Chapter 23
Nyk – a few hours earlier
How good, how sovereign, how true and pure,
grace I do not deserve,
Leander left at first light for phase one to find the alchemist we had once tracked down, supposedly responsible for concocting the elixir enslaving Kaed.
I seem to recall Vale discouraging us from contacting him initially.
Thank the gods I ignored him. The alchemist told us the white film over Kaed’s usually golden eyes may be caused by crushed Rams Horn.
An ingredient only those from Ashen Reach can handle.
Its use is illegal, as those Rams are sacred, to be used for worship and battle only.
Removing their horns is blasphemous, but it also kills them.
One from our army had died some months ago and Vale burned it at a pyre before anyone saw, claiming it fell to sickness.
No one thought anything of it, because it’s Vale.
If my childhood in the temple has taught me anything, it’s that power breeds silence.
Those who should be questioned most are the ones we’re trained not to question at all.
What we are trained to do is follow blindly, as if status equals trustworthiness.
As soon as he finds something, Leander will send word via Pyreling, much to my irritation.
I fucking hate those things. Kaed and I used them as target practice when we were boys.
But those birds are the least of my problems today.
I cannot bear another dead end, not when his freedom, his life, hangs in the balance.
The thought tightens something in my chest as I stride through the tunnel toward the barracks.
My brother, my Captain, has saved me too many times to count; he’s been my anchor through life’s storms, punishments, losses, and the countless whippings we endured side by side.
I cannot, I will not let this be the end of his story.
As the scriptures say: To abandon your brother is the first true sin of war.
The memories of the day he was taken haunt my sleep.
He simply vanished into thin air. I remember waiting for him at dinner and the panic once we realised he was gone.
But nothing compares to the horror I felt seeing that glaze over his eyes in the arena.
If only I had acted faster, if only I had tackled him to the ground before that cursed smoke swallowed me whole.
He’s so damn quick. We’ve fought many times, and I always knew he was holding back.
His strength that day startled me. Most powerful fae in the world indeed.
I force myself back into the present and push open the doors to the mess hall.
The buzz of idle chatter and the clatter of trays and cutlery fill the air.
I had already done my rounds at the training grounds earlier, ensuring that my whereabouts could be vouched for if it all goes sideways today.
Across the hall, a familiar voice laced with fake laughter.
Lili tosses her unbound raven hair over her shoulder.
It’s curled and bouncy. She leans toward Kian, her breasts pushed up under her bodice.
Kian, who is clearly basking in her attention, rattles off one of his shit jokes before smoothing his fringe flat against his forehead.
She laughs again, her hand lightly brushing his arm, and I suppress a chuckle.
It seems the blood that should be circulating in Kian’s brain is now rushing to other areas.
Grabbing a tray, I sit at a table nearby, keeping them in my peripheral.
A book in hand, flipping through pages I’m not reading.
My ears, however, are tuned to their conversation.
Lili is good at this game, the best. I cringe slightly, remembering this had once worked on Kaed some years ago.
She leans closer to Kian, voice dipping into a sticky tone.
“You know, Kiki,” I nearly gag on a mouthful of bacon. “You really don’t give yourself enough credit. I bet you know all kinds of things Vale wouldn’t expect you to.”
Kian puffs his chest slightly, and his finger circles the rim of his goblet. The smug grin spreading across his face is almost painful to witness.
“Well, I do know a thing or two. You don’t grow up around someone like Vale without picking up a few secrets.”
Lili tilts her head, doe-eyed, and fluffs up her hair. “Secrets, huh? Like what? Spells, maybe? Wards? He’s so secretive about his quarters, it must drive you crazy sometimes, not knowing how to get in. He doesn’t trust you at all, does he?”
Kian’s hungry eyes follow her hand as it trails down to her breast, picking off an imaginary piece of nothing. He leans in conspiratorially.
“Oh, he trusts me more than you’d think. Those wards of his, he has layers upon layers of them. He’s paranoid. And he’s not as clever as he likes to believe.”
I flip a page. I want to vomit at how easy males are.
