Page 181 of Prize for the King
But I don’t think that’s it.
“What have we missed?” I mutter and bite down on my knuckles, hoping the pain will ground me.
“Another hunch?” Raduna asks, stepping closer.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Where were the carts hired? And what about our soldiers who went in as clients? If the kings have spies on us… I don’t know. This is too easy.”
They are silent save for Khay’s frantic muttering as he peers out through the holes, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of his sisters.
“You said today that we would be playing right into their hands,” Arvi says quietly, throwing a knife from hand to hand, almost like a juggler. “What did you mean by that?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. They lied for a reason. They taunted him.‘Wares’.It was almost like goading. But no one followed us here, did they? We’re hidden. The soldiers hid well, too. I suppose the carts are a giveaway, if anyone reports it…”
“There!”
I jump at Khay’s excited whisper. We all hurry to the windows. There are shapes moving out in the street, and there’s a glint of metal in the light of a lone, smoking lantern. But their size is wrong.
“Are they…”
“Humans,” Raduna says grimly.
“Not city guards,” I whisper, looking closely at their clothing. “I don’t see any emblems. I can’t tell who they are.”
“We have to warn…” Khay begins, but Raduna grabs him by the ear and presses his free hand to Khay’s mouth to muffle his cry of pain.
“You have your orders. Sit tight, or Magnar will have to execute you for disobeying, and it will break his heart. Do you understand me, Khay?”
Khay nods grudgingly, and when Raduna lets go, he massages his ear with a grimace. “How many?”
“I’ve counted twenty,” Arvi says, peering into the street. “On this side. There might be more approaching from the east.”
“Magnar has ten soldiers,” Raduna says patiently. “He can deal with them.”
The humans creep around the corner of the street, disappearing from view. My heart pounds sickly. I have a very bad feeling about this.
“Oh no,” whispers Arvi.
“What? What did you see?”
“Look. In that alley.”
I strain my eyes. A figure looms in the dark, steadily coming closer. In the bit of light from the lantern, I can finally tell what I see. A human man holding a child.
And behind him—the white hair, oh, he should have worn a hood. Magnar shouts something, but his words are muffled by the pounding rain. The man turns, raising the child higher. He uses it as a shield, and I press my hand to my throat, peering in the dark. It seems like no one’s coming after Magnar.
“Stay,” Raduna growls, grappling with Khay when he makes a dash for the door. “And be quiet! Caliane can’t be discovered or they’ll have an excuse to kill them both.”
“Oh no.”
There’s a flash of light sliding off the edge of Magnar’s sword. He swings it, and the man crumples to the ground. The child wails, and Magnar comes down to one knee, coaxing it closer. Hesitantly, it goes. He picks it up and turns, running for the other side of the street. There, his soldier waits.
“Halt!”
I flinch. The voice comes from nearby. A moment later, I seewhy. There were human soldiers, not city guards but another kind, hiding among the buildings. They come out, pointing their swords at Magnar. He crouches and lets the child go. It runs back toward the brothel where it’s intercepted by the Agnidari man who runs away with it in his arms. Magnar remains crouching, his hand tight on the handle of his sword. His hair is soaked.
The soldiers fan out, forming an even half-circle. As they move away, I can’t make out what they say, but my knights’ hearing is better than mine.
“They said he must give up his sword and turn himself in. He… If he fights, they will kill him,” Raduna says, his voice flat and emotionless.
