Redd stared at them from the passage, his face twisting in a way he could not hide. "The doors are open," he said, not loudly, but enough for the nearest cell to hear. "You can come out now."
One of the children looked toward him, then away again.
Ludwig felt Wrath flare inside him. It wanted walls crushed, screams answered with screams, every holy symbol in this buried place smashed until the city above finally heard what it had been built upon. But this time he understood exactly where to direct the anger. The children were not refusing help out of stubbornness. They were not staying because their wounds made walking impossible. Whatever had happened here had taken away the part of them that believed an open door led anywhere better.
"You cannot force them," Kaiser said quietly.
"I know," Ludwig replied.
Knowing did not make it easier.
