We all turned in our chairs, and I gasped when I saw a familiar broad face with dark blond hair combed and tied back with a strip of leather.
‘Come sit, Cillian.’Lord Warwick gestured to the table.
Cillian looked towards me, but there was no room with Atlas and Torgrin sitting on either side of me, so he took a seat next to Tomas.
‘Cillian is from Capita.’
Why had Cillian never said that he came from Capita?
‘I knew Cillian as the best blacksmith in the city, and several years ago, King Hared commissioned him to extend the cells of the old dungeon.’
Lord Warwick’s words continued to astound me.Cillian had never mentioned any of this to me during all the time we had known each other.He must have felt me staring at him.Our eyes met for a second before Lord Warwick spoke again.
‘Is it true that you know the layout of the cells?’Lord Warwick asked Cillian.
‘Yes, my lord,’ he replied.
‘Would you know how to free someone from the cells you worked on?’
‘Yes, I suppose,’ he admitted.
‘Do you hold any love for your king, Cillian?’Lord Warwick stared at Cillian intently.‘You are free to speak the truth here.None of us have any love for King Hared.’
Cillian looked at me.I nodded to him to signify that Lord Warwick was telling the truth and not trying to trap him into treason.
‘I don’t care for him.He is to blame for my wife and child’s deaths.’
Lord Warwick’s lips pulled down at the corners, and the grooves in his face deepened.He knew the loss of a wife.‘What you are about to learn must not be repeated to anyone who is not here in this room already,’ Lord Warwick intoned.‘Understood?’he asked Cillian.
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘Queen Yaris has been imprisoned by the king.’
Cillian looked around at us to see if this was a joke.Seeing how serious everyone was, he turned his attention back to Lord Warwick.
‘We intend to rescue her with your help.If you agree to this, I wish for you to travel to Capita with my daughter and a small guard to help us on our rescue mission,’ finished Lord Warwick.
‘No!’I stood up as fear gripped me.‘He’s not a soldier.It’s too dangerous!’
I looked around the room, and all I saw was pity in everyone’s eyes.
‘Torgrin, please?’I begged.Surely Torgrin wouldn’t want someone untrained to risk derailing our mission?
‘Caris!’Cillian glared at me as if asking Torgrin to step in was an insult.But I didn’t care if it hurt his pride.If he stayed in Murus, he would be safe.
‘Say no, Cillian.Please!’I begged him, but he wouldn’t look at me.Instead, he kept his face turned to Lord Warwick.
‘I’ll do as you need, my lord,’ he said.
I sat back down in my chair heavily.The rest of the meeting was a blur.All I could focus on was how much danger Cillian wasputting himself in.He was a blacksmith, not a soldier.I was furious at him for risking his life for a queen who probably cared nothing for her people.I listened to them talk, noticing again how Cillian’s accent was similar to Lord Warwick’s.Now I knew why.They were both Capita men.
CHAPTER 18
We only had a few days to prepare.I’d had no time to talk with Cillian, and I was still angry with him for being so obstinate.
Bethel was gliding around the fortress with her nose high and her eyes gleaming.I escorted her into the city almost daily to get gowns, beauty ointments and tonics.She was congenial to everyone except me, not that her lack of friendship bothered me.
Torgrin seemed unaffected by Bethel’s upcoming wedding.He was not acting as a jealous lover would – I would think a man suffering from heartbreak wouldn’t be going about preparations so efficiently.Maybe he had told me the truth, and their affair was over.Not that it mattered to me.
