by P. T. Hylton
“Indeed we do,” Prince Christopher said.
***
It was evening, and they were sitting in a large room in the Sicar palace. Not the room where all their previous negotiations had taken place. This room was much bigger. High Prince Gullins sat at the head of the long table. The Opeleans sat on one side, and the Tavellers, including Caleb, sat on the other. Various Cragsmen and Cragswomen stood along the walls around the room. Lily was once again seated near the foot of the table, across from a dour, ancient-looking man she assumed was the Taveller abditus.
High Prince Gullins cleared his throat. “It was inevitable you were going to find out about each other at some point. Maybe it’s better this way. Now you can both state your cases openly.” He paused, but neither side said anything. Lily had the feeling the rules of this game had drastically changed, and both sides were still trying to figure out a strategy.
“I’m going to be blunt,” the High Prince continued. “We have all been at this negotiation for weeks, and, before the assassination attempt, I was strongly leaning towards remaining neutral in this war. Neither of you presented a compelling enough case to send my Army into battle on foreign soil. But now…”
A man near the head of the table on the Tavel side said, “I’m very glad to hear that this terrible event has moved you, High Prince. I think your course is clear. An Opelean attempted to take your life. Taking up arms against them now would be the logical move in defending your nation’s honor.”
“Now just a minute,” Prince Christopher said, but Gullins held up a hand, silencing him.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Gullins said. “The man was an assassin. We need to find out who hired him.”
The Tavel leader spoke again. “May I ask, High Prince, why the assassin was not physically persuaded to reveal that information?”
Gullins sighed. “I ran a crew at one of the spice farms years ago. I did my fair share of physical persuasion, as you call it. I eventually came to the conclusion that a man being tortured will tell you anything to make it stop. He’ll tell you what he thinks you want to hear, but it won’t necessarily be the truth. Besides, the assassin told us who hired him.”
A murmur of surprise ran down the length of the table on the Tavel side. That was good, Lily thought. The High Prince hadn’t told them about Zane’s confession, and he had told the Opeleans. That had to be a positive sign.
“High Prince, who did he name?” the Tavel leader asked.
Gullins nodded toward the Tavel side of the table. “He named Caleb Longstrain.”
Caleb leaped out of his seat and slammed his palms against the table. “That’s outrageous! You know about our past. You know he killed my father, and that I sought asylum in Tavel. He has every reason to frame me. I have no reason to work with him. It’s absurd.”
Gullins shot him a glare that could have melted glass. “Sit or I will have you dragged out. The assassin’s cell is still warm, if you insist upon it.”
The color drained from Caleb’s face, and he sank down into his seat.
Gullins said, “The problem here is determining what to believe. Did the assassin really betray his client so quickly? Or, were the Opeleans trying to frame Caleb Longstrain because of his betrayal? Still another possibility is that the Tavellers did hire the assassin and ask him to name Longstrain if captured to make it look like the Opeleans were trying to manipulate events. There are layers upon layers of possibilities.” He looked slowly up and down the table. “No one is leaving the Crags until this is resolved. However long it takes.”
A long heavy silence fell over the room.
Prince Christopher said, “High Prince, I understand your position, but our nations are at war. We can’t stay here indefinitely.”
Gullins scowled. “Clearly you don’t understand my position. None of you are leaving until the investigation is completed to my satisfaction. You are no longer my guests. You are my prisoners.”
The door to the room burst open and a tall woman walked briskly toward Gullins.
“High Prince, we must speak.”
He gave her an annoyed glance. “Can it wait?”
“No,” the woman said.
Gullins looked surprised. He rose and stared down the length of the table. “We aren’t finished. Stay where you are until I return.”
The High Prince followed the woman out of the room. As the door shut, Lily caught a glimpse of Marcus, the abditus who she’d worked beside the previous night, and her heart sank.
