Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Ophelia
I assessed the Engrossian heir, from the worn tips of his boots, to his black dirt-and-blood-streaked shirt, to the many rings adorning his fingers. From the easy cross of his ankles to the challenging smirk on his lips. From the pale, sickly skin that was Kakias to the eyes that were Lucidius.
There was more to him, though. Subtle tremors of his hands and nervous glances at our weapons I wasn’t sure the others noticed.
I did not know what to make of him, but I recognized an act.
“We’re to believe you’ve come to us to share information about your own mother? Your own people? With the enemy?” Speaking the words aloud made them seem even more ridiculous.
Barrett blinked at me, all jokes dropped. “Yes, I am here for precisely that reason.” There was a gray tinge to his skin that almost made him look sick, cheeks hollowed.
“And why should we believe you?” Cyph asked.
The prince leaned his head back against the wall, a weight seeming to settle on his shoulders.
“Because I don’t agree with what she’s doing.
” Lips tightening into a grimace, he pushed himself to the edge of the cot, fingers curling around its metal frame.
“My mother is heading toward a fate worse than death, I believe.”
“And what could that be?” I tilted my head at him. We locked eyes, each evaluating our opponent—or potential ally?
“Slaughter.”
“You think she’s going to get herself killed?” Was he here to ask us to help her? Not a shot in the Spirit-guarded hell would that happen. I’d run Angelborn through his chest and send his body back to the Engrossian Valleys before the question left his lips.
But the prince shook his head. “I think she’s heading toward the slaughter of innocents.”
Silence hung over the room, and through it the cries of dying Mystiques clouded my mind.
The slaughter of my people at the hands of Engrossians after Kakias gave the order to send them into Palerman.
Blood across the city center, cobblestones sticky beneath my boots as we moved bodies.
My father nearly losing his life. My sister, only fourteen at the time, witnessing such destruction.
“You didn’t seem to care last time,” I spat.
“Did I not?” His fingers curled tighter around the edge of the cot. He was restraining himself. From what, I wasn’t sure. Barrett hadn’t fought in the war. He made no public appearance during that time. And—
He made no public appearance.
“You didn’t approve of the war, did you?”
Barrett shook his head, sighing. “I saw no point in the loss of Engrossian life.”
Malakai scoffed. “And Mystiques? What of our people that fell at the hands of yours?”
“It was a shame for them to die, but they aren’t my priority,” Barrett shot at him, voice thick with malice. Then, he said to me, throat bobbing, “You would have held the same view.”
He was right. If it came down to Mystiques or Engrossians—if it came down to Mystiques or any clan—I would choose Mystiques. Every time.
“My people are not all made in the image of my mother,” Barrett pleaded. With the purple shadows beneath his eyes, he looked exhausted. The weight of lives balanced on his shoulders.
“They didn’t seem to mind attacking us before,” Tolek challenged. He shifted, favoring his scarred leg. For a moment, the scent of his blood surrounded me again.
We couldn’t trust the Engrossians.
“I’m not saying they’re all innocent. There’s rotten fruit in every bunch.” Barrett shrugged, running a hand through his curls and bracing his elbows on his knees. The movement was so reminiscent of Malakai. My friends noticed it, too, gazes shifting between the half-brothers.
“How can we believe you’re innocent?”
Barrett raised his shackles.
“That means nothing,” I asserted. “You were injured. You needed our help.”
“If I was here for nefarious purposes, don’t you think I’d be a little more creative than arriving at the main entrance to your palace in the middle of the day?”
Yes, I did. It hadn’t settled right with me when Tolek reported the arrival, but I neither confirmed nor denied that to the prince. The lift of one corner of his lips told me he knew anyway.
I looked over my shoulder at Cyph. He stood with one hand braced on the sword at his hip. With a nod, he scooted around me to stand beside Barrett’s cot, curling his hand through the chains like a leash. The prince watched with a curious tilt of his head.
“If I am to believe your claim”—I strode toward him as much as I could in the small space, commanding it—“you need to tell us more.”
