It was hard for Arturri to believe it had been two days since the wedding of Sadie to Riggin. That bastard. Arturri was half positive he set him up to get with Sadie. But he had won if that was the case.

His first day back in the Orphanage had felt humiliating. He had been denied even the possibility of justice. With the previous morning came Nadira, and later on Daress.

When Nadira had visited him on first arriving, she had barely spoken. It was almost certain that Leliana was nearby and she couldn’t discuss anything further. But she was his only hope of any progress on his situation.

The room he was in was dull stone and pale wood furniture bound by old nails. He would look back on that one night of freedom fondly. A month was a long time to be waiting, and he had little hope that he would get another chance at happiness so easily.

He had found a book placed just at the wall by his door when he had gotten up that morning. Daress must have slipped in and left it for him over the night. She must have had a trip to the library like she had said. He was happy to see it, pleased that she had remembered his request.

A simple boiled grain breakfast, a black slop, was delivered to him in the morning. His room was his prison, and there he started into his book alongside reluctant spoonfuls. The book was an adventure story, just as he had asked for. In it, a man went on a pilgrimage. He was abducted at the grotto by the mer. Under the ocean, he became a champion in their kingdom. Using ancestral powers, he saved them from a giant squid. It never specified his Family and seemed to be filled with abilities quite made up for the tale.

A knock on the door interrupted his breakfast story.

“Yes?” At least they gave him the dignity of waiting for a response, before barging in. Which they did.

It was Nadira, who tore her veil off, looking much her normal self again. She stormed in with an exasperated sigh and paced his room after closing the door behind her.

“You didn’t last long,” he noticed. He fashioned a bookmark out of one of Sonrio’s letters and leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms.

“That what you have to say? No ‘Hey how are you doing Nadira’?”

Arturri was exhausted already. “You were gone for a little longer than I, at least. Did you get much accomplished?”

“Nothing that matters to me, but I guess something that matters to you. The packet. Kro had one too. That’s it.” She leaned against his wall after pacing.

Arturri narrowed his eyes. “Kro? What the hell was he doing with it? I never did like him.”

“Why am I not surprised that you don’t like the only friend you could trust?” She asked.

“I didn’t trust him, Sadie did. And I trusted her.”

“Well both of them were smoking whatever comes in that packet. He put it in his pipe. So it seems to me that your master Sonrio was hiding a bad habit. That sounds like a dead-end to me.”

The idea of Sonrio having a smoking habit which he hid in his drawer didn’t seem right to Arturri. He knew his teacher well enough, and the man never would have sullied his body or mind. He was far too straight-laced. Such an act lacked integrity. Not that it stopped every one of course. But it would have stopped Sonrio.

Nadira continued. “We won’t be able to make a run away again like that either. At least not for a long time.”

“Obviously,” Arturri said. He would be locked up for a whole month. Two days had already felt like months, so he estimated a month would feel like years.

She shook her head, “You don’t understand. I mean neither of us. There are Kopkin enchantments on the gates now to freeze us if we try to step outside the premises.”

“What? What is included in 'premises' might I ask?” Arturri had spent a grand total of a week on these grounds outside of this room, and didn't exactly explore.

“The Church, towers, library and Orphanage itself.”

“What about the Market?”

“It's a no-go. Our great esteemed Queen, Leliana, said we will get deliveries for the next forever.” Nadira rolled her eyes.

“Blast. Well. May we send letters?”

Nadira gave him a pitying look. “You may send them, yes. But… We don’t often get letters arriving here, Arturri.”

“She’ll write back,” he said. He was certain. Sadie knew that he didn’t belong here. He knew that she was busy, of course. Being newlywed into a new Family meant a lot of education into their traditions. He understood that couldn’t be easy - not to mention the expectations of motherhood, although that wouldn't be for months. But all that aside, she was Sadie. He trusted her.

Nadira nodded, although he had a nagging feeling she didn’t believe him. He huffed. Her opinion was invalid here.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He got back to the topic most at hand. “Well, we know what was in the packet now. That’s something. But it doesn’t end there. Sonrio wasn’t the one who smoked it. Which only leads us to believe that someone else did and that someone wanted to keep it a secret.”

She laughed like a bark. He frowned at her. She was aggressively unlikeable, but at least she had been to the tiniest extent helpful. “Or,” she said, “maybe your teacher wasn’t as perfect as you’d like to believe. Maybe he had his own dirty secrets, got himself killed, and you got the bad end.”

“Sir Sonrio was an absolute prick, I’ll be the first one to say he wasn’t perfect. But he didn’t do this.” His tone was serious. He wasn’t going to joke about the end of his known life like she found so easy to do.

She sobered herself. “You know, he came to me in a dream,” she said.

Arturri blinked. “He what?”

“His ghost visited me in the Dar Yi Home, but I never got a chance to say it to you.”

“Convenient.” He said. He wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not, yet. He would wait to see what he apparently said to her.

“The night we read over the letters. He said to me ‘It wasn’t me they killed,’ Arturri. I think whatever happened, it was to get rid of you.”

He took her words in. He believed her. “Riggin. Of course. Riggin must smoke. That must have been where he met Sadie.”

