After walking around the basement, Edmund finally found out there were twenty children locked up down there.
Some of them looked terrified, their bodies shaking as they held onto the cage bars. But others looked strangely calm… too calm. Like they had stopped caring whether they lived or died.
That was when Edmund understood. The frightened ones had probably only been trapped there for a few weeks, maybe a few months.
But the calm ones? They had been there for so long that their skin had turned pale, so pale it was obvious they hadn't seen sunlight in ages.
Edmund took a slow step closer. "I'm not here to hurt you," he said softly. He was careful with his tone, because he didn't want to scare them even more.
Then he lowered himself and knelt in front of the cages, making sure he didn't look like a threat. "I'm here to save you," he added.
