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Jeryn’s eyes slitted, his expression capable of beheading a lesser mortal. “Don’t fucking insult me.”
As much as I detested the man, Jeryn’s conclusion held weight as I recalled something Rhys had said, back when I’d set him on fire.
We can’t burn because wecreatedfire!
He’d been bragging, tooting his tiny horn. Be that as it may, he wasn’t merely being figurative. On his previous visit when Briar was banished, the king had brought Summer tinder with him, snippets of which I’d stolen and used to rotisserie his body during that lightning storm. However, spontaneous combustion wasn’t the only organic magic of his court. Pepper any blaze with the ashes of Summer tinder, and those flames could be controlled from its source, triggered by an invisible link that even Aire’s uncanny ability would fail to notice.
Anyone possessing the original kindling had the power to manipulate those corresponding fires, no matter how large or small. Nature and the almighty Seasons yielded an exuberance of elemental magic. Summer created fire, which meant whoever wielded that power could also extinguish it.
That left no other way to reignite the blazes and illuminate the fortress. Every hearth would require new timber, and every candle would need a replacement, and so forth. Until then, the complex would remain in darkness.
Rhys’s cult. He’d armed them with an effective means to stamp out the stronghold, including the hidden passages, so they could travel undetected. Likely, they’d done so more than once over the past few days, often enough to distribute the tinder ashes onto every taper, sconce, and fireplace in the castle.
That stood to reason. Yet I found it harder to believe the absence of light would get them past an army of skilled warriors guarding the tunnels. Moreover, we’d received no reports of anything out of the ordinary, such as random blackouts in the channels.
Nay. There had to be more to this.
With a hiss, I ordered the clan to get Nicu out of here, then ripped a dagger from its sheath and extended it to Avalea. Because my tongue was desperate, my next words delivered a sucker punch, from one parent to another. “What would Briar want you to do?”
Avalea’s visage collapsed. With a livid gasp, she swiped the blade’s hilt and aimed the tip at my heart. “You bring her back,” she commanded, her voice cracking like thunder. “One hour. I’m giving you one hour, or so help me, I’ll tear down these walls myself.”
Nodding, I tore around and stalked through the quad. My boots hit the ground, scorching a murderous trail to the outer west wing.
They wanted my thorn? They would have to play with her jester first.
Two pairs of heavy footfalls aligned with my own. One of them, I didn’t need to question. The metal rings of Aire’s hauberk rattled with his movements. Sentinels and troops already patrolled the exterior outlets leading to and from the castle. Enroute, the First Knight shouted additional instructions. “Remain at your posts!” he told them. “Disobey this order, and you’ll answer to me!”
Once again, this warrior had accessed my thoughts. The invaders would expect a swarm of hornets, not a few lone panthers. Another reason I couldn’t afford to do this with a squad; the element of surprise would throw off my targets.
But why the fuck Jeryn bothered tagging along remained to be seen. As usual, he didn’t explain himself. Not that I had time to give a soulless shit.
Then again, this man kept his cards far too close for my taste. When I reached the nearest discreet entrance and halted by a nondescript door shrouded in foliage, I seethed a warning. “Hear this, Prince of Dark Medicine. If that scalpel knife gets within a centimeter of Briar’s vital organs, I won’t be merciful.”
Jeryn’s features hardened into a scowl. “My property is in there. I’d rather not have it tampered with.”
Aire grimaced in disapproval but withheld his moral retort.
Ah. The maddened prisoners.
I would have flayed Winter for this statement, but every second apart from Briar was a second too long. I’d seen the brutality this sadistic prince was capable of, the swift edge of his knife alone could sever a trespasser’s head in milliseconds, and I didn’t have all night to cherry-pick an alternate reinforcement. At least, not one educated in anatomy and trained to deliver exacting cuts the way this man could.
Jeryn shrugged off his coat. Wisely concluding the extraneous material would cause a lag in movement, he tossed the fur garment aside.
Flattening my palm on the door, I pushed it open. We stepped into a hollow corridor, pitch black sucking us into its maw. I heard rather than saw the knight and prince pursue me, shutting the threshold behind us.
We might as well be walking through a tomb. Quiet descended, the dank air snuck through my open shirt and coat, and tar black swallowed us whole. Twisting sideways, I slithered along the wall whilst extracting the first dagger.
From behind, I listened as Aire unsheathed one sword whilst Jeryn unhitched his knife. Having memorized the fortress’s layout, I counted my paces and traced my fingertips along the paneling. Like this, we ghosted between the halls and mezzanines, submerging ourselves deeper into the bowels of the castle.
This western sector was comprised of the Royal wing, the library wing, the relic vault, and the dance gallery where Briar had watched me train. All of which were obvious red flags. My thorn would have evacuated this area by now, having drawn the conclusion that enemies would search here first for her.
Despite that, I needed to be sure, needed to check this area before moving on. Verily, my fingers suffocated the dagger and staff as I recalled one other crucial fact. The king was the only other Royal occupying the complex, restricted to private house arrest by his wife and peers. Remembering this, I tamped down a growl.
Aire took the right wall, Jeryn the left, with me prowling down the center. Every so often, moonlight filtered through a window, and a raptor’s wings battered one of the glass panes from outside.
Something shifted. A dozen feet ahead, an invisible weight crossed an intersection.
I paused. Aire and Jeryn clicked to a halt on either side of me. In a beam of twilight, I motioned to the knight and prince. Signaling forward and gesturing to the hallway flanks, I braced myself as they split and receded into the murk.
