Page 86 of Thief of Souls
Soraya flexes her knuckles as though she’s thinking about conjuring a weapon. “You think Ruhle set this up? But why? We’re the ones in the field. If one ofusbrings the horn to Father….”
We’ll be the heroes.Not him.
I can’t stop my feet from pacing.
A thousand thoughts misfire through my brain. “Maybe he thinks he’ll earn his way into Father’s good graces for the sake of the information.” No, that makes no sense. Father doesn’t give credit to those who sit back and wait. He urges for us to strike and strike hard. He admires bravery, fierceness, courage and determination.
But he also admires manipulation.
Play the game right, and you earn a pat on the back. Play it wrong, and you’re right back there in the Abyss.
I think of everything I know about Ruhle and his seven wraith lackeys.
“If Ruhle set this into play then he’s waiting for us to retrieve the horn,” I say. “He’ll hit us hard the second we get our hands on it. Thenhedelivers it to Father.” I frown. “But why… why didn’t he send you straight for Mistmark? Why make the play here? At the Court of Blood? If Mistmark had the horn, then why this elaborate ruse to draw him out of his castle?”
Once again, there’s a flicker of some unknown emotion in her eyes. “It’s not that easy getting into Mistmark’s castle. Or getting out.”
“Well, yes, I have met Falion.”
She scowls. “So have I. Indeed, I promised him a reckoning should we meet again. But Falion’s not… he’s not the only weapon Mistmark has up his sleeve. The castle… it exists within an Other World, outside of time. He makes the rules there. He controls the entire castle. It’s shrouded in mist, and it’s hard to gauge sound and sight within those mists. There’s also something that hunts the forest around the castle. To make it past both….”
“How’d you get in?”
Soraya snorts. “Damsel in distress. How else? I appealed to his sense of mercy. When I ‘woke’ I was tucked carefully in his bed with a healer hovering over me.”
In his bed?Interesting. But there’s no point dwelling on that. I feel like there’s a knot within this chain of thought that needs to be untethered. “Mistmark’s impossible to breach. Ruhle knows Father wants the horn. But how did he know that Mistmark would leave the castle? What did Malechus have on Mistmark in order to draw him out?”
This time, I’m not mistaking the heat in Soraya’s cheeks. She glances to the side angrily.
“You.” It’s all starting to make sense. “You were the prize Malechus used in order to get his hands on Mistmark. He blackmailed him—marriage to Belladonna and the bridal tithe paid in exchange for you.”But how did he…?A thought occurs. A terrible thought. “Ruhle’s workingwithMalechus.”
It’s the only way Malechus would have known that Mistmark swore bloody vengeance upon my sister.
Maybe the Blood Prince doesn’t know who our brother is. Maybe they struck a deal. Maybe they think they’re going to double-cross each other. But there’s no other way that Malechus would have known what Soraya meant to Mistmark unless that information came from within the wraithen court.
“Falion’s the only other one who had that knowledge,” Soraya counters.
“Falion’s tongue is so far up Mistmark’s ass, I don’t think he would ever betray him.”
Soraya cuts me a dangerous look. “I haven’t seen a single glimpse of Ruhle or one of his little lickspittles.”
It doesn’t mean he’s not pulling strings behind the scenes. “If he’s here, then this game has more moving parts than either of us can handle.”
I don’t like the odds stacked against me. Father. Keir. Mistmark and Falion. Malechus. Ruhle.
Not to mention a certain vicious Blood Court princess whose curse is currently weaving its talons into my heart.
“The horn’s somewhere here at court.” Regardless of whether Malechus or Ruhle are the ones behind this ploy, they’ve managed the set up the play quite neatly. A little thrill runs through me. A means to steal the fucking thing right out from under their noses. “Malechus is watching both Keir and Mistmark. Falion’s out there somewhere, and he doesn’t like Malechus either. I don’t know what Belladonna wants, but I think she’ll take the chance to stab her cousin in the back if she gets one. And none of them will work with Ruhle. If he trulyisbehind all of this, then he’s going to have to keep his head low.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Father wants the horn. Ruhle wants us both dead. Malechus and Belladonna have both attempted to kill us. And I don’t know what Mistmark wants with you, but he ventured out of his locked vault of a castle in order to get his hands on you. It’s all leverage.” I meet her eyes. “I can’t negotiate this mess by myself.” It’s a breathless realization. Once more, my back is against the wall. “And you’re wanted by at least three men.”
Soraya looks speculative. “What do you have in mind?”
I can feel the hungry edge to my smile. “Easy. Like I said, the horn’s right here. Falion hinted that it’s in the maze somewhere. He gave Mistmark a piece of paper—it might be a map. I’ll slip into his rooms and search for the paper. Then you and I are going to steal the horn. And we’re going to play the others off against each other in order to do so.”
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