Page 8 of Midnight Kingdom

“So?” he demands.

“So, I had to find a way to get inside the castle without risking any of you.”

He’s quiet for a moment or two as he apparently chews on the information I’ve just given him. “You should have at least told one of us what you were doing,” he says, clearly trying to save face. The bloody bastard.

I glare at him and spit out, “I don’t answer to any of you.”

“We are all in this together, Revenant,” Cambion corrects me, eyeing me in that scholarly way of his that makes me want to punch him.

“Revenant took a risk for us and we should be thanking him, not berating him for it,” Eilish says, much to Dragan’s chagrin.

“It was reckless,” he argues.

“It was smart,” she replies bitingly. I don’t need her to defend me. Lust and hunger between us is one thing, but I won’t make myself vulnerable to her in any other way. Furthermore, I’m a man and I don’t require a woman to stand up for me.

“As I was saying,” I mumble irritably. “There’s a safe route through the alleyways that leads to the castle, but I’m not sure how many of Variant’s men will be active after sunset. We’ll have to be careful.”

Cambion searches through a wall of water-damaged scrolls, pulling them from their slots, one by one, until he comes across a map of the castle limits. He grabs a quill from the back room and a jar of long-dried ink. It’s too risky to cast a spell when the wards in this place are much stronger than before, so he spits into the container and swirls the quill around, trying to breathe second life into the ink. I move closer, watching as the elf hands me the quill so I can mark the route we’ll take after sunset.

“When the soldiers gather, they do it at the center of the market square,” I begin, drawing an x to mark said location. “When they transport the captured Fae, they take this alley…” I drag the quill across the old map and place a dot at each end of the line to mark the stop and start of the path. “Each time they search, they take one district at a time. This morning they were covering the east. I assume they’ll still be there tonight, but it’s not a guarantee.”

“Did the Fae put up a fight when the soldier’s captured them?” Dragan asks.

“No. As I said, they were mostly women and children,” I explain and Cambion’s jaw grows even tighter. These are his people, so of course it makes sense that he would feel this threat the most. “They fell to their knees. Just submitted without question. I figure they’ve given up fighting against Variant and his forces.”

“And the soldiers?” Cambion asks.

I turn to face him. “There’s more of them than I thought. Most are demons, some elves, and many orcs. From what I can tell, they separate rank by species.”

“Playing to their strengths,” Cambion says with a clipped nod. “I take it the orcs do all the grunt work?”

“Exactly. Also of interest was the fact that the commander of my small unit mentioned something to the effect that anyone speaking ill of Variant will be tried with treason.”

“Treason?” Eilish repeats in shock.

“Treason usually equates to beheading, according to Variant’s edicts,” Dragan adds, his jaw tight.

“It’s ridiculous to behead someone over such a childish act of name calling, but Variant doesn’t seem too concerned with appearing like a rational being,” I explain.

“He’s losing his wits, it’s true,” Dragan says with a nod. Then he catches my eye and looks away, before adding, “When we break into the castle, I believe we should attempt to take Variant out.”

“Pyre said,” Eilish starts and he gives her an expression that could freeze water.

“I know what Pyre said,” he barks in response, before taking a deep breath and adding in a more civilized tone, “But, I also know that if we’re given a chance to assassinate him…”

“And what the fuck makes you think we’ll even be given that chance?” Cambion interrupts. His question is a good one. “If Variant is going so far as to try people who speak against him, you can bet your ass he’ll be protected by as many soldiers as he deems possible.”

“I saidifwe’re given the opportunity,” Dragan responds angrily.

“We won’t be,” Cambion says.

“We get in and we get out,” I agree.

“Revenant is right,” Cambion says with a brief nod. “We get the Midnight Queen and leave. Simple as that.”

Dragan shakes his head as he looks over at Eilish and the two share a meaningful expression that makes little sense to me. As I watch, Eilish begins worrying her lower lip as she shakes her head, her eyes still focused on the gargoyle. “You don’t get to go after Variant on my account,” she says in a soft voice. I don’t understand her meaning but it appears Dragan does. When I look to Cambion, I notice he seems to understand Eilish’s meaning as well. Clearly Cambion and Dragan are privy to something I’m not.

“Why is Dragan so keen to go after Variant?” I demand. “Beyond the obvious reasons,” I add. “What aren’t you telling me?” I rotate my determined expression between Cambion and Dragan, but neither looks at me. When I face Eilish, she glances down.

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