assius hummed a little more, just under his breath, a soft, almost haunting tune that echoed faintly through the dungeon's stone walls. His voice, though raw and dry, carried a steady rhythm, one that gently lulled the silence... until he heard the soft snores.
Faint, uneven, and unmistakably human.
His lips curled, not in cruelty, but in understanding.
The guards had fallen asleep.
Not out of carelessness, but exhaustion. The palace had been thrown into chaos, panic and power shifting like unstable ground, and even those assigned to guard the dungeon were barely rotating shifts. For once, Cassius knew their weariness would betray them. And it had.
But did he use this chance to escape?
No.
Not yet.
Instead, he leaned his head back against the cold stone and shifted something in his mouth. a small, round object rolling between his tongue and the roof of his mouth. It resembled a large piece of candy, but its taste was metallic, bitter, laced with something darker than sugar.
