Chapter Twenty-Two
Oliver
Prince Cailean sits in his dimly lit office, hunched over a desk.
The only sound that can be heard is the quiet clinking of coin over and over as he drops them one by one on his desk.
Anger vibrates off him. My idiot cousin, Coley, stands in the corner, staring out the window.
I’m hesitant to even say anything, to interrupt his thoughts, but if I delay this any longer, there will be hell to pay.
I knock on the door frame before walking into the dark room. “My prince,” I greet him with a low dip.
“Oliver,” he huffs. “Please tell me you bring good news.”
My heart dips. He’s going to rage when he hears we lost the traitorous Duke’s son. I dip my chin. “Unfortunately, I bring only bad news.”
“What did he do?” Cailean growls. I wince, knowing he’s going to be pissed. “Tell me, Oliver. What did the Hood do now?”
“They broke Duke Halstead’s son out.”
“Come again?” Cailean stands up, leaning over the desk with his ear cocked towards me.
“Baelur Halstead is gone.”
Cailean clears the contents of his desk off in one fell swoop. Coley flinches as gold coins hit him. “What do you mean gone?”
“They slipped in undetected and scooped him up,” I explain. Rage fills me up at seeing Isla with him. Fates knew what he was doing touching something that was mine.
“And you just happened to let him go?”
“It was a major error on our part. We weren’t expecting him to have her.”
“Her?” Cailean asks. He arches a brow, waiting for me to further explain.
“Isla. We’ve located her with him.”
“Ahh. So, you freed our once piece of leverage. Our one piece all for a common whore?”
“Baelur wasn’t breaking.”
“HE WOULD EVENTUALLY,” Cailean roars. “OR HE WOULD DIE.”
I shrug Cailean off. He can throw his temper tantrum later. “That’s neither here nor there, sire,” I reminded him. “Besides, she’s spent time with him. And if our reports are correct, we can use her. She knows things.”
Cailean levels me with a glare that would send lesser men running. I ignore it, turning my back to him. There’s a huge map spread across the wall. Circled, is the Duke of Halstead and his village. He’s been circling this treasonous revolution for quite some time.
The urge to argue that relying on Baelur Halstead to turn on his father was a failing plan is too strong. The prince is too stubborn for his own good. I look back at him and Coley staring me down. They watch my movements.
“We need to come at them differently,” I explain, looking at the prince. Cailean turns his back to me, pacing behind the desk with his hands behind his back.
“This girl? You think she can give us what we need?” Cailean asks.
Coley looks at me, curiosity written all over his face.
“I know she can,” I argue.
“We’ll see. For now, we’ll change tactics. For,” he purrs. “I have something better. Far better.” He gives me a sly smile, just as the door opens.
“Ahh, and there it is.