Page 57 of Of Kings and Thieves

His spell had failed, and now soldiers were seeing us for what we were—a threatening, armed group of people.

Soldiers in the middle of the bridge heard the shouts and approached us. I started counting them, getting ready to sing to stop them in their tracks. If we could only cross the bridge, there should be cover on the other side. I needed to act before the soldiers converged on us, or there would be too many.

But then I felt a hand on mine, and looked to see Col, who had fallen back beside me. “Don’t say anything,” he said. “Just act natural.”

I had no idea how the hell I was supposed to do that, but I watched as Col rode forward to meet the first group of soldiers. He drew his sword. Magnus swung his ax over his head and rode forward with him. Scarlet unsheathed her borrowed orc sword but stayed at my side, her horse next to mine. Killian hung back, his staff loosely held in his right hand.

My attention went back to Col, who, instead of attacking, was dismounting in front of the soldiers. Another black feather fell off his shoulders, catching my eye as it floated away on a breeze and disappeared. And Col’s beautiful, ancient sword seemed to whisper as he turned it and held it in his palms.

Offering it in surrender.

My mouth dropped open. I thought there was going to be a fight, but Magnus dismounted and rested the head of his ax on the ground as Col walked forward.

“What’s going on?” I whispered. Scarlet didn’t answer, but her face had lost its color once again.

“You there!” said a guard in front of Col, regarding us warily. His eyes slid to Magnus and lingered with no small bit of fear. Then he looked at the rest of us, taking in our appearance, our weapons.

Col spoke, drawing the guard’s attention back to him. “Hail, guard of Harrowfell.”

I didn’t hear what the guard said in answer, but Col stood resolutely in front of him, raising the sword for him to see clearly in the dying light. “I am Prince Andris, son of King Edric, and I have arrived to speak to The Harrow.”

The shock in the guard’s face was evident. “You are…?” Another man ran up to him and whispered into his ear. He seemed to recover himself and then pointed his sword at Col, who remained where he was, his sword still offered in surrender.

I held my breath and waited. There was still a possibility that I could sing to get us out of this. There were too many guards for me to handle at once, but if I could surprise them...

And then, Col handed his sword over to the guard, who was grinning as if he had just won a prize.

“I will surrender peacefully if you let them go,” Col was saying, “as was previously arranged.”

My mouth gaped open. Beside me, Scarlet stiffened in her saddle.

The guard was staring at Magnus. “I know this one, though. He’s a wanted man, and is therefore not part of the deal.”

“The Harrow gave his word,” Col said, his voice low and dangerous.

“We can’t have that giant wandering around our city. He’s a murderer and a half-breed.” He gestured to the men behind him. “Take him.”

A group of soldiers roughly grabbed Magnus, who didn’t even flinch as they bound his hands. He wasn’t fighting back. With one swipe of his ax, he could have taken down three of them. And yet he didn’t fight.

Col, the muscles working in his jaw, didn’t say anything further as they also bound his hands behind his back.

He was letting himself be taken.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A group of Deviants arrived, pushing their way past my horse, their eyes on Col.

Behind me, Killian had dismounted, and he beckoned them. One turned aside. “Killian! Is it true? Is this our long-lost prince?” The man who was speaking had pulled his hood off his head. A crisscross of scars ran along his bald head and the side of his neck, extending under his plain silver mask.

Killian straightened and nodded. “It is true. I met up with Andris three days ago and have counseled him to return home and face his fate.”

My shock changed to anger in a split second, and I accidentally pulled too hard on the reins. Sprite tossed her head and pranced in place as I grasped what was happening.

Killian was betraying Col.

“No!” I said. Scarlet hissed something at me, and the Deviants all turned to look at me.

“Killian—”

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