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The worst thing about being in prison was not the mediocre food.
It wasn't the cramped cell, the lack of sunlight, the cold, the damp, or even, surprisingly, the fact that she hadn't known she was committing a crime. (How was she supposed to have known that she had somehow crossed over into the king's forest before killing that rabbit?)

No, the worst part about being in prison were the sliver cuffs around her wrists. They weren't too tight or have chains attached or anything like that. But the runes cut into them prevented her from shifting into another form. That was the true prison. For almost as long as she could remember she had been able to shift her form into that of any animal she had seen at will. But a mouse could easily slip through tiny cracks.

So here was Eona Morrit, a half elf druid out for the first time on her own and she had ended up in the king's prison. She was just glad that her father wasn't alive to know about it. She couldn't decide if he would have been more outraged at her or the king's men who arrested her.

She paced across her cell again, running her hands through her red hair and watched as one of the feathers she had tied into it fell to the floor. Thankfully the extremely practical clothing that the people in her village and Druid Circle had given her before she left home had kept her warm, but there hadn't been a chance to bathe or wash them.

There was nothing to do and nothing to see. Eona had only been in the cell for a few days but she didn't know how much longer she would be able to stand it. There were other people in the prison who she had been able to see and hear through the barred hole in her cell door, but the guards didn't like the prisoners to talk so she didn't even have that to distract her.

Fretting won't help anything. Forcing herself to relax, Eona sat on her cot with her legs crossed and tried to meditate. She had just regulated her breathing and found her center when the door opened and a man walked in. Better dressed - and better smelling - than the guards, she got the feeling he was some kind of low ranking court official. He didn't sneer at her or lick his lips which was a good sign.

"Chancellor Delmarin wants to see you. I am take you to him."

Eona could only blink in surprise. "The chancellor wants to see me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," the man said. "And he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Eona stood and followed him as he left the cell. What else was there to do?

Jack was just leaving the Chancellor’s room and walked past Eona on his way back to his cell, like two carriages on either side of the road. Unlike her, his hands were bound behind his back. Though, also unlike her, his cuffs didn't have the runes. He looked her up and down, wondering what kind of magic they were trying to keep asleep.

He had a fresh cut on his cheek that had only just begun to bead. They wanted him to prove his worth with a sword, as he had bragged about, and so he did. The Chancellor’s guard, however, didn't seem to like Jack’s sarcastic flourish. And he hated the way Jack impressively stopped the tip of his sword an inch from the Chancellor's throat.

“Mind your manners,” Jack whispered to her, then smiled to try and alleviate the serious and gloomy tone of prison. He didn't see much need for the warning, she had that innocent look about her, but he thought he'd try to bridge the gap between them.

It earned him an aggressive shove forward from his guard and he had to run to catch himself. “Don’t make me muzzle you too,” Jack’s guard said. “Should’ve done that when you got here, as much as you chatter.”

As much as Jack loved to push a button or six, his brain and mouth decided that they were on his ass' side and it could only handle so much kicking. He was led past his cell and taken to another, larger one.
“What’s this?” Jack’s mouth asked.
“Shut it,” was all the guard replied.
“Where’s my stuff??” Jack shouted.

The lock keeping his cuffs together was released just before he was shoved into the bigger cell and it made him fall on his hands and knees. Jack scrambled to his feet, his shoulders feeling like pins and needles with how tightly they bound him. He watched the guard fade into the dark hallway and cursed to himself.

Eventually, other prisoners would join him in this cell. The Chancellor thought it wise to let the criminals kill each other here if they must, so that when they started their mission, the ones that were left would be solely focused on the goal. Jack wouldn't know this just yet while he sat on a rickety, worn bench and waited for his fate. He thought about how he got caught and the treachery of his small crew. He had called them friends, brothers in arms, and now- Jack sighed and leaned his head back until it landed on the stony wall behind him.

The heavy oak door to the larger cell opened up after a while, a she-elf was escorted in under heavy guard. Compared to an elven figure like Eona this new arrival was quite the contrast, instead of the typical pale skin tone hers was tanned bronze, framed by platinum hair that gently shone in torchlight. Whereas elves were rightfully seen as slender creatures this one was a mountain of muscle and feminine curves that stood nearly a head taller than the guards that had taken her in, though she moved with a grace unknown to mortals of her stature. As for the typical elven sense of modesty... well, apparently she had none.

