about everything. Patrick has been questioning him, but he hasnae enlightened all of us.” With that Ram too got up and left. He at least was finished with his food.
Irritation prickled along Ciaran’s neck, then amusement followed unexpectedly. He grinned and shook his head, no longer feeling like eating. Red had apparently won over the clan. Grabbing a piece of bread off Angus’s plate, Ciaran stuck it into his mouth and headed toward the dungeon.
The opening of the dungeon was through a door at the far end of the castle, then down a flight of stairs. Ciaran had always hated this place as a kid. He opened the door and was immediately hit with humidity and the scent of stale air. Someone had lit torches along the wall, and a good thing too. The stairs were steep and narrow. If you made it down to the dungeon alive, you likely didn’t stay that way. Not that he really knew. The dungeon hadn’t been used since his great-grandfather’s day.
Voices drifted up the stairs as Ciaran climbed down them. One of those voices was Patrick’s. The other he didn’t recognize, so it must be the admiral.
“After I saw all the children, I realized it was wrong,” the admiral was saying as Ciaran stepped into the long narrow corridor that ran down the middle of the room. On each side were barred-off cells. Only three of those cells were empty. The rest were being used as storage for old armor, kitchen stuffs, and various old trunks from former castle inhabitants, full of old clothing and such. One cell held old furniture.
A rat scurried across Ciaran’s path, running to another cell. And Ciaran began to have second thoughts about keeping Stuart here. Perhaps he was being too harsh. Red had certainly thought so, and he’d had no qualms about telling Ciaran.
Marcus sat in a ladder-back chair in front of one of the cells, and Patrick stood behind him, with his hands on Marcus’s shoulders. They both looked up as Ciaran approached.
“Morning.”
“Good morning to you too,” Marcus said, though his voice sounded a little strained.
In the cell behind them, Stuart stood at the bars, holding on to them and listening. The admiral sat on the floor of the cell in front of them, with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out.
Ciaran nodded to Stuart, and Stuart nodded back. And damn if Maggie’s hurt expression didn’t haunt him, followed quickly by Fiona’s glare and Angus’s departure. With a sigh, Ciaran reached up to the wall beside the cell and took down the ring of keys. He opened Stuart’s cell door. “Get out of here, and so help me if I catch ye going against the clan again….”
“I was trying tae protect the clan, lad. I see now that I was wrong. And if it’s all the same tae ye, I’d like tae stay and listen.” He dipped his head toward the admiral, who, along with Marcus and Patrick, was watching them.
Ciaran nodded his agreement. But before he could question Marcus and Patrick, Stuart slapped him on the back. “I’m sorry, lad. I never should have doubted ye. For what it’s worth, ye have my support now. And I agree with ye, we need tae stop these outsiders.”
Blinking in surprise, Ciaran nodded.
“Jenkins was just telling us how he’s a fugitive.” Patrick snorted as though he didn’t believe a word of it.
Marcus patted his hand, then said to the admiral, “Continue your story. You changed your mind….”
The old man nodded and glanced up at Ciaran, then resumed his story. “I saw the children who the IN was creating and abandoning on Regelence when they did not live up to the expectations, and I had a change of heart. I realized these children were the ones suffering. No one had asked if they wanted to be born. No one even asked what they wanted their future to be. They’d been created to serve as soldiers, and when they didn’t make the cut, they were just left to their own devices. Left to survive on the streets on their own.” He shook his head and looked up at Ciaran with pleading eyes. “I have a son of my own and….” He shook his head. “It’s neither here nor there. The IN’s plans changed from winning the Aquarius War to messing with other planets and destroying their whole society, changing their laws, and….” He sighed, looking truly disgusted. “I couldn’t be a part of that. I live on