The Prison of Buried Hopes (After The Rift Book 5)

by C. J. Archer

  "Unhand her," Max demanded.

  Lord Barborough chuckled low in his chest. "I have only one good arm so do not have her in hand."

  Quentin jerked his head at me. "Walk away, Josie. He won't hurt you here."

  "Won't I? Would you like to try it, Miss Cully?"

  I swallowed as the sharp point dug into my flesh.

  "Leave us alone," Meg snapped. "We don't have what you want."

  Beside her, Kitty had pulled her hood over her head and was studying the ground at her feet. Lord Barborough made no indication that he recognized her. Hopefully she was safe.

  "I am aware that you may have lied to Princess Illiriya," Lord Barborough conceded. "That's why I'm going to take Miss Cully as prisoner. She will only be released when you retrieve the gem and wishes. Whether you currently have them is of no consequence to me. It's getting them that counts."

  "This is madness," Theodore muttered as he scanned the street.

  "Hammer won't rescue you," Lord Barborough told him. "One of my men is leading him on a merry dance through the city. By the time he returns, either you will have given me what I want, or I will have taken Miss Cully prisoner."

  "I won't simply go with you," I said.

  The point pierced fabric and bit into flesh. I sucked in air through my teeth.

  Balthazar stepped towards me. "Let her go. I'll give you the gem."

  I glared at him but he ignored me.

  Lord Barborough hesitated, perhaps caught off guard by the admission. Then he said, "Where is it?"

  "Careful," Theodore hissed. "Don't trust him, Bal. Wait for Dane—"

  "We wait for no one!" Lord Barborough's shout was loud in my ear, and I jerked my head away. The guards stepped forward upon seeing some movement.

  Quentin went to draw his sword. "No!" I cried. "Don't." I wanted to tell them not to take on Barborough's guards here in the crowded streets where there were too many witnesses. If we could lead them somewhere quiet and overpower them, we would regain the advantage. I could defend myself against Barborough and his knife. With only one good arm, he would be easy to outmaneuver. But it would be a difficult task for Max and Quentin to fight off all the guards. The numbers were not in our favor and I couldn't see Dane and Erik anywhere.

  I hoped they were all right.

  "Take me to the gem," Lord Barborough said to Balthazar. "But do not attempt to use your weapons. If I am slain, the men have orders to retrieve the gem and wishes by force."

  Balthazar grunted. "You would lay down your life for your king's greed?"

  I heard Lord Barborough's wet smile in my ear. "It's highly unlikely I will die here today. If my life is in danger, I'll ram my knife through Miss Cully's gut. Is her life worth more to you than the gem, old man?"

  Balthazar turned. "Follow me."

  He led the way out of the main street into a nearby narrow one. We followed in a strange kind of procession, with guards behind Quentin and Max, then Lord Barborough and me, followed by Theodore, Kitty and Meg and more Vytill guards. Balthazar's infirmity kept our pace slow.

  Slow enough for me to consider ways to extricate myself. I could get away from Lord Barborough, but the guards were the problem. I didn't want to put Quentin and Max’s lives in danger. A distraction would help, but it would need to be a large one.

  It came in the form of a voice behind me. "Take their weapons."

  I turned sharply and would have earned myself another jab in the ribs from Lord Barborough's knife if he hadn't been ripped from my side. Dane pushed a sword into my hand and streamed past me, cloak billowing, while Erik pushed Lord Barborough to the ground. He landed at Theodore's feet.

  "Watch him," Erik barked before joining Dane, now engaged in a sword fight with the guards at the front. The bodies of the rear guards littered the empty street behind. Their deaths had been swift, silent.

  The battle was quickly over. With our four guards against the remaining five, it was no contest. They gave up when they realized they couldn't win.

  Lord Barborough still lay at Theodore's feet, a sword pointed at his throat. Meg stood over him too, arms crossed, while Kitty wisely melted into the shadows. Her caution was unnecessary. Lord Barborough only had eyes for Dane.

  "Where did you come from?" he squeaked.

  "The roof," Erik said, sheathing his sword and grinning. "We flew down and landed quietly on your men."