The room waited in silence for five agonizing minutes. Lily wanted to give Prince Christopher a warning of what was about to happen, but he was on the other end of the table. Besides, what would she say? There was always a chance she was wrong, that they hadn’t found her out. She would have to wait and trust that she’d be able to find her way out of whatever situation came next.
The door opened and the tall Cragswoman walked back in. “The High Prince would like to see Prince Christopher and the abditus Lily Rhodes immediately, please.”
The Prince’s eyes widened in confusion, but he stood and motioned for Lily to do the same.
They followed the Cragswoman out onto a balcony off the main hallway. It was large, the kind of place where a crowd might gather to watch an abditus light show in a more civilized nation.
Gullins stood at the railing, looking out over the view of the city below. He was flanked by five guards.
The tall woman announced them, then she departed. Prince Christopher moved to Gullins’ side. Lily stayed back a little; she wasn’t going to risk getting close to the High Prince for fear he might toss her over the edge.
Without taking his eyes off the city, Gullins said, “Longstrain tells me you’re not even a real abditus. He says you’re an apprentice.”
Lily took a step forward. “Yes. That’s true.”
“Then why the hell did they send you?”
There was no reason to lie. Not now. Not about this. “We are at war and all abditus are needed on the battlefields. We couldn’t spare one for this.”
Prince Christopher’s face went pale. “High Prince, let me explain.”
Gullins’ hand shot out, grabbing Prince Christopher by the throat. “Yes. Please do. Please explain how the man we buried earlier today escaped. Explain why stones are scattered around the burial site as if a great force beneath the ground blew them skyward. Explain why my abditus is missing a thorn, a thorn that could have sent a ton of rock into the sky if it were in the possession of someone at the bottom of that pile. Explain why your abditus, sorry, abditus apprentice, came to my head abditus last night in tears and begged for a place to work, and why the man who she worked with is the same man who’s missing a thorn. Explain how anyone but a master ferox could steal the ring off a man’s finger without him noticing.”
“High Prince,” Lily said.
He whirled around, his hand still clutching Prince Christopher’s throat, pulling the Opelean prince with him. “You’ve forfeited your life, Miss Rhodes, and the lives of everyone in your diplomatic party. But that’s not the end, because after I’ve crushed you under two tons of stone, I’m going to take my Army and crush your nation. How does that sound?”
“Not very pleasant at all,” a voice behind Gullins said. “Being crushed is an entirely disagreeable way to be killed. I speak from experience.”
Lily’s heart leaped, both in joy and terror.
Gullins released his grip on Prince Christopher and spun toward the voice. A slow smile crept across his face. “Ferox Halloway, whatever are you doing here?”
Zane met the smile with one of his own. “I’m here to finish what I started. I’m here to kill you.”
CHAPTER NINE
Zane found Nicholas on the ledge where they’d first discussed the job of stealing the ruby. The ferox was still covered in dirt and dust from his recent un-burial, and he was still wearing the brown tunic they’d given him for his execution. There had been no time to clean up. He needed to act
fast if there was any chance of saving Lily and the other Opeleans.
Nicholas gasped when he saw him. His hand went to the knife at his belt. “H-how?” he asked weakly.
Zane held up a hand. “I’m not here to fight you, and there’s no time for the how.”
Nicholas shook his head, a dazed look in his eyes. “I saw you pressed. No one survives the pressing.”
“My presence attests to the inaccuracy of that statement.” Zane looked at the Cragsman sharply. “I don’t have time for discussion. Just tell me if I’m correct. There is no ruby. You warned Gullins an assassin was coming for him in order to win his favor in the hopes he’d grant you a duel.”
Nicholas nodded slowly. “It worked, as I’d expected. To thank me for giving him the information, he asked if there was anything he could do for me. I requested a duel. This was in front of several of his most important advisors, so he had no choice but to accept. The duel takes place next week.”
Zane frowned. “I’m very happy this worked out so well for you.”
Nicholas dropped his eyes from Zane’s gaze. “I am sorry. Betraying you was an unfortunate but necessary means to an end.”
