Page 28 of A Kingdom of Lies

“Althea!” Gyah screamed, pulling against her restraints, trying to reach across the cage.

Nothing roused Althea, her body slumping back to the ground. Gyah continued to fight against her chains, to reach for Althea, but failed miserably each time. The roar she let out finally had Hunters’ heads turning in our direction.

“If she dies,” Gyah looked at me, through me, piercing me with her stare. “Her blood is on your hands.”

Gyah was right. This was my doing. My fault, and there was nothing I could do or say to fix it.

It justified punishment to listen to Gyah’s shouting as she commanded Althea to open her eyes. The iron bars groaned as Gyah tugged and yanked to get closer to the unconscious girl ahead of her. Her desperation was so raw that I was certain the bar would’ve snapped in two if the cuff was not suppressing her abilities.

The cart slowed suddenly, sending me jolting to the side. Around us the Hunters circled on horses, each looking in at the chaos before them. Heavy boots squelched across the sodden ground beyond the stationary cage. Darkness coated everything, making it impossible to see clearly. There were no lights of villages and towns, only the quiet, dark and barren landscape of Durmain with nothing but Hunters around us.

Gyah was too engrossed in her shouting for Althea, her panic hot like pure fire, that she didn’t notice the Hunter come up behind her. But I did. I tried to warn her, but her focus was solely on Althea. Until the hands reached through the bars and latched onto her chain.

The Hunter pulled hard, yanking Gyah back against the bars of the cage. The crack of her skull against metal turned my stomach. It silenced her pleading, and a single gasp escaped her mouth as her expression pinched in pain.

“That’s more than enough excitement for one night.” A face peered through the bars. Deep, forest-green eyes narrowed as he looked across the cage at me.

Duncan Rackley. Finally, he’d shown himself again.

“Don’t”– I pulled forward, straining against the chains – “fucking touch her.”

“Believe me, I’ve no intention of soiling myself.” Duncan released the chain, allowing Gyah’s head to roll forward until her chin was pressed against her chest. I watched, seething, as Duncan stalked around the cage. Not once did he take his gaze off me, not once.

My chest rose and fell, all the while I didn’t take my eyes off Duncan. I stalked him, as he did with me.

“Care to explain what all the fuss is about?” he asked.

It was as if we were the only people in the world, Duncan and I.

“Althea, she’s bleeding out,” I said, jaw taut and voice deep. “Unless you let her have access to her magic, she’ll die.”

“And that is my problem? What do I care if she dies in this very spot? One less fey in the world is exactly what I want.”

“Oh, but you will care when you have to explain to your master why you have let a Cedarfall fey die. A princess!”

There, I saw it, a flicker of something across his dark expression that told me my words had settled into him. “She’s the enemy. If she dies the Hand will hardly pay it any mind. Her body would only join the piles growing in honour of his name.”

“You’re wrong, and you’re lying.”

“Attentive little thing you are.” Duncan smiled, flashing straight white teeth. “I’m impressed.”

“From my understanding, the Hand likes to collect fey with raw power. If you let Althea die, you prevent him from obtaining a fey with the ability to burn this party of Hunters and the acres of land around us with a single thought. Would you truly keep someone with such abilities from him?”

Duncan stopped beside me. My neck ached as I kept my stare on him, not wanting to show defeat by looking away.

There was a weighty moment of silence between us, Duncan studying me through narrowed eyes just as I studied him.

Then he looked at someone behind me. “Change our course to Finstock.”

“But General Rackley, it will add days onto our journey,” the Hunter replied with a light voice overspilling with hesitation. Clearly he wanted to speak up against Duncan, and I could understand why.

Duncan’s face pinched into a frown, his lips curling back from his teeth as though he was a beast that longed for flesh. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, Novice. I gave you a command, follow it.”

“Apologies, General Rackley.”

Duncan turned his attention back to me. “I will see that she is cared for. I wouldn’t want her bleeding out on the Hand’s carpet, that’s no way for a greeting now, is it?”

Shock vibrated through my bones, and all I could think to say back to him were two words that tasted wrong in my mouth. “Thank you.”

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