Dine.

Larkin was utterly disgusted. The stupidity of those around him still crawled across his flesh and plagued his mind. The guards, it was all their fault. They were letting prisoners go left and right. Rumors would start, travel from the servants to the outside and they'd think he wasn't doing his job. But, by the Moons, he'd show them what happened when you got stupid in his castle.

He followed the guards down into the dungeons, and made sure Matthias was locked in one of the most secure cells possible. He was chained and his boots removed at the request of two of the guards who had been Matthias's previous watchers.

"Who were the guards that were assigned to watch the girl and the boy who were brought in after the riot?" Larkin asked the captain of the guards. This man was smart, and he was quick. Larkin liked that about him, and knew he could trust this one. The Captain told Larkin who the guards were, four of them. They were fetched and brought to Larkin, all frightened past soiling their pants.

Then he asked about those who were watching Matthias. This time, six guards were brought to him. This was going to cut him down a bit, Larkin thought. But, nonetheless, the guards were stripped of their duties and that could have only meant one of two things: they were either too old, or they'd done something stupid and Larkin was going to make an example of them. It was, too obviously, the latter.

The ten guards were escorted down into the lowest, dirtiest, dampest part of the dungeons. Screams echoed throughout this place, but today there were very few. Not for long.

In the room of torture, as the guards so dubbed it, Larkin turned and looked into the eyes of each of them men he was going to punish. He spoke to them, "I told you not to feed the girl and the boy. You fed them. I told you to merely watch - not touch, not take care of like a baby - the prisoner Matthias. And what did you do? You took off his bindings. You are fools. Fools don't last in this place."

Grub was present, along with his assistants and more guards to prevent the escape of those who's lives were going to end. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week. Some would last longer than others, and God help them. Being in the care of Grub was far worse than anything Larkin could have done to you himself. And he knew it.

After Larkin had viewed enough, and his head was hurting from the noise, he left the dungeons.

It was still very early, and he intended to take Tic to breakfast in the main hall with him. After all, the boy hadn't eaten in two days. No, he had eaten the day before yesterday. Still, a whole day was awhile to go without food. He took the key to the room from his pocket, opened the door and silently went inside.

Frustrated to see, Tic was still in bed. But it was early. Larkin had risen early and the maids hadn't even come to his own room to rise him yet. And as he leaned over the bed, he was unaware of how he smelled. The scent of the dungeons and the room of torture had seeped into his clothes and hair.

"Good morning, Tic."