Cyph drew a dagger, and the Engrossian’s eyes widened at the pristine blade.
Barrett swallowed. “Your threats are unnecessary. I’ve said I’ll talk.”
I bent down before him, looking directly into those dark green eyes. “Start.”
“My mother is moving troops.”
My stomach flipped. “Why?”
“I believe she intends to reignite the war.”
That made no sense. Kakias lost Lucidius, she lost her cover, she lost her prisoner. Starting another war would only ensure everyone saw her as a conqueror. She could never place her son on the Revered’s seat now, despite who his true father was.
What was it she was after?
My mind raced through the reasons why this didn’t make sense, but Barrett’s voice was sharp enough to slice through them all.
“She’s been traveling often. I don’t know where she goes—she won’t tell me.
But she only brings a small guard with her.
I think it’s a diversion, while the real threat is the armies she’s rebuilding.
Do not forget, we didn’t suffer as your people did in the war.
Many survived. Many who still need work, despite the gruesome state of it.
My mother knows this and has called on them.
They’ve already started marching eastward. ”
Not northeast toward the mountains, but east. What lay in the east?
“Do they not march for Damenal?” I asked, crossing my arms to keep my hands from shaking. Tolek and Jezebel pressed closer to me.
“I don’t know.” Barrett shook his head.
I flicked my gaze to Cypherion. He tugged the prince’s chains until they dug into his wrists.
“Ouch! Bant’s golden cock, what was that for?”
“Your answers are unsatisfying.” I turned away, pacing.
Barrett huffed. “I’m telling you what I know.” I stiffened but said nothing, so Barrett barreled on, “The only logical plan was that the army would march to Damenal, yet the last report I intercepted said east.”
“When was the report?” Cyph gripped his knife tighter.
The prince watched his fingers curl around the handle, words rushing out. “Two weeks ago. I traveled here immediately. It said—” He cut himself off.
“What did it say, Prince?”
“I truly am horrendous at these matters, aren’t I?” He groaned, and I wasn’t certain what he meant by that. “There’s a small camp of Engrossian Warriors in your Southern Pass.”
The Southern Pass, the wide stretch that led directly from Damenal to Bodymelder and Mindshaper Territories—potential allies.
Internally, my spirit was screaming, but I slammed that mask against it. Gather information. Build a strategy. Demonstrate my capability and protect my people.
“How many?”
“No more than thirty.”
“Why?”
“To cut off access and surround the capital.”
Two weeks. For two weeks, they’d been so close, and we’d been oblivious. What else had the queen planned that we didn’t know?
Keeping my arms crossed, I assessed the prince with a seething silence.
“It’s suspicious that he’d tell us.” Jezebel narrowed her eyes at Barrett.
“I’m inclined not to believe him,” Tolek said.
“It does seem like a trap,” I added as if the heir wasn’t even present.
Barrett leveled a harsh stare at us. “I don’t wish to see any more bloodshed for my people. If that means selling out my mother to you, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I raised my brows at him. “Regardless of that fact, if your mother’s army is marching, it doesn’t matter what you want—there will be bloodshed. The only alternative is us rolling over.” Something we would never do.
“Now if that is all…” I turned toward the door, barely able to keep my anger leashed.
But whatever restraint Barrett had on himself snapped.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Revered.
” He tried to push to his feet, but Cyph yanked him back, chains clanking.
“Diplomacy, negotiations, it’s all new to me.
I have no power under my mother’s rule—I—” He took a heavy breath.
“I’m merely a pawn. One tired of sitting by while people die. ”
There it was. The reason I’d maintained my disinterest—to push him. I wanted him poised at the breaking point. Because it was clear the Engrossian prince had more to say, frustrations that needed airing, that might make him a true ally.
“Thank you for the information.” I nodded at my friends to file out before me. “There will be a guard at this door night and day. If you wish for us to believe you, I’d advise you not try anything.”
He sank down onto his cot, disbelief in his wide eyes and parted lips.
“Get some rest, Prince Barrett.” I closed the door behind me with a click.