Sharp eyes scoured the room, searching for any threats that may require... taking care of. Prisoners were a often a desperate bunch, caged animals gone feral. A tavern brawl had her imprisoned here, even though she was not the one to start it she alone had been taken- leading her to believe an ulterior motive was in play...

Eona was exhausted. The chancellor had made her show her prowess with her staff, daggers, and bow then he had questioned her about healing spells. Then he had a guard remove the cuffs - with a warning that any attempt to escape would be dealt with harshly - and demanded that she shift. Bear, snake, robin, turtle, wolf, mouse. sparrow, fox, eagle. So many changes one after the other had tested the limits of her ability, but she had made every one. And then a guard had put the cuffs back on.

With a curt "very well," she was taken from the hall and to the cell with the others. They appeared to be a man and a female elf. Eona knew that with her hair down and the swath of freckles across her face they probably thought she was a human, most people did and she had learned that it was usually to her advantage to let them think so.

Knowing nothing about these people she tried not to let her exhaustion show, but simply went to an area of the cell away from them and, unable to resist the urge, sat on the floor.

Jack brought his head back to its usual, alert position when the oak door opened. He watched two guards escort a behemoth of an elven woman into the room and he felt his back press up against the cold stone wall. Lady or no, she looked like a force to be reckoned with and Jack wanted no part of her bad side. Especially now, when he didn’t even have a measly dagger to protect himself with. She seemed to scan the room, as if looking for prey, and Jack offered her a small smile.

“Hello, Miss,” he began, hesitant on how to refer to her. He thought that greeting alone was enough to prove him cordial and harmless.
If she answered politely, Jack would return the favor and introduce himself. If she was anything close to scary, Jack would scoot further away. Her appeal wasn’t lost on him, rather it made the collar of his shirt feel three sizes too small.

When Eona was thrown into the room with them, Jack’s heart flipped even more than it did with Jhanandra. Not because of her appeal, but because of her very human looking features. There didn’t seem to be very many humans in this part of the world, but she looked to be one of the few, like him. He frustratingly wondered why they were all being thrown into the same cell and it showed on his face. He could not tear his one and only pair of pants right now by getting donkey legs from her touch. He didn’t know why she would touch him, but now the possibility was there!

Jack stayed where he was on his seat and watched Eona, grateful that she had chosen to sit as far away from him as she could. Then again, it was a little off putting that she chose to do so. He looked at Jhanandra again and concluded that it was her fault for frightening the girl. That’s what he told his ego, anyway.

After a time, Jack would ask, “Do either one of you know what we’re doing in here?” His tone was low and held an accent that fused ‘proper gentleman’ with ‘raucous sailor’.

"Keep a very careful eye on her Tommen," the guard cautioned his relief as the shift changed.

"That little slip of a girl?" Tommen scoffed.

"That little slip of a girl killed Lord Rylund and nearly wiped out two fists in order to escape." the men said as he stroked his beard, giving the girl a wary eye.

"Her?"

Tommen looked the girl over. A scrap of a girl, pale, slender, with long copper blonde hair that burned with reflected firelight from the torches. She wore an outfit better suited to dancing in the palaces of dessert lords, black silk sleeves and scarves that left little to the imagination.

She was gagged and hung from the wall by her wrists and each finger was chained to the next, hampering their movement and in combination stopped her from using magic.

Her blue eyes looked tired and dull, unable to focus. She looked weak and vulnerable, completely incapable of what the guard had accused her of. She was just a dancing girl. There was no way she could be responsible for nearly losing two fists of men!

"They caught her next to his bed, the lord's body still warm. First she paralyzed the men in the door so we couldn't get in. While they pulled the lads out of the way she charmed Regult! Bloody man started telling us we should let her go, then tried to punch Osric!

"Then the bloody wench turned herself invisible. She would have got away if it wasn't for bad luck. Caught an elbow to the noggin from Regult when he peeled back. To take a swing. Bloody fool is still crying about it and trying to get out of his cell to free her. Who knows when the spell will wear off."

"By Tyr's even hand," Tommen said, "All that?"

"Never underestimate a witch. Fell sorcery can fall the best of men. We're luck nobody die- well, save the lord. Heavens accept the poor bastard."

"I'll keep my distance."

"-and don't let her speak," he added raising a finger, "Beguile you she will."

Tommen looked again, looking over the beautiful elf maiden. For a moment her eyes met his and he felt for her, the poor thing. Her liquid eyes cried out for him to protect her and care for her and in that instant he realized the danger of her and swallowed fearfully.

