Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
A knock sounds at the sitting room door, and Eryn answers it. I concentrate on shifting into the imposter king. My bones and skin stretch, the muscles protesting as they grow and change. When I've shifted fully, I stroll out to the sitting room where Eryn stands with Lottie, the latter looking bewildered. She gives me a greeting befitting a king.
“Lottie. I really hope I judged you correctly when I met you,” I say with a voice that does not belong to me. I shift back into myself, internally rolling my eyes at the theatrics of it all, but I need the shock factor.
“You!” Lottie says, looking utterly baffled. She steps in front of the prince and draws her sword, as I expected, but still to my relief.
“Good. I need you to guard him with your life, Lottie.”
Eryn’s looking at me over Lottie’s head with one eyebrow cocked. “This is a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”
“Can someone explain what the fuck is going on? Or I will run you through with my sword. Why have you impersonated the king? ”
“Because there has been another man impersonating him for a decade, and I stole his power after he tortured me. Now I need to go and rescue the rest of the people he was torturing while I pretend to be the king, so we can do it with as little fuckery as possible. Okay?”
Lottie looks at the prince, who nods at her and swings on Tovi’s cloak.
“Why me?” she asks, keeping her sword trained on me.
“Because you helped the Prince Ofnemoris give me apricots. I’m pinning everything on your moral compass to keep Eryn safe,” I say this to Lottie quickly, eyeing Eryn with the cloak. “What are you doing?” I ask him.
“That was Aurelius Jasper, the second Prince Ofnemoris?” she questions with a hiss.
“Yes, he is here to save his kidnapped sister, who we also need to rescue. Satisfied I’m not the monster?” I ask, closing my eyes for a moment. I am a monster, just not the monster this time. Irony abounds.
“This is madness!” Lottie says, finally lowering her sword.
Eryn laughs. “That’s what I said! Should we go?”
I try not to growl at the kid. “No, we are not going anywhere. Lottie is going to guard you here, and I’m going.”
“ Technically , you both have to do what I say. Prince and all,” Eryn says with a cunning smile on his face, imitating the hair flick I did earlier. A challenge. He knows I can’t dispute him without revealing our secret. Definitely a king in the making.
“Fine. But you’re staying outside with Lottie when we get there.”
Eryn gives me a smug look and flips the hood of the cloak up. Lottie looks queasy. My body begins contracting and distorting as I once again take the form of King Stol Brud Oferdu. It’s getting easier, but no less painful or uncomfortable.
“Your clothes change, too?” Lottie asks, peering at me like…well, like I've shifted into another person.
“Apparently,” I mumble, shrugging away her scrutiny.
Eryn keeps his head down as we walk, and I hope no one takes a closer look at the doxy under the cloak. One Patron guard stayed behind to replace Lottie, and the other three, after some reluctance, were relieved of duty for the evening. I tell them to stay and help guard Prince Eryn’s doors as there may be an intruder.
The guards are terrified of me—of King Stol. Not one of them points out what a ridiculous idea it is for us to only be escorted by one guard while there may be an intruder about. Eryn is going to need better guards.
We make it to the king’s chambers without incident. Eryn throws off the cloak, and I shift back to me. I pull back the tapestry for Lottie and Eryn to enter the secret passage as an explosion rocks the castle. It came from the direction of the caves.
We run. Lottie has her sword drawn, and I am inadequately armed with only my small knife. I stumble out of the passage as another explosion rocks the canyon. Outside the cave, Beans is cradling Bitty in his lap as the Laguzborn writhes in pain and clutches their ears.
“Beans! What happened?” I scream as we run toward them. Where is Riley and Tovi? Dust and smoke billows from the cave entrance.
He gives me a panicked look. “Riley and Tovi ran in when Bitty said they heard Lyss scream. We waited out here. Bitty was listening to what was going on. The explosion…” Beans’ cries. Bitty finally stops writhing in pain, falling into unconsciousness.
Riley and Tovi were inside during the explosion.
I’m not sure how long I stand there, frozen, my rage slicing my insides to be free. Lottie shakes me back to myself.
