by Bex Hogan
‘Fine. We’d better hurry then.’
Bronn smiles. ‘So you trust me?’
‘Don’t push your luck. I’m choosing to believe you.’ But I smile to myself as I lower my blade.
‘We should take care of them.’ He gestures to Choke and Turner.
‘Tie them up,’ I say, heading to the door. ‘And get Choke undressed.’
‘What? Why?’
I snatch fistfuls of my skirt and hold them up. ‘Because I’ve officially had enough of wearing this.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To get Grace.’
I’m out of the door before Bronn can voice his surprise, though perhaps he already suspected this is where she’d be after she disappeared from the Maiden.
I’m expecting there to be a guard outside my door, and am prepared to fight him, but the man assigned to my watch hasn’t deemed it worth staying awake or sober for; he’s slumped on the ground, an empty flagon of wine resting beside him. Which explains why he didn’t burst in to help me during the commotion. I prod him with my foot and feel slightly resentful when he merely grunts in his sleep. Still, at least this waste of space isn’t going to get in my way, and so I leave him to his dreams and creep off down the corridor.
The castle is mostly silent as I make my way along. I have to hide a few times, but stone pillars and plenty of shadows make avoiding the handful of guards on patrol relatively simple. I take several wrong turns, ending up in an opulent mirrored corridor and a pink-marbled courtyard, but assuming the dungeons will be far below I leave these behind and search for stairs. Eventually I find a hazardous spiral staircase that plunges into uninviting darkness. Looks about right.
I lightly step down, my feet making no noise, until a flicker of candlelight can be seen. There is one guard sitting at a table with a jug of ale, barely awake as he performs his duty. The useless guards here don’t seem aware of the imminent peril facing the islands, and though their apathy angers me, right now it’s incredibly helpful.
I wait for the guard’s eyes to shut and then run towards him. He must sense movement because he opens his eyes in time to see me two steps away, but can only straighten up before I’ve jumped on to the table, grabbed the jug and flung the ale into his face. He splutters, staggering to his feet, but before he can take a single step forward I swing the jug round and send him flying to the floor.
I grab his vast set of keys, wondering how long it’ll take to find the right one. ‘Grace?’ My voice echoes in the cold chamber.
The prisoners are waking up, disturbed by the fight, and are starting to make their presence known. I need to find Grace quickly before more guards arrive.
‘Did I hear my name?’
I look up to see a cell door opening, and Grace emerges looking pristine as ever.
‘How did you do that?’ I ask in impressed disbelief.
She shrugs. ‘They didn’t take my hair pins. Idiots.’
I smile at her. ‘So you could have walked out whenever you wanted?’
Grace nods. ‘Was just waiting for you to give the word. So what’s happened? Why the late-night escape?’
‘Things haven’t exactly gone to plan.’
Now she’s the one to smile. ‘They rarely do.’
‘Bronn’s here.’
Her eyes narrow as she reaches me, the smile quickly fading. ‘Is he indeed?’
As we hurry back towards my room I fill her in on everything: my conversation with the King, his instant betrayal and my attempted capture.
‘And you trust Bronn?’ she says as we arrive back at my room undetected.
‘I don’t know.’ I pause. ‘Did you see what my father did to him?’
‘Yes.’ She falls quiet.
‘You should have told me.’
‘You didn’t ask,’ she points out. ‘Besides, I wasn’t sure you’d want to know.’
She’s probably right. ‘Well, if he’s trying to double-cross us, I’m sure we can find our own way to punish him.’
‘Now you’re talking,’ she says, and pushes the door open, barely acknowledging the still-snoring guard slumped on the ground.
Bronn has tied Turner and Choke to opposite ends of the bed. Unconscious and gagged, they’ll be going nowhere fast. He looks relieved that we’ve returned.
‘Grace,’ he says with a nod. ‘I wondered if you’d already caught up with Marianne.’
‘The Captain must have been thrilled when I didn’t return,’ she says, unnecessarily checking Bronn’s knots are tied securely.
Bronn raises his eyebrows. ‘He’s hoping you’re dead. Better that than a deserter.’
