The door opened, and he walked in. His steps were heavier than they used to be, and Ceana realized that he looked much older. He sat beside her on the bed and sighed.
For the first time, Ceana realized that he was suffering too. He felt guilty, and it showed.
“Will ye ever forgive me, daughter?” he asked her with hollow eyes.
“I do nae even think I will forgive meself, da.”
“Nay, ye could do naught, but I could have tried. The young man is innocent, and I ken this. Perhaps if I had spoken earlier. Now, my statement would have nay weight.” He sighed deeply once more. “With each day that passes, the young man’s death comes closer. They will kill him, and his blood will be on me head.”
Ceana watched her father speak, and her heart ached. A part of her was angry at him for refusing to speak up, but he was her father, and she loved him. The tormented look on his face was one that she understood. She wouldn’t wish it on her worst enemy, and so she spoke.
“There is nae much ye can do about it now, Faither. Console yerself with the fact that the mob might have turned on mother, Alina, and I.”
“And ye?” he asked her. “What do ye console yerself with?”
Ceana looked away. “Naught, Faither. If Torcall is put to death, ‘tis nae something I would ever recover from.”
“There is naught I can do to save his life, Ceana,” he said, telling her what she already knew.
“I ken, Faither,” she said to him. But he wasn’t done.
“But I can get ye to see him.”
Ceana could only hear the sound of her breathing. Surely, she had misheard him. “Faither?”
He didn’t look at her. Instead, he stared at the wall. “We will have to be fast and leave now. The man on duty drinks heavily at night. If we leave now, we can see him before the next guard comes in to take over.”
Ceana shot out of her bed and enveloped her father into the tightest hug she could for only a moment before reaching for a coat to wear over her nightdress.
“ ‘Twill be cold,” he warned.
“There is nae time.”
As quietly as she could, she snuck into the kitchen and just as she had done the evening before. She grabbed all the food she could carry on her person in a hidden bag. She walked to the entrance of their home where her father was waiting. She tucked the small bag of food under her coat.
“We must leave now.”
Together, the pair began the walk to the prisons. It was barely light outside. The clan was still asleep, and Ceana knew that they needed to be fast. The route seemed to be extending itself until finally, they came into the cells.
Quietly, her father pulled out a bunch of keys and let them in. The prison, like the clan, was silent. It was exactly how she had imagined a prison.
It reeked of evil and hardship. The clan prisons were not so populated. The clan chief was well known for meting out punishments meant to reform while reserving prison time for only the worst offenders.
A shiver ran down her spine as they walked even closer. Realizing that Torcall was being held in such a place made her heart ache.
“Ye will have an hour with him,” her father told her. “When ye hear the large bell being rung, ye must leave immediately.”
Ceana nodded. “Ye will nae wait for me?
“If yer ma wakes and finds us both gone, she will figure it out, and this would ne’er happen again.”
Ceana wanted to hug her father. His words indicated he would help her see Torcall again. Torcall’s cell was located at the farthest place from the entrance.
They passed by the guard who was supposed to be on duty. He was passed out and snoring.
Finally, they arrived at it.
“This here is the key. When ye leave, ye must lock it. Do nae forget the key. I have spares to all keys, and if I am found…”
