by Randi Darren
“You can send me back to my dungeon cell without food and water now.”
Sighing, Alex shook his head and settled into the ground as comfortably as he could.
“Damn you, you insufferable shit!” Glint cursed. “I should have you beat and tortured!”
“Be my guest. Gaelis did; see where it got him,” Alex said. “The moment you involved me, had my wife killed and another maimed, you lost any right to decency from me. Beating me or having me tortured won’t change anything that’s coming your way.”
“Tell me about that,” Glint said, his tone dark but curious.
Alex said nothing.
“Tell me about it or I’ll have what’s been done to your pet knight seem like a blessing so far in comparison to what I’ll have done to her next!” hissed Glint.
Again, Alex said nothing. It wasn’t as if he didn’t care about Eleanor; he just knew reacting wouldn’t actually solve anything for her.
He’d put his faith in Leah.
It didn’t make his stomach unclench out of worry for Eleanor though. Or the sick feeling in his gut at the situation.
He was only human after all.
The only thing Alex could hear was the deep angry breathing of Glint. It seemed the man had no idea what to do with this situation.
Abruptly, Alex heard the sound of a door opening and then closing.
Suppose that’s the end of my interview.
I wonder what he’ll do next.
A minute later, the guards came back. They got him to his feet, which Alex didn’t resist. There was no point in making the guards angry in moving him from location to location. He just wasn’t going to cooperate once he was where they wanted him.
As quickly as it had all started, it was over again, and Alex was dumped back into his dark and damp dungeon.
Moving to the spot he’d been inhabiting before, Alex lay back down on the ground, curled up, and closed his eyes.
“I’m your knife,” whispered a soft voice. It sounded as if it came from the other side of the wall he was up against.
Smiling to himself, Alex almost started laughing out of sheer joy.
Of course she’d find me and then a way in.
Because she’s who she is.
Turning over onto his side, Alex faced the wall.
“Hi Coffin,” Alex said softly.
“Alex, hello. Hello, Soulshackle. Your knife is here. You’re not alone,” said Coffin.
“Thanks,” Alex said. He actually felt better knowing Coffin was here. It gave him a tool to work with, an ability to do something.
Especially for Eleanor.
“Where’s—”
“She escaped,” Coffin said before Alex could even start. “Escaped the first day, in the first hour. Minutes after being separated from you.
“She stole a horse and rode straight back to the others. Four sent me after Six made it back to us.”
Laughing softly, Alex closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the stones.
Oh, Leah—you beautiful, strange, kind woman.
And Sylvia… oh… you’ll get a reward, and I’ll actually let you pick what it is. Jewelry, land, whatever.
“Anything I need to know?” Alex asked.
“The Numbered are very angry,” Coffin whispered. “Food prices are soaring in direct response to your arrest. Criers are spreading the word that this is all the fault of King Glint.
“People are already out of food, and all future harvests are backed by Imperial seal. Mercenaries have been hired to ensure the harvests go accordingly to Count Brit. Alex Soulshackle, my count.”
That all made sense to Alex, of course. Most of the really big farms were outside the city. The king couldn’t send many soldiers back to assist without endangering his front or making them susceptible to attack.
Quinn’s cavalry could crush anything moving outside of truly large numbers in a heartbeat.
“Saoirse, One, Two, Three, and Seven have all gone north to petition the emperor,” Coffin continued. “Mistress Quinn is rampaging around through the countryside in her own version of what you did in Xer.
“King Glint is stuck with his forces massed, and everything is grinding to a halt. It seems very likely Harold will arrive with his forces before Mistress Regina runs out of food. Very, very likely.”
Good. Then… actually, this makes my position the most dangerous of anyone’s. Glint seems to be able to act with impunity toward me.
It’s quite possible he could decide to simply kill me out of spite.
And then I’d be cut loose until the next go round.
“Alright,” Alex said.
“I’m your knife. I’m a good knife. What should I do?” Coffin asked. “Should I break you out? I could try.”
“No… honestly… it’s best this way. I can do more as a prisoner on the brink of starvation than running around out there. My plan was more or less to get to this point and meet with Glint anyways.
“This serves my purposes in its own way, I suppose.”
“Okay… I don’t like it,” Coffin said. “I should free you, my count. I’m your knife.”
“I know. But what you can do is set fire to anything you can. Find their oil, charcoal, or pitch depot and burn it to the ground. Burn everything,” Alex said. “Kill anyone you can as well. They need to understand who they’re holding.”
“I will!” Coffin proclaimed. “Blood and fire, ruins and ash, all for you, Alex Soulshackle. All for you. All for my count. I can do this and will build you a burning sacrifice.”
There was a soft scraping noise, and the sound of crackling.
Then a brick came loose from the wall and was withdrawn into the darkness.
A pale hand came through the hole and pressed to his face, then lay against it. The long fingers curled against his jaw.
It felt wonderful to be touched by someone who cared.