‘He’ll be ecstatic when you don’t come back then.’
‘I think vengeful is a more accurate word.’
Grace fixes him with her most menacing gaze. ‘I know what being a Snake means to you. And you didn’t exactly hurry to join Marianne. You’re sure you want to do this?’
‘I’m here now, aren’t I?’ He easily holds her stare, until Grace relents and nods her compliance to his coming with us.
‘Are you two done?’ I snap. I don’t want to hear about Bronn’s reluctance to leave my father’s crew or of his torn loyalties, and I instead turn my attention to changing into Choke’s clothes, which Bronn has removed and laid out for me.
Painfully conscious of Bronn’s presence, I face the wall to slip my dress off and pull on Choke’s shirt and trousers – my first time in Snake uniform. Part of me feels wrong wearing something I haven’t earned, but I’m sick of the impracticality of a dress, so manage to make peace with the situation.
When I’m done Bronn hands me Turner’s knife, which he’s clearly wiped clean on the bed sheets. Then with the merest nod towards the window he says, ‘Let’s go.’
We go back out the way he came in. Bronn has secured a rope to the bedpost, and Grace is first to climb down. Bronn and I wait together in silence, and I’m horribly conscious of his arm brushing against mine, the warmth of his breath on my neck. My body responds to his proximity in a way my mind cannot yet allow.
Grace tugs the rope to let us know it’s safe for us to follow, and keen to put some space between me and Bronn I make my way out next. The night is still, but in the distance gunshots are being fired, and the roar of voices carries on the gentle breeze. It’s hard to tell how far away the fighting is, but I wonder if the people arriving on the island desperate for sanctuary are using the cover of darkness to try to make it past the guards. If so, I don’t like their chances.
One thing is certain. The fighting is getting worse as unrest grows. How much closer will it have to get before the King works out he’s not safe in his castle? I doubt the realisation that assassins were able to easily creep in unnoticed and that prisoners have escaped will do much to reassure him. I have no sympathy for him – the treacherous bastard. In fact, I think I’d like to pay him one last visit. He did invite me to his chambers after all.
When Bronn joins us on the ground I ask, ‘Do you know which room is the King’s?’
Bronn frowns. ‘Of course.’
‘Show me.’
For a moment I think he’s going to refuse, but perhaps he sees the determination in my eyes, because he beckons for me to follow him.
We move like shadows round the walls to the far side of the castle, and then Bronn points upwards to the second window, three floors above us. ‘Whatever you’re planning, make it quick.’
I nod and begin my climb. My fingers find nooks to cling to and I soon reach the window. It opens easily and I drop silently into the room.
For a minute I don’t move, allowing my eyes to adjust to the gloom. The King is alone in his bed, which is a relief – I hadn’t considered until now that he might have company – and sleeping deeply. A man without a care.
My steps make no sound as I gather his boot straps, and he barely stirs as I wrap them round his wrists. When I’m certain he’s secure, I straddle his chest and press my knife to his throat.
‘Wa
ke up.’
His eyes open, then widen as he realises what’s happening. I’ve gagged him so he can make no noise, and my restraints hold tight against his protests.
‘Don’t struggle,’ I say, my voice barely a whisper. ‘No one’s coming for you. Not now, not ever. You may think you’re safe behind your castle walls, but know this. You used to have only my father as an enemy, but now you’ve made one of me too. That was a mistake. You’ve abandoned your subjects to fend for themselves and for that I will make certain you don’t emerge from the war that’s coming unscathed. You will be held to account. So sweet dreams, Your Majesty. And enjoy your crown while it lasts.’
His fear is palpable, sweat beading on his upper lip, limbs trembling, and it would be so easy to end him, make him suffer, make him pay.
Now I’m the one with all the power.
I press my knife closer to his neck, just breaking the skin so a thin trail of blood escapes, my own darkness threatening to do the same, until I stop myself, scared by how easily the impulse came. Instead I raise the blade and, satisfied my warning has been heeded, render him unconscious with a quick blow to the head.
