“Right, I’m not certain that I want that, but I appreciate the offer,” Will snapped. He took another uneasy step and rain splashed over his back. The torch in his hands hissed angrily, sputtering in the water and Oberoan straightened. His eyes shifted for the first time from Will to the rope, his face contorting in a snarl of understanding.
“No!”
Will pulled on the rope but it was too late. Oberoan was lunging forward. Rowan gave a cry of pain as the rope burned through his hands. Oberoan’s shoulder had collided with Will, both of them sprawling onto the earth. The torch flew in a brilliant arch from Will’s hand, falling into the stream of water that still poured from the tunnel opening.
Scrambling to his feet, Will saw it flicker then the light died, plunging him into darkness. Overhead, Rowan was yelling something, a distant voice that he could barely make out responding back.
Shaking himself, Will strained to see anything through the black that pressed against his eyes. He couldn’t see or hear Oberoan, but the man had to be around here somewhere. Slowly, Will reached his hand for the dagger at his side, fighting to keep his racing heart calm. When his fingers brushed nothing, he bit back the urge to swear. The dagger must have flown from his sheath when he’d hit the ground.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are. Come out, boy, or I’ll climb the rope, let your little friend pay for you not listening. Come out, there’s no point in hiding, boy.”
The sing-song voice sent a chill through Will’s blood and he gritted his teeth against the sickening terror. A hiss of cloak over the tunnel floor. The man was several paces away and moving toward him but if Will moved at all, he’d give away his position.
“If you go with me, if you go alive, think of the power you stand to gain. You can become a Prince of Kelkor, and I can join The Cutthroat Prince. There is nothing to lose, boy, nothing. Your destiny, your blood, you were born to be a King.”
Another step. This one dragging and followed by a sharp hiss of pain. So, the fall had hurt Oberoan. Good. At least if he was going to get caught he’d made this traitor miserable.
The clash of steel against stone several feet to Will’s left made him jump, sparks flaring from where the blade of Oberoan’s sword struck against the walls. The momentary light burned into Will’s vision and he had to blink several times to clear his eyes.
“If I can’t bring you to him alive, I can’t leave you here to be a threat either. You’d tell Revlan about me, you’d ruin everything.”
Another strike of steel on stone and Will crouched down, heart slamming. Alright, so I guess he’s decided killing me is easier, Will thought grimly. Above, there was a commotion, Rowan shouting, the sound of someone yelling back further away. What was going on? Will ran a hand over the floor. He needed his dagger, or the torch, or anything to use as a weapon.
“Give up, boy,” Oberoan rasped. “I’m tired of these games. I’m tired of being a spy. Give up.” The voice was drawing nearer, low and soothing. “Give up and take your blood right, let me earn my place at the Cutthroat’s side.”
Will turned his face slowly. Oberoan had to be there, only feet away. If he ran, he’d give away his position and risk being killed, but if he stood, Oberoan’s next furious strike stood a good chance of plunging into his chest. Mind reeling, Will froze. The bag still tied over his shoulder. Moving carefully as not to make a noise, Will twisted, reaching one hand into the bag.
“Hiding? Like a child? Come now, boy.” Oberoan’s voice was shaking. “Don’t hide. Don’t be a coward.”
Will’s fingers brushed over the hilt and a new shiver ran through him at the feel of intricate steel in the shape of a diving falcon.
“Come out, boy. Think of the power we’ll have. If you come with me, you survive and become King, but you know I can’t let you live if you don’t come. Come out, come out… I hear you breathing…”
Will moved at the same time that the soldier in the dark lunged again. Will felt something sharp slice through the air where he had been a heartbeat before, catching on his cloak, tearing fabric in place of skin. With every ounce of strength and memory from training, Will let the dagger fly from his hand, the falcon blade diving through the darkness toward the shape of a man.
There was a terrible gurgling cry, a thud and Will staggered, panting, and wheeled round, fists raised, ready to fight. Nothing moved. The only sound apart from the rain above and Rowan’s yells coming nearer was something guttural, gasping through the dark.