“Can we leave the prince with these two?” Lottie is screaming at me. I nod.
Lottie drags me with her into the cave. The dust has started to settle when we come across Lyss’ and Tovi’s prone forms. Both alive, but unconscious.
“Tovi?” Lottie breathes, obviously confused to see the Erduborn woman here. She picks up the women with ease, one over each shoulder as if they weigh no more than small sacks of grain. Gift of strength confirmed I observe distractedly.
I’m alert, back to myself. The sounds of moaning and crying sharpen my senses. Collapsed walls, fallen rocks, and small fires burning make the air acrid. I’m desperately looking for Riley, while also keeping an eye out for the imposter king.
A couple of conscious prisoners stumble into view, and I direct them out. I find the bodies of three dead women and a dead man still manacled, though I barely register who they are. Only that they aren’t Riley.
Lottie helps me move rocks and fallen debris, carrying out casualties as we find them. Eventually, Tovi returns to help.
“Lyss is awake and is setting up a triage area.Have you found him?” she asks us, though she knows the answer. No. We have not found Riley.
Some of the royal guards have begun panicking and looking for the king. Hearing the explosions, the guards found their way around into the canyon via a camouflaged bend in the gorge wall. Sighing, I shift into his form. The last thing we need is everyone thinking the king has been kidnapped. The guards cry in relief when they see me. Immediately, I start barking orders.
“Guard the prince.
“Help bring the wounded and dead out of the caves.
“Cover the dead with sheets.
“Go down into the tunnels and begin clearing the collapsed one.”
I get only slight pushback about not having my own personal guard, but I remind them that I have Lottie with me. When everyone we can find from the caves is outside, Lyss takes stock. The imposter king and five others are missing, as is Riley.
Lyss has healed Bitty’s burst eardrums, but she cannot promise that their Gift will be the same. Bitty is still unconscious, so we won’t know until they wake. Eryn holds Bitty’s head in his lap, while Beans helps to clear the tunnels.
Nine are dead, three are critically wounded, and another six have superficial wounds. So much carnage. The pain of Riley missing is a knife to my organs. The two men I killed are part of the nine, having been crushed beyond recognition. Or at least beyond any recognition that they died by a handmade blade and not fallen rock.
“The main tunnel is almost clear, but we think they must have escaped further in,” Tovi says with a hoarse voice.
“Do the cave systems lead to the surface somewhere?”I ask, temporarily forgetting my current appearance as the king.
Lyss leans on Tovi. “I didn’t have time to investigate, but the… assailant must know the caves better than us.”
We’ve made the unspoken rule not to mention the imposter king. The person responsible will be a nameless enemy. The implication that I will have to remain king for a little longer becomes more obvious as the day progresses, and my skin itches to change back to myself.
I’m getting a lot of wary—and some hostile—looks from the conscious wounded. They think I’m the king, and I don’t blame them for hating this form. I instruct some of the guards to take the wounded to the healers' hall. But not Riley.
Because Riley isn’t here. He isn’t with the wounded.
Riley is gone.
It’s been hours since the explosions. Finally, the tunnel has been cleared enough that we can follow, and I send a small army. “I want that cave system mapped,” I scream. None of them bats an eye or looks at me like I’m not the king they know.
Bitty woke up with their Gift intact. They wanted to go with the army—so do I—but both Beans and I denied them. Eryn is still here, watching me as if I am on the edge of chaos and destruction. And maybe I am.
Unwillingly to leave, we have all gathered to debrief inside a tent erected just outside the entrance to the collapsed cave. This strategic placement conceals the entrance back through to the king’s rooms, which have so far not been detected.
One of the other prisoners stayed with us instead of going to the healer's wing with the others—Zinniani, a Sadoriborn woman Lyss has befriended. She has the forced manifestation Gift of turning into smoke. Unfortunately, she has no concept of time when she’s in smoke form and remembers nothing. Lyss assured me she would keep our secret, having already told her. She needed help after I left her, and she trusts Zinniani with her life. I tried not to let my rage slip as she told me, but she’s trusted Zinniani with all of our lives now. The number of people who know about the king and my Gift must not increase beyond this.
