Louis the Stammerer sat alone in the eastern tower.
He laughed once, "Emperor," he muttered to the empty room. "They called him emperor while I sat there like a fool."
The door creaked. Louis tensed, expecting another guard with stale bread and water. Instead, a hooded figure slipped inside, moving fast and quiet. The hood dropped back. His mother. Her face was pale.
"Mother?" Louis pushed himself up, chains rattling. "What are you—"
"Quiet," she hissed, crossing the room in three quick steps. She knelt in front of him, hands already working a thin file from the bundle.
"We don't have long. The guards change in ten minutes."
She started sawing at the chain on his right wrist. Louis stared at her, heart hammering.
"You're freeing me?"
"Of course I'm freeing you," she snapped, not looking up. "Did you think I would let them lock my son away like some criminal while that eastern bastard sits on your father's throne? Hold still."
The first chain snapped. She moved to the second.
