Page 29 of The Empty Throne

He sighed and opened his eyes, took in hissurroundings. Things had quieted some, which was why he'd caught somuch of the gossip, but there were still far too many people forhim to start mucking with his manacles.

The front door slammed open hard enough tocrack the window on the wall it struck, and several guards hastenedto close it, swearing the whole time. "Fuck this weather," one ofthem said. "We'll never get back to Vekshta at this rate. HisLordship—"

"Is too busy trying to pin down his welp togive a damn about the rest of us right now," said another soldier."Ask me, he should keep that boy on a real lead, not just a magicalone. Ungrateful little shit."

All Cohea felt for the son was sympathy.Whatever was going on, Cohea hoped he escaped. Bad enough beingFazekas's enemy. How much worse was life for the people he wassupposed to love? Fazekas should count himself lucky that his sonwas the type to run away, rather than the type to slowly torturehim to death.

Though clearly Fazekas admired that quality,given how often he hired Bittersea to do his dirty work.

"Do you regret any of the deaths you'vemeted out?"

"Meted out? Like I'm administering justice?I don't think that highly of myself, Lindquist. Are you trying toask if I ever feel sad about committing murder? No, of coursenot."

"Not a single one? There's not one murderyou wish you hadn't committed, one lost life that haunts you?"

"You have to value a life to be sorry abouttaking it, and I don't value anyone's life. I value the way itbleeds out at the edge of my knife. I value the way the light fadesfrom their eyes, the way some of them beg me not to do it. The restis politics, and I don't care about those."

"The rest is people losing loved ones."

"What a joke."

Cohea sighed. It was depressing how oftenBittersea seemed to be right about things. When the man with agenuine love for pain and murder was most often correct about thesematters, that said nothing good about the state of the world.

Rearranging his hands in his lap, wristsalready red and sore from the bite of the manacles, Cohea restedhis head against the rough wall again and closed his eyes.

He hadn't been resting there for long,though, when he heard boots draw close. Opening his eyes, he staredat the man approaching, back of his neck tingling with warning ashe crouched down right in front of Cohea. There was somethinggreasy about him, far beyond his unwashed hair, and a familiarglint in his eye as his gaze landed on Cohea's ring.

Reaching out, the man grabbed and liftedCohea's hand, running his dirty thumb over the ring exactly asFazekas had just days ago. "So this is the famous ring that won'tcome off?" He chuckled, low and mean. "Pity, these sapphires aremuch to fine to rot with your corpse."

Cohea rolled his eyes. "I don't think I'mgoing to be a corpse anytime soon."

The man just chuckled and drew a small knifefrom his belt.

"You don't want to do that," Cohea said."It's a Ring of Binding, do you really think that nobody involvedin its making took tampering into consideration? Magic as old asthe world is used in Bindings. Your fucking penknife isn't enoughto overcome it."

"Shut up," the man said, eyes entirely on thering as he set the tip of the knife beneath one of the gems andworked to pry it out.

Light shot from the ring, as brilliant andblinding as lightning, and snaked through the soldier, making himscream in pain as he jerked back, clutching his chest, clawing andtearing at it, before he passed out cold.

"What in thefuckis going on overhere?" asked a man with lieutenant stripes on his sleeve as hestormed across the room. Everyone else had gone as still and quietas death.

Cohea drew a breath and let it out on a sigh."Your stupid fucking private tried to pry out the gems in myring."

"Dumbass," the man muttered. "Get him out ofhere, and no one touches the prisoner without talking to me first,am I understood?" When he got only a few muttered replies, hebellowed, "AM I UNDERSTOOD!"

That got a much more resounding chorus of'yes, sir,' and then two soldiers came forward to haul away theunconscious man.

As they all drifted away again, Cohea drew upthe leg that wasn't manacled and draped his arm across it, liftinghis hand to softly kiss his ring.

"That's illegal! Your Majesty! You can'tdemand such a thing of him! It's uncon—"

"I'll do it. I don't care. If that's what ittakes to prove this to you, then I'll do it."

"So will I."

Cohea kissed the ring again, enjoying thesoft tingle of magic against his lips, praying silently the samewas felt on the other end of the bond.

The sooner this nightmare ended, the better.He was tired of it all. The fighting. The bloodshed. The alwaysbeing apart, always waiting, aching, for the day they could bereunited.

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