The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2)

by C. J. R. Isely

  Haru frowned and took in Will’s exhausted appearance. “You feeling alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Will forced a grin. “Just didn’t sleep well is all.”

  Judging by Haru’s shadowed eyes, his disheveled hair, and drawn face, Will realized his knight must not have either. With a stab, he remembered that Haru had been ordered to accompany the King and Serena to deliver the news to Kalia. That must have been what kept him awake.

  “Worrying about the Ranger?” Haru asked seriously, stepping back to sink onto the foot of Rowan’s bed. Rowan made a muffled grunting noise of annoyance and attempted to kick the knight, who deflected the strike with long practiced ease. “Don’t be a prat, rat.”

  “Yeah, guess so,” Will lied, sitting upright. “Are we training already?” Judging by the grey outside, it couldn’t be much after dawn.

  “Not exactly,” Haru ran a hand over his jaw, grimacing. “I’m actually on the patrol again this morning and Niet volunteered to train you on some Kelkorian hand to hand. He’s in the courtyard right now practicing with Robin.” His face broke into a broad smile. “Who is losing spectacularly. I must say, it’s doing wonders for Robin’s ego to be beat by a squire.”

  Feeling annoyed at Niet for suggesting training, as well as at Haru for waking him, Will reached for a clean tunic. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Brilliant.” The knight stood, crossing the room and closing the door before Will had finished climbing out of his bed.

  From Rowan’s bed came a low evil chuckle. “Guess who gets to sleep in this morning?”

  Snatching up his pillow, Will brought it crashing down on Rowan’s head with as much force as he could muster. It was almost worth getting up early to hear Rowan’s yelp of surprise and the string of snarled gibberish that followed them.

  But by the time Will got to the courtyard, scarfing down a piece of toast while he jogged out the doors, he would have taken a pillow to the head to trade places with Rowan. Overhead, storm clouds were growling while, ahead, Niet and Robin were trying to wrestle one another to the ground under the unimpressed eyes of Sir Laster.

  “This is the kind of thing that makes me think that eighteen is too young to knight anyone,” Laster sneered when Will reached his side. Robin was trying to kick out Niet’s foot, which wasn’t working well considering Niet had taken up a wide and low stance and was using his back to shove Robin across the courtyard.

  “It looks like practice to me, Sir,” Will commented.

  “If you are ever resorting to this fighting, just know you’ve already lost,” Laster snapped. “You should be using a blade, not your brawn.”

  Niet shoved upwards in a sudden move, rolling Robin over his shoulder and flat onto the hard ground beneath the same tree where Will had sat weeks before. Several of the soldiers on the wall hooted with laughter or clapped, only stopping when Laster threw them a scathing look.

  “Nicely done,” Robin grunted, climbing to his feet and brushing the dirt from his tunic. “Alamore, I thought they taught us well in Thornten.”

  “We learn in the ocean,” Niet explained, giving his wolfish grin and holding out a hand to Robin. “It’s harder to keep your stance when the waves are hitting your head, back, and knees.”

  “I bet so,” Robin chuckled, gripping Niet’s hand briefly.

  “Robin, if you’re done acting a fool, I’d like to get this patrol out of here,” Laster called, striding away from Will and toward the barn. “Niet, your next victim is over there. Please refrain from killing him.”

  Will had to stifle a grin at Niet’s affronted look at being addressed in such a manner. Robin on the other hand, rolled his eyes and hurried to catch up with the older knight.

  “Is that knight always so…unpleasant?” Niet asked, striding to join Will at the double doors.

  “Yeah, he is,” Will admitted. He hastened to wipe the crumbs of toast from his hands, watching as Laster and Robin reemerged from the barn with Haru in tow, each leading their horses. “So, you got up early and wanted to share the suffering, eh?”

  “I actually didn’t sleep at all. Eldin’s room’s next to mine and she’s been having nightmares since Pax…well, Kalia couldn’t sleep either so we sat in Kalia’s room and played chess. But that’s not the point. I didn’t wake you now to make you suffer,” Niet said slowly, glancing down at Will and grinning. “I wanted to train with you this morning for a different reason.”

