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“If I knew, I’d tell you.”
I folded the reins in my grip and arched an eyebrow. “These lies are tiresome.”
“It’s not a lie, it’s the truth, Arin. Lark feared I’d be a liability, as did you. He told me only the minimum. Just that he knows he can stop Razak.”
“I don’t know what’s true with either of you anymore.” Lark’s final betrayal stung my heart every time I thought of it, and on the march here I’d had too many hours, too much silence, to reimagine our last night together. Every time I recalled it, the pain grew. Loving Lark had hurt me like nothing else.
We fell quiet, with just the sound of pounding rain.
“Do you think my boy is among them?” Draven asked quietly. “To see his face…”
It was possible. But unlikely. “If Razak knows you’re here, which we have to assume he does, then your boy is valuable leverage.” Draven gave a low growl. “Prepare yourself, Draven. When Razak was relatively sane, he’d have killed your son. Now, reasonable minds cannot fathom what Razak will do.”
“I’m going to gut the prick and hang him from his insides.”
“I’d pay good coin to see that.”
“For you, I’ll make it free.”
I smiled, despite the grim surroundings. “Frankly, you’d better hope I don’t get to him first. I’ve designs on that neck of his.”
Draven rubbedhisneck. “A quick death is too good for Razak.”
“Yes, but we are not monsters.” I caught Draven’s eye. “Yet.”
A blue-clad rider and guard broke from our line and crossed the bridge. Neomi dismounted on the other side of the river. Although the rain drowned out her voice, I had no doubt she’d make a convincing case to meet with us. Razak would come. He wouldn’t be able to resist. Would he have Lark with him? What if he’d already taken Lark’s soul, what if Lark was an empty shell? I squeezed my horse’s reins.
“He’ll be all right.”
“You had better pray to the endless winds he is, Draven. If he’s so much as lost another finger, I will make you pay with yours.”
“Hewillbe all right, Arin. Trust him. He knows Razak like no other soul on the shatterlands. If anyone can play that bastard like a fiddle, it’s Lark.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Draven glanced over. I sighed and shifted in my saddle. “Lark fears he and Razak are the same. He fears what he’s capable of, and Razak will do everything in his power to turn Lark into his shadow. They are each their worst enemies.”
“I’m surprised to hear you claim they’re alike. I thought so, at first, but Lark is nothing like his brother.”
“IknowLark. He’ll do anything to bring down Razak, to save the rest of us, even at the expense of his own soul. He’s more than capable of terrible things. I just hope the price isn’t too great. And I hope he succeeds, because if he gets hurt, no amount of warriors, children, or honor will stop me from riding over there to save him. War, Justice, and the rest of you be damned. I’ll burn the shatterlands to ash for Lark, and I hope Razak damn well knows it.”
Draven absorbed the words awhile, then smiled. “Woe will befall anyone who dares cross the King of Love.”
We waited in the rain, staring at the lines of silent children staring back. Razak knew we wouldn’t cut them down. We’d have to find another way into his city, another way to root him out. I couldn’t rely on faith that Lark would save us. We needed a plan to get to Razak. Everything else was secondary. Killing Razak was the only goal.
But how to kill a man with the godlike ability to extract every warrior’s will to fight?
Carefully,Lark would say. I wished he was here, riding a horse alongside me. He’d have laughed at all of us, then ridden on out there and pulled a magic card from his boot, changing the course of fate.
Noemi returned. “Razak will meet with us on this bridge. Look for the purple banner. He’ll be there.”
“Can we kill him during this meeting, or must we negotiate with a mad man?” Draven asked.
Noemi appeared less than impressed with the idea. “We are meeting in the spirit of discussion. I doubt he’ll leave himself exposed to attack. He’ll have protection of some kind.”
I stared at the vacant spot on the bridge where the checkpoint had been abandoned. Razak had stabbed me, tried to kill me, taken my life, my court, my everything from me. But he would not take Lark. I’d kill him with my bare hands if it came to it.
“We must negotiate, for the sake of the children,” Noemi said.