In a matter of moments I return to Bronn and Grace, who both seem relieved at my swift reappearance, and then Bronn indicates for us to follow him. We’re invisible ghosts, passing unnoticed, until we reach the rear of the castle facing the waterfall.
Bronn turns to me. ‘We have to swim.’
Grace looks sharply over, and I’m almost certain all three of us are remembering that day on the ship when Bronn drowned our friendship.
‘I’ll be fine.’ I say it through gritted teeth, not wanting to live in the past when the present is dangerous enough.
He seems surprised, but nods his satisfaction. ‘Head for the waterfall, then we climb.’
Despite my claim, my heart is racing as we slide into the water, barely making a sound. Grace lives up to her name as she glides forward, creating hardly a ripple. Bronn has clearly had a lot of practice moving unnoticed through water too. I’m somewhat less adept at appearing effortless, given every stroke sends a shiver of alarm through me, but still I manage to keep going, grateful that the waterfall’s making enough noise to disguise my clumsy splashes.
In fact, by the time we’re almost underneath it, the waterfall is deafening and my fear level starts to rise. Grace goes first, taking a deep breath and diving under the point of impact before appearing on the other side, hardly visible through the curtain of water.
Ignoring the panic pestering for my attention, I inhale and plunge under. The current is strong below the surface, the force of the falling water pushing me backwards while I struggle to move forward, resulting in me going nowhere.
My lungs are beginning to burn, but there’s no going back. I have to make it through. Kicking and clawing, I try to break the invisible barrier, fighting my nightmares of drowning as much as the relentless pressure pressing down on me. And then a hand wraps round mine, and pulls me to the other side.
I come up for air at the same time Bronn does, but before I can say anything he’s already moving forward towards the rock face.
Grace, however, pauses to look at me. ‘You OK?’
‘Yes.’ I snap the word at her, because actually I’m shaking, hating the way water makes me weak, resenting Bronn’s assistance, frustrated that I needed it. I’m so glad to escape the waterfall that I’m eager to start the perilous climb up rock that’s slippery with moisture and algae.
Apart from the thundering of water there is no sound as we scale the cliff. When we’re halfway up Bronn disappears above me. Seconds later I realise why. He’s crouching on a ledge carved into the rock that leads into a cave mouth.
‘You’ve been here before?’ I ask, perching next to him and wringing out my sodden hair.
‘The Captain expects us to know the way in and out of everywhere,’ Bronn says as Grace climbs up on to the ledge.
‘I’m not sure he meant the palace,’ Grace says, giving him a sideways glance.
Bronn shrugs. ‘I’m thorough.’
I suppress a smile. ‘So where now? Into the friendly pitch-black cave?’
‘Tunnel, but yes. If we follow it through, we’ll come out the other side of the mountain, into the small town of Port Reath, where you can get a boat. Then it’s up to you where you go next.’
I stare at him. ‘You’re not coming with us?’
He struggles to meet my eyes. ‘No.’
There it is. There’s the Bronn I’ve known for the past few years. The man who shuts me out, who tells me nothing. ‘Then what the hell are you doing here?’
Bronn doesn’t answer.
‘It’s a reasonable question, Bronn,’ Grace adds. ‘Adler’s had Snakes hunting her for months and you’ve done nothing. Why now? Why are you here?’
‘Do you realise what I’ve given up by coming here?’ Bronn is furious as he turns to me. ‘For you?’ He spits out the words as if this is the last place he wants to be, as if I’ve inconvenienced him, and I flinch at his anger. I thought I was the only one full of rage. Looks like I was wrong.
He sighs, and turns away, as if he can’t bear the sight of me. Instead he speaks to Grace. ‘Until now they had no idea where she was. But this time they knew exactly where to go. Maybe I should have come sooner, but leaving has cost me my place on the ship. My life. Everything.’