Zane decided to ignore that comment. He wasn’t here for revenge or to convince Nicholas of the heinousness of his crime. As much as Zane hated it, he needed this man’s help.
“What if I told you there was a way to take the crown without dueling Gullins?” Zane asked.
Nicholas smiled weakly. “I’d say I’m unlikely to trust a man who has every reason to want me dead.”
Zane looked him square in the eye. “You’re right. But I don’t want you dead. I want you to be High Prince.”
“May I ask why?”
Zane smiled. “Because, in spite of everything, I think you’d be good at it. And because it would benefit me and mine to have someone on the Crags throne who’s in my debt.”
Nicholas licked his lips. The Cragsman was clearly skeptical, but also intrigued. Good. That was exactly where Zane wanted him.
“Tell me your plan,” Nicholas said.
“I will. But first there are some conditions. Starting with that.” He pointed to the shimmer hanging around Nicholas’s neck. “If you agree to my plan, I take that with me. I won’t take part in crowning a High Prince who has one of those.”
Twenty minutes later, Zane left the ledge and started down the steps. He dropped Nicholas’s shimmer and crushed it under his heel.
“I hate magic,” he muttered to himself. Then he headed toward the palace.
***
Once again, Zane noted how easy it was to move around the palace. He quickly tried to erase the thought. He knew what had happened the last time that notion had come to mind. Two hours had passed since his conversation with Nicholas. He’d given the man enough time.
The halls were much more crowded than they’d been the night before, but he moved through the palace with a confident stride. Even dirty and dressed in his brown tunic, no one stopped him. Everyone seemed too busy with their own work to give him a second look.
The servant Nicholas had told him about was waiting near the kitchen. His eyes lit up with fear and joy at the sight of Zane.
“It’s true what old Nicholas said?” the young man asked. “You survived the pressing?”
Zane didn’t feel this inane question warranted a response, so he asked, “You know where Gullins is?”
The servant nodded. “I don’t know how they do things in your circles, but here in the servant’s passage we take payment in advance.”
Zane raised his eyebrows. “A wise practice, indeed.” He handed the young man two thrones.
The servant squinted at it. “Opelean currency is all you have?”
“Nicholas will change it for you.”
The man thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “Come with me.”
He led Zane to a doorway and stopped. “The High Prince is through there. How you’ll get out there without him seeing you—”
“It’s fine,” Zane said. “Go perform your next task.”
After the servant had gone, Zane risked a glance through the window in the door. Gullins and a tall Cragswoman stood talking on a balcony. They were flanked by guards. The servant was right. He wasn’t getting through this door without being spotted.
He slipped out a window and found a nice ledge. He couldn’t see the balcony, but he could hear the people on it. They were talking about what to do with the abditus apprentice. Lily. Before long, Gullins sent the woman to fetch Lily and Prince Christopher.
Zane listened as Lily arrived and Gullins threatened her. He heard the Opelean Prince cry out in pain and surprise. Gullins threatened Lily a bit more, and Zane decided he’d heard enough. Now was the time. He crept around the corner and climbed over the railing onto the balcony.
“But that’s not the end,” Gullins was saying, “because after I’ve crushed you under two tons of stone, I’m going to take my Army and crush your nation. How does that sound?”
This was it, Zane knew. Everything depended on this moment. His life. Lily’s life. Perhaps the lives of thousands of Opeleans.
“Not very pleasant at all,” Zane said. “Being crushed is an entirely disagreeable way to be killed. I speak from experience.”
Gullins let go of Prince Christopher and the Prince fell to his knees. The High Prince of the Crags turned and looked at Zane with a smile that did nothing to hide the fury in his eyes. “Ferox Halloway, whatever are you doing here?”
Zane felt a strange wave of giddiness pass through him, and he smiled. Improbably, he’s survived his own execution, and he was back doing what he did best: surprising people. “I’m here to finish what I started. I’m here to kill you.”