  “And what’s that?” Will asked suspiciously.

  Niet glanced toward where the knights were mounting their horses, calling to the guards on the wall, then turned back to Will and lowered his voice. “They’re no longer guarding the healing chamber, which means you could talk to the Ranger.”

  Will stiffened, heart catching in his throat. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.” Niet nodded. “The guard who was there part of yesterday, he was saying this morning he refused to watch it another second, that he was too bored there.”

  Excitement and anxiety congealed in Will’s chest and he ran a hand over the back of his neck, thinking. This was his chance to speak with the Ranger. Especially with Haru away from the castle, he could get his answers and find out more about Marl and… he frowned, a new thought dawning. “Why does it matter to you?”

  Niet’s smile slipped several notches, replaced almost instantly with a grim determination. It was his turn to look away, glowering up at the towers that rose above them. “I want to know more of what’s happening. I owe it to Kalia, to Eldin, to Kelkor… I have to know what’s happening, more than what…what Eldin heard last night.” He lowered his gaze to Will again, frowning. “Does that make sense?”

  “What more could you want to know?” Will asked, grimacing.

  “What’s happening in Kelkor, which Lords, Dukes, and Counts betrayed Azric, anything I can learn about the traitor King,” Niet spat the last words. “I want to know what he’s planning, where he is. It’s up to me to defend Kalia now. Paxrin told me it was my duty. I have to keep her safe and I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s happening.”

  “But you’re in Alamore now and if she’s not the heir anymore,” Will started but stopped, shaking his head. “Do you think he’d go after her?”

  “Wouldn’t he?”

  Will thought of Marl, his cruelty, all the times he had tried to bring suffering to Will either through physical pain or hurting those close to him and nodded. “But you’re still in Alamore.”

  “With a spy,” Niet pointed out. “Please, Will. I need to know what he’s doing, where he is. If anyone knows, it’ll be the Ranger.”

  “Niet, he’s in Kelkor. If he’s there then I can’t see that-”

  “How can you be so sure?” Niet demanded, cutting across him. “Look, I’m giving you a chance to go speak with your Ranger. I’ll be your cover story later, I’ll say we were practicing. When you get back, we can train.”

  Will hesitated. Something about Niet’s determination was intimidating and made him nervous. Niet seemed to think that he could stand between Marl and Kalia, that he could defend her on his own. He had no idea of Marl’s brutality and didn’t seem to understand that Marl now had armies at his command. If he wanted Kalia, then what did it matter if he came in person or sent someone?

  But Niet seemed unwavering, glowering down at Will. This is your chance after all, said a voice in Will’s head. You can ask the Ranger about anything, talk to him about anything, get your answers. You can ask him about The Cutthroat Prince, Serena, Marl, the fall of Kelkor…

  “Alright, let’s go,” Will said, making up his mind and wheeling round, back toward the double doors. Niet let out a relieved laugh, breaking into a jog to catch up.

  “I’ll wait for you down here then and hide if I hear anyone coming. But please, just try to find out what Marl is doing, if he’s staying in Kelkor, if I need to go there-”

  “Yeah, I get it,” Will cut across him. He was already regretting agreeing to doing this, but he was at the st
eps. Sure enough, they were deserted. Inhaling deeply, he nodded a stiff farewell to Niet and mounted the steps. The buzzing that had filled his head the night before was returning with the thoughts of Marl and the Ranger’s secrets. As he approached the door, he realized his hands were shaking at his sides, his breathing uneven. He was going to get answers at last. He was going to see the Ranger and get his answers to everything.

  The door to the healing chamber was unlocked and swung with almost too much ease under his touch. Stepping over the threshold, Will let it click shut at his back before blinking in the darkness of the room. Someone had drawn the curtains, blotting away the stormy grey of the sky. The only light was the crackling glow of the hearth and, squinting, Will took a step further into the room. His heart sank.

  Each of the beds was neatly made, empty. The Ranger had gone. Bitter disappointment welled in his chest and he began to turn when a low laugh made him start. Leaping backwards, his knee collided with the footboard of one of the beds.