  "We didn't even see or hear them," Theodore said without looking up from Lord Barborough. "Not until they'd killed all the guards behind us."

  Lord Barborough swallowed and glanced around. The street might be quiet but we were still exposed. Anyone could walk by at any moment.

  "Put all weapons away," I said. "We don't want to make a scene."

  Dane came up alongside me, his sword already sheathed. He pressed a hand to my lower back, as if to ask if I was all right. I gave him a single nod and he lowered his hand again and stepped towards Barborough. He grabbed him by the front of his jerkin and pulled him to his feet.

  "Do not move or attempt to harm my friends," he ordered. "Unless you want me to alert the constables that you have a party of armed Vytillian royal guards with you."

  Lord Barborough rubbed his throat where the point of the sword had pressed.

  By the light of a flickering torch, I could just make out the hard glint in Dane's eye. "It will be my pleasure to see you arrested, not to mention sate my curiosity," he said.

  "Curiosity?" Barborough asked with a jut of his chin.

  "As to how a republic treats the threat of royalist invasion from Vytill."

  "This is no invasion!"

  "Good luck trying to convince them."

  If Lord Barborough knew the men were escaped criminals from the prison mine, he could call Dane's bluff and tell him to go ahead and report him, knowing full well it would only bring unwanted attention to us too.

  "You five, leave," Dane ordered the guards.

  All ran off without a second glance at Lord Barborough. He watched them go with a pained look on his face.

  "Follow me." Dane led the way through alleys and streets, around bends, and we ended up back in the busy part of the city where the nighttime revels had become louder, the crowd thicker. The bodies of the other guards would soon be found, and we didn't want to be anywhere near them, but we didn't want to take Lord Barborough back to our inn either.

  A minstrel rode past on a small horse, playing a flute, a trail of children behind him, laughing and dancing. Dane waited for them to pass by before rounding on Lord Barborough.

  "You will leave the city tonight. Do you understand?"

  "I can't." Lord Barborough's voice cracked.

  Dane drew himself up to his full height, arms crossed over his chest.

  "I can't!" Lord Barborough said again. "The king will have me killed if I return without the gem and wishes."

  "Then you'd better make Freedland your new home. Just stay away from us."

  Dane signaled that we should leave and he turned away. Lord Barborough grabbed his arm, but Dane pushed him off and Lord Barborough fell. Erik and Max hauled the Vytill spy to his feet before anyone noticed. Lord Barborough looked as though he would burst into tears at any moment.

  "Freedland is not such a bad place," I told him cheerfully. "I think you'll like it here. Look how happy everyone is."

  "Happy?" he blurted out. "They live with high taxes. There is very little money left over for people like me." He indicated his limp arm. "There is no respect for the nobility, only for money. Industry and trade rule here, not breeding or family. If that's what you call happy, then you are not looking deeply enough, Miss Cully. You are only seeing the surface. People like me are miserable. Open your eyes and you'll see the beggars. Please, you must help me. Give me the third wish. That's all I ask. Please, I'm begging you. Let me return home with my dignity. Let me prove to King Phillip that I'm not useless. If I return with nothing, I will be executed." He licked his lips and inched closer to Dane. "Is that what you want on
your conscience?"

  "You have no bargaining power," Dane said. "Why would we give you the third wish?"

  Lord Barborough closed his eyes, his mouth twisted in anguish. I would have felt sorry for him if he hadn't tried to stab me on multiple occasions.

  "Let's go," Meg said. "He doesn't deserve our sympathy."

  Lord Barborough suddenly straightened. "Will you get a message to the princess for me? She'll protect me from her father. I know she will."

  "Doing so will place her in jeopardy," Theodore said. "You would do that to your princess?"

  Lord Barborough went to grasp Dane's arm again, but Dane shook him off. "We are not returning via Vytill. We can't deliver your message for you."

  He walked off and all followed except Balthazar and me. I stayed because of the strange look on his face.

  "Bal?" I prompted as the others stopped up ahead to see why we hadn't followed. "What is it?"

  "He can help us find Brant."