“Come on, Kiki.” Lili giggles and her lashes flutter. His attention is glued to her. Wherever she wants him to look, he does. I can’t help but recall some past interactions with females and wonder if the same has been done to me. Surely not.
“Even though he’s paranoid, he’s still brilliant.” She continues. Her voice a little more assertive now, like she believes what she’s saying. “There’s no way those spells are basic enchantments.”
Kian licks his bottom lip. “Vale’s spells are layered. He has a perimeter ward that triggers an alert if anyone sets foot within ten paces of his door. It automatically sends him a Pyreling. Then there’s a spell woven into the doorframe.”
Lili tilts her head, feigning ignorance. “What kind of spell? Can it be... undone?” she plays with the strings at the top of her corset. I roll my eyes; there’s no way a gesture so obvious will work on—
“No, but there’s a backdoor.”
Well, damn. Lili gasps. “Oh my goodness! How interesting. I don’t know why Vale doesn’t trust you more. You deserve so much more respect.”
Kian nods slowly, his eyes firmly fixed on her breasts. “He doesn’t think I’m capable of much. But hey, let him underestimate me.”
In Vale’s defence, it seems one low-cut top is enough to make Kian betray his entire kingdom.
“So... if someone wanted to get in through that backdoor, hypothetically, what would they need to do?” Lili traces circles on the back of his hand, and he hesitates, sense wrestling with lust. It’s clear which one wins because he starts whispering into her ear.
I glance at her, catching the slight narrowing of her eyes.
Bingo. Onto phase three.
*
We regroup at Kaed’s an hour later to exchange information.
The alchemist is dead. Leander had found the brewery at the edge of the city boarded up and abandoned, his body glamoured and stuffed into a cupboard.
There was no sign of the Volker the King instructed to tail him either.
Tobian had checked the duty rota and discovered that men from Theron’s quadrant had been assigned to monitor the area.
A pattern is emerging. Theron and Vale. Vale and Theron.
Just as I suspected. It had never clicked for me that Theron wanted power and status.
He’s not the type. What he wanted was the best shot at covering his tracks.
I think back to the retrieval of the Princess, and how odd I had found it that he asked to make arrangements in place of Kaed but ended up volunteering to lead the troops closest to the wards around the arena.
He doesn’t crave the frontline. The glory.
No. He wanted to sneak Kaed in and out of the wards.
Wards that I’m certain had a hole in them.
Courtesy of Vale. It is possible his quadrant has simply been following his orders, but we will not take any chances.
Each of their names are added to our growing list of traitors.
For phase three, Tobian had arranged a meeting with Vale, Theron, Kian, and some council members in the war room to ironically discuss security measures.
That will buy Lili and me enough time to break into Vale’s quarters through the servants’ passage, dismantle the wards, and look for anything that might point us towards his involvement.
Hopefully, finding a map leading us straight to Kaed.
Luckily, my reputation for fucking a servant or two will make my presence below the main halls unremarkable.
I’ll provide cover while Lili gets to work.
The idea of Vale and Theron being responsible for my friend’s imprisonment is, well, unfortunate for them should the theory be confirmed.
Their deaths will be slow. Painful. Leander will make it so.
I once saw him rip a male’s femur out with his bare hands and use it to scrape away his skin.
Perhaps something similar will suffice. Those marks etched into Kaed’s arms and neck.
I know what he has endured over the past year.
I’ve seen enough of Leander’s victims to know methods of extracting information.
And for an immortal, the strongest fae this universe has seen outside of the gods and perhaps the Princess, it would have taken depths of cruelty I refuse to imagine to leave such scars.
When we leave Kaed’s bungalow, Tobian strides toward the war room while Lili and I head to the palace kitchens.
The air grows warmer as we approach, and the scent of pastry and warm fruit dances in the air.
Aiden’s slow laugh, a rarity, echoes down the hallway.
We had banked on the kitchens being clear; the King must have requested a meal.
The last thing we need is for Aiden to remember seeing us here if Vale alerts anyone before we find anything.
I shoot Lili a quick glance, and her eyes mirror my thoughts. Time to improvise.