  “It’s good to see you haven’t changed too much while I’ve been away. You still haven’t learned the wisdom of not going places you ought to avoid.” The Ranger stepped from the darkness beside the door, his cloak drawn about him, his hood low over his face. Despite the shadow thrown by the cowl, Will thought he saw the faint gleam of a white-toothed smile. “I was wondering when you would find your way here. It’s good to see you’re in one piece.”

  “Yeah, despite The Cutthroat Prince’s best attempts.” Will snorted, trying to compose himself. His knee was throbbing in time to his frantic heart. Did the Ranger really have to lurk in the darkness like that? Annoyed, he ran a hand over his leg and sank backwards to sit on the foot of the bed that he’d smashed into. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure what to say. How much could he ask without giving away that he’d been at the window listening?

  “I’m guessing you didn’t only come to see if your darling uncle was alive and breathing,” the Ranger rasped, stepping nearer. Will noticed he drug his left leg, limping slightly. “So, how much have you found out then?”

  “What?” Will asked blankly.

  “Come now.” The Ranger sat gingerly on the bed across the chamber from Will, his injured leg held out straight. “You’re not adept enough at lying for these games.”

  Those words struck flint and steel, sparking an anger Will hadn’t even realized he was suppressing. His fingers tightened on the footboard of the bed. “Yeah, well, you seem to be good enough at lying for the both of us.”

  “Watch your mouth, Will. Squire for a year doesn’t mean you can disrespect me without consequences, regardless of your lineage.”

  “That’s all anyone cares about, isn’t it!” Will burst, throwing his hands in the air. He noticed the Ranger lean back, seemingly surprised. “All anyone bloody cares about is who my father is and now what he’s done! How could you have hidden this from me? Why is it that everyone else knew what Marl was doing but not me?”

  “We have spies in this castle who would have made it their job to attack me and the Princess,” the Ranger snapped. “Don’t you think telling any old squire what was happening and where I was going might have been a giveaway?”

  “I’m not any old squire! I’m the son of the man who’s killed the King of Kelkor!”

  The Ranger stiffened. “How did you…” He paused and groaned, running a hand over his face. “It wasn’t just the girl outside the window, was it?”

  “What?” Will faltered, surprise breaking the flare of rage. “You knew we were there?”

  “Well, I knew at least she was, but I didn’t know you were. I heard her swearing.” The Ranger let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think anyone else noticed. And I saw the corner of a face through the window when the King rose, but I couldn’t make out features.”

  “Then why didn’t you,” Will started but the Ranger cut across him.

  “Because I don’t believe in keeping everyone in the dark. Those two squires and the Princess went through misery on our journey here. They had a right to know.”

  “And I didn’t?” Will demanded. The rage was returning.

  “Did I say that?” the Ranger snapped.

  “You don’t have to. If you’d wanted me to know, you’d have told me before you left,” Will growled.

  “Before I left, I was working on finding who the spies in this castle are. Serena brought us the first true concerns of the uprising as the last four messengers that Kelkor tried to send were slaughtered. All I knew before her arrival was that Marl had left for the south,” the Ranger explained in a tone of forced calm.

  Will hesitated, the memory of Haru encouraging to keep his silence flashing through his mind. “How did the others not know then? Is Marl a false name or…” He shook his head. “If he was after Kelkor, how come no one knew that it was the same Marl who tried to kill me last year? My father? What was the point of my being silent?”

  “Marl is a second name,” the Ranger said, shaking his head. “So clever of you to figure that–though I’ve no doubt that it was Greyhead that came up with that suspicion. No. When he started this campaign to the south, started the uprisings, he decided to label himself with his regnant name–Prince Temrod of Thornten. He’s named after our father, and growing up, Marl was the named used among our family–the name of my mother’s father.”

  “Then Serena didn’t know,” Will muttered. Then he shook his head, fighting the frustration mounting again. “But she did. And she doesn’t trust you or me. But she’s not the spy, so why did you care if she knew.”

