The Master of Potions walked alongside his prince, Rohinar. Each held a torch, the flickering flames lighting their walk down a long flight of slimy stairs. Black mold covered the narrow walls. Rohinar and Varisy did well not to allow their shoulders to brush the walls. A tree root has broken through one of the walls and lay claim to a stair. Rohinar nearly tripped. More vines had grown the further they ventured down.

“The experiments have been kept under wraps, my lord,” said Varisy. They were well below ground level. The flames struggled to illuminate their path, for the darkness was black as pitch. The stairs began an odd ascent, taking then back up. A hidden doorway was sprung off to the side of the stairs just as the stairs began to go upward.

“My father cares not about the experiments. He found Marris the other day. Threw her head into my chest,” said Rohinar.

“I shall keep it secret, just in case. Unless you wish it to be known—”

“—no,” said Rohinar. “My father may know, but if the kingdom knew of this then I would garnish my reputation before I am king.”

They arrived at the end of the stairs. A door blocked their path. Varisy withdrew a key carefully. His fingers were bony and shaky. He jiggled at the keyhole. They emerged into the Crow’s Quarters—which was much larger than would be expected from the basement of a castle.

They were well below ground level, despite the stairs climbing upward. Here, at the bottom, was a large, enclosed circle with cells lining the walls. As one looked upward, there were about twenty more levels of cells. Adjacent to the enclosure was a long hall, which Rohinar and Varisy now walked.

“I see now why you are a hard man to find,” said Rohinar. “I always forget how huge this place is.”

“Yes, we have expanded this portion of the dungeon to allow for the Hunters to have a private place to keep to themselves. This is all part of the recent expansion.” Varisy led Rohinar down a wide hallway with rooms lining either side of the hall. As they walked further from the enclosure, Rohinar began to recognize the faces of his Hunters. The men whom he had transformed from prisoners and outlaws into his own personal assassins.

They came to the end of the hall to a large room with glass as tall as the ceiling. Inside, men in swirling robes were mixing potions and injecting things into different species. Rohinar’s eye was caught at the far end of the room. One of Varisy’s apprentices was sewing a body part onto one of the dead men who had caught the infection. It was a nasty sickness that plagued many of the cellmates as of late.

“And here is where the experiments have taken place?” asked Rohinar.

“Yes, your grace. Water samples are drained from the Sea of Glass, just above us. We extended a thin pipe from the Sea of Glass through the soil and dirt to end up here in the experiment room.”

“And any findings?” asked Rohinar.

“We did notice some more disturbing symptoms in the men who were already sick with the infection. The water from the Sea of Glass must contain something within it that is not healthy,” said Varisy.

“Well, what do you think it is?”

“It is nothing ground-breaking, but if it is true about the Silver Tree…”

“Varisy, careful…”

“Yes, m’lord. I do not mean to be blasphemous. I know the Silver Tree and the prophecies are from an older age, but…I couldn’t help but wonder if the tree’s roots are delivering some of its nutrients into the water.”

“Seems possible,” said Rohinar. He had one hand to his chin. His shadow of a beard had grown a tad thicker of late. He had an odd habit of running a finger along his chin when deep in thought. “Enough to harvest the nutrients?”

“I can look into that further m’lord. Perhaps the best way to do so would be to extract the sap of the tree directly. But, as you know, that poses a larger risk.” Varisy had his arms crossed. A hempen rope held his garments tight around his belly.

Rohinar turned to lead the way back down the hall. “A risk? I told you my father did not care to know of my experiments.”

“While that is true, I do not believe he knows that we are taking nutrients from the tree’s root water. He only knows of our studies of the Sea of Glass—a notable difference.” Varisy was often cautious of his reputation, despite his darker practices. “Your father has never been fond of the operations down here. He will look for anything to mark me off and have me sent away, Rohinar. Perhaps your fondness of me keeps me at my station. The beheading of your lady, Marris, did not bode well for my standing with your father.”

“She was not my lady. My Hunters found her in the Crag. She was a nobody.”

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“And yet, you held her in the High Tower. Far too close for comfort. If you do the same with your next find, I suggest you keep her away from the High Tower.,” suggested Varisy.

“I already found another. But I do not intend to treat with her in that way,” said Rohinar. Varisy looked at him curiously.

“You mean to bed her?”

Rohinar began to blush, his eyes dropping to the floor as they strode along. “I will not answer that question, Master Varisy. She is being held in the High Tower for a noble cause. It is different than Marris.”

“Do explain, if it please you m’lord,” said Varisy.

“I would prefer to speak of other matters more important.” Rohinar became sullen. There was an awkward silence as they walked down the hall of Hunter’s quarters. The rooms housed Jaqon’s men, although Jaq was away on the business that the king had demanded he attend to earlier. The Hunters collected fish from the Sea of Glass and hunted down wanderers who dwelled along the Crag.

“What of the new prisoners?” asked Rohinar, breaking the silence finally.

“Ah, yes,” began Varisy. “There is one you might take an interest in. He is on the second level. Gives me the shivers.”