So now a human male and a suspiciously human-but-not-quite human female were locked in with her. Neither looked dangerous or even particularly menacing In this moment and given her own capture Jhanandra was starting to believe that someone on the outside was after something specific...

The make had just spoken to her, perhaos attempting to cozy up to the largest person in the room for protection. "Hm... what did you do to get in here?"

"No idea," Eona said in reply to Jack's question, giving a small shrug. "They don't seem very interested in sharing what they're planning."

"I apparently poached one of the king's rabbits," she continued, looking at Jhanandra. "I didn't even know I had crossed over into the king's forest, but a group of guards found me cooking it and arrested me."

As she was speaking, Eona tucked her hair behind her ear without thinking about it, revealing it's pointed tip.

Jack blinked at the lack of acknowledgement to his friendly hello, but he thought no reaction from the light haired elf was better than a bad reaction. When his question was countered with another question, Jack looked at Jhanandra confusedly.

Eona answered first and Jack was just fine with listening instead of answering. His business was his own and he would tell them as much if they asked a second time. When Eona finished explaining, Jack laughed through his nose.

“I figured you had done no worse than that,” he told Eona and shook his head. “These scoundrels will chain anyone up. Gods know why they want their cells filled.”

His assumption that Eona was but an innocent girl only dissipated a fraction at the sight of a pointed ear as she tucked her hair behind it. Mostly, he felt his entire body unclench, though he still had a lot of questions.

“I noticed your cuffs,” Jack said after a pause. “What are they concealing?”
It was his way of asking what she was or at least his way of getting closer to the answer. It was also his way of getting any unwanted attention off him.

"I can assume that the lone human among us is no killer, nor rapist or even a horse thief... our sins are too small for the cells and having three unconnected prisoners in the same room cannot be a coincidence."

Something was up, it was not like an elf of near 600 years had never seen malpractice in the treatment of prisoners before but then it was usually barbaric tribes or slaver kingdoms, this region was too civilised for this to be anywhere near approaching the norm.

"You must be a halfbreed going by your features..." Jhanandra regarded of Eona. "You. Male, have you elven blood in your lineage?" It was pure speculation but one had to start somewhere.

Once again had the oak door opened as the guards shoved a man into the cell, landing on his face. He seemed quite out of place as he was wearing a dark blue long coat with 3 separated coattails a rather intriguingly designed vest with rather nice pants and knee height leather boots, as fancy as he had seemed he was heavily shackled there being ones around his ankles and and a harness of some sort slinged around his neck with his hands fastened in built gauntlet allowing him zero use of his hands or arms for the matter. Through a muffled voice coming from his floor planted face he asked "any help getting up?, As you can see I'm quite restricted at the moment".

Jack shot Jhanandra a distressed glance when she spoke about him like he wasn't there. Even though she was talking about him not being a rapist, it was still upsetting that it was ever up for debate. He supposed he only had men to blame for that.

Then he wondered how she knew his crime was small and gave her a skeptical look. At her calling Eona a ‘halfbreed’, Jack looked at the red headed girl in surprise and waited for a like reaction.

“N- Not that I know of,” Jack replied to Jhanandra’s question about elven blood.
Then the oak door swung open again and in tumbled another man, this one in what looked to be some sort of straight jacket. He asked for help and Jack waited to see if anyone else jumped at the chance before he sighed and rose to stand.

“Alright,” he told the man as he hooked a gloved hand underneath his arm. “Here we go.”
Jack grunted as he heaved him up and patted the man on the shoulder when he was on his own feet.

“Welcome to the party, mate."

"Thanks" he said nodding towards jacks direction. Micromanaging his movements as he aims himself with the bench and sits down, wringing his neck as the harness was quite unbearable. "So What are you all in here for?, I highly doubt you all are in here for the same reasons I am... Well except maybe her" he said nodding at Jhanandra "But you two don't exactly seem capable so what was it?" He said looking towards jack and eona.

Answering jack first, Eona held up her hands and gave the cuffs a scowl. "They're to stop me from transforming. I'm a druid, I can take the shape of any animal I've ever seen. I guess they were afraid I might turn into something that they wouldn't notice leaving."

She couldn't tell if Jhanandra calling her a half-breed was supposed to be an insult or not. She had run into people - both humans and elves - who didn't seem to approve of the mixing of their blood, but Eona wasn't ashamed of who she was and wouldn't let anyone make her so. "Yes, I'm half human, half elf."

Turning to Murcary, she just shrugged. "Poaching, in my case. Some royal guards took exception to me eating a rabbit that I didn't even know belonged to the king."