“All for you, Alex. Master. My count. I’m your knife. Your knife, and I don’t fail,” Coffin said, her fingers sliding back and forth over his cheek and jaw. “I’ll go when the sun sets. I’ll be with you till then. With you, Soulshackle. Forever.”
***
At some point, Alex had drifted off with Coffin touching him.
What had woken him were the sounds of screams. Screams, shouting, and yelling. Beyond all that was the unmistakable sound of fire.
A lot of fire. The crackle and pop of flames that sounded more like a raging inferno.
An inferno that was clearly sweeping through the camp.
There was a boom, and the door to his cell opened up.
“Get up!” a voice shouted at him.
Alex lifted his head and saw Glint standing there.
Making firm eye contact with the man, Alex laid his head back down. He’d do nothing for this man.
“You will put this fire out, now!” Glint said. “Or I’ll kill you here and now.”
Blinking slowly, Alex contemplated not responding again.
“I’m not sure what fanciful world you live in, but I’m just a count. Stories of extraordinary abilities are just that. Stories,” Alex said. “If you want the fire put out, use water. Or dirt. I hear dirt can work to smother a fire.”
“You did this!” Glint snarled at him.
“How? I’ve had no contact with anyone, you took away my companion, and I’ve been locked away in the dark with no food or water for what seems like days,” Alex said. “Don’t blame me for everything that happens to you. I’m just a count.
“Though you should blame me for one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Glint hissed through his gritted teeth.
“You swinging from a rope after the Imperial ambassador checks in on me. Finds my corpse and finds out what you’ve done,” Alex said, closing his eyes. “You can blame me for that. Be sure to remember that my children will live on, and your line… yours is done and gone. My wives will make sure Saoirse stays in line.
“By the way… wow. Your daughter is an anima
l in the bedroom. We were going three or four times a day. She used that pretty mouth of hers in ways I could only dream about. And oh my word, the things she said. Almost as bad as the things she did. Or wanted done. I never thought a princess would want it in the ass.”
Glint growled loudly.
“There was this one time, your vassals were in the same room and she crawled under the table,” Alex said, lying outright. “She started to suck on me ever so sweetly even as your dukes—”
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Glint seemed to have lost his mind.
Alex fully expected to get kicked or beaten.
Except it didn’t happen. Instead, Glint left, slamming the door shut behind him.
Huh.
Maybe the Imperial ambassador comments are making him far more nervous than he’s letting on.
Maybe.
Snickering to himself, Alex snuggled up into the cold rocks and fell silent.
He listened to the sounds of the camp in absolute disarray and wondered just what Coffin had done.
At this rate, he was going to have to figure out how to reward her as well. She was doing far too well, and far too much work, to not get everything she wanted.
A soft grinding noise caught his attention from directly behind him.
Turning over, Alex faced the wall, putting his back to the door.
The brick Coffin had removed and put back was once again sliding away into the darkness.
A white hand slid out from the wall and cupped his face once more.
“I’m your knife,” hissed the voice. “I’ve done enough work for tonight. Your knife will rest with you now, my count.”
The hand slowly withdrew back into the wall.
Alex followed it with his own, sticking his arm through the wall.
Feeling around, he found her shoulder, then moved up and found her face with his fingers.
Cupping her face in the same way she’d done to him, Alex began to lightly stroke her jaw and cheek.
“Thank you, my knife. We’ll need to talk about what you want later,” Alex said. “You’re far too valuable to me. I need to make sure you’re happy.”
There was no response from Coffin, but he could feel her body curling up towards his hand, even as her face turned into his palm.
Here, in the dark and damp, in the pit of the enemy’s belly, he had his knife.
Chapter 35
A soft creak woke Alex from his strange, haunting dreams.
Not bothering to open his eyes, he listened instead, trying to pinpoint what it was he’d heard.
Yet there was nothing else to be heard.
Not a sound.
Feeling better at that, Alex turned his mind back to the idea of sleeping. He did a lot of that now.
It helped him escape the maddening hunger. The fact that it felt like his stomach was scraping up against his spine.
He no longer had any idea how long he’d been here. Since his meeting with Glint, he’d been offered food regularly and often. To the point that he suspected it was more than three times a day.
The food never stopped coming either.
There was always a new meal prepared. Another one was always being dropped off. Hot and fresh for him. Scents that filled his cell and made him crazed. Crazed and salivating.
For all he knew, it had only been a day, or it could have been six.
Everything was blurring together.
“What the hell have you done?” asked a voice above him.
It shocked Alex. He hadn’t heard anyone enter, but then again, he wasn’t sure he was entirely sane anymore.
“He refuses to eat. I cannot make him do something he doesn’t wish to,” Glint bit off in a retort.
“Beyond that, Glint—his cell, his clothes, the ground even—what have you done?” asked the same voice. “This isn’t… this isn’t according to Imperial law at all. Especially for an Imperial ambassador.”
“I’m aware of that fact,” Glint hissed. “Except I swear he isn’t one. I’m sure of it.”
