Hoorrayy! The wonderful wonderful Kai/3351 read over my chapter to edit it and she has been extremely helpful. I can't thank her enough. Enjoy!

All constructive criticism and/or advice and/or comment about general appreciation is extremely appreciated.

Also, yey! The story begiiiiins!

Kaladin – Adolin

On the third day of his imprisonment, Kaladin heard a disturbance from further inside the prison, beyond his chamber. He stood up, ignoring Syl, who sat on an invisible bench on his wall. What was that shouting? It echoed in from the hallway. He could hear steps coming his way. Could he be getting out so soon? He couldn't help but smile.

A jailer twisted a key in the lock of the wooden door at the far end of the cell and pulled it open. Adolin Kholin— wearing a simple tight uniform—stepped in. There was a lot of yelling involved and the whole situation was confusing. Adolin? In here? Did the king throw him in a cell too because he assumed Adolin was responsible for Kaladin's actions? That didn't make sense.

Why was everyone so agitated? With all the voices, Kaladin could barely make out any logical sentences. He could swear he heard Adolin demanding to be locked in Kaladin's cell. Nonsense. However, the guard obeyed, approached the steel bars and ordered Kaladin to retreat at towards the stone bench before opening the door joined to the bars to let Adolin in. Surely Dalinar was sending some news via his son.

All of this definitely confused Kaladin. If he wanted to talk the blond could very well have done it through the bars. After all, the further he was from lighteyes, the better. Was it so important for lighteyes to speak face to face? Was this worth throwing such a fuss? High ranked lighteyes really had weird mannerisms.

The guard secured the steel bars back in place and left the room, locking the door behind him. What did Adolin wish to say to him that required him to stand in the cell with him? Kaladin figured Dalinar wouldn't want the guards to know he disapproved of the king's decision to imprison Kaladin ; but sending Adolin into the cell just to speak with him… seemed a bit overdone. Although Dalinar was a cautious man. Maybe it was the only condition to leave someone alone with Kaladin. Still, he would much have preferred to speak with Dalinar himself than with his hot-headed son. After the guard left, silence returned. Syl wandered around Adolin head, examining him.

The princeling took a deep breath, then turned toward Kaladin and nodded slowly. He didn't look in such a good shape. From what Kaladin could see from his posture, the left side of his stomach probably caused him great pain, as he was careful not to move it around too much. Plus, one of his fingers was completely blue. Had he been fighting?

"So, what are you here for?" Kaladin asked.
"It didn't seem right, you in here," Adolin said, eyes forward. "I thought I would lock myself in with you until they let you out. That should accelerate the process."
"WHAT?"

This had to be the stupidest idea he had ever heard. Adolin Kholin, putting himself in prison willingly for some dark eyes! It was unheard of. Kaladin fixed Adolin with wide, surprised eyes. The other man was staring at him, the hint of a smug smile perking at the corner of his lips. Was he content? Proud? Surely, he misunderstood what prison actually was. Or maybe this was all a game to him. What a dumb, spoiled, idiotic prince. Didn't he have anything better to do with his time? Something actually useful? There was a storming war going on! Kaladin shrug his shoulders, turned around towards the stone bench and grumbled:

"Do as you wish. But don't expect me to lend you my bed or anything."
"What you call a bed is a rectangle of stone; that's the same material as the floor. I don't want it anyway, Adolin declared before leaning against the steel bars, staring at the closed door."

Well. That didn't go as well as expected. Adolin didn't usually lock himself away for just anyone's sake - actually, he never did – and considering who he was and the influence he had, you'd think the lad would be a bit happier for what he did. Storming man. Wasn't Kaladin happy that someone actually cared? From the way the captain looked at him, he seemed to think that Adolin's plan was foolish. Although Adolin had been quite satisfied with himself when he had the idea. Not only would it rid him of the guilt he felt towards Kaladin's fate, but it also ensured they would both get out fairly quickly. Moreover, people would surely miss him, and ladies would speak about his boldness and bravery for weeks to come, which was always good. Everything worked just perfectly. Well, apart from the days spent prison themselves, which would surely be quite dull. And yes, a bed would have been nice. But no matter, it wouldn't last long. Dalinar wouldn't allow it.

