Citlali was eventually chained to another prisoner. She did not know him. At least she thought it was a him. She lacked much knowledge about lizards. They were led deep inside the prison, through the guardroom and into a cellblock. Classic stone walls. Few torches and no windows. Others might be unnerved by this, but Citlali rather liked it. The shadows were, after all, where she belonged. Even if she could have fought back, she did not do so as they were led up to a cell. Even if she could have managed to overpower the guard now, something she doubted she could, they would not yet be able to get out.

The guard pushed them into the cell, forced them up against the wall and unlocked the manacles, retreating rapidly to lock the door to the cell. It relieved Citlali that they would not be forced to wear chains constantly. It took her but a few moments to take in the details of the room. Bare stone walls. Rough, wooden bunks along one wall, padded with sacks of hay. A single bucket in the corner for lavatorial needs. A few minutes after the guard left, she stepped up to the bars and started inspecting the lock. It did not take her long to figure out that it would not be easy to pick, as the design wasn't one she was familiar with. She could try there and then, but it would probably fail and might alert someone.

Instead, she sat down on the lower bunk and started thinking. Mapping out what she knew and organizing it into categories based on usefulness in the current situation. It would have made everything so much easier if she'd learned to shift planes, but of course she hadn't learned that yet. She knew for a fact that this particular prison did not exist back home on the shadow plane. She did not pay much attention to what the lizard was up to. If he wanted to talk, she had no doubt he would eventually do so. Till then, she would remain silent.