  At the mention of Brant's name, Lord Barborough's lips parted in a silent gasp.

  "Have you seen him recently?" I asked.

  Lord Barborough shut his mouth.

  Dane approached, his arms crossed, a frown on his face. "You want to tell him?" he asked Balthazar. "Is that wise?"

  "If nothing else, it will let him know once and for all that we don't have the wishes."

  Lord Barborough's lips curled in a sneer. "If I believe you."

  Dane shrugged at Balthazar. "If he believes us."

  "It's worth a try," I added. "What does everyone else think? Should we tell him what we know?"

  All except Theodore agreed. "We shouldn't help him," he said.

  "We won't be helping him. He's going to help us by finding Brant and bringing him to us because I suspect he knows where Brant is. Don't you, my lord?"

  Lord Barborough's sneer turned to a smug smile.

  Dane nodded at Balthazar to go on.

  "We went to a Zemayan here in Noxford," Balthazar explained. "It turns out he was quite knowledgeable about magic. More so than you."

  Lord Barborough frowned. "There's a Zemayan here? In Noxford? But they never venture so far from their homeland except to trade. They don't stay."

  "This one did. You can question him for yourself, if you like, but you won't learn anything different from what I am about to tell you. He's a spice and silk merchant by the name of Taaj." He leaned both hands on the head of his walking stick. "We asked him questions about the gem and wishes. It would seem that Brant was telling the truth. He must have the wishes."

  Lord Barborough rubbed his chin and jaw. “Because he killed Leon?”

  Balthazar nodded. "Unused wishes are inherited by the killer."

  Lord Barborough's hand stilled. "So if someone kills Brant, they will inherit the wishes?"

  Nobody answered him.

  "And the gem?" Lord Barborough asked. "That's needed to use the wishes, yes?"

  Balthazar nodded. "You had that part right. The problem is, we don't know who has it, and that is a fact."

  He was a very good liar. It was how he'd been able to hide the theft from us all this time without any of us suspecting.

  Lord Barborough, however, wasn't inclined to believe him and told him so.

  Balthazar merely shrugged. "Believe us or not. It doesn't matter. You won't get the gem from us. Your failed attempt this evening proved that. It will take King Phillip's entire army to get us to give in, but it would be for nothing because we don't have it. All we do know for certain is that Brant has the wishes. We must find him then go in search of the gem. Do you understand?"

  "Of course I do," snapped Lord Barborough. "You want me to lead you to Brant because you assume I know where he is. Well I don't. He's gone. He left Noxford two days ago after an incident."

  "What sort of incident?" Dane asked.

  Max and Theodore drew closer to hear, while Quentin and Erik glanced at one another.

  Lord Barborough’s eyes narrowed. "This news intrigues you?"

  "What happened?" Dane snapped.

  "He came here looking for all of you. Like me, he assumed you would arrive in Noxford sooner or later. But someone reported him to the authorities after recognizing him. Several constables tried to arrest him in the main square. He barely escaped."

  "Arrested on what charge?" Balthazar asked idly.

  Lord Barborough's gaze flicked between all the men and his tongue darted out, licking his lower lip. "Ah. So it is related to the pasts you've forgotten. You were all there together, weren’t you?"

  "What are you talking about?" Max growled.

  "It's intriguing, isn't it? As much as you try to distance yourselves from him, you are all just like Brant."

  "They're nothing like him," I blurted out.

  Lord Barborough chuckled. "That's where you're wrong. Brant was arrested for being an escaped prisoner, and they were prisoners with him. Isn’t that so? They’re criminals too. It seems they've managed to hide their true natures from you. If I were you, Miss Cully, I'd be careful. Especially of this one." He nodded at Dane. "With the moniker Hammer, there's no doubt he went to the prison mine. He's just a thug like Brant."

  "You're wrong. They're good men."

  He clicked his tongue, over and over. "I wonder what the response will be if I make it known that I have several escaped prisoners here. Will you all be re-arrested?"

  "You won't do it," Balthazar said. "Because you believe we have the gem."

  "They can arrest the men and leave the women free. One of them will tell me where to find the gem once my men finish coercing them."