He hadn't spoke about his plan with his Father beforehand, for he knew Dalinar would disapprove. Adolin going to prison signified he openly disagreed with the king's decision and that would only weaken Elhokar. Which wasn't good. Surely, his father would scold him but he would still do his best to get him out as soon as possible.

Adolin glanced at Kaladin, who seemed to mope alone at the back of the cell. Well… almost alone. As it was often the case, a small windspren seemed to float and glide around him. It was weird, a windspren, here in prison. Then again, a lot of things were weird about Kaladin. His constant foul mood, for one. Adolin wondered what the other man was thinking about.

Hours passed in silence in what was now Kaladin and Adolin's cell. Just like he warned Adolin, Kaladin had claimed the bed and spent most of his time observing the courtyard through the window. When a guard brought them food, Kaladin simply asked:

"Why is this man in my cell?"
"Brightlord Adolin insisted. So long as you are in here, he won't leave," replied the jailer. "We tried to stop him, but the man's a prince. We can't make him do anything, not even leave. Now that he locked himself in this cell, we just have to live with it."
"Can I do anything about it?"
"No."

Undeniably, Kaladin was a strange man. Adolin had just told him why he was in a cell with him a few hours ago. Didn't he believe him?

Several more hours passed before Kaladin spoke to him.

"Why are you here? I ruined your chance to duel Sadeas."
"I'd be crippled or dead without you," Adolin said. "So I wouldn't have had the chance to fight Sadeas anyway."

He paused for a second and looked at Kaladin.

"Besides," he continued, "you saved Renarin."
"It's my job."
"Then we need to pay you more, bridgeboy. Because I don't know if I've ever met another man who would jump, unarmored, into a fight among six Shardbearers."

There was another pause before Kaladin spoke again.

"I'm sorry," he said. "For ruining the plan."
"Bah, you didn't ruin it. Elhokar did that. You think he couldn't have simply ignored your request and proceeded, letting me expand on my challenge to Sadeas? He threw a tantrum instead of taking control of the crowd and pushing forward. Storming man."

Kaladin blinked at the prince's audacious tone, then glanced toward the door, to make sure no one could hear them. Talking against your king wasn't something you wanted to do with unwanted ears around. Storms, Kadalin had spoken once about a noble who wasn't even a highprince in front of a crowd and that got him in prison! Adolin asked him about how he had been treated so far. Kaladin simply shrugged.

"No, seriously," Adolin pressed, "how have you been since the fight?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't! I just want to know. Make a little conversation. Tell me your story, now, that's an order."

Pffff. Orders. As if the princeling was in a position to order anything while they were both locked up in here.

"Fine. A man went to jail. He hated it there. The end."
"Ah… So it's a story about a grumpy, irritable baby," mocked Adolin.

Despite his mockery, he still looked relieved.

"No, it's about –"

Kaladin cut off. Me.

Of course… Adolin asked him to see if he had been hurt during the duel. That's why the prince himself didn't look so great, because of his wounds resulting from the fight. Kaladin had healed himself with stormlight but that hadn't been the case for Adolin. And Adolin's shardplate was half-destroyed by the end of the duel, he probably put up with a few hammer shocks that bruised him despite the armor. How could he not have picked that up? He should have been the one to ask. Well. Adolin looked alive, did he? That was enough caring for today. Kaladin didn't bother returning the question. Storm it! Adolin hadn't only been here a few hours and he was already annoying him greatly. He rose from his seated spot against the wall and walked briskly to the stone bed. He hesitated, then threw one of the blankets and the pillow down to the floor for the prince, and put himself to bed. Better sleep to stop thinking about this mess.