"Most of the miners who were tricked or sold into that place were in their twenties. They dug for sixteen hours a day, were whipped by overseers, ate food fit for pigs, and slept in tunnels where daylight never reached. They never saw a ray of sunshine, and they never would again."
Mrs. Phelan's sobs gradually subsided into quiet sniffling as she listened to Annan.
"If they fell ill, they were dragged into the Abandoned Mine Tunnel and left to fend for themselves. The dead were thrown down mine shafts or into the deep mountains; those who survived were hauled back to work. Did you know the laborers in the Broken Mountains lived to an average age of no more than twenty-five?"
Annan had not compiled exact figures, but none of the laborers Little Smo and the others had rescued were over thirty.
As for whether older workers were turned away or sent off... Annan doubted anyone had been that kind.
"The youngest miner was only twelve. Do you remember what you were doing at twelve? But they had to burn through their lives and die on the Coal Mountain, all to become the bloodstained Gold Narls your husband earned."
"Oh, heavens..."
Mrs. Phelan covered her mouth. Tears had smudged her makeup into two black streaks down her cheeks.
"I... I never knew the company did such things..."
"Now you know. Do you still think I was wrong to free them?"
"You're practically a Holy Knight."
"As it happens, I really am a Grail Knight Squire."
"How did you manage that?"
Mrs. Phelan gave a soft cry of surprise. Whether she was naive or simply scatterbrained, she seemed to forget she had come to plead for her husband. Instead, she listened quietly as Annan told her how he had become