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“At the time, he said it was because the Teeth denied him the ship he was promised, so he asked if I would provide him with one if he saved me,” she said. “I said yes. But then he later told me he did it because they said they were going to kill me…and he couldn’t let that happen.”
“How did you get him a ship?”
“I haven’t yet,” she said. “I put him in the dungeon as punishment for what he did.”
I stared at my daughter, but I no longer saw her face. All I saw was the edge of my sword slicing through bone. Rage like I’d never known exploded through me, and I was on my feet so fast I knocked the chair back.
“Father, no.” Harlow got to her feet. “I promised I wouldn’t kill him.”
“And I made no such promise.” I left the dining table and headed to the door.
“Father, I know you’re angry right now.” She grabbed me by the arm and tried to drag me like she did as a child. “But I promised him I wouldn’t kill him—”
I twisted out of her grasp. “Ivory. Atticus.”
“Nooooo!”
Atticus grabbed his sister, and Ivory helped.
Harlow’s screams followed me all the way down the hall. “Stop! Father, stop!”
I made it to the main part of the castle and then the staircase, descending to the bottom where the dungeons were tucked underneath the castle, prisoners never allowed to see the light of day.
I stepped into the dungeon and found him in the cage in the corner, leaning against the wall with his ankles and arms crossed. “Unlock it,” I barked at the guard without even looking him in the face.
I approached the bars and looked into the cage, seeing the man stare back at me, not a shred of fear in his youthful face. He was smug—just as I expected him to be. I stared as the guard went to the cabinet to retrieve the key.
The man stared back, like he knew exactly who I was and the reason for my visit. “That’s why Harlow’s screaming.”
I couldn’t hear her at all. “Say her name again, and I’ll torture you first.”
The guard came over and fumbled with the key.
“I assumed you would interrogate me,” he said, far too calm for someone about to be executed. “Seems like a waste, considering I worked directly with the Teeth.”
The guard fumbled the key again, terrified of the tension between the two of us. He finally got the cell unlocked and swung the door forward.
He kept his position against the wall.
The dungeon was small, too small for my blade to swing around without hitting bars. So I removed my sword and handed it to the guard before I pulled out my dagger instead and walked in.
Now, he straightened, facing me as an enemy, though he had no weapon.
“Lock the door behind me,” I ordered.
The guard turned the key, and the chain clanked against the metal bars.
He watched me.
I gripped the dagger, the blade pointing to the floor, wondering what I would go for first. I made my move, slicing the blade across his throat.
He ducked at the perfect time and moved to the other wall of the cell. “I didn’t want to do it. The Teeth forced my hand.”
I rushed him again, knowing there was nowhere to go.
He managed to dodge it, despite the small space filled with two grown men. “I’m not an abductor. I have much more important shit to do than take someone’s daughter. But if I didn’t do it, then my people were going to die.”
This time, I slashed and slashed, kept going, not stopping until I finally drew some blood.
