Then his eyes opened, and he turned his head, and he looked straight at her, and Cixi stumbled backwards.
But his gaze moved past her. It found Cassian standing two steps behind her, hands in his pockets, his expression carrying all the concern of a man watching paint dry.
The prisoner's entire body convulsed.
His chains rattled violently against the stone wall. His cracked lips pulled apart, and a sound came out of him that was not a word at first but a wail, high and broken and desperate.
Then the wail found language. "Please!" The man lunged forward against his chains. His wrists twisted inside the metal cuffs, the skin raw and scabbed from months of pulling. "Please, forgive me! I understood my mistake! I will never cross you! Never again! I will never cross anyone ever!"
