Chapter 226

The darkness thickened around them as they went even deeper into the dungeon. “This is the first level,” Eli said in a low voice. They went around a corner and scores of prison cells came into view, all of them occupied with one or more captives, most of them men, and many only skin and bones. Some were chained to walls, others were free to roam around their small abodes. None of them were clean. Waste and garbage littered the ground everywhere Kit looked. It was wretched to say the least.

“What could they have possibly done to deserve this?” she asked as eyes darted in their direction, followed by a shout or two.

“Nothing,” Jate said behind her. “No one deserves to be treated this way.”

“Unfortunately,” Eli said without turning his head, “it only gets worse from here.”

At the end of the hallway, two more guards stood chatting. Kit heard them telling off-color jokes before they notice