Heart slamming in his ribs, Will took a tentative step forward and felt his foot land on something solid and shaking. He sprang back with a cry of panic and waited, half expecting the man to rise again, to strike. There was nothing, only another shaking breath.
Will took another step back, away from the form on the floor and felt the rain running down his back. Looking up, he winced as water ran over his face and into his eyes.
“Rowan!” His voice cracked, hoarse even to his own ears. “Rowan!”
“Colin! He needs help! Hurry up!” Rowan bellowed. Will could have laughed with relief as a face appeared, hanging upside down from the tunnel hatch. “Will! Where are you? Will!”
“Quit shouting, I’m right here.” Will ran a hand over his forehead, eyes still straining in the direction of the uneven breaths at his feet. “Where’s Colin?”
“Getting Niet. I don’t have another rope. I didn’t mean to let go, I swear. I just couldn’t keep hold of it. Who’s down there, what’s-”
“I’ll explain when you get me out of here,” Will snapped. The smell of blood was mixing with the stale air of the tunnel, rising around him in suffocating waves.
“Right.” Rowan’s head disappeared. “Colin! Hurry up! I need rope!” Rowan’s voice was hoarse from screaming. “Will, you scared me half to death. Colin wasn’t here, and then I heard you fighting someone and didn’t know how to help!”
“It’s fine.” Will shook his head, knowing Rowan couldn’t see his face and hoping his voice hid the lie. “I’m okay.”
“What’s going on?” Colin had returned, standing above Rowan.
“Someone was down there with Will and-” Rowan started.
“What?” Colin demanded.
“Look, someone throw me a rope,” Will barked. “I want out of here.”
He barely sprang aside in time as the rope fell from above, one end landing neatly on the other rope. Without a moment’s hesitation, Will grabbed onto the rope and felt it tighten. They were pulling him up. At the edge of the tunnel door, Will grabbed onto the wonderfully solid feel of wet grass and hoisted himself out. He sprawled on the ground on his back, the rain washing over. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the fresh smell of forest, of rain.
“Will, who was down there? Was it tunnel people?” Colin asked. “If it was, we need to go warn the castle.”
Will shook his head, wiping sweat and rain from his forehead and sitting upright. “It was the spy.”
“What? Seriously?” Rowan gawked at Will, astonished. “Who was it?”
“A soldier, Oberoan,” Will said and scooted away from the black hole in the earth where the tunnel had let out. He could feel his body beginning to shake with a mixture of fear, cold, and adrenaline. “He’s that soldier who let me go see the Ranger, the one who’s been hanging round and…” He stopped, shaking his head. “I don’t think he’s alive.”
“Blazes, we’re lucky you are,” Rowan said, laughing nervously and pounding Will on the back. “You might have been Will soup down there in the mud.”
Someone moved in the shadow of a tree and Will half rose, reaching again for his empty dagger sheath. He recognized the tall teenager, even with his black hair plastered to his forehead, and relaxed.
“You got the horses here, then?”
“Yeah, I did,” Niet said, coming to stand beside Will at the edge of the tunnel hatch. “I tried to get here sooner but Serena ended up in town.”
Will winced. “I’m betting that didn’t go over well.”
/> Niet shook his head. “Not bad, actually. She and I needed a chance to talk and she’s finally starting to see sense, I think. It’s been a lot for her to come here and realize that she left and Kelkor fell without her there.” A muscle tightened in his jaw. “It’s been hard on us all.”
Will hesitated, not sure what to say, but Niet was shrugging already. “That doesn’t matter right now though. You said the spy is down there. Will, was he armed?”
Will nodded. “Yeah, he’s got a sword…and I dropped my dagger down there.”
“By the sounds of it you dropped your dagger in his neck,” Rowan said, cracking a grin. When none of the others laughed, he rolled his eyes. “One day you’ll appreciate my humor.”
