I did not know the many devices that occupied the room beyond our cell, but I knew enough that I did not want to become acquainted with them. The torture chamber had been scrubbed clean, and herbs burnt in the braziers, but there was a smell to the chamber of blood, sweat, waste, and fear. So much misery and suffering had soaked into the stone walls and floor that no amount of scrubbing or burnt herbs would remove it.
The mages left.
The man looked at me. “Thank you,” he said. “For not killing me.” He sighed and looked out into the chamber before back at me. “Queen Clareath would bring back the ways of old, with the brethren hunted, tortured and killed at the hands of mankind. But she hides it. The city is full of half-brethren. We think we are safe. Until we’re not.”
He seemed