  Dane's fist connected with Lord Barborough's mouth, sending him reeling. "Why not try calling for the constables? Then you'll know for certain what we'll do to the man who is of no use to us."

  Lord Barborough spat blood onto the cobbles. "Get away from me."

  Balthazar tapped his lordship's leg with his walking stick. "Not yet. Not until you tell us where Brant went."

  Lord Barborough dabbed at his cut lip. "I don't know. He wouldn't confide in me, would he? He most likely traveled with Lord Xavier Deerhorn and his retinue. I haven't seen either of them since the trouble. My guess is they went back to Glancia where Lord Xavier is needed by his family. The situation there is becoming precarious, and the Deerhorns have a lot to lose if events don't go the duke of Gladstow's way."

  "What are the developments with the Glancian situation?" Balthazar asked. "Is a war between the dukes imminent?"

  Lord Barborough's sneer returned. "Very."

  "Thanks to your king's interference."

  Lord Barborough showed no sign of surprise, nor did he try to persuade Balthazar that King Phillip had nothing to do with the dukes thinking they had more support from the Glancian lords than they did. Both dukes assumed they could win based on the pledges of the noblemen—pledges that had been falsified by the Vytill king.

  With the dukes manipulated into starting a war too soon, their unprepared forces would be decimated when pitted against each another, allowing King Phillip to swoop in with fresh troops and take over. As a distant cousin to the last king of Glancia, he would also have a legitimate claim to the throne, although a somewhat tenuous one.

  It was a neat move, and one I couldn't see failing. Vytill was too strong and the dukes of Glancia too ignorant of his machinations.

  My country was about to be plunged into war.

  Meg's fingers found mine and we held on to one another. She had more to lose than me. Her brother and father would be called to fight. Her sister and mother would be vulnerable to the whims of conquering soldiers. I didn't even have a home to lose.

  There was only one way out that I could see. Warn the duke of Buxton, the more sensible of Glancia's two dukes. If he could be persuaded of King Phillip's interference, then he might not engage the duke of Gladstow yet. He might search for a political resolution.

  But we could not warn him. We were as far from Glancia as we could possibly be. Even if we left tomorrow,
it might be too late.

  Dane stepped aside, opening the way for Lord Barborough to leave. His lordship dabbed at his lip again and went to walk off, but Dane put out an arm, blocking him.

  "You will not come near us again. Next time, I will kill you. Is that clear?"

  Lord Barborough swallowed. "It seems I won't be returning to my king with the gem or wishes." His gaze wandered to the fire dancers and revelers enjoying the music and food. There was no disgust in his eyes now, nor distress. Merely acceptance. He pushed past Dane.

  When he was safely at a distance, he turned around. "Did it ever occur to you that the sorcerer did you all a favor by erasing your memories?" When no one answered, he grunted and trudged off.

  His words stayed with me, however, and I knew from the silence of the others that they stayed with them too.

  Chapter 16

  We kept a wary eye on proceedings as we headed back to the inn. As we moved away from the city square, the streets grew quieter and the crowd thinned, but with so few lit torches lining the way, it was impossible to be certain that we weren't followed.

  Quentin was quite sure Lord Barborough had given up, however. "He knows the captain is serious about killing him next time."

  "Dane," Dane reminded him. "Not captain."

  Quentin went on as if he hadn't heard him. "You and Erik dispatched those guards real quick. I didn't hear a thing. I'd wager they didn't, either. They didn’t utter a peep. Did you hear them, Josie?"

  "I heard nothing," I said. "Dane and Erik were completely silent."

  "I didn't get a good look at the bodies. Did you slit their throats, Captain? You told me once that it was the quickest way to kill a man, but you got to make the cut real deep and do it real fast before he can cry out. Is that right, Josie? Is that how to kill someone quickly and silently?"

  "I suppose so," I said.

  He fell into step beside me. "Can you stop a man from dying if you get to him fast after his throat is cut? Or is death inevitable?"

  "You can't fix a deep cut through the throat."

  Kitty made a sound of disgust. "Must we have this discussion now?"