“That’ll be for me to determine. And if he is, I shall hold you accountable, Glint,” said the newcomer.
To Alex, it sounded as if the Imperial overseer had arrived.
With any luck, this whole thing might be over.
“Please pick him up and take him to my study,” said the man. “I’ll summon you when I’ve made my ruling, Glint.”
Oh bless me, this might really be it.
Hands grabbed Alex up under his arms and began guiding him out of the cell.
And into insanely bright sunlight.
It was so blinding that Alex actually flinched away from it and tried to cover his face.
“When was the last time you saw the sun?” asked the man.
“Don’t know,” Alex mumbled. His tongue felt dry and thick in his mouth. In the end, Alex had broken down and drank the water they’d put out for him, but he’d eaten nothing.
Water was a requirement to continue to starve himself.
Dehydration took days; starvation could take weeks.
He was determined to make Glint reconsider his options, but Alex didn’t want to leave this world quite yet.
Keeping his eyes closed and hanging his head, Alex did his best to avoid getting the light in his eyes.
The sunlight felt amazing on his skin, but it was just too bright for him.
Alex was brought to another building and carried inside. He knew this because the glaring death-beams of the sun turned off.
Cracking open his eyes, Alex peered around.
Jumping to the forefront of his mind was the idea that this did indeed look like a study.
The walls were made of canvas, though the shelves, tables, and chairs were all wooden. Everything had a “on the move but expensive” feel to it.
Gently, Alex was set down in a chair. They hesitated over him, their hands coming off him.
Obviously, they were expecting him to slip from the chair.
Which he wasn’t going to do. Alex had been waiting for someone to be sent from the emperor.
There was no reason for him to continue with his shenanigans.
Laying his palms on the table, Alex didn’t meet anyone’s gaze. Instead he focused on the center of the table. Willing his mind and wits to marshal themselves and prepare.
Because every moment he sat here, Alex was in a fight for his life. He had to say the right things and do the right things, or the overseer might see right through him.
“You can all go now,” said the man.
There was the trod of boots, and then the hiss of fabric.
“There, we’re quite alone now,” the man said, switching to Alex’s native tongue. He was fairly certain it wasn’t English, even if it felt like it to him.
“Grand,” Alex muttered. His thoughts were sluggish. Hard to form.
I wonder if my brain is starting to eat itself.
Delightful.
“Here,” the man said, his hand moving in front of Alex. “My name is Deverin, and I’m here at the order of His Imperial Highness.”
As the man pulled his hand back, an apple was revealed to Alex, as well as a small slice of cheese.
“I’d offer you more, but I had no idea you were in this condition. That’s all that’s left of my breakfast, I’m afraid,” Deverin said.
Without thinking about it, Alex took up the cheese and started eating it.
The softness of it sounded amazing to him, and he figured it’d be easier on his guts.
“First of all, can you tell me what happened?” asked the man. “When did Harold make you his ambassador?”
Alex chewed methodically at the cheese.
Thinking.
How he answered this was the primary concern and problem.
“He sent a single person with the medallion and some paperwork,” Alex said. He’d stick close to the truth. “He arrived and presented me with it, then vanished. I haven’t seen him since.”
“So you weren’t the offici
al ambassador at first?” asked Deverin.
“No. Glint’s attack was a surprise. There was no declaration or warning. How could we have an official ambassador when there was no expectation of war?” Alex asked.
As he devoured the cheese, he felt more and more sleepy. Like he just wanted to lie down and sleep.
His body wanted to immediately shut down and start converting the food into nutrients, he figured.
“That… makes a lot of sense. So you were working as the official ambassador without permission. Then Harold sent the formal investment, making everything official,” Deverin said.
Alex nodded his head at that.
“And who was privy to that handover?” Deverin asked.
Huh? Why would you care who had known that?
Hm.
Shouldn’t his focus be on my status, not who knows it?
Or am I just being sensitive?
“My entire household, Saoirse, the ambassadorial office of Hefen,” Alex said. “It wasn’t as if we were going to broadcast the fact that I’d been operating without my credentials.
“The regent didn’t ask for them either, so it was assumed he understood the situation we were working under. A surprise attack and all.”
“No, that… that makes perfect sense,” said the man. “Your household I met when they arrived in the Imperial capital.
“Though, where is this Saoirse?” asked the man.
Huh?
He doesn’t know Glint’s daughter?
Or… he doesn’t know her first name?
They addressed her as Princess Glint, didn’t they? Most people didn’t know her first name. No one called her Saoirse.
Princess, or Princess Glint.
Is… is this man working for Glint?
Is this an elaborate ruse?
“Ah, nevermind,” said Deverin. His tone sounded odd to Alex.
Lifting his head, Alex looked around.
There were no windows, no one in the room, though the flap behind him was suspiciously partially open.
Damn. Damn, damn.
Is it? Am I paranoid?
Damn!
Well… what can we do? What do we do about this?
How do I get him to prove who he is? Let’s… just leave.
Yes, we’ll leave.