Nadira raised her eyebrows at the accusation. “Sadie’s husband, that uptight guy we ran into outside of Sonrio’s office? Do you think he relaxes? Like at all?”

“Why else was he outside of Sonrio’s office! He wanted us to get away from the scene of his crime.”

“That’s jumping to conclusions,” Nadira told him. “You just don’t like him because he got what you always wanted.”

He rolled his eyes and made a throw-away gesture. “Exactly. He got rid of me to take my place.”

“I don’t know the guy, so who knows? Maybe he did do it. But… Why would Sonrio have a packet of Riggins? I read a lot of letters that night. From what I gathered through the time we spent there, the Dar Yi opinion on the Sots isn’t exactly positive.”

“So?” The more she argued this the more aggravated he was starting to feel.

“So… Sadie’s lovely and all, but is she worth murdering Family over? And if that’s the case, would it not be more useful to murder you? Sonrio had nothing to do with Sadie.”

Arturri shrugged as if it was hardly a point. But he knew she made some sense on this. He didn’t want to give satisfaction in letting her know it though.

Frustrated, she stood back up from her leaning against the wall. “You’re welcome. For all the help.”

He nodded, lost in the thoughts of the new information, and what it might mean. If it wasn't Riggin, who else would Sonrio be holding that packet for? Was it being held as a favour, or as a threat?

“It’s pronounced thank you?” Nadira pressed on.

He glared towards her, “You’re so obnoxious, you know that? Here you are: Thank you. But it’s not as if you got nothing in exchange, is it? You weren’t doing it out of the goodness of your heart. I let you have your first taste of freedom outside of here - Not that I actually offered it. You demanded you were coming with me. You held me hostage until I agreed. Your help was all I asked for in return. So yes, thank you for the very pleasant exchange.”

“Okay, Arturri. You want to be such a fucking hard-ass? If that’s how we’re ending this journey, then that’s how we’re ending it. I didn’t have to do shit, once I was out of here. After the wedding, I could have done anything I wanted. But I got you more information. Good luck in here for another four weeks.”

She left the room and slammed the door behind her. Arturri felt that he would regret being so harsh with her. But she was so damn loud. He rubbed his temples and picked back up where he left off in his book.

After much of the afternoon, he had finished reading the novel. With nothing else to do, the pages flew past his eyes. The story was alright.

He wrote a note for Daress to complain about the flatness of the characters and express his opinion. It was mostly negative, but it did fulfil his wish for a good ending. It had lifted his spirits a little, despite its flaws. He found himself writing quite a long note on the topic. He wondered too if she had read the book and what she had thought of it. It seemed he was already starting to feel somewhat lonely in the room. Especially after the conversation earlier with Nadira. He asked if Daress was going to the library again if she would mind picking him up another.

He couldn't leave his room. Some force within him compelled him even now. But he could open the door and put the book with the note inside it on the floor. Then he closed the door again for the book to slide to the other side.

Within a few hours, he got a knock on his door again.

He worried at first that it was Nadira, but the knock was far gentler than hers. “Yes?” he said, for the second time that day.

“It’s just me, may I come in?” Daress’ voice was a pleasant song-like change from the harshness of Nadira’s.

“Of course,” he said, glad for the company. “Did you read that note?”

“Oh yes! Thank you for writing. I thought of writing back but there’s so much -“ she stopped to sneeze into a handkerchief. Daress sneezed like a button.

“Your cold still at you?” he asked her. Although she looked much improved from the day before.

She nodded her head. There was something pitiful to Arturri in the motion. “Sorry. I am getting better, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” he said, “I just hope you don’t pass it on to me! Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Oh, I couldn't possibly. Not yet, there’s… too much to read!”

Arturri noticed that she didn’t look at him when she paused in the middle. It was as if she wasn’t saying what she had wanted to say. But he had his own problems and appreciated her not sharing her own.

He focused on the subject which she had presented. “What are you reading now?” he asked her. Such normal conversation was a great relief to him. He had thought he would be isolated here. Having a visitor who didn’t know his secrets or laugh at his conclusions was refreshing.

Daress couldn't contain her excitement at the question. It appeared an unseen weight was lifted off her shoulders.

The two of them spent almost an hour talking until Daress’ voice started to grow hoarse. He convinced her that she perhaps should get some real rest. She agreed and said that she would come again the next day.

He spent the night writing his letter to Sadie, trying to get every word perfect. His paper bin quickly became filled with drafts.

By the end of the next day, he had the letter completed and sent. Daress came again.

It became something of an unofficial book club between the two of them, and his days felt a little easier. He didn’t see Nadira but heard from Daress about her. All she said in passing was that Nadira was herself and that she didn’t really want to talk about her. He didn’t push her for anything more than that.

He awaited a reply from Sadie, with as much patience as he could bear, and then some. He exercised, ate, and slept in his room. He wrote endless letters. Read more than ever. Charts depicting the clues and suspects were placed in his drawers for reference. They might connect what he knew in some way he hadn't thought of. But there was simply not enough information.

Every day came new hope and ended with growing disappointment. In this way, the month of his confinement passed.