Page 168 of The Throne's Undoing

This was what he did.

This was what had gotten him this far. When a problem arose, he shifted. He adapted.

"I saiddon't," he repeated.

Was it really so hard to find competent men? Soldiers who would listen?

It was a pity Kalisandre had slipped through his hands so easily. She had been so...pliable.

At last, there was nothing he could do about that.

For now, anyway.

The guard swallowed.

"Let them go. Let them scurry off like rats into the night, searching for salvation," Kage said, turning back to the railing and formulating his plan. Yet as he watched the shadows dance over the magnificent sight below, he could still hear the guard's anxious breathing behind him.

"Why are you still here?" he demanded, peering at the guard from the corner of his eye.

"There is...uhm...another matter," the guard muttered.

"Spit it out then, Kolen."

His patience was thinning with every minute that passed. There was work to be done, yet this conversation persisted far longer than he desired.

"The boy," the guard said, his voice failing to hide his disdain for the latest enhancements the boy had received.

But beneath the contempt, Kage detected a hint of envy. Kolen had not been chosen to undergo the same transformation as Mynhos. Didn't the guard understand he had other plans for him?

"What about him?" Kage asked.

The guard shifted on his feet. "The traitors were able to harm him in their escape."

His jaw ticked. "Where?" Kage demanded.

"In the throne room, Your Majesty. The staff is already working to clean up the mess."

Kage scoffed, his nose twitching. "I do not care about the mess.Wherewas he struck?"

"Through the heart, My King," Kolen said quietly.

Kage pursed his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth.

For nearly two decades, Kage had searched for someone who bore a gift similar to Mynhos's. When the seer had finally informed him of the child's birth, Kage knew he had to find him. However, the child's parents were more cunning and resourceful than he expected. Somehow, they had gotten wind of the king's interest in the boy, so they ran.

They hid like the little rodents they were. But Kage had dug them out of their hole.

No one could escape his grasp for long.

Over the past nine years, they had tested the boy's healing abilities in various ways. A cut to his face would heal in a matter of minutes, seconds even depending on how deep the wound was. A missing digit took a few days to grow back. When he had chopped off his hand months ago in front of the boy's sister, it had taken a little over a week to regrow. The process was gruesome and grotesque, even Dr. Thorne had nearly gagged as he watched the new bones form.

It was absolutely riveting. A sight to behold, truly.

However, they had yet to sever Mynhos's head or stab him in the heart--blows too fatal for even Kage to suggest attempting before they were sure Mynhos could survive it. Especially not before they extracted what they needed and found a way to harvest his gift.

The boy's sister--an unexpected prize Kage had not expected to come across nine years ago--proved to be immensely helpful with that issue. Although her escaping had never beensomething he wished to happen, he had planned ahead just in case.

Since she had been imprisoned, the guards had taken several vials of her blood. They had already used most of it, however, to help speed up the transformation process for the others.

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