Page 116 of A Deception of Courts

Duncan kept me walking, his firm hand pressing into my back. I didn’t care if anyone noticed anymore. It was the least of our concerns. Instead, I took the quiet to filter through every conversation that Kayne had stolen information from. He had always been there, stealing knowledge and sending it to Aldrick, but he wasn’t the only one – that was clear now.

Kayne knew of our plans to infiltrate Lockinge. It was Kayne who tipped off Aldrick for our move to Aurelia. Jesi had been taken solely to punish me for Duncan’s affections. What else had he gleaned from me and shared with Aldrick?

“Would you care to do the honours? I would, but as you can see, my body is not as it once was,” Aldrick asked, arms open as he beckoned me toward him. At the side, his Hunters fussed over Kayne’s body. He was placed delicately at the base of one stone pillar and left slumped against it.

“I would,” I said, drawn forwards like a moth to a flame.

“I remember all the things you wished to do to him. Now is your chance. Even if his soul has departed, you can still leave your mark on the king’s skin. You have been patient for this moment. Come. Bleed the Icethorn King dry. For Duwar, and for your future.”

“For Duwar,” I muttered, stepping away from Duncan, whose fingers dropped hesitantly away.

Like the interior of Rinholm, its exterior was decorated with Hunters. All around the outer edges of the garden, a line of them waited. Hundreds of them, far more than the two of us could take. But as long as Aldrick died, I would follow in death happily.

They just stood still and watched. I felt every eye burning a hole through me. I risked a quick glance around. There were too many for me to take. There was no telling if the Hunters were powered with fey blood or mundane, but regardless, I couldn’t comprehend the number of them.

I wondered if they recognised the internal battle I suffered. Was it plastered across my face as each step toward the gate was like wrestling against the tide of an ocean? The curls of mist were corporeal, like fingers gripping onto my boots, trying to get a hold of them. My footsteps grew heavier the further I walked, and I was certain I felt a heavy vibration from the ground, as though it growled in threat or hummed softly in greeting.

“Isn’t the gate useless without the final key?” I asked, wishing to stall Aldrick with my questions. “Elinor still roams free.”

“All is in hand, Kayne. Thanks to your insight, we were ahead of the Oakstorm’s attack on our eastern borders. The summer court is fractured. It wouldn’t surprise me if their queen were returned to me by her late husband’s supporters. From what I have learned, Doran would have been an interesting man to break bread with. It is a shame someone of his ilk was taken from us too soon.”

I wasn’t surprised to learn of Aldrick’s knowledge of our plans. Part of me wondered if Kayne had revealed Elinor’s reasons for the attack on Elmdew. Did he already know that it was meant as a distraction for this very reason?

“Tell me what you need me to do with him,” I said, biting my nails into my palms to still my panic. “And I will do it.”

“Bleed him,” Aldrick rasped. “Altar’s bones will contain the Icethorn power. Just as ribs house the heart or the skull shields the brain, the stones will devour the key. Stain the ground red. Feed the gate.”

I knew that the death of a fey wasn’t required, but was an extra layer to Aldrick’s desire to be destructive. All it would take was the skin to touch that stone for long enough, and the key would slip free.

Which was why I couldn’t allow myself to get close enough, even if it lured me.

One look at Duncan and I caught the shake of his head. His dark forest eyes were wide, pleading. They screamed for me not to do it.

“Surely you would prefer to be the one to do it?” I asked, sauntering toward the slumped body. The second I took a blade and cut into Kayne’s skin, this would all be over. “I brought him for you. I wouldn’t want to take such an important moment from you, Master.”

“I flayed the Elmdew King and his consort.” Aldrick frowned as he spoke. It was the first time I noticed his impatience. “Once you skin your first fish, you have skinned them all. I admit I allow you to do this because Robin is past the point of putting up resistance. It is not as enticing when their minds are quiet.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t have a knife on me.”

Aldrick clapped his crooked hands. “Supply Kayne with a blade.”

Before the command was completed, the Hunter closest to me shot forward. I tried not to allow my hand to tremble as I reached out and grasped the hand of the plain dagger held out for me. As my fingers curled around the leather-wrapped blade, I felt a shock of warmth. It was warm, the leather slick and sticky as it fitted into my palm.

Warm, hazel eyes glared back at me. The helmet did little to hide the bridge of freckles and a strand of fire-ruby hair. Her heat alone revealed who hid behind the Hunter’s outfit.

Althea Cedarfall, I’d recognise her in any life.

“Kayne, there is one more person I’d like to witness this success, someone who deserves to see Robin Icethorn cut open.” Aldrick gestured behind him, directly toward where Althea stood.

I thought it was all over, but one moment she was there, the next, she melted back into the wall of Hunters she had come from. Before I turned my back on them, I looked across the line. I searched for others who seemed out of place. Gyah, or Lady Kelsey. But among the line-up, I couldn’t identify Althea again. I just had to hope they were all there, like Althea, waiting to attack if the time required.

It wasn’t Althea who Aldrick had gestured to, but someone else.

Two Hunters forced the frail body of a fey out of the crowd. My heart lodged in my throat, and I was powerless to stop my reaction.

Jesibel limped ahead, a dirtied and torn dress hanging from her limp body. Just as I’d seen her in my dreams, she looked terrible. Gaunt and thin, skin marred with unknown substances, her cracked lips forged shut.

It was a miracle she was still standing. In fact, if the two Hunters didn’t hold her up, I hardly imagined she would be.

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