The gate creaked open, allowing Toran into the small chamber where his father was being kept—a room more like a cell.
Toran stared at his father, observing his disheveled state. The man reeked of the word unkept. Just as the King had declared, no one attended to this male.
No bath. No treatment. Poor meals.
Magnus looked like a battered man abandoned on the streets. His hair was messy, skin pale, his clothes marred with dirt, and the dried blood from the banquet ceremony still stained his inner pants—the only fabric that clad him.
Magnus slowly met his gaze, chest rising and falling weakly. His eyes were empty.
*Toran*
Magnus mind-linked him. Toran’s blank expression shifted momentarily before he spoke.
“You look like s**t, Father. Lucky for you, creatures like us can mind-link—if n