“Take me to him,” replied Rohinar.

“Are you sure, your grace? He is not a pleasant sight nor sound.” Varisy had stopped walking to face the prince.

“Yes, I am sure. When am I ever unsure?” replied Rohinar. Varisy held his tongue. He knew of many times that the prince was unsure.

“Very well then. Just to warn you, we do leave him a bit isolated because he has been stirring other prisoners into a frenzy,” said Varisy. “He taunts them.”

“What do they care? It’s a dungeon. They’ve seen worse,” said Rohinar.

“You shall see what I mean, my lord.”

After climbing a stairwell to the second floor (which was only the second floor of twenty) the two were then escorted by two armed guards who had helms covering their face.

“Lord Varisy, are your guards prepared for a grand battle down here? Do they think that the prisoners will erupt from their cells and engage in the bloodiest rebellion this castle has ever seen?”

“I doubt it, my lord. But the guards do prefer to cover their faces. It offers less opportunity for taunting by the prisoners,” replied Varisy. The two men arrived at a cell door that has bolted wooden door, unlike the other cells where there were thin bars and no bolted door.

“This prisoner cannot be turned, like the others?” asked Rohinar.

“Turned?”

“You know, like trained to become a Hunter? Doesn’t he know that five years’ service as a Hunter will free him?” Rohinar was still not believing that he could be so bad. He thought back to the men he had brought to the dungeons as of late and none had stuck out.

“He cannot be reasoned with m’lord. Perhaps when he speaks with you it may change—but that I cannot tell you.” Varisy gestured for the guards to unbolt the door. It took both guards to heave the door open. Beyond the door was the cell door, where thin bars were pinched close together to enclose the prisoner. The prisoner sat at the far side of the cell, facing the corner in nothing but a sackcloth to cover his groin. A shadow was cast over the corner. Faint murmurings and whispers could be heard when Rohinar listened carefully.

“Is that…the homeless man I brought to the dungeons just days ago?” asked Rohinar.

“Same day as that lady you have in the High Tower, I do believe your grace.”

The prisoner turned slightly at the sound of voices. He was twirling something in his fingers but his back was still turned to them so they could not see what it was that he twirled.

“Alias…deception…” The prisoner muttered his next words more audibly. “Deception…betrayal!” The prisoner screamed and turned on his haunches. His skin was gaunt and thinner than paper. A long head of greasy dark hair hung over his head like a mop. Rohinar flinched, taking a step back.

“Betrayal. Death to his family, and death to his brother!” The prisoner flung the item from his fingers that he had been twirling. It plopped off Varisy’s chest and down to the ground. It was a finger.

“Guard, where did this come from?” asked Varisy. The guard shrugged, claiming not to have seen the prisoner interact with anyone since his isolation.

The prisoner snarled. His teeth were what stuck out to Rohinar. They were sharpened, like stakes, and fingernails were long as well.

“Guards, have him chained down and groomed. I want his nails cut, his hair cut, and his body bathed. I cannot stand the sight of him,” said Varisy.

“No,” denied Rohinar. “Let him rot here. That is what he wants. Give him another week of this torture. He’ll be on his knees by the end of it.”

The prisoner started convulsing. At first it was just his shoulders moving up and down, and then his whole body began to tremble. The laughter followed. Slowly, but progressively more intense. “You call this…a prison. I call it…” the prisoner never finished the sentence, but instead was on his back, rolling back and forth. Varisy signaled for the guard to shut the door.

As they walked away, Rohinar could still hear his laughter echoing off the walls.

“So, what of him?” asked Varisy.

“Odd. Keep an eye on that one. He may need to be dumped into the Glass if he does not improve.”

Rohinar and Varisy walked the long path back toward the stairs, and then began the descent followed by the steep ascent back up to the ground level of Castle Crow. Jaqon was just entering the Crow’s Quarters as the two men were prepared to leave.

Varisy grabbed both men by the shoulder after exchanging pleasantries and looking to Rohinar. “So, my prince. What of the experiments? Shall we continue?”

Rohinar stood a while. His head would nod, and then shake. His hands went to his hips, and then one hand went to his chin for a while. He rubbed the prickly stubble, silently admiring how manly it made him feel. He was sixteen, but he wished he looked more like twenty.

“End it. No more experiments with the root water. The Silver Tree is sacred, and I do not wish to disturb it further. The water did not prove to have any effect worth noting.” Rohinar pause, and Varisy studied him. Jaqon breathed in deeply through the nose, taking a step toward the Crow’s Quarters. He is uncomfortable by the experiments, thought Rohinar.

“Very well, your grace. They shall be stopped. And what of the lady friend, lord prince?” Varisy asked with a particular nonchalance, careful not to offend the prince. He had become touchy earlier at the mention of her.

“She will stay with me in the High Tower. She may be a suitor yet, you know.”

Jaqon and Varisy both froze dead in their tracks.

“A suitor?” questioned Jaq. Varisy’s jaw dropped.

“A suitor,” replied Rohinar. And he strode away, leaving Jaqon and Varisy rooted to the spot with astonished faces.