Page 77 of Ties of Dust

“Don’t overdo it,” he said anxiously. “Don’t put all the magic to the task instead of using half for your own energy. In fact, maybe you should just use it all for your energy until you’ve recovered some strength.”

Flora didn’t respond, but the set of her jaw communicated stubbornness, and Cassius’s alarm flared.

“I mean it, Flora. Don’t kill yourself trying to get free, what would be the point? If you manage to create enough movement to harness magic, use it all to replenish your energy.”

She gave a muffled grunt, and he realized that her expression wasn’t defiant so much as frustrated.

“That’s not right, is it?” he mused, thinking back over what he’d said. He tried to recall his studies in magic. “You can’t use magic that way.”

Flora couldn’t nod any more than she could shake her head, but she looked less frustrated, so he took it as a sign that he was on the right track.

“I recall now,” he assured her. “Magic can be used as energy to fuel its own activity under the hand of the one harnessing it, but it can’t be turned into pure energy, to just be absorbed or held by someone.”

He looked down at his own bound hands. “Would it be easier for you to free my hands first? Then maybe I could use them to get my feet free, and I could try to reach you and—”

He cut off abruptly at the sound of approaching footsteps. Flora froze as well, watching the door warily. It flung open, and a burly man Cassius had never seen before appeared in the frame.

“Awake, are we?” The man grunted as he moved into the room. “You’ll come with me, then.” His words were directed at Cassius, and he ignored Flora completely.

“Do you understand what you’ve done?” Cassius’s voice rang through the stuffy space. “Do you think you can abduct and imprison a prince of Carrack with no consequences? You will all be hanged, every one of you.”

“Inclined to be difficult, are we?” The man gave a whistle, and another thickset captor appeared. He loomedmenacingly over Cassius as the first man untied him from the chain on the wall.

“Don’t think to lead me about like a dog,” Cassius spat at the man’s feet. “We are not animals, and we will not be treated as such.” He inclined his head toward Flora in an imperious gesture. “Unbind her at once.”

“Not likely,” scoffed the second man.

The first one had unfastened Cassius from the wall. “Now are you coming willingly, or do we drag you?”

“I’d like to see you try.” Cassius forced the words through gritted teeth, his outrage at the insult not just to him but to his kingdom almost robbing him of the ability to speak.

“I don’t think you would like to see it,” the man told him matter-of-factly. “It wouldn’t be pretty.” He jerked a thumb toward Flora, who was watching wide eyed but immobile. “Our orders are to run her through if you won’t cooperate. Apparently we don’t strictly need her anymore.”

Rage, more potent than anything Cassius had felt in his life, lanced through him. But he had to keep his cool. He couldn’t show them how easily they could manipulate him by threatening Flora.

“Your orders, are they? And who is giving these orders?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the man said. “That’s why we’re here for you.” He grinned unpleasantly from where he was squatting, freeing Cassius’s feet. “You’ve been summoned by the boss.”

Cassius threw a final glance at Flora, trying not to let the men see how much he was motivated by fear for her. Those dark eyes stared back at him, their expression raw and intense.

With an effort, he pulled himself away, his heart thudding in his chest as he followed the men from the cellar.They emerged into some kind of abandoned dwelling, dilapidated and dirty. The room above the cellar contained a table and two chairs and nothing else. Biting back the anger he longed to vent, he allowed himself to be shoved into one of the chairs, his legs swiftly tied to its base and his hands untied from in front of him before being swiftly retied behind his back.

He felt no surprise at the lean figure that strolled into the room, but a growl still issued from his throat, long and low, when the self-titled Sir Keavling seated himself across the table.

“Your Highness,” he said pleasantly, his accent nothing like the one he’d been using in Crandell. “So nice of you to join me.”

“You will die for this,” Cassius said, his voice vibrating with passion. His thoughts were on Flora, tied up below.

“I don’t think I will,” Sir Keavling said. “Dying isn’t a part of my plans.” He leaned forward. “And my plans are very carefully laid.”

“What do you want from me?” Cassius spat.

The other man leaned back, interlacing his fingers. “What Ididwant was your cooperation. Or even your passivity. If you’d just stepped out of my way, we wouldn’t be in this situation. But instead you took great pains to make it clear that I would not succeed in my goals until I had removed you from the picture.”

His eyes were keen as they considered Cassius’s face. “It’s an inconvenience I didn’t wish for, but don’t let it concern you. It won’t be wasted. I’ve found a way to make your disappearance serve my purposes perfectly.”

“And what purposes are those?” Cassius growled. The audacity of this man was staggering, thinking he couldorder the future of Carrack according to his whims. “Why do you care if we ally ourselves with Siqual?”

---