Chapter 18
They had him for hours,” sobbed Xander. “Look what they’ve done!” He shook the boy’s shoulders. “Robbie, Robbie, it’s me, wake up!”
“He’ll have no waking in this world, lad,” a mournful voice said. Sinner John pulled Xander off the body to allow Duncan and Ishmael to lift it. “He’s rising with merciful angels now.”
They carried Robbie to the scullery table as Olivia and the porter took the stunned Xander into the dining room. Duncan clenched his jaw and began to examine the body. The boy had been cruelly used. The inch-wide abrasions on his forearms showed where he had been bound by straps. His shoes had been removed and the bones of one foot were broken, smashed with repeated blows of what looked like a hammer. His head had been beaten with a cudgel or narrow club, leaving i
