Page 29 of A Kingdom of Lies

Duncan winced as my thanks settled over him. The expression pulled at the scar beneath his eye, making it look hollow as it etched deeper into his skin. “Don’t thank me yet. Where I’m about to take you, you will soon wish to be put back in this cage no matter who is dying within it.”

With that, Duncan smacked a palm onto the cage. It jolted forward. And once again we were on the move. All the while I watched Duncan as he disappeared into the darkness, as if he belonged to it.

CHAPTER 10

Finstock was a fortress of grey stone nestled in the barren landscape of Durmain. I didn’t know what to expect as we arrived, but this cluster of towering, aged buildings was far from what I imagined.

It had been a long night, one full of concern for Althea’s wellbeing. I’d tried to distract myself with racking my brain for any mention of such a place as Finstock. There was nothing. Perhaps my anxiety made thinking about anything other than the leaking wound that still poured scarlet blood without sign of stopping impossible.

I had come up as clueless as I was when Finstock was first mentioned.

Early dawn was upon us and with it a brisker chill that had sunk into my bones. It was a battle to stop my teeth from chattering and my skin from feeling numb to the touch. All there had been, along the dirt path we rode, were rolling hills and glades so far away that my mind played tricks on me as if I could see the glittering surface of the ocean in the distance.

All of a sudden Finstock was before our party, jutting out amongst the calm of the landscape like an angry blade of stone that reached, unwantedly, into the cloud-filled sky. Torn, black banners hung from the stone face of the fortress. They danced in the wind, slow enough to see the recognisable handprint stained in white. The emblem was everywhere I looked. A mark of the Hunters. The very same that had been imprinted into my father’s flesh.

I recognised the tug in my chest at the thought ofhimbut felt it best to bury the feeling deep down. This was no time for grief, not as the Hunters carted us beneath a stone walkway into a courtyard in the belly of the stone fortress.

My focus was getting Althea healed, then as far away from here as possible. Even my plans for an army had dwindled as I faced the reality of my mistakes. I could not change them, but I could work to make up for them.

Starting with Althea and Gyah’s safety.

All around the straw-covered courtyard Hunters of all ages stood watch as we were paraded within. I caught a glimpse of a few who spat at the wheels of the cart, and others who scowled with such burning intent that I could almost read their minds. They didn’t have to speak aloud the thoughts at seeing fey in this place. It was abundantly clear. Hate, excitement, danger. Each glittering in every set of eyes I caught.

But the Hunters were not the only people to dwell within this place. Nimble, small frames adorned in deep, veiled maroon habits flittered across walkways and through the crowded space. I couldn’t see their features as the heavy material obscured them from view. They paid us no more heed than the Hunters paid them.

Not a single one turned a head to look in our direction as they hurried past in small, quiet groups.

What is this place?

Gyah broke her hour-long silence, startling awake where she sat in the cage. “What is going on?”

Her voice was rough as cracked stone. I looked across the cage as she fought to keep her eyes open, reaching a hand to the back of her head and wincing as she touched it.

“We made it to our destination,” I replied. “Are you alright?”

Gyah shrugged my question off, narrowing her gaze beyond the cage where she took her time to look at each and every Hunter surrounding us. Her stare was fierce, one that I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of, even with a cage of magic-nullifying iron around us. “No good is to come from this, Robin.”

“I know,” I hissed, sweeping my gaze around the courtyard. “They are all Hunters. All of them. Just don’t fight them, let me solve this. For Althea–”

The cart had not even stopped for a moment before a flood of Hunters rushed towards it.

My warning clearly was missed. Gyah jeered, pushing herself into a crouching position as close to Althea’s unconscious body as she could stretch. Even in the face of sudden danger, Gyah was a warrior without the need for steel or claw-tipped wings. Whereas I was a coward, powerless and pathetic, unable to even move a muscle as the threat of so many who hated us rushed forward.

My heart hammered in my chest as the heavy bolt clanged at the cage’s exit. I pulled my legs into my chest, hugging them tight as the door was thrown open and greedy, gloved hands reached inside.

“Keep away from her!” Gyah roared, snapping teeth as she tugged on the chain at her neck. “Touch her and you die.”

To taunt Gyah, one of the Hunters laid a finger on Althea’s cheek. Gyah gnashed teeth together, but it didn’t deter them.

No matter how hard Gyah tried, she had no power to stop the many hands from unlocking the chain at Althea’s throat and then pulling her limp body from the cage until she was hidden in a swarm of leather-clad bodies.

In a matter of seconds, it was only the two of us left. The Cedarfall Princess was taken from view through an open, dark door in a building to the side of the fortress.

Gone, without question or comment.

Gyah was screaming bloody murder. The veins in her neck were straining as she pulled hard on the cuff and chain but to no avail. It was as though the creature within was battling against the iron. And, for a moment, I believed the transformation might have even happened.

Until the sound of someone clearing their throat snapped my attention back to the cage’s open door. In the place the crowd had been now stood three men. Two unrecognisable and the third… the third was Duncan.

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