Page 83 of A Kingdom of Lies

We had drafted a plan, one that required thievery. I was truly confident it would’ve worked, but seeing the numbers below had stabbed doubt within me.

“Regardless, it’s our only option. If we are to enter Lockinge together, it is with you at the end of an iron chain. Without it you will be cut down before stepping foot through the city’s outer suburbs. Birkhill is known for being the Hunter’s final checkpoint. The busier the town is, the less I’ll be noticed.”

The idea of Duncan separating from me was not my first choice, but it certainly was the only option. We’d planned for him to visit Birkhill, a town shadowed beneath the city. He would retrieve an iron cuff and return, alongside a horse if he could take one. It would give us entry to Lockinge without stirring much interest, and the iron cuff would certainly play into the story we had put together as to what had happened after the attack on our party all those days ago.

“There must be another way,” I pleaded, already knowing the answer as well as the lines upon my palms.

Duncan raised a finger and pointed to the dark shapes that flew over the army. “Those hawks mean that Trackers are among the numbers. If you are seen by those before we get a cuff back around your neck, you will draw the attention of that entire army. I know their kind. Kayne, someone I’m as close to trusting as any other, is one. They grow complacent that fey will not be roaming free this close to Lockinge, but one wrong step will ruin everything. Capturing their attention unprepared will not be wise.”

Kayne, the name rang a bell. He was the red-haired man I’d seen back in Finstock speaking to Duncan. I remembered the hawk, perched across his broad shoulder, and now put everything together about the creature’s purpose.

“Could Kayne be down there now?” I asked. “Maybe he will help you.”

“I would hope so. If something goes wrong tonight, then he would assist, I believe it. I don’t doubt his loyalty to me as a brother, more than a fellow Hunter. But even he cannot know about you – about us. Even brothers turn on each other when they go against a shared belief. I’m not ready to test our friendship, not under these circumstances. If I’m recognised, I am merely a lucky fucker who survived the attack on the party.” He gestured to his unkempt appearance. “I certainly look the part.”

“In and out,” I echoed something he had said to me the night prior.

“Indeed,” he replied, the sultry smile returning to his face. “And am I not an expert of that already? Trust in me, Robin. I go at dusk and will be back before the sun reveals itself tomorrow.”

“And if not?” I asked, the words no more than a whisper.

Duncan placed his hand upon my cheek, letting me melt into his touch. We cared little for the dirt and grime that had caked our bodies from the lack of washing. “If I don’t return, then I forbid you to come looking for me. Turn back. Return home. I cannot guarantee your safety if you come for me. Nor would I wish for you to risk going to Lockinge alone.”

“So, I’m expected to sit here and wait for you like a good little pup? I still think you are a fool to not let me come and help. I have the skill–”

“Skills that will have you killed before you can use them.” Duncan laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “If you walk into a town full of Hunters, they won’t see you as a king, but as a blood bag ready for draining. No, you stay here. Put your trust in me. And if I’m the one to fail, then you turn away. Understand?”

It took a moment to reply, and I couldn’t do it with words. Instead, I nodded, hating how difficult it was to lie to him.

“No more talk of this, okay?” Duncan said, placing a kiss between my brows. “We should rest whilst we can. We can’t afford to expend any unnecessary energy whilst being this close to Lockinge.”

Duncan was right. We did need to rest. But I wanted nothing more than to rain down my power across the army beneath us. Watching those cages being carted towards the city did not sit right with me. It turned my stomach into knots, discomfort repeatedly stabbing into my chest.

For all we had planned, nothing prepared me for when we’d finally enter Lockinge. Duncan would return to his act of general and me as a captured fey. Then what? We relied on his title, and mine, to get us through the doors. Duncan was still confident my presence as king of a fey court would be enough to get the Hand’s attention.

That did little to keep my anxieties at bay.

I missed Althea and Gyah. More times than I cared to count I would lose myself to what-ifs and maybes. What if I’d returned to Wychwood with them? Then I remembered what waited for me beyond the border.

Nothing.

An empty, abandoned Court. No family. No Erix. Doran Oakstorm and his endless petition against me. Just cold, endless, nothingness.

At least here, with Duncan, there was warmth. His body close to mine, his promise ringing loud and true in my head. But there was also the promise of saving the fey the Hand had captured. That was my focus. I wouldn’t leave without them.

Since leaving Finstock, this was by far the quickest day to pass. All we could do was watch as the seemingly endless army finally moved on until it was nothing but a dot on the horizon. We did so in silence. No matter how I willed the day to slow, for Duncan’s hold on me to carry on without any need to stop, dusk finally came and with it his departure.

“Remember, wait for me until dawn. If I don’t make it back, then you forget me and return home.”

Home. What a strange concept. It was a word I felt had no meaning to me anymore.

I gripped his cold, calloused hands and squeezed. “Duncan, don’t leave me until you promise you will come back. If we are bargaining promises, that’s what I need to hear from you.”

His hand cupped the side of my face, gently but shaking slightly. “I will do my best. But I also need to hear you say it – tell me you will not come after me.”

I couldn’t lie to him again. Instead, I looked up at him through my dark lashes, blinking slowly at him, fighting back tears. “I can’t help but feel as though this is a goodbye.”

Duncan leaned forward, pressing his brow to mine. “It is merely a see you soon, darling.”

---