  “Because she’s the one I knew would make that connection and tell the rest of the knights. How many times do I have to tell you? We have a spy who is getting information from the council, information that should be impossible to reach. What I did was to protect you. I knew I was leaving you in danger. You see, when she arrived-”

  “You didn’t want me talking to her because you thought she’d tell me the truth?” Will cut across. “Is that it?”

  “Didn’t I just tell you? My concern was that she’d sell you out to the knights and, therefore, the darling spy who’s been doing his best to see you killed or captured,” the Ranger snarled through gritted teeth. “Additionally, if you haven’t realized, Serena doesn’t trust us because of who we are. But, speaking of Serena, it seems you and her charges have been getting along well. I suppose it was her squire who let you know that Oberoan had shirked his guard duties this morning.”

  “What does that matter?” Will said evasively.

  “And what was Niet wanting to know?” the Ranger smirked beneath his hood. “Marl’s secret weakness? The way to win a war? Or was he perhaps hoping you’d get information from me for Serena as she seems to think I’m the very spy who passed on the information that nearly got me killed.”

  A prickle of annoyance ran down Will’s neck, but he shrugged, keeping his expression passive. “I wanted to see that you were actually okay…and we were curious if you knew Marl’s next plans.”

  The Ranger laughed coldly. “Brazen of you to come outright with that. I appreciate your honesty but I’m afraid to disappoint you and Niet both. Despite Serena thinking Marl and I are the best of friends, we haven’t really caught up on his plans of late. We’re more interested in killing one another than renewing our brotherly bonds. If you heard all of what we said last night, you should already know my suspicions that Marl will be on his way back to Thornten to secure his brother’s alliance and celebrate his new throne. But I think it best we stay well away from that. Sometimes it’s safest to guess and stay in the dark.”

  Will frowned slightly. The Ranger’s words had stirred something in the back of his mind: the people you think are trying to save you have reasons for keeping you in the dark as well. Serena had said those words when telling him to pay more attention to his surroundings, to not trust the Ranger. “How does she think you’re going to use my tie to Marl?”

  “What?” the Ranger stiffened.

  “She said t
hat you’d use me for your own gains, that that’s what you wanted,” Will said, now fighting to keep his own voice even. “What does that mean? How does she think you’ll use me?”

  Cold tension filled the room, crackling between the Ranger and Will. After a moment, the Ranger gave a huff of laughter, shaking his head. “She will cause mayhem and strife however she can where I am involved. I’ve given her reason enough not to trust me in my past but that doesn’t mean that there is anything you need to worry about.”

  Will glowered at the Ranger. “I want the truth.”

  “And I’ve told you that some truths are not mine to tell,” the Ranger hissed.

  “You left and with everything that happened, you expect that you can just keep hiding everything? I want answers, Ranger. I’m over the secrets, I never asked for any of this and-”

  “And do you think I did?” the Ranger hissed dangerously. “Do you think that I would have wanted this for you or myself? With Marl’s shift in power, you’re in new dangers and I’m not just referring to The Cutthroat Prince. Tollien and Marl both have a reason to need you, to use you.”

  “And what’s that?” Will demanded.

  The Ranger sighed, running a hand over his jaw. “Now that Marl has his own throne, he’ll need an heir to keep his people from worrying. He can’t claim Tollien’s son as his heir-”

  “Tollien has a son?” Will interjected.

  “Didn’t I just say that?” snapped the Ranger. “If he named Tollien’s son his heir, the country would uprise against the crown again. They have a history of not caring for Thornten as more than an uneasy alliance and, to make matters worse, Thornten Castle is over a two-week ride from Kelkor’s gates. A King could not easily rule both kingdoms. So, Marl will want to bring you to Kelkor as his heir and Tollien will want to ensure you become a puppet for his own heir.”

  “And why would I ever listen to them? I’d rather die,” Will snarled.

  “Then they’ll see to it that you do die, but not before they try to break you.” The Ranger pushed himself to his feet and began to pace, one leg dragging on every other step. “Don’t you see, Will? If you are captured, they will torture you. There are things worse than death, worse even than Inanimus. A crippled King who is loyal to Thornten, cowed by them, is better than any King who might rise against them.”