Page 76 of Ties of Bargains

Daisy walked up to Duke Johannes and sat on his foot looking outward, her ears pricked and alert.

“Can you watch my snails too? They eat seaweed and leafy greens. Thanks.” Ignatius shoved the crate with the snails at Duke Johannes.

“I…uh…” Harm’s father grabbed the crate’s handle with his free hand, gaping down at both the giant snails and the dog sitting on his foot.

“Does Acurru need to stay here too?” Harm eyed the dragon twining around Abelardo’s legs.

Duke Johannes followed his son’s gaze, then his eyes bugged. “Is that…”

“No. Since we won’t have Daisy, Acurru will be our scent dragon.” Abelardo bent down and picked up the dragon, stroking a hand down his head, long neck, and back. The dragon gave a growling purr. “While he’s not quite as good as Daisy, if Acurru can smell something with your brother’s scent, he’ll be able to locate him inside a whole castle within minutes.”

“That’ll save us time.” Harm nodded and strode to Val’s side before he glanced over his shoulder at his father. “Is there something belonging to Gijs still here?”

“His room has remained untouched. There shouldbe something in there.” Duke Johannes never lifted his gawking gaze from the dragon.

“Good.” Harm reached down and clasped Val’s hand. “Ready to stage a rescue?”

A rescue. Not a kidnapping. Not an assassination. Not a package delivery where the package happened to be a human she was taking to captivity and cruelty.

Once she would have considered something like this none of her business. She would have stayed out of it, unfeeling toward the young man’s situation.

Being good and caring about other people wasn’t so bad. Sure, it meant she needed to get involved and go out of her way to help. But at least that wasn’t boring. Her life would be filled both with excitement and with actual meaning.

Val smiled at Harm and patted her dagger with her free hand. “More than ready.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Harm lit the last candle along the broad throne room and stepped around the guard sprawled on the floor.

While thoroughly bound and gagged, the man was still out after the little tap Grutte had given him. The poor man could probably use a fae healing potion for the head injury he had likely sustained. Harm resisted a wince. He didn’t want to hurt the soldiers, who were just doing their job and loyally serving their king, but a few injuries couldn’t be helped.

With the candles he’d lit casting orange light and deeper shadows across the room, Harm marched to the throne at the far end and perched on it.

Nope, too stiff. He slouched. No, now that was too low-class instead of powerful.

He swiveled on the throne and threw one leg over the armrest, attempting a languid sprawl.

If only he could ask Val for a second opinion. But she was somewhere in this castle with Abelardo andJesenia, retrieving Gijs. Ignatius, Grutte, and Chela were fetching King Hendrik.

That left Harm with the one job of lighting the candles and sitting on the throne looking powerful. He wore hisfeeënclothing, including the leather jerkin and mended shirt, with thefeeënsword buckled at his waist.

The door gave a creak as it began to swing inward. He had just enough time to adjust his expression to something hard, leaning an elbow on the armrest in what he hoped was a confident sprawl, before the door opened the rest of the way.

Grutte had King Hendrik by the back of his nightshirt, the garment hiked to his knees as he was marched forward. It seemed thefeehadn’t given him the chance to grab his dressing gown—or perhaps they hadn’t known such a thing would be considered a courtesy.

Oh, well. Harm didn’t mind that they’d denied King Hendrik that little scrap of dignity. King Hendrik certainly hadn’t cared about such things when he’d bargained with Diego for the fae poison and Harm’s captivity. And who knew what he’d done to Gijs in the last five years, even beyond taking him away from the one family member he’d had left.

Chela and Ignatius marched on either side of Grutte, their weapons still out. The door swung shut with a heavythunkbehind them.

King Hendrik’s gaze lifted to the throne a moment before his face paled.

“Surprised to see me?” Harm smirked, the expression sharp-edged. “After you bargained with afeetoensure I was taken into their realm, never to be seen again.”

“That fae played me false,” King Hendrik growled as he tried to wrench out of Grutte’s grasp. He didn’t manage it and instead flailed like a hooked fish. “First that brat recovers, and I have to come up with a new plan. Now you somehow return from what should have been certain death.”

“He was a fae. What else did you expect?” Harm raised his eyebrows, trying to mirror Val’s unimpressed look. “And before you get any ideas about bargaining with that fae again, he’s dead. I witnessed his death myself.”

“How inconvenient.” King Hendrik tried to reach over his shoulder to pry at Grutte’s hand. “Will you order your lackey to release me? Or will you continue to treat me with such disregard? I fear that will not win you any favors in our negotiations.”

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