“We should get his weapons. All we have right now are my sword and bow, and Rowan and Colin’s daggers,” Niet said, sinking onto the ground and swinging his legs over the hole in the ground. “Colin, on my saddle is a lantern. Can you light it and bring it here?”
Will eyed the hole in the ground suspiciously as light flared from several paces away, brilliant gold cutting through the darkness. Crossing toward them, Colin wordlessly handed the lantern to Niet. “Want one of us to go with you?” Colin asked, concerned.
Niet grinned. “I think I can handle a corpse on my own but thank you.”
Will shivered, pulling himself further from the tunnel entrance as Niet, the lantern gripped in one hand, inhaled deeply and jumped down, the light vanishing with him. The three squires waited in tense silence.
After an eternity, the light bobbed back beneath the tunnel mouth and Will, Rowan, and Colin braced on the end of the rope as Niet appeared, the handle of the lantern clutched in his teeth, a second sword slung over his back. Dropping back onto the earth, he grabbed the lantern from his mouth and spat, his face disgusted.
“That tastes revolting,” he grumbled. Rising, he reached into his belt and drew two daggers, holding them out to Will, brows raised. “These yours, I take it?”
Will took them both, half tempted to chuck the falcon dagger back into the hole that Rowan and Colin were sealing once more with a moss-covered hatch.
“Nice throw, by the way. It was in his throat,” Niet said, looking impressed.
Will turned away, busying himself with making sure that both daggers were tucked safely on his side. The thought of the dead man made him feel sick. He’d murdered soldiers. Traitor or not, he hadn’t meant to murder Oberoan, just to get away without being killed himself.
“Right then,” Colin said, turning and raising his voice as thunder growled in the distance. “We should get as far as we can in this. When the knights find out we’re gone, they might send someone looking.”
“Or just send an assassin and have done with it,” Rowan added, grinning and pulling his hood over his head. “Niet, you look stupid with two swords. Hand one to Colin, he’s better than Will and I are because he’s a prat.”
“I think you mean because I practice,” Colin said coolly, accepting the traitor’s sword from Niet with a look of mild disgust. “Not sure I want this sword anyway.”
“We can’t be picky about blades.” Niet shook his head. “Come on you three. We’ve got ground to cover. The horses are just in the thicker trees there, they aren’t really appreciating the rain so far.”
“Me neither,” Will said, straightening and following Niet back through the trees. He grinned at the sight of the familiar red horse who blinked at him through a rain sodden forelock. Will gave Admere a pat on the neck before swinging into his wet saddle and gathering his reins. Overhead, the sky flashed with brilliant white lightning before plunging them back into darkness.
“And now we go save the Ranger!” Rowan announced grandly, punching the air. His words were almost drowned in another growl of thunder.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
By the time that the four of them decided to dismount, the rain had lightened to a drizzle and the sky visible through the trees was turning from black to a murky grey. It seemed Niet had come more prepared than any of them had and was quick to set up two make-shift tents, though Will wasn’t sure there was much point. They were all already drenched, and the ground squelched under their feet. Still, Will helped him set them up and when Niet offered to take the first shift of guard duty, Will was quick to volunteer to help.
It was a mark of Rowan and Colin’s exhaustion that they didn’t argue. They ducked from sight into the tents while Niet tended to his horse and Will sank onto the driest patch of earth he could find. He stared at the forest around them, dark and cold, trying to clear his frantic mind. He kept seeing Oberoan’s haunted face, imagining him stepping between trees toward him, a blade in hand.
The man had been driven to the brink of madness in his own attempt to save his skin. He’d been terrified and Will felt a stab of pity. The feeling fleeted almost at once as he thought of the twelve soldiers. Soldiers who Oberoan had served alongside, all dead because they’d trusted him. Anger twisted with disgust and Will’s hand balled into fists on the ground beside him. The Cutthroat Prince had chosen his spy well. Someone who would risk anything to save himself.
And yet had he deserved to die? Will understood the fear, but the betrayal? If he had been in Oberoan’s place, would he have betrayed Alamore? No, he thought firmly. I’d die before I’d betray Alamore, I’d never kill any of the squires to save myself.
