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I stared down in fascination, wondering why the kingsmen didn’t simply hand me over. I couldn’t understand their resistance. I also believed that Regin was lying to the king to prevent an attack. Yes, the purple haze held me captive, but the kingsmen had proved that they could use the crystals elsewhere. Yet they were not sharing that information with the king and his men.
The king looked up at the window. I backed away, not wanting him to see me, fearing that the sight of me would only make the situation worse. I could see the tension was high, and Regin was trying his best to avert the impending storm.
“I mean,” Regin looked over his shoulder at his fellow kingsmen. “We would hand her off if we could. But we cannot risk her regaining her strength and destroying us all with very little effort if her magic was restored.”
Sigmun nodded and added a smile to help Regin’s story. “Aye.”
The other kingsmen did not seem so willing to appease the king, remaining silent.
“Plus,” Regin continued. “No one but the four of us can enter the fortress. You and your men could try, but you would fail. And I can’t say that you would survive trying to do so.”
“What is this dark magic of yours?” the king asked.
“It takes dark magic to fight dark magic,” Troylus countered. “And we are doing as you originally asked. We will find out what Zelladine did with Briar and have the curse lifted. But none of this can be done if we don’t have the queen in our possession.”
The scowl on the king’s face revealed he was not pleased in the slightest. He pulled his horse forward and began walking along the edge of the thick purple seeping all around the stone structure of my prison. He never once got close enough to touch, but you could see that he was looking if there was a way to penetrate the smoke.
“You men would be wise to not deceive me,” the king said with skepticism washing across his face.
The kingsmen said nothing but allowed the king to circle his horse around them in the hope of quenching his doubt.
Troylus finally spoke. “King Basil, we will complete our mission soon. That is what you sought our services for, and that is what we shall do. We will break Zelladine as we said we would do, but it will be us doing the breaking and no one else.”
King Basil guided his horse to join his men. “Do not fool yourselves, men. You cannot stand against me. Don’t allow your arrogance or your reputation alone to convince you otherwise.” He paused and looked at each of his men on steeds. “My patience is growing thin. Remember that.” Kicking the sides of his horse, he rode off with his men riding behind him.
When the king and his men were gone, Troylus was the first to speak. “Pompous ass.”
“I don’t think we made his royal ass happy,” Sigmun added with a chuckle.
“I think he was trying to figure out a way in,” Gripir said.
“Yes.” Troylus nodded. “I have a feeling the king will return. But this time, with a far greater army than four men. I don’t think he was expecting us to not hand over Zelladine.”
I walked away from the window and sat back down on my bed, wondering why the kingsmen had fought to keep me here with them. It was unlike any man to not cower before the king’s will, and I had never seen anything like it. These men had shown me that they were far stronger than I had anticipated, but watching them below my window proved it so much more. I had always considered men weak when it came to the rule of a king.
With the kingsmen, I was wrong.
CHAPTER 12
“Foes on the hills ahead,” Troylus announced, sliding off his steed as he entered the fortress.
He nodded, glancing over the kingsmen. His eyes then fell on me standing beside them near the well. The kingsmen had agreed to allow me to get some fresh air and sunlight in the exposed courtyard, and we were drinking some water pulled from the well when Troylus came storming in.
Scowling slightly when he glanced down at my ankle and saw me free from my shackles, Troylus continued, “There was word of an approaching army with the intent to defeat the mighty kingsmen. I rode out to see if this were true myself. Indeed, there is an army approaching. Smaller than most armies, but there are far more of them than us. But we will not cower. Zelladine, remain at my side. Men, form in front of the fortress and be sure to protect the queen. If she falls, so do we. She is ours to protect at whatever cost.”
Animated by the prospect of a fight, the kingsmen scattered to their positions. I stood alongside Troylus waiting to see what was about to unfold. He led me toward the entrance of the fortress but would not allow me to exit as the kingsmen had.
