Page 99 of Ties of Dust

“It is not your first offense against her, but it will be your last,” he said, still deadly calm. “I wish I could kill you myself. But my position restricts me. I will see you hanged instead, after you have told us everything you know.”

The man laughed disdainfully. “I will tell you nothing. Do you think I will break as easily as you did?”

“Cassius, I don’t understand,” King Aelius pressed. “There must be a mistake. Why would he attack here, in my own—”

“To prevent me from telling you, as I was about to do, that it was he who orchestrated my abduction, and planned to kill me to start a war between Carrack and the rest of the Peninsula. A war that would require you to turn to the continent for military aid and thus pave the way for full annexation under your very nose.”

“Cassius, what madness is this?” Whatever his words said, King Aelius sounded uneasy.

“It’s not my speculation, Father,” Cassius told him. “It is the simple truth. This man—who is not now and never has been the true Sir Keavling—is the one who attacked and kidnapped me. He was personally present when his men beat me in an attempt to force me to sign a letter accusing Torrens of my abduction.”

“Yes.” Sir Keavling clearly knew his charade was over—Flora even suspected he was glad to drop the mask. His expression and voice were instantly altered as he sneered at the prince. “And you begged for mercy like a whipped dog. You have no honor, you or your insolent kingdom.”

“How dare you?” King Aelius gasped in fury. “My son would never demean himself to beg.”

Sir Keavling’s cackle dripped with scorn. “Oh, but he did,Your Majesty. It told me all I needed to know about the weakness of your kingdom, and how easily it will be subdued when the time is right.”

The king was pale with rage, his fists shaking as he turned to Cassius. Flora winced at the expression in his eyes, feeling the color drain from her own face. If it was true that Cassius had begged for mercy, she had a feeling she knew why. And it was nothing to do with his own capacity for withstanding pain or pressure.

“Cassius, tell me you did nothing to bring dishonor on your kingdom,” the king ground out.

“Readily.” In sharp contrast to his father, Cassius was cool and unemotional. “It is Sir Keavling’s actions that dishonor his kingdom, not mine. I know what actions I took, and I know why. My reasons were irreproachable—to have allowed my pride to lead me to act differently would have been the greater dishonor.” He sent a fleeting glance at Flora. “If the opinion of a man like Sir Keavling could damage my pride, my pride was at fault in the first place.”

She smiled back at him, her heart swelling at his words. She hadn’t blamed him for the pride he carried—her own experiences had made her assume it was an unfortunate inevitability for those with royal responsibility. But she had never been more proud of him than she was now, seeing him rise above it.

She wasn’t sure King Aelius was equally impressed, but he said no more about it. Instead, he barked an order to his guards to throw Sir Keavling in the dungeon and place him under triple watch. He seemed unable to look at the man,his own unchecked pride no doubt wounded by the realization of how duped he had been.

Sir Keavling was unabashed as he was hauled to his feet. He addressed his next words to Cassius.

“You have only delayed, not prevented what is coming. I regret nothing—it is you who will feel regret.”

His hand flashed into motion with the words, but the warning died on Flora’s lips. Before she could even utter it, he’d whipped a vial from some hidden, interior pocket, and downed its contents. Before her eyes, he seized and then dropped in a heap, going immediately still on the stone floor.

“Poison!” one of the guards exclaimed.

“He didn’t want us to learn what he knew.” Cassius’s voice held angry frustration rather than the sick shock Flora felt. “Which means he knew something of value. Probably many things. We never even confirmed which of the continent’s kingdoms he came from, let alone whether he acted in an official capacity and what his leader plans to do.”

His agitated gaze fell on Flora and softened at once.

“Did you worsen your injuries?”

She shook her head. “I’m all right.”

He stepped closer, running his fingers down her filthy, cold cheek. “And he will never hurt you again.”

“Cassius.” The king’s sharp voice told Flora that he’d finished giving orders about the removal of the dead man’s body and had turned this attention to them in time to see his son’s caress. “You will refrain from a public dalliance with a servant.”

“Actually, Father, I won’t,” said Cassius calmly. “I intend to engage in the most public dalliance possible and marry her. But she’s not a servant, you know.”

“Cassius!” The king sounded scandalized now. “I don’t have time for absurdities at present. We must fortify our borders. If Torrens was truly uninvolved in the attack on you, then they will be offended by the actions I have already taken. Even if we pull back, we should expect an attack.”

“I don’t think so, Father,” Cassius said quickly. “Torrens would be foolish to attack us.”

“No, they would be strategic,” the king snapped. “I would do the same in their situation.”

“It wouldn’t be strategic to attack us if we were allied with both Siqual and Dernan,” Cassius said.

His father waved an impatient hand. “Enough about the alliance, Cassius. It is less a possibility now than it ever was. Do you not realize how these events will sour relationships further? Our best course will be to withdraw and fortify our own borders.”

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