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but now those memories, too, added their terrible weight to his already overburdened shoulders.
    Not for the first time, the walls of his tiny chamber seemed to close in on him. Uldyssian had been born and raised on the farm. He had never known anything else but freedom. When his mother had perished, Uldyssian had run out into the fields and shouted out his agony, aware that only his brother was there to hear him.
    I’ve got to get out…I’ve got to get out… The words ran through his mind over and over, swelling in significance with each repetition. Uldyssian stared bleary-eyed at the door to his cell, unable to accept the bars and the lock. Animals were kept locked up in pens, not him . Not—
    There was a slight groan and a click.
    The cell door swung back with a metallic squeal.
    Uldyssian threw himself against the back wall as it happened. He watched in utter amazement as the door swung completely around, clanging against another part of the barred front.
    The entrance to the cell stood wide open before Uldyssian, but the farmer made no move whatsoever toward it. He had no idea what had just happened, and despite his deep desire to be out of this place, the doorway enticed him not in the least.
    At that moment, the wooden door down the hall also opened. Tiberius and two of his men marched down the halls toward the cells.
    When he saw Uldyssian’s cell, the captain came to a jarring halt. “What the—”
    Recovering, he snapped his fingers and the two guards leapt into the cell to cover the prisoner. As they kept Uldyssian at bay, Tiberius inspected the door.
    “No scratches, no damage at all.” He glared at the farmer. “Search him for anything that could be used for a key.”
    The guards did so. However, they came up empty-handed, just as Uldyssian knew that they would.
    Tiberius stepped up to his prisoner. Waving the guards back, he leaned close and whispered, “I don’t like having you here any more than you like being here, Uldyssian. You may not believe this, old friend, but I don’t think you any more guilty than I am for what happened to those two.”
    “Then, why—”
    “This may only be Seram, but I’ll run the Guard here like it’s Kehjan itself! My father served in the Guard there for three years and then ran things here! I’ll not dishonor his memory by failing in my duty. We do this as decreed, however disdainful it may seem.”
    While Uldyssian could respect Tiberius’s position, it did nothing to assuage him. “I just want this over with! I’ve done nothing!”
    “And that’ll be proven. You’ll see.” The captain gestured at the door. “But that’ll only make matters worse…”
    “I didn’t do that! It just opened on its own.”
    Tiberius looked disappointed. “I expected better of you, Uldyssian. There’s nothing wrong with that door. I checked.”
    “I swear by my father!”
    With a deepening frown, the captain grunted, then turned away. He stepped out of the cell, the guards following. One of the men shut the door, then tested it to make certain it would stay shut.
    “It’s locked tight,” the man declared to his commander. Nevertheless, Tiberius checked it himself by seizing the door with both hands and throwing his full weight back. The entire cell wall rattled, but held firmly in place.
    Captain Tiberius let go. Despite the display, he leaned against the bars and said to the farmer, “Don’t do it again. I might have to give an order I wouldn’t like to see fulfilled. Just be patient, Uldyssian.”
    The anxious—and thoroughly baffled—prisoner could only nod. Satisfied, the captain led his men off.
    One of the guards came back a short time later with a bowl of stew. He tested the door yet again, then, with a nod, slid the farmer’s meal through.
    As he ate, Uldyssian tried to ponder once more what was taking the matter so long. He was clearly innocent. He also wondered how the true murderer could have moved so swiftly. It had only been a short time between