Page 52 of The Jester

“She can’t give birth in chains.” Maura tilts her chin up defiantly. “Young man, do you have a mother? A sister? A lover?”

Henrik glances at the door, so quickly it’s almost unnoticeable. But clearly he’s thinking of Briony. “I...”

Maura stands firm, while I try to make myself as invisible as possible. Right now, all Henrik should be thinking about is the pregnant mother who needs help and the kind old fae woman who has offered it.

Eventually, he nods, fumbles for his keys, and pulls open the door. He strides over to Raine and unfastens her chains. She mutters a strained thank-you and sinks to her knees.

“Hang on, Raine, I’m coming.” Maura holds out her hands.

Henrik stands between Maura and me, back to me, and puts the key into the cuff around her neck. It clicks open. But before he can turn around, I jump for him. Wrapping my entire body around his, I bring my weapon to his throat and press it against his skin until a bead of blood bubbles up from its stubbled surface.

Maura grabs the keys from him and throws them to Raine, who instantly starts unlocking everyone else.

“You won’t get away with this,” Henrik says. Then he adds, “You won’t even make it over the bridge. The sentinels will see you and they’ll shoot arrows at you until you’re –”

“Which is why you’re coming with us,” I spit. “Leverage.”

At that, Henrik laughs. He laughs so hard, I feel his ribs move beneath me. “You think they’d let you free to save my life?” He squirms beneath me but I keep hold of him, surprised by how much desperation has fuelled my strength. “They couldn’t care less about me, you fools.”

“Which is why we need the cuffs off, too.” I nod at Pen. Now unchained, he marches out of the cells and begins to raid Henrik’s desk. “There’s nothing here,” he says. “I thought they were... We saw them. The keys. They’re always in here.”

I tighten my grip on Henrik. “Where are they?”

“There is no point,” he says, with almost a hint of a sigh.

“Where are they?”

There’s a pause, and then he says, “All right. I’ll show you.”

Slowly, still holding my weapon at his throat, I march him out of the cell. But we haven’t even crossed the threshold before he turns on me. Wrenching round in my grasp, cutting his own throat, but not deep enough to wound him badly, he knocks the weapon from my hand and punches me hard in the stomach. I try to fight him off, but he is bigger and stronger.

He batters me to the ground. I yell at the others to stay back and concentrate on finding the keys to the binders. He has his hands around my throat when the door clatters back on its hinges and Briony’s sweet voice calls, “Henrik!”

The split second in which he looks for her is enough to give me an advantage. I use his body weight against him, flip him over, and pin him to the ground. “Let us go. Help us,” I say, staring into his eyes.

I expect him to go limp beneath me. To relent. But he doesn’t. So, when Maura puts the weapon back into my hand, I don’t hesitate.

I thrust it into his gut and twist.

Chapter Twenty-Two

ALANA

Eldrion lingers at the top of the spiral staircase.

Thunderous footsteps move towards us, and he steps aside as two bulky guards I don’t recognise emerge holding a figure between them.

When I realise who it is, my hands fly to my mouth.

In the back of my mind, it occurs to me that I’m not wearing my gloves, and yet I can’t care about that now because the person they are holding is Kayan.

Screams, cries, and commotion filter up from the dungeons.

Eldrion slams the door shut and demands, “Tell me what is happening.”

The guard on the left, a female with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, says, “He attacked one of us. We were hosing them down because they stink,” she spits, “and he attacked us. He had fashioned a weapon, managed to unhook his chains –”

“Which guard?” Eldrion interrupts.

---