, and quite lacking in common kindness. He acted as though he believed he was smarter than everyone else, more strategic, more cunning, more logical, and unfortunately he frequently proved that this was the case. He'd been re-elected as a Monitor without fail for decades. Needless to say Lucilla despised the sour-faced old sultana. The way he acted back, the feeling seemed mutual.

"Ahh!" he said, adding an unnecessary exclamation mark as if he hadn't known Lucilla was in jail. Yes of course, he must have just been taking a walk down to the cells. "What a surprise to see you down here, Lucilla."

"The guards didn't recognise me," Lucilla replied, trying to hide her distaste. Of all the Monitors, why did it have to be Gaius who came down to bail her out? Why not Uncle Rex?

Gaius smiled, the same smile as a serpent eyeing up a particularly unskilled adventurer. "Oh they recognised you alright, my dear. You caused quite the stir, I'm told."

"I stopped a thief."

"Yes at the cost of two lives. Very nearly your own, too, yes?"

She sneered, but it was a gut punch and she felt it. She'd had too much time to calm down and think about her actions, and the angry scowling façade was fading. She could sense it kicking and thrashing in its death throes.

"Needless to say," Gaius continued, and mercy did he seem to be enjoying himself, "we have received numerous complaints at the palace of your conduct today. Indeed, I believe a number of merchants have sent us invoices for broken merchandise, while one in particular has filed a charge of assault with the Vigiles for, oh what was it that he said? Ah yes, 'trodding on him'."

The fairy at the market. Whoops. The façade cracked a bit more.

"Really, Lucilla. I would have expected better behaviour from the daughter of the Dominus." The man's eyebrows should have been too bushy for his gaunt frame, but they'd grown anyway and they now overwhelmed the rest of his face in, presumably, Gaius' mockery of a fatherly, reprimanding scowl. Lucilla thought those brows were fake as a child. She'd wanted to pull them off. To be fair, she still did.

"Are you going to let me out now, or what?" Lucilla replied, a little too sharply.

Gaius smiled a humourless smile. "Of course, of course. Your father wishes to speak with you most urgently about today's ... incident. He is most upset, as he should be. He bears the weight of the world on his shoulders, and now I must regrettably add you to his list of troubles. Dear oh dear."

Ah. Well. Crap. Lucilla knew of course that she'd be in big trouble the moment she abandoned Uncle Rex, but it was one thing to dwell on one's consequences and another thing entirely for them to begin unfolding.

Crack - a big chunk of façade fell off and shattered on the vomit-stained floor.

Her day's actions seemed all the more reckless, now. So childish and rash and ... embarrassing. She chastised herself for being a bull-headed fool. Father would be disappointed. It'd be a miracle if she could leave the palace again for weeks after this. Not without a leash.

But then, Lucilla had another thought. "And what of my friend?"

"Your ... friend?" Gaius seemed genuinely surprised by the question. "I believe it's, erm, waiting for something."

"action spells! kapow!"

"No, not the frog. Jendar." She pointed at the behemoth. "He was a valuable ally today."

"Ah." He raised his hands in an apologetic manner, face a fraud of remorse. "Were it my decision of course I would release him immediately, but alas. He is responsible for two quite gruesome deaths, I'm told. Not to mention the brutality suffered by this poor elf. No doubt charges will be brought forth."

"Oi," said Derwen, head snapping up. "Is that an option, then, is it?"

Gaius cocked his head. "Are you a Valenian citizen?"

Derwen wrinkled his nose. "Err ... yes?"

"...perhaps let's put a pin in that one for now."

"Charges?!" Lucilla said, nearly shouting, all the mixed emotions in her belly boiling up and frothing over the edge of the pot. It took everything she had not to just totally snap. "You can't do that. He saved my life!"

It is OK, your grace. I have been in worse situations.

"See?" Gaius cut in, not letting Lucilla say more. "He'll be quite at home in here, I expect, for however long he's asked to stay. You two, unlock the cell now." The Monitor beckoned at Marcus and the sergeant. "Come along, Lucilla. I will take you to the Dominus."

And Lucilla went to face her father.