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Chapter 18: Kieran
My throat felt dry.
“Why not?” I asked.
My voice had come out higher than normal. I had not expected that reaction from Lord Petret. He had been a close friend of my father’s when they were young. Everyone said Lord Trechting was courageous because he was like his father. Although I did not know Lord Petret closely, I had heard the stories.
Lord Petret’s lips curled with a saddened smile.
“Keeping your head down will not spare you from Lugh,” I said before he could speak. “You know that, right?”
“I do, son,” he said. “But...”
“I know you are afraid,” I replied. “But trust me. I have seen what he does to those who dare to oppose him even in the slightest. You might think I’m saying all of this because he took the power he has from me and my family, but I’m not. You might want to stay here to protect your son, but even he is not safe, as long as Lugh is in charge. He will...”
“Maybe you should let the man speak,” Cari interrupted me.
Although she wasn’t looking at me, her eyes were narrow as though she knew something I didn’t.
“You’re right,” I whispered, turning back to Lord Petret.
“It’s all right,” he said. “You are... excited. I get it.”
Although I did not appreciate his choice of words, I nodded to let him speak.
“I said what I said not because I’m afraid of Lugh, but because of what they did,” Lord Petret said. “They made sure we could never leave this prison, even if all the walls were gone and we were free to walk away.”
“What did they do?” I asked.
“They poisoned us,” Lord Petret replied.
He seemed so casual about it. As a man condemned to die at this dirty prison far away from any loved ones, he was too calm.
Silence befell our group. Casja made a little noise with her mouth.
“You are going to die?” I asked. “It serves no purpose. If you die... Why would Lugh do that?” I asked again before Lord Petret could respond to my first question.
“We won’t die,” Lord Petret said. “As long as he keeps giving us the antidote...”
“That’s vile,” I whispered.
“It is,” Lord Petret agreed. “He must have learned the trick from his new allies. I always knew he was a vile brat, long before he stole your father’s crown. But it does not change our circumstances. We cannot let you break us out. If we don’t get our antidote, we’ll die.”
My eyes darted across the room. Most of them were children and elderly. Lord Petret and a few others I had spotted were the exception.
Most of the prisoners that Lugh had taken were those who could not rule their family land. They were either too young, sickly, or too old. They were here only because their families loved them and because they would do anything to ensure their safety.
Lugh was poisoning children and the elderly to keep them from ever attempting an escape. It was unimaginably cruel.
But then again, Lugh had always been cruel.
“The children,” Casja said beside me as though she had read my mind. “They poison them too?”
