Page 102 of The Royal Throne
“Agreed.”
Sabine’s heart pounded with the possibility that Evander was on the other side of the tent. She was about to call out to him when someone slipped inside her tent. The person got closer.
She was about to say Evander, thinking it was him, when a hand slid over her mouth.
“Shh,” Drew said. “Don’t say a word. We’re under attack and several people have been killed.” He released her and cut her bindings.
She sat up, wanting to make a run for it.
Drew motioned for her to stay put, then he turned to face the tent’s opening.
“I need to get out of here,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous to leave the tent.” Withdrawing his sword, he stood there guarding the queen.
Rainer shoved the tent flap back and stormed inside. “He’s going to pay.” The king’s hair was disheveled, there was a cut across his face, and his clothes were rumpled. It looked like he’d been in a fight. “What are you doing here?” he asked Drew.
“With all of the assassinations last night, I came here to protect the queen. It’s a good thing I did, since she was tied up.”
“You’re dismissed. Leave.”
Drew slid his sword in its scabbard then exited the tent.
“Who’s going to pay? What happened?” Sabine asked as she sat up on the bed.
The king glared at her. “The assassin that we captured got away. He killed three dozen of my men.”
“What about Evander?” she asked, wondering if he’d been involved in the killings, especially since she thought she’d heard him last night outside her tent.
“Evander is the one who rescued the assassin.”
Sabine found it hard to breathe as the realization set in. Evander had rescued the assassin, but not her. Her first thought was that he didn’t know she was here in this camp. But he did. The conversation she’d overheard all but confirmed that he knew she was here. Yet he’d done nothing to save her. It sounded like he’d prevented the assassin from killing her—but saving her? Rescuing her? She wasn’t part of his plan and that stung.
“Let’s go.” Rainer grabbed Sabine’s arm, dragging her off the bed and out of the tent.
Fog coated the land, concealing the tents more than twenty feet away. Rainer pulled her along. The camp seemed deserted. When they reached the center where a platform stood, she realized why the rest of the camp had felt empty—it was because everyone was here.
Rainer dragged her along a narrow pathway leading to the platform. When they reached it, he yanked her up the steps. At the top, he gripped her arms. Another soldier joined them, tying Sabine’s wrists together in front of her body. Several of the soldiers murmured, probably wondering what the king was doing with the queen. Then the soldier removed both of Sabine’s daggers and exited the platform. When Rainer and Sabine were the only two standing on it, Rainer shouted, “If you want to save her, show yourself!”
The soldiers gathered closest to them pulled out their swords and turned so their backs faced the platform as if guarding it from a threat.
Evander was nowhere to be seen. She thought it rather bold of Rainer to stand out in the open, so exposed. However, she didn’t see any archers among the soldiers. She also didn’t see any areas where one could potentially hide and shoot an arrow toward Rainer.
Sabine had an inkling of a plan. “Listen to me,” she said loudly, her voice carrying over the hundreds of soldiers gathered. “Every life here is valuable. We do not need to go to war?—”
Rainer backhanded her across the face, causing her to fall on her arm. She cried out in pain.
Someone in the crowd moved, as if to help her.
Rainer ordered Aaren, who stood at the bottom of the steps, to arrest that soldier who’d moved. Aaren rushed forward and grabbed the person, yanking back the man’s hood, to reveal a Lynk soldier.
“It’s not him,” Aaren said, letting him go.
Rainer cursed. “Where is he?” He stepped toward Sabine, placing one of his boots on her back, forcing her to remain on the floor. He withdrew his sword, the slice of steel ringing through the air. “Last chance!” he called out. “Show yourself, or she dies!”
It felt as if time slowed.
Sabine tried to get to her knees, but Rainer only stepped harder on her.