As expected, the six guards moved into formation, standing in a semi-circle around Zane, protecting their High Prince. And, as Zane had hoped, Gullins held up a hand. “Wait. He wants to kill me? Let him take his shot.”
The guards glanced from one to another, suddenly standing a bit straighter, their eyes a bit brighter. They were proud of their High Prince, Zane realized. This was how they felt a High Prince of the Crags should act. They moved aside.
Gullins set his feet wide and glared at Zane. “Well, Ferox? I’m waiting.”
Zane was already in motion. He had no sword. No knives. They’d stripped him of all those before burying him alive. But a ferox shouldn’t need a weapon. A ferox was a weapon. Wasn’t that what he’d always told Lily?
Gullins was a big, powerful man, and he likely had faith in that strength, which was something Zane could exploit.
Zane threw a punch into the center of the big man’s body, connecting just under the rib cage. The blow would have felled most men, but Gullins only let out a small groan. That was all right. That blow hadn’t been meant to disable him; it was a distraction.
Gullins recovered quickly, but Zane was throwing his next punch. He drove his fist into the High Prince’s throat with all his strength. The Cragsman gasped, clutching at his neck.
That wouldn’t stop him either, Zane knew. Not for long. He had to make the next few moments count. He went to work on the High Prince’s face, delivering punch after punishing punch, beating him about the nose and the eyes, putting everything he had into destroying this man’s face. It couldn’t have been more than five seconds, but he managed to land eight solid hits. Somewhere in there Zane heard the crack of Gullins’ nose as it broke, and the ferox’s knuckles were now bloody.
The High Prince wasn’t done yet. He planted his feet and threw a punch that hit Zane in the stomach. The air rushed out of Zane, and he felt his feet leave the ground from the power of the blow. He’d never been hit that hard; not even by Henry Longstrain. He stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. A fist slammed into him again, this time hitting him in the eye.
Zane staggered backward. Enough. He had to end this before the High Prince killed him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Nettle. The thorn he’d used to kill Irving Farns t
wo years ago. The one he’d given Lily as a sign of trust that she wouldn’t betray him. She’d dropped it in his grave that morning, along with the glide and the Craggish thorn.
When Zane had used the Nettle against Farns, he’d been blind and deaf. He’d struck out wildly, and the old abditus had taken a long time to die. Now, he wasn’t blind, and the death he administered would be much quicker.
He raised the Nettle, focused it on the center of Gullins’ chest, and activated it. The High Prince let out a agonized gasp as the thorn materialized tiny bits of metal inside his heart and then ripped them out through his chest.
Zane watched in silence as the Cragsman fell to his knees, clutching at the dozens of tiny holes in his chest. High Prince Gullins let out a final, pathetic gasp and fell face first onto the stones of the balcony floor.
Zane quickly surveyed the people around him to make sure no one was making a move to attack. He needn’t have worried. All of them, Craggish and Opelean alike, stared at him in open-mouthed horror. He didn’t turn away from their stares. He’d spent most of his life doing his killing in the safety of the shadows and under the cover of night. He’d always claimed he didn’t hide from what he did, that he didn’t pretend to be a good man, but killing in such a violent way and so publicly…for the first time in a long time, he felt shame. But he didn’t hide from it.
“Ferox Halloway.”
The voice came from behind him. He turned and saw Nicholas standing in the doorway. The servant from the kitchen stood behind him. The plan had been for him to get Nicholas after he’d brought Zane here.
“You have killed the High Prince,” Nicholas said. “And I will see you punished for your crime.”
Zane didn’t reply.
Nicholas stepped forward and raised his fists.
“Enough,” Zane said. “I surrender. I acknowledge your victory and throw myself upon your mercy.”
Nicholas smiled. “Very well. Then you shall receive mercy.”
Lily and Prince Christopher looked on in wide-eyed confusion, but the guards had understanding etched on their grim faces. They knew what had just happened here.
