CHAPTER 134
Mathew Sterrn had been walking for hours, the stone corridors stretching like an endless maze. The air inside the Northern Prison grew heavier the deeper he went. Each step echoed against the walls, the sound swallowed quickly by the damp. Torches lined the walls in uneven intervals, their flames low and brittle. Shadows clung to corners, seeming to shift when he passed.
He kept his cloak drawn close. The cold here was different from the winds outside, this was the chill of stone and despair. His boots scraped grit with every step, reminding him how few men came down this deep unless they had no choice.
Two guards trailed behind, sent as escorts, though Mathew knew they were just as much watchers as protectors. Neither spoke, their silence thick as the stale air. Every time he slowed to study a door, he felt their eyes on him.