Zinniani is beautiful. She must be from one of the tribes in the northern part of Sadori, as she has skin so dark it rivals the night sky. She has broad shoulders and a slim waist, holding herself with careful grace despite the atrocities inflicted upon her.
However beautiful she is, it’s still startling to see a smile directed so… lovingly at Lyss. I’m not the only one who sees it or sees Lyss return the look in equal measure. I catch Tovi’s eye, and she gives me a small, sad shrug. Lyss is leaning on Zinniani while she strokes her dark, blood-red hair, looking cozier than friends.
The day is already over, the sun long since set. I’ll have to organize everyone's guest chambers soon, as the king. I was going to have to do king things. I’m going to have to be the king, and soon. I can’t be out here overseeing everything because the king wouldn’t be doing this.
I want to scream. I need my hatchets so I can annihilate something, anything, with my rage. I want to lead a team through the tunnels and find the imposter king. I should have ripped him apart. I need to tear him to pieces with my bare hands.
Rage slams into me harder than it ever has. As if it blames me for what’s happened.
“How did he get the manacles off?” Beans breaks the deafening silence inside the tent.
“It…They were unlocked. He must have had a spare key,” Lyss’ small voice responds.
Of course. “Or lockpicks,” I say to myself, losing the battle raging in my chest. It’s my fault he escaped.
I should’ve checked him more thoroughly. Stripped him. Instead, I left him alone with Lyss. And now he’s escaped with a band of scared and dangerous people. And likely taken Riley.
I had stopped breathing normally at some point in the afternoon. I now knew Riley wasn’t under the rubble, but it didn’t stop my brain from imagining it. The short, sharp breaths slice my throat as if my rage is reaching up and trying to escape. Eryn puts his arm around me, and I lose control of my shape momentarily, trying to hold myself together. Trying to breathe again.
Without Riley.
Lenore and Renn, along with Sadoriborn twins Omari and Romilly and a Mievaborn named Mitta, are the missing prisoners. Except for Mitta, those missing were the imposter king’s favorites.
Riley is missing.
Romilly has the forced manifestation Gift of using someone’s sight and hearing or forcing them to experience hers, and Omari can induce and manipulate memories. Both are very mentally unstable, experiencing hallucinations and severe separation anxiety.
Mitta’s Gift wasn’t impressive, but it could be intimidating if you didn’t know the truth. He could duplicate himself five times, being able to move and talk as “them” independently. But his duplicates aren’t physically capable of touch or hearing anything. A gentle man, Mitta was one of the least traumatized, but he experienced a lifelong depression and sadness that was exacerbated by the torture. Lyss said he’d been making progress, but she was worried this will set him back.
Throughout the debrief, I’m only half listening. My skin prickles, and every now and then I see patches of my skin change color and texture. I’m barely holding it together. My mind is on one track. I care for Eryn, I do, and I know I’ll stay and do the right thing by him and everyone else. But I want to march down those tunnels myself, not stay here, and certainly not masquerade as King Stol Brud Oferdu.
Riley is missing . I want to change back to myself so I can touch my necklace and run the emerald heart across my lips. Instead, I’m impersonating the impersonated inside a tent in a tiny canyon, outside the half-collapsed cave and tunnel system I was tortured in. Hysteria flushes through the blood in my veins, and I catch the laughter before it leaves my throat.
What if I can’t do this? What if I can’t pretend to be the king? I can kill. I can torture. I can fight. But this is beyond madness. I have no idea what I’m doing.
We will have to send word to Queen Neoniri, which will be fucking awful to write. Because we saved her daughter, only for her son to go missing. My heart sinks. She will also need to be told about the king and my Gift. Assurances from Lyss that she won’t immediately report this to the council do nothing to alleviate my rage. Rage that is currently telling me to run, to disappear. Leave all of them and everything else behind. But I can’t.
Because Riley is missing. And it’s my fault.
One thing I know for certain is that I will find Riley. I will find him, and I will kill the imposter king—my father. Or I will die trying. And I can only think of one way I will be able to do that.
I need to be the fucking King Oferdu.