“W-what?” I stammered but Alois simply continued, gesturing to another cage to the right of the child rapist.
“That man? He ran an ‘orphanage’ that attracted young, destitute boys. He then used his position of power to rape them and sell them to other men with the same abhorrent proclivities.”
My mouth gaped open as it went on and on, each of the men and women trapped in those cages imprisoned for heinous and disgusting crimes.
“They . . . they could have lied,” I brokenly whispered, but shook my head as Alois raised a condescending eyebrow at me.
“Blaming the victim now, hm?” I instantly shook my head.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” Nausea boiled in my gut, and I held a hand to my mouth to contain my disgust.
Alois grunted before turning back to the cages. “Even if theydidlie, I would know. Perks of being the last Truthsayer, I suppose.”
Silence hung between us.
“This is a necessary sin, an allowed evil, to keep the streets of Vespera safe. Why do you think refugees flee here? Why do we have men and women signing up for our army in droves? Newly-Awakened men and women applying to be part of the elite groupof soldiers the Academy produces?” He paused before gesturing to the cages. “Because I can keep them safe. Both from internal and external threats.”
I chewed my lip, my hand falling to my side.
“So you brought me here to show me the . . . less savory part of being a ruler?”
He bobbed his head back and forth.
“Yes. And no. There is something else you need to see.” He turned and began walking further into the dark room. “Come.”
I hesitated briefly and watched as the child rapist turned sharp, beady eyes on me before smiling, a jagged sinister thing. I gulped before turning on my heel and jogging after Alois.
“The prisoners in the front of the room are reserved for those who commit crimes within the walls of Vespera. The prisoners back here, however, are the political prisoners. Ones that tried to dispose of me or create an external threat that had the ability to bring the Northern Alliance to its knees. You saw today what can happen when a city has no one to protect it, when there is no alliance, when rebellion is free to roam unchecked and unchallenged.”
I nodded my head, agreeing at least with his confidence in the necessity of alliances and protecting the smaller, weaker cities.
Alois stopped suddenly, his features sharp in the pulsating glow of the manufactured blue light from the Mage Orb on the wall.
“Remember, I am a Truthsayer. I can separate lies from truths as easily as breathing.No onein these cells is here by chance or improperly imprisoned.”
I nodded my head, my hands twisting together as I anxiously waited to see who Lord d’Refan would show me next.
“A queen must learn to be impartial. Must separate her personal feelings from what is best for the realm. Must make adecision based onfactand not impulse. Can you do that, my wife?” Alois asked sharply and I nodded my head.
Alois paused for a moment, his eyes shaking in their sockets, before he nodded gruffly and tapped the Mage Orb, extending its circle of light.
I watched as the cages across the room were slowly illuminated, the prisoners shrinking back from the front bars as far as possible to escape the onslaught of bright light.
Squinting, I edged toward the cages; not close enough that the prisoners could grab me through the bars, but near enough that I could see who was imprisoned.
There was a man on the left, a woman on the right. Both were ghastly thin, their threadbare and dingy clothing hanging loose from their frames with lanky, oily dark hair. It was impossible to discern their identities until the man turned back toward the front of the cage.
A small gasp inadvertently left my lips and I stumbled backward, losing my balance and falling directly into one of the many puddles that dotted the prison floor.
There, staring directly at me, was a pair of familiar grey eyes; ones that once held endless amounts of love and sparkled with intelligence were now dull and listless, narrowed in hateful recognition.
“Hello, Ellowyn,” my father rasped.
Chapter 59
Ellowyn
“Father?” I asked, my voice a broken whisper.
