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Belin returned to his place at Miles’ side, hand once again resting on the hilt of his sword, eyes pinned firmly to me. “We can’t march the entire army to Blindbarrow before we lead it to Eserene. Castemont had spies everywhere within Eserene’s walls. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some in Blindbarrow. They’ll send a raven the second you arrive, and that’ll give Castemont time to prepare. When the time comes, the army must march straight for Eserene.”
“I’d be happy to lead your army to Eserene on your behalf, your Majesty,” Whit declared, the formality so unlike his normal amusing self that it took me a moment to realize what he was saying. “I can get them safely through the Onyx Pass.”
Nell stepped forward. “I’ll help.”
I nodded, suppressing a shudder at the thought of the Pass. “Thank you. Anyone who is able and willing to fight, bring them. Leave the elderly, the children, and anyone unable or unwilling. My mother and Solise will stay here in Taitha.” I nodded to myself at the half-plan I’d made. “I suppose the rest of us will travel to Blindbarrow.”
Miles stepped forward, the Myrin brothers standing like pillars on either side of me. “The smaller the group, the better. If all hell breaks loose and if for some reason you can’t fight, you’ll need someone there who is able to strike down Umbri. I’ll escort you, your Majesty.”
“You’re not going without me,” Belin interjected, raw possessiveness not hidden in his tone. Something carnal rolled up my spine, the feeling quickly spreading to every limb as I fought to tamp it down.
Miles surveyed him, and something unspoken passed between the two of them. “Very well,” he answered. “The three of us will travel to Blindbarrow for Umbri.”
“Then to Eserene for Castemont,” I added.
Kauvras smiled, assessing his son where he stood, but his stare finally,finallyfell on Miles, his smile slipping and eyes narrowing as they flashed back and forth between brothers. “This isn’t…”
Miles stepped forward, the picture of a perfect soldier. “Lieutenant Miles Landgrave. Formerly…” He hesitated, the façade of a lieutenant falling away for a split second. “Formerly Tobyas Vic Myrin.”
Kauvras’ face softened for a moment as he stared at Miles. “Somebody told me Arimara had a son. A second son, apparently.” Miles’ only answer was a small nod as the man stared at him, his face quickly becoming unreadable once again as he sat back. “You know, your father is the reason she’s gone.”
Shock rang through each of us as the words echoed off the cold stone walls and settled at our feet. The Myrin brothers were statues, both of them so still that neither appeared to be breathing. “You know who my father is?” Miles asked, his voice not betraying what I knew was brewing inside him.
“I do. But your father has no idea who you are.” Kauvras’ face morphed into something sinister, a smile forming that was cunning and wicked, not the man who’d agreed to be my ally mere moments ago. “You two do have some similarities.”
I saw the muscles twitching in Miles’ jaw as he searched for something to say. Belin had gone completely still beside him. “Who is he?”
“I loved her, you know,” he murmured, ignoring Miles’ question. “And your father is the reason she was taken from me.”
The air in the throne room had gone cold and crackling. Belin’ nostrils flared. “You left her.”
“To protect her,” Kauvras snapped, his breath heaving from his chest before a fragile calm settled over him. “I had no idea…” I watched as his eyes flickered between unhinged madness and sanity, hysteria and rationality. “I didn’t know she was pregnant. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Belin glared, his eyes brimming with raw hostility. “Is that why you had me chained and thrown back in the dungeon when you discovered who I was?”
Kauvras flew to his feet, staring down from the dais. “I had no ch–”
A pained scream pierced the air as the Rebel King dropped to his knees, face twisted in pain as he clawed at the leathers on his chest. He dropped forward onto his hands, his fingers flexing for purchase on the stone floor. Horror rose in my gut as he scratched at the ground, fingernails quickly breaking and going bloody as agonized screams erupted from him.
His guards rushed to his side but he threw his hands out to stop them before clawing at the ground again, the sound of skin grinding against stone audible between his cries.
“What the fuck is going on?” Whit yelled.
Belin closed the gap between them, locking his father’s wrists in his hands as Kauvras continued to writhe and scream. “Look at me,” he commanded, but still the Rebel King howled. “Look at me!”
His back went straight as an arrow, every muscle in his body contracting, a garbled whisper fighting to leave his mouth. But whatever he was trying to say lodged in his throat. His back arched once again, another scream tearing through him. Back to the ground he fell, squirming as tremors wracked his body. He was going mad once again.
“We’ll leave for Blindbarrow now,” Miles declared, his eyes stuck to Kauvras.
“No.” My head turned to take in each member of my court, four sets of eyes darting back and forth from me to the frenzy I stood before. “We leave for Blindbarrow at dawn. There’s something I need to do first.”
? ? ?
I’d been stoking my fire for hours now, letting it crackle and grow. “Stay far back,” I commanded the crowd of onlookers standing behind me. Summercut had arranged for masked soldiers to patrol both sides of the fields, ensuring that no one would venture too close to the smoke that would soon hang in the air.
The Rhedrosian Mountains rose high above the fields of leechthorn. I could see the Iron Rise standing taller than the rest of the range, an eerie orange glow radiating from its peak. The sea of violet swayed peacefully in the moonlight, each bloom’s poisonous truth hiding behind unassuming petals. How could something so beautiful be the cause of so much torment?
A delicate hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned to see Solise’s kind face peering up at me. The corner of her eyes were crinkled beneath upturned brows. “Do you remember what I told you back in Inkwell?”
