After the dust settles and the iron bars of his cell clang shut, after his captors leave him be and his visitor leaves, Ashton lets loose with a long defeated sigh a slides down the cold unforgiving bars of his cell.
"Well, I guess that teaches me to stick my neck out. Ash, from now on, your bottle is your only friend."
He drinks. He drinks some more. Taking his lute from it's case, he painstakingly tunes it with wavering hands and runs scale after scale.