But maybe, said another voice in his mind, maybe it’s different when you truly must face death. Maybe you wouldn’t be as brave if you’d seen whatever Oberoan had. Afterall, The Cutthroat Prince had to have convinced him somehow. He was terrified of The Cutthroat Prince.
“A puddle for your thoughts?”
Will started as Niet flopped onto the ground beside him. He hadn’t even heard the older squire approach, and he was supposed to be the guard. Reddening, Will shrugged, trying to seem unsurprised. “Oh, nothing of much interest.”
Niet fixed Will with a dark eyed frown. “I’m not an idiot, Will. It’s the soldier. You’re thinking about the spy aren’t you?”
Will nodded, turning his gaze back toward the forest. “Yeah, a bit I guess.”
Niet sighed, tilting his head back. “You did what you had to do, Will. He’d have killed you.” Niet spluttered and straightened, wiping the rain from his face. “Storms of the sea, I hope this weather lets up.”
“I know he would have,” Will muttered. He ran a hand over the ground beside him, finding a small stick and turning it in his finger. “But I don’t know… I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“You meant to survive,” Niet said firmly. “He was a murderer already. If it had been Rowan or Colin who were last from that tunnel, he’d have killed them.”
Will shivered. He’d thought about that. He’d again risked their lives. Turning to Niet, he shook his head. “Why are you going with us? Aren’t you worried about what Serena will do, or…what could happen to us all?” He had teetered on the verge of saying dying but, somehow, it didn’t seem the right thing to say with the dangers ahead.
Niet snorted and Will was surprised to see a grin curl the edge of his lips. “Storms of the sea, no. I’m not worried. Serena will be livid, but she’s not that bad, really.”
When Will’s only response was a baffled look of disbelief, Niet groaned, stretching his legs forward and shook his head. “You’ve only seen her at her worst, and honestly, I don’t like her much when she’s like that. No one does. She can be stubborn and unreasonable but she’s one of the best knights Kelkor has ever had. She’d die for the crown, she’d die for those she loves and is loyal to.”
Not sure what to say, Will only gave a slight hum of acknowledgement and turned the stick in his hands again.
Niet chuckled. “You get it worse than most of the others in Alamore because of your blood.”
“Because I’m related to Marl,” Will growled, scowling at the stick.
“No, it’s because you’re related to the Ranger,” Niet said, still half laughing.
Will tu
rned to Niet, raising his eyebrows. “The Ranger? She hates the Ranger more than Marl?”
“It’s a different kind of hate,” Niet clarified. “She hates Marl, she wants to kill him and get revenge–we all do. But she has hated Marl since she met him, years before all this. She hates the Ranger for…eh.” He paused and Will saw a red hue creep up his neck. “Other reasons.”
“Well, not sure what other reasons are but I’m getting really tired of her hating me for it,” Will grumbled. “And how can you stick up for her? After how she treated you in the council?”
Running a hand over the back of his neck, Niet let out a long breath. “Because I know that’s not how she is. She and I actually got to talk about training in Alamore, about everything that’s happened. When she came into the city, I thought she was there to murder me for leaving with Kalia. Instead, she and I just talked. It’s why I was late–I ended up sneaking out of a window because she and Kalia were in the tavern downstairs later. She’s going to be livid that I left, but I think, deep down, she understands. She just can’t forgive the Ranger for what he did.”
“Which was what?” Will demanded. “What could he have done that was that bad?”
“He broke her trust,” Niet said, grimacing. When Will only watched him, Niet continued, shaking his head. “She doesn’t like to talk about it, she doesn’t even know I know. She always told me that the Ranger of Kings was never to be trusted, that he’s proven that time and time again. When we were leaving Kelkor, I tried to convince Paxrin not to take the route we were on because I thought we’d run into the Ranger and he ended up telling me the truth.
The Cutthroat Prince (William of Alamore Series Book 2) Page 35