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“See? There’s that cheeky rebel I like.”
“You like me? That’s news to me, Cassian.”
“You’re growing on me. Slowly. Like a fungus.”
Jonas managed a grin. “The feeling’s mutual.”
Magnus had returned a message to the Kraeshian rebels with their original raven, ordering them to meet Jonas and Nic upon their arrival.
“I don’t see Felix,” Jonas said under his breath as he surveyed their surroundings. “I thought he might be here.”
There was one person waiting at the end of the docks, standing still next to a sparkling white beach. They walked toward the tall young man with dark skin and pale brown eyes, who nodded at their approach.
“Jonas Agallon?” he asked.
“That’s right.”
“My name is Mikah Kasro. Welcome to Kraeshia.”
Jonas introduced Nic, then asked, “Where’s Felix?”
“Come with me and I’ll explain everything,” Mikah said, scanning the docks. “Too many curious eyes out here.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where Felix is. And then I want to know where King Gaius is.”
“What’s your business with the king?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Everything that happens in Kraeshia is my concern. But I suppose the king’s whereabouts don’t matter much to you now. King Gaius and his new bride left for Mytica several days ago.”
Jonas stared at him. “What did you just say?”
“His new bride?” Nic asked, frowning. “He got married?”
Mikah nodded, his expression grim. “To Princess Amara.”
Nic’s jaw dropped.
This was impossible. Jonas had just arrived, ready to put a dagger in the king’s heart, to die doing it, if necessary.
But the king was gone.
He swore under his breath. “Unbelievable. So Felix went with them, then. Is that why he isn’t here?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what, exactly?”
“Felix is very likely dead by now.”
Jonas’s chest clenched into a painful fist, and he stared questioningly at Mikah.
“He was charged with a very serious crime and was taken to the underground dungeons. Once a prisoner is put down there, the only way they come out is in pieces.”
“What was his crime?”
Again, Mikah glanced back at the happy crowd on the beach. Jonas followed his line of sight. The Kraeshians basked under the sunshine, all of them seemingly clueless as to the darkness of the Jewel that lay so very close by.
