Gunmage
Chapter 120: The boy in the cell

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: The boy in the cell

Edrin moved like a ghost, slipping through every corner and crevice of the manor.

He hadn’t idled his time away since arriving, he’d been watching, cataloging and analyzing.

Years of training and service had sharpened his mind into a blade honed for pattern recognition. Movement routes, guard rotations, servant habits he knew them all by now.

The only things that could give him pause were the elusive shadows of Isolde.

But even they, as a direct result of recent events, must have been stretched dangerously thin.

He couldn’t be certain of their numbers, nobody could.

But between guarding Isolde’s four daughters and handling assassinations, intelligence, and subterfuge in the capital’s underbelly, he doubted any remained glued to her side, talk less of loitering around the mansion.

She didn’t need them, of course. Not as an experienced Anchor. But for him, it was a welcome development.

The guards weren’t an issue. The dungeons always had more than one entrance, and Edrin knew every one of them.

After all, he had grown up within these walls, running through them with his siblings, exploring the manor’s secrets like it was a game.

Now, he moved through its underground with purpose.

The stone beneath his feet was damp and cold, the corridors were hollow, echoing his soft steps back at him.

He descended flights of steps carved directly into the stone, feeling the air grow heavier as he went deeper.

The underground structure was massive. Even he didn’t know how far it went, or what it hid.

Finally, he stopped before a cell.

The boy inside was a stranger, Lugh.

A hidden kin. The bastard son of his late brother. A stain on the legacy of his beloved Isolde.

He had a presence, one that gripped Edrin’s heart with an unspeakable terror. One he buried under bravado, as he always had.

Edrin wasn’t certain of his own feelings.

What was he supposed to say?

How should he react?

Love him?

Hate him?

...Fear him?

Luckily he didn’t have to find the answer anytime soon. Because today, he was not here as an uncle.

...

Lugh stared at the masked figure standing in front of his cell.

Cloaked in heavy robes, the man was motionless, but his presence pushed tension into the room like a blade against skin.

Lugh’s eyes narrowed.

Was this the same person who had attacked Lirienne?

If so, they had already dug an early grave.

But before he could speak, the man did.

"I bring a message from the Church."

The Church?

Lugh’s brow furrowed slightly.

He didn’t respond, not yet.

The man continued.

"The beast crowned in glass."

Lugh froze.

The silence stretched between them like a drawn wire, tight and dangerous.

"We’ll be expecting your audience"

The man finally completed

Lugh exhaled.

"The Church’s influence spreads far and wide"

He muttered.

"To think they even have a spy here."

Edrin’s body jolted from the choice of words, imperceptibly, but enough.

Spy.

Not a messenger. Not an infiltator. A spy.

His thoughts spun. How much does he know?

He opened his mouth to speak, but Lugh cut in before he could.

"You should leave. She’s coming."

"What?"

"If she finds you here, she’ll kill you."

Realization crashed into Edrin like a wave. He turned to leave then paused, his eyes scanning Lugh one final time.

After that, he vanished into the darkness, footsteps soundless as smoke.

Minutes later, the soft echo of footsteps approached, light, almost cheerful.

Isolde entered, cradling a tray of food as though it were a gift, her expression was neutral, but there were hints if a smile in it.

She hadn’t allowed servants to deliver meals. No one else had seen him.

Lugh’s only visitor... was her.

With a practiced flick, the cell door unlocked. She stepped inside and lowered herself gracefully to sit, balancing the tray on her lap. No words. Just silence.

She scooped a spoonful of food and raised it to his lips. His hands remained bound. As always.

With a sigh, Lugh opened his mouth and let the spoon glide in.

His gaze never left her. He watched, eyes dissecting every subtle action

She hadn’t done anything outright yet. Nothing obvious or out of hand.

But the fact she kept coming alone... That meant she didn’t want her behavior seen.

She had been forceful on the first day, trying to coax a confession, to see if he had been the one who harmed Lirienne. That much was clear.

But the shift afterward had been too sudden. Too abrupt.

Yet... she hadn’t changed.

She was still the same person.

So what was this? A performance? A delusion? What was her endgame?

He needed to detach himself. He needed to understand this.

Observe the humans, Xhi had said.

This same woman had locked him up for years completely severing all contact with the outside world.

He wasn’t allowed to go on outings, even his movement in the mansion were limited to a few small halls and corridors.

His mother had died earlier, but at least his father was still alive. Nothing direct could be done to him so she had used indirect methods.

Steadily isolating him from servants and staff, stopping her daughters from interacting with him while slowly poisoning their minds to accept his treatment as a matter of fact.

He was ostracised, and his only companions were books.

When his father died though, the treatment only became worse. He was directly locked in a room similar to how he was now, except _that_ Lugh was a mundane human who couldn’t escape.

Nobody was allowed to see him, only Isolde herself could.

With proper planning, he had eventually escaped from her finding solace in the slums.

Thinking back at it he had every reason to hate this woman. Thinking back at it...

A flicker of something cold and sharp passed through him.

He saw a pattern.

"You’re not truly insane, are you?"

She froze, the spoon halfway to his mouth. Her head tilted slightly, but she said nothing.

He stood, pacing the small room, eyes burning with thought.

"You’re not mad. You never have been. You—"

He stopped to truly look at her.

"What do you want from me?"