The pain in his voice echoes into the darkness, silencing me and Grace. Because, despite everything, we know why Bronn is so loyal to my father. He doesn’t talk much about his childhood, the memories are too awful, but I know enough. I know that he grew up with the rats in the sewers, lived off their dead bodies rather than starve. That most days he didn’t know if he’d live to see the next. He was often beaten by drunkards, or by the older kids sharing the streets. Bronn lived to survive, until my father caught him stealing from our rations while we were in port and was impressed – not only that he’d had the nerve to try to steal from the Viper, but also that he’d nearly succeeded. My father saved Bronn from his misery and fed him, trained him, gave him a home and a purpose. All of which he’s sacrificed. For me.
Bronn sighs. ‘Now the Viper will hunt me for the rest of my life, so I’m planning on disappearing. I’m going to survive. I suggest you do the same.’
Growing up I always feared that I would wake one day and Bronn would be gone. The impulse to keep running, to stay alive was so deeply ingrained in him. I thought that over the years he’d moved beyond that, but I guess some instincts never leave you. He’s thinking like a true Snake. About himself.
‘Run like a coward if you must, but I’m going to find Torin.’ I know it’s cruel to call him that when he’s just risked everything for me, but I can’t help it. I’m so disappointed in him.
‘Not sure wedding arrangements are a priority right now.’ There’s an edge to his voice.
‘I’m hoping that unlike you Torin has integrity. That he’ll fight for what’s right.’
Bronn scoffs. ‘You barely know the man.’
‘True, which is why I need to find out if he’s willing to do what his father isn’t. Having the support of the King’s Fleet is vital to the success of my plan.’
Bronn’s giving me a strange look. ‘What plan?’ I realise in all the drama of our escape that I haven’t actually told him about it yet.
‘The plan to stop my father, of course.’
Bronn stares at me for a moment, before looking at Grace. ‘Please tell me she’s joking.’
Grace places her hand on my shoulder, clearly marking whose side she’s on. ‘Marianne’s right. Adler has to be stopped.’
‘He can’t be stopped. No ship can match the Maiden, and he’s destroyed over half the King’s Fleet. The King’s shown his hand, and now that the Captain knows he’s afraid, he won’t hesitate to take control of the islands. Your father didn’t cause the accidents on the Sixth Isle, but you can be certain he’s been exploiting them for his own gain. You do realise most of the band
its are working for him now?’
I didn’t know that, and judging from Grace’s expression she’d been kept out of that loop too. My father has quietly been moving his pieces into position with exceptional skill. The war I thought was coming has already started.
‘So, what? We just let him destroy everything? Let him kill indiscriminately, rampaging over sea and land?’
Bronn holds my gaze, but he has no reply.
‘I tried hiding, Bronn. He found me. He’ll always find me. And I don’t want to spend my life running while everyone else suffers at his hands.’
‘There’s a reason no one has stopped him,’ Bronn says, still not willing to admit defeat, pleading with me to change my mind. ‘He’s surrounded himself with the deadliest fighters, has forged alliances throughout the Six Isles, and kills anyone he perceives as being even the slightest threat. He’s the most powerful, the most feared of all men and has no equal on the waves. No one can defeat him.’
‘I have to try.’
Grace walks towards the tunnel, staring into the dark. She’s impatient to get moving again, and I don’t blame her.
Bronn can also see Grace’s impatience, but takes a step towards me. ‘Whatever you think of me, I want you to be safe. Going against the Viper is anything but.’
Why does he do this to me? One minute he’s cold, the next caring, and I hate the way he makes me feel like I’m drifting, like a ship without an anchor. I remind myself that I’ve survived perfectly well without him so far, that whatever he chooses I don’t need him.
‘I don’t need saving,’ I say firmly, doing my best to keep the resentment out of my voice. ‘I’m not asking for your permission. I’m simply telling you what I’m going to do. Whether you come with me is entirely your choice.’
I hold my breath, waiting for his response. I want him to choose me.
After a moment he sighs. ‘Torin has a residence on the Sixth Isle. Very few people know of its existence.’
‘But you do because you’re thorough?’ Despite myself, I can’t help but smile at him now and he’s quick to return it. So there is some of the old Bronn still in there.
‘Precisely. I’m almost certain that’s where he’ll be.’