Ryder could feel his heart breaking inside his chest. "But now that I'm back, you can start living again. Both of us can. Together."

Samira shook her head. "No, Ryder we can't."

Ryder frowned. "Why not?"

Samira closed her eyes. "Because," she said, "I'm in love with another man."

Ryder felt all of the blood in his body turn cold. "Who?"

"Your brother," admitted Samira. "I'm in love with Liam."

Ryder had thought he might lose Samira when she found out about Giselle. Never had he thought he would lose her to his own brother.

Ryder looked down at the floor. "I don't know what to say." He felt hollow and numb. It was like he was stuck in time. All that had been seemed irrelevant now. His life to this point seemed a waste. The future looked just as bleak-nothing to look forward to, nothing more for him in life. No reason to move forward.

"I'm sorry, Ryder."

He just hung there, letting the chains hold his weight. He didn't feel anything and he didn't think anything. There was nothing left to feel, nothing left to think.

After a long silence he looked up. "Me too," he said. But Samira was not there. He was alone, the door to his cell wide open.

"Good-bye," he said. Lifting his hand to his lips, he kissed his fingers and blew it out to where his wife had been standing.

Suddenly the nothingness inside him was filled with sorrow. Samira was gone. In one beat of his heart, he lost both his wife and his brother. No, it was worse than that. He hadn't lost them; they had chosen to leave him. They had chosen to betray him. They had purposely taken from him everything he had and left him with nothing.

The sorrow inside his chest slowly began to boil, changing from a slow sadness into a roiling fury. This wasn't his fault. They had done this to him. The more he thought about it the more his anger grew. It filled him to capacity, threatening to burst.

His muscles tensed, and Ryder shook the chains. He opened his mouth and let out a terrible shout-a yell at the top of his lungs, a mix of anguish and fury.

Then, when he had squeezed all the air from his lungs and his voice was hoarse, Ryder let go. He hung again from the chains, letting them hold his weight and admitting for the first time in his life that it was not him but the world around him that controlled his fate.

"Hello again, Ryder," came a man's voice from the door.

Ryder didn't bother to look up or even to respond. They could do to him whatever they wanted. He didn't care anymore.

"What?" asked the sarcastic voice, "no greeting for your old friend?"

Ryder heard footsteps, and four feet appeared on the floor below him-soldiers' boots.

One of the men punched Ryder in the side, sending him swaying, suspended as he was by the chains. His ribs throbbed from the blow, but Ryder didn't make a sound.

"Oh, come now," said the voice. "This isn't going to be any fun at all if you don't at least talk back. Don't you remember last time? How much fun we had?"

Ryder recognized the voice-Captain Phinneous.

Another blow landed on Ryder's back. This time he grunted a little as the pain flooded through his body.

"That's a start," said Phinneous. "But I know you can do better."

Ryder stood up. "You're right."

Captain Phinneous loomed before him, a huge grin on his bald, scarred face. He had only one guardsman with him.

"Such a good sport," said the captain, winding back for another blow.

Leaping, Ryder grabbed hold of the chain high above his head and lifted himself into the air. The chains went slack. Kicking out with his right leg, he looped the extra links around the guardsman's neck.

Holding himself sideways, parallel to the floor, he let his legs drop toward the ground, and the chain around the guard tightened. The entire weight of Ryder's body hung from his neck. There was a terrific popping sound, and the man managed to let out a low gurgle before his face turned purple and blood began to ooze from the corners of his eyes.

Not waiting for the guard to fully expire, Ryder lifted himself off the ground again.

Captain Phinneous, the grin gone from his ugly face, went for his sword, but Ryder was too fast. In one swift move, his right hand shot out, wrapped the chain around Phinneous's arm and knocked the long sword from his grip. It went clattering to the floor.

Twisting the captain's arm, Ryder turned the man sideways, giving Ryder enough room to reach the veteran guardsman's belt.

"I'll take those," said Ryder, grabbing the keys to unlock his chains.

"Help," shouted Phinneous. "Guards!"

Without letting up on Phinneous, Ryder released the locks on his right arm. Leaning forward, he spoke directly into the captain's ear.

"Time to pay for your crimes, Phinneous."

He unwrapped the chain from the captain's arm and looped it around the man's neck. Pulling it tight, he locked it down, leaving the guardsman gasping for air and standing on his tiptoes to keep the chain from strangling him.

Captain Phinneous's eyes grew wide, and he clawed at his neck, trying to get his fingers between his flesh and the steel of the chain. The more he struggled, the more panicked he looked. His face grew red, and every few breaths he let out a high-pitched whistling sound.

Ryder finished unlocking himself from the other chains and stepped up to stare into the face of the slowly suffocating Captain Phinneous.

"I'd love to hang around with you, Phinneous," said Ryder, "but I've still got to kill your boss."

Putting both of his hands on the captain's chest, Ryder shoved the man. Phinneous struggled to keep his footing, but his boots slipped on the slick stone floor. As the chain grew short, Ryder continued to push. Captain Phinneous kicked, but it was no use. He was lifted off the ground, hanging from his neck.

Ryder gave one last hard shove, and Phinneous swung once. When he came back down, his feet touched the ground. His head listed sideways on his shoulder, his neck broken and limp.

Turning away from the two dead men in his cell, Ryder crossed to a table near the windows where a large pile of chains and locks sat.

A pair of guards came running through the door and skidded to a stop. They took one look at the slowly swaying frame of Captain Phinneous and the bloodied guard at his feet and turned their attention to Ryder.

"Looking for me?" Ryder calmly selected a length of chain from the table. Turning, he walked toward the two stunned guardsmen. As he moved, he shook the chain, making the links rattle.

The guards looked at each other then back at Ryder, fear apparent in their eyes.

"That's right," he said, shaking the chains again. "I'm going to do to you what I did to them."

Both men turned and bolted back out the door.

Ryder sneered. "That's what I thought."