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I turned to see my would-be-captor lying on the ground with an arrow through his chest and blood spilling from his still-open mouth.
Behind me, Baudwin and the other man were shouting at one another in confusion.
I didn’t know whether to face them, join them, or run out of the alley. Before I could finish deciding, I heard the sound of pounding hooves, then caught a glimmer of steel flashing past me.
I fell back against the wall of the alley as a stallion sped past me. I glimpsed a man in the uniform of a Royal Guard sitting tall and upright in the saddle, his weapon drawn and ready.
The shouts behind me rapidly became screams.
By the time I stood up again, it was already too late. Baudwin and the cloaked man were crumpled on the ground, blood pooling around them.
I stared at their bodies, horrified.
The guard on the horse dismounted quickly and strode towards me, gripping me by the shoulders.
“Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”
I recognized the voice. I forced myself to focus.
The white linen and black leather of the guard’s uniform. The glint of a silver ring in his ear. Dark hair falling over his brow.
I pulled away from Kairos Draven as hard as I could, stepping backwards until I hit the wall.
“You,” I said in disbelief. “You’ve killed them all. Why? Why did you do that?”
“Because they were about to kill you or worse.” There was a brutally cold look in his eyes that told me this was not the first time he’d done something like this.
“But–” I stuttered. “Baudwin was...”
“He led you into this alley, did he not?” Kairos Draven interrupted. “You trusted him and he betrayed you to these men.”
“He–” Then I remembered. “You know him. From the hunt. He led us.”
Draven nodded darkly “I remember him. I would have hoped for better.”
“You knew he would be here,” I realized. “You came... looking for the note on the pillar.”
“A good thing I did.” He glanced at the bodies. “I’ll have to inform the king about this.”
“No,” I exclaimed. “You must not. You must promise me you will not.”
He met my eyes, his expression stubborn as steel. “I won’t promise any such thing.”
“You would betray the hunters?” I asked desperately.
He shook his head. “I’ll leave that part out. But this?” He gestured to the three dead men. “An attack on the king’s sister’s life? He must be told of it.”
“I...” I stopped. How could I explain to this man that nothing good would possibly come of telling my brother? “Very well. Now?”
He hesitated. Finally a second of indecision on his handsome face. “Tomorrow. I’ll report it to Sir Ector and Dame Halyna tonight, however. If they insist on sharing the information with the king immediately, however, then...”
“Yes, I understand.” I started to walk past him. My leather boot slipped and I looked down to see I’d stepped in the third man’s blood. The dagger he held against my throat lay abandoned now, a few feet from his unmoving hand.
I stared at it. Three men had just died because of me. Baudwin was dead. He seemed to have had no idea what the other men planned. He had good intentions. Who would lead the group now? What would become of them?
I thought of Yaryna, who Baudwin had mentioned. Did the group believe I’d been sent to spy on them? Was that why they had done this?
“You claimed they didn’t hurt you and yet you’re bleeding,” Draven observed. “Your throat.”
