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“Give me a day. Let me see what information I can gather and let my side heal. Come back tomorrow at this time if you can get around the guards. I’ll try to find a way to reach the window.”
Paesha’s words crept through the small window with frightening severity. “Once Orin finds out where you are… all bets are off.”
I placed my hand on the cold stone wall, wishing I could just take it down. Not for him. But for the women who had come regardless of the danger. “Then don’t tell him. Stay in the apartment if you have to. If he gets reckless and mistakes are made, someone’s going to die.”
“Just don’t let it be you, Maiden.”
I swallowed, my sadness letting the moment hang between us. “Paesha? Thea?”
“Still here,” Paesha whispered. “For as long as we can be.”
I nodded, though I knew she couldn’t see me lying in the fetal position in a puddle of my own blood, feet away from a dead body. “Thank you for coming.” I managed another haggard breath. “If I don’t?—”
“Don’t do that,” she hissed. “Don’t lose your fight. No goodbyes. Not one.”
“I think I need to sleep now.”
“Just be careful,” Thea said, full of worry. The metal from their boat scraped against the stone exterior for several silent minutes, even as my eyes drifted shut.
I woke hours later to a guard sleeping on the stairs. If they came back, he’d be a problem. Still sore, though not as bad, I closed my eyes and replayed every moment I had with the family that was never truly mine. I think I’d learned what love was in those stolen days. Somewhere in the laughter of an old man and the kindness of a worried mother. The reach of a child and the embrace of two fearless women. And though I hated to admit it, I learned more about love with Orin than anywhere else. I’d let myself be vulnerable with him. Full of anger one moment and heaps of passion the next. I’d learned that love, no matter the depth, would always leave a mark on your soul. Even if you walked away from it, that wound would never heal. Love was finding yourself lost in the world and realizing that, in the arms of your family, you had discovered the most profound and enduring sanctuary, where your heart could always find its way back home.
Maybe it was formed on a lie, and maybe they’d been the ones to keep it, but they were still my family, and until they cast me away, that was home. There would need to be a conversation. Apologies from both sides because I’d gone there at the very beginning under false pretenses, too. I wasn’t perfect. But I needed them. With or without Orin. The second I’d stood before Drexel Vanhoff, I’d wanted to run in the other direction. Straight back to Orin. I wanted to take away the pain in his words for both of us. He’d lied, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get over that, but that mark he’d left on my heart remained.
The door creaked open again, jarring the so-called guard to wake. I imagined morning had come, though I wasn’t sure of the time, and the window betrayed nothing when the sun remained hidden. A bevy of people descended into the dungeon. Staring into unknown faces, I rose on slightly steadier feet, preparing myself for the final man who clomped down the steps like a horse, his layers of clothing making him look two sizes bigger than he likely was. With furs over his shoulders and a sword strapped to his side, he took up more room than anyone else by half as they lined up outside my cell.
“Good morning, King Slayer. Did you sleep well?” Icharius drew his sword and dragged it along the bars as if he were playing an instrument.
“Quite well,” I sneered. “So kind of you to ask.”
“I thought we could start this day with a game. Do you see these wretches?”
I studied my nails rather than give away the rapid beat of my heart. “No. I’ve gone blind overnight.”
He laughed, though it was so disingenuous it caused my skin to prickle. “Look at the faces. Study them.” Gripping the face of the youngest woman until her gaunt cheeks disappeared behind his gloves, he pulled her forward. “Do you think she deserves to die?”
“No,” I answered, frankly.
He shoved her away. “You don’t know her. How can you be so sure?”
“I have no interest in your games. What do you want from me?”
“I told you. I’m going to break you, just like you broke my poor little heart.” He dipped those words in enough sarcasm that one of his guards flashed a smile.
I said nothing, turning away to sit on my cot.
“Andros!” he screamed, calling the guard from yesterday to step forward. “Open the cell.”
I didn’t look as several of the small crowd gasped, indicating they believed I was a bigger threat than he was. They had no idea. That was a world he’d built. But there was something else here. Something I believed Icharius might have been putting together far quicker than I had.
The moment the cell was open, he shoved Andros inside and quickly locked it. “You will kill him, Maiden, or every hour on the hour, someone from this group will fall prey to… my skills. Take one life to save ten lives; that’s the choice you’re faced with. Shall I bring in a giant hourglass for you, or can you count?”
I ran for the bars, shaking the iron in my hands as I threatened him. “The only death you will see from my hands will be your own, King. Only yours.”
He laughed all the way back up the stairs as the group followed behind him. I’d played this damn game before. He knew I would choose the greater good. But why did he care? Why did he need to push me?
“He’s trying to anger you, Princess,” Andros said with a look of grim resignation. “You need not fight him. Just kill me and be done with it.”
Chapter 50
