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Tears stung Riona’s eyes as she read the end of the letter, and she dried them with a sleeve before tucking the papers into her waistband. Her instincts had been right the whole time—Cathal had never been the villain. He had been good, honorable, and noble until the moment he died. All he had ever wanted was to save his kingdom from destruction.
“I thought I heard a rat poking around in here,” a gruff voice said.
Riona started and dropped the match, which immediately burnt out. A figure stood across the room, holding back the curtain separating the office from the bedchamber. She couldn’t make out his features in the faint light bleeding in from the tunnel, but two details were immediately apparent: he washuge,and he was holding a sword.
The overseer started toward her. “Who are you, little rat? I don’t have any girls in my mine.”
She rose and stared straight at him, forcing a bravado she didn’t feel. “I am King Domhnall’s niece, Lady Riona Nevis,” she said, her hand drifting up to make sure that the letters were still hidden under the drape of her tunic. “I am looking into the circumstances surrounding Treasurer Cathal’s murder. I know you two were friends. He told you his doubts about the king.”
The overseer paused. “He’s dead?”
“Yes. He was stabbed in the chest multiple times while attempting to flee the capital with evidence of the mine’s existence. I believe the king was behind it, and I came here to find answers.”
His head turned toward the archway. “No one’s supposed to know about this place.”
Thank you for stating the obvious.“I know the king has been running these mines for years. I know he has been sending you prisoners from across the country. But I need proof.” As she spoke, Riona silently prayed that he wouldn’t notice her slowly inching toward the exit. “I need your help to avenge Cathal’s murder.”
The overseer glanced about the room, taking in the fine furnishings. He was weighing what she had said against the king’s bribes. The silence stretched out between them. Riona stared at the sword in his hand, her heart pounding so hard she was certain he could hear it.
I will not die here.
At last, he lifted his sword, the blade glinting in the sliver of light from the tunnel.
Riona snatched as many papers as she could from the desk’s open drawer, then hurtled toward the archway. The dagger was still strapped to her thigh, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe she could fight off the overseer. He was at least twice her size, and she wouldn’t be able to get close enough to slip inside his guard.Use your speed to your advantage,Auberon’s voice whispered, urging her faster.Run, aramati!
RUN!
Riona flung the curtain aside just as the overseer reached out and knotted his fingers in her braids. Pain ignited in the back of her skull, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. The last thing she needed was to wake the miners.
“Not fast enough, girl,” the overseer chided as he flung her back into the office.
She hit the ground hard and rolled, letting out a groan when her back struck the side of the desk, another flare of agony shooting through her battered ribs. The chair toppled, hitting the ground with a sharpcrack!Distantly, Riona heard people stirring in the nearby caverns.
The overseer loomed over her, still holding his sword. There was no doubt in her mind that he could take her head clean off with one swing.
“You can’t kill me,” Riona wheezed as she pushed to her hands and knees. Out of his line of sight, she slowly reached for the dagger at her thigh. “I’m the king’s niece. Kill me, and you will have sentenced yourself to death.”
He paused, and that moment of hesitation was all she needed.
Riona shot to her feet and drove the blade upward, hot blood splattering across her face as it tore through fabric and flesh. The overseer dropped his sword and stumbled backward, a hand rising to the slit in his sleep tunic. Riona stalked toward him. She wasn’t sure exactly where she had stabbed him, and she needed to make sure that he wouldn’t survive to tell her uncle she’d found the mine.
“Bitch,” he spat. When she thrust the dagger at his heart—exactly as Auberon had taught her—the overseer caught her wrist in one meaty hand and wrenched it to the side. A cry of pain escaped her as the dagger’s blood-slick handle slipped from her grasp. “You don’t get away that easily.”
He threw her against the wardrobe. Her head snapped back and struck the wood, causing stars to dance in her vision as she fell to her knees. The overseer picked up his sword and approached her. Riona groaned, struggling to stand. She would not die here.
She wouldnotdie here.
The overseer laughed. “Oh, you’re spirited, that’s for sure. There’s no doubt you have Nevis blood running through your veins.”
“I’m— I’m trying to help. I—”
He lifted the sword and slammed the pommel down on her head. Everything went black.
ChapterForty-Eight
The Liar
They rode in heavy, worried silence, their horses thundering along the road to Crafford. Every muscle in Auberon’s body was taut, charged with an anxious, restless energy that kept him hunched and low in his saddle. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that they had no ideawherein the Howling Mountains Riona actually was. The range spanned half of Rivosa’s coast, and they would be searching blindly. She could be anywhere.
