Page 40 of A Kingdom of Lies

A deep growl vibrated beneath Duncan’s threat. I half expected him to snap his teeth. Perhaps even grow horns or fangs as he clearly caged a beast within him.

“Are you lost for words now?” Duncan turned to the crowd. He waited, as we all did, for someone brave enough to shout or comment. But the fortress and the bastards it housed were deathly quiet. “That is what I thought, youfuckingcowards. Prepare me a horse. Now. I’ll return these children back to Wychwood, since I can hardly trust a single one of you to scrub your own teeth let alone follow a simple command.” His voice dropped, and what I noticed was his whisper was far more threatening than his shout. “The next time you bring a bounty here, make sure it has age on its bones. Or face the consequences.”

I couldn’t formulate a single sound as I watched Duncan clamber onto the back of a midnight horse that was efficiently provided to him with haste. Nor could Althea or Gyah. Duncan dug heels into the horse’s side and galloped to meet the cage which had already begun pivoting back in the direction it had come.

“I can’t believe what I am watching,” Althea finally shattered the surreal atmosphere as the party rode off into the distance. “Too many times I have heard stories of Hunters maiming children. Never have I heard – let alone seen – this. Duncan just saved them.”

“Blood stains Duncan’s hands, no matter his views on the age of his victims,” Gyah said, simmering as she watched Duncan fade into the distance.

“I know, but he is different. I don’t trust him for that very reason, but I recognise his contrast to the other Hunters.” Althea gestured to the bed with her spare arm, the other wrapped around Gyah’s shoulders for support. “Before I fall, I suggest you get me back to that bed.”

“But we were going to get out.”

Althea silenced Gyah with a smile. “UntilthatHunter returns, I don’t wish to leave this room. He, as reluctant as I am to admit it, is the only thing keeping us safe. I suggest we keep rather quiet until he arrives back. Now is not the time to draw attention. Especially not with a fortress full of very pissed off, disappointed Hunters.”

I nodded, fighting the urge to look back out in the distance to see where Duncan had gotten to. There was something different about him. And like Althea suggested, I shouldnottrust him.

But why did I feel as though I could?

* * *

“You saved them.”

The door hadn’t even shut behind Duncan before the words tumbled out of my mouth. It was late into the night when the bobbing flame signalled his arrival in the distance. Althea and Gyah, in their attempts to ignore the sickening hunger that had settled over us, slept. Whereas I couldn’t. So, I busied myself looking out of the window and felt the spark of sudden thrill as I watched Duncan return.

I had a feeling he’d come for us the moment he returned. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it long before the lock clicked, and the brass knob of the door turned to reveal him on the other side.

Perhaps Duncan didn’t trust his own people not to take his absence as an opportunity to attack, to treat us cruelly, especially since we’d heard them sporadically throughout the day whispering hateful ideas on the other side of the door. Although, despite the terrible things they’d uttered, the door was untouched.

Gyah woke abruptly, eyes wide and frantic as she watched the Hunter enter without invitation. I raised a hand at her, standing between Duncan and the bed in which Gyah had been awkwardly sleeping over with her head in her arms as I said, “It is fine, Gyah.”

“I didn’t save them,” Duncan replied matter-of-factly, dark forest eyes looking me up and down with distaste. “I simply postponed the inevitable. Gave them a few more years until the Hunters are welcome to chase them down like wolves. I don’t allow youth into these walls.”

“For a moment, I thought you might have morals.”

Duncan smiled from ear to ear. “Believe me, Eldrae. Give it a few more years and I’d enjoy hunting those fey down.”

“Monster.”

“Says the one who can shift their form into a beast.”

Gyah smiled back at him, more threatening than even Duncan could muster. “You speak such things to me as though I will not sip the blood from your veins and use your frayed skin to wipe my mouth clean.”

“Now, now, Gyah.” Althea blinked sleep from her eyes, wincing as she woke. “That is no way to thank our host.”

Duncan ignored the comments and slander, looking bored and tired. He clearly didn’t view us as a threat, entering the room alone with not a single weapon visible on his person. “Talking about being a host, I thought you would like something to eat.”

“What we would like is to be let free,” Gyah muttered.

“That’s not a want you all share though, is it?” Duncan replied blandly, looking at me as though to prove a point. “Since your freedom is not on the table, food will be brought to you shortly.”

“How generous.” Gyah rolled her eyes, teeth still gritted together. “You came all this way to say that?”

“I came all this way to make sure you all still lived,” Duncan said. “You know nothing of the limits of my generosity. Don’t give me an excuse to make those limits clear. In all of Finstock’s history you’re the most comfortable prisoners who’ve ever stayed here. But if you’d prefer different treatment than these comforts and offerings of food, then please say the word. I’ll hand over your care to any other Hunters beyond this room. Believe me, many would be honoured.”

“The food,” I added quickly, preventing Althea or Gyah from speaking first. “We happily accept your offer. Thank you.”

My thanks were strained, and Duncan noticed.

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