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I shook my head, confused, certain Caulder hadn’t raised any tariffs recently, but the soldier roared, “Don’t you dare fucking deny it, you fucker. I know! I’m the one who learned from the people of Realm Tipton that you’re charging them far less than you’re charging us, and they live farther away from you than anyone. So, why? Why, damn you?”
I just stared at him, baffled.
Insulted that I wouldn’t answer, he spit at me and thrashed against the guard holding him to no avail.
I was really getting tired of all the spit.
“How dare you ask me why,” he screamed, “when you’re the ones who started this. You claimed war the moment you turned your back on our offer for an alliance and then upped your prices. You monsters are the ones to blame.”
I almost felt bad for the idiotic Far Shore loyalist. He honestly thought Donnelly had wronged him. He was a true patriot to his homeland.
But he never should’ve taken Vienne’s daughter. That was the last mistake he’d ever make.
Stepping toward him, I murmured, “You’re going to die, regardless. You know that, right? No man can steal a child from his mother for any reason and expect to get away with it.”
His breathing picked up and his limbs began to tremble, but he met my gaze with a bravery I almost respected.
Yeah, he understood.
“But,” I went on. “It’s up to you whether I do it fast or slow. So what else of consequence do you think you can tell me that might inspire some mercy from me, soldier?”
He stared at me a moment before saying, “I can tell you that the handful of us who got in never would’ve breached the castle walls to even reach the babe without help from the inside. You have a traitor in your midst.”
I shuddered out a furious breath and gnashed my teeth, wondering if finally I was going to learn the name of the dark magic bearer. “Who?”
The man merely began to laugh. “Oh, no,” he said. “No. I think it’ll give me pleasure to die knowing you’re clueless as to who betrayed you.” Shaking his head, he grinned and added, “Right under your noses.”
Nodding in acceptance because I hadn’t thought such significant information would be so easily attained, I gazed off toward the setting sun. “Fair enough,” I murmured. “Can you at least tell me how you breached the castle walls?”
Because if the opening to Vienne’s secret tunnel under the moat had been compromised, we were all screwed.
He shrugged. “Sure, I can tell you that. We came in right through the front gate, hid under the wagons that rolled in from the market. No one was the wiser. You really ought to have your gate guards check under there from here on out.”
“Duly noted,” I murmured. “Thanks.”
Smiling my gratitude, I slid the blade of my dagger quickly across his throat.
Gasping for breath, he reached up to stanch the flow of blood that gushed from the cut. Eyes bulging, he gaped at me in astonished betrayal.
“Don’t worry, mate,” I told him encouragingly as I patted the side of his shoulder. “You’ll be dead before you hit the ground. That’s quick and merciful enough for you, isn’t it?”
His eyes locked up with the dull, death stare, and the soldier who’d been holding him let go so he could topple face-first toward the forest floor.
I stepped over his dead body, already pointing at a nearby soldier who was gaping at the man I’d just killed.
“You,” I barked, singling him out. “Get my top commanders sent to me right away and start warning the others to suit up and gather their weapons. We’re going to war.”
At first, the man could only gape.
I clapped my hands and shouted, “Do it now, please!”
“Y-yes, sir.” He stumbled backward away from me before scrambling around so he could race off and do my bidding.
“Shit,” I said under my breath as I ran my hands through my hair. We were going to fucking war. This was not how I wanted to end my day.
Chapter 38
Urban
