Page 117 of A Deception of Courts

“A gift, Jesibel,” Aldrick called, gesturing down to the corpse before me. “All your help led to this. Do you see now that your constant attempts to resist me were wasted, for nothing? Robin Icethorn, your king, is dead. Now you can watch as he bleeds out before you.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but look at Jesibel. Her gaze was fixed to the corpse, unblinking, skin pale as death itself. Duncan sensed my hesitation, hearing the name of the very person I’d have done anything to save.

“Kayne, you may begin.”

A cacophony of emotions burned through me. Fury, pain, anguish and sorrow. I longed for Jesibel to look up and meet my eyes. But her grief, her guilt, was so thick I could feel it even with our distance.

“Kayne?” Aldrick leaned forwards in his chair.

I was losing control, everything blurring before me. Slowly, I lifted my eyes and locked them with his, and watched Aldrick recoil slightly. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes.” It was all I could manage. Duncan tried to get closer to me, sensing how close I was to losing my sanity.

Aldrick might not have known it, but he’d just paraded my one weakness before me. He didn’t need his magic to ruin me, his actions against Jesibel had already done that.

But she was alive. That had to count for something. And I vowed that it would stay that way.

“You must have been so disappointed to have missed the murder of the Cedarfall Queen,” I said, voicing the confidence with rolled-back shoulders and a raised chin. It was easy to see Aldrick as the weak man he was. Curled up in a chair, with the inability to raise even a hand from its armrest. I glared down at him, hearing the leather of the warm blade squeak in my grasp. “Perhaps you would like me to describe it to you?”

I was vaguely aware of Duncan opening his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

Aldrick’s lips pinched into a thin, tight line. I felt his power press into my mind again, searching as the beginnings of distrust were planted. The Mariflora kept his will at bay but did little to dilute his vile presence.

“I do hope that is not regret I am sensing,” Aldrick said.

“Regret?” I echoed, feeling my power swell in my chest. All I could think about was giving Althea enough time to get Jesibel to safety. That’s why she was here, I had to believe it. Althea had found what I needed her to, and she knew how it would affect me.

“No, not regret,” I forced out louder. “I just thought you might like to know what you have achieved?”

Aldrick’s eyes traced me, then pressed a bent finger to his lips. “No. I do not care how she perished. What matters is the Cedarfall key was collected and brought to me. That is where her power now resides.” Aldrick pointed to the large stone at the north of the forged circle. “As you will soon watch, it is like watering a flower on the brink of death. The stone will devour the key and hold it. If you were cursed with fey heritage, you would sense the gate. It grows stronger with the presence of each key.”

Oh, I felt it. The humming beneath my feet and the way I longed to reach out and dust my fingers across the stone at my back. It called to me, the song of power even I couldn’t explain.

Perhaps this is what enticed Aldrick. The whisper of Duwar promising power.

“Death seems like a steep price to pay.” It was hard not to smile at Aldrick, especially when one of his Hunters was currently moving through the crowd. I knew, without a doubt, it was Althea, getting closer to Jesibel, using Aldrick’s distraction as the time she needed.

Aldrick was entirely focused on me, sensing the oddity to our conversation. He leaned forward, grasping the arms of his chair as he attempted to make his frail body look larger.

“They could have opened the gate for Duwar freely,” I said. “No one needed to die for this, did they?”

“The fey chose to stand against us. All the death is merely a means to an end,” Aldrick seethed, spit dampening the neckline of his stained tunic. “Enough of this. Kayne, finish the task, or I will take your hesitation for weakness and act accordingly.”

Without taking my eyes off Aldrick, I lowered myself to my knees. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Duncan hesitate. If only I could infiltrate his mind and tell him what I knew. That our allies were around us, that I couldn’t act out until Jesibel was removed to safety. Although we were not alone, Jesibel was still an unknowing shield before Aldrick, placed so perfectly I almost believed he sensed our deception.

But from the look of surprise across his face, Aldrick had no idea what was to come.

My fingers wound through the dark hair of the dead body. I tugged it hard, pulling the head back and exposing the white of the neck. My neck. Aldrick’s eyes seemed to light with excitement. It was like he was a child, looking at the most delicious of treats. He followed the slow lift of the knife as I brought it to the skin.

“That’s it,” Aldrick breathed, relaxing back into his chair as his tongue traced his lower lip. There was a hunger in his expression as his eyes focused on the dead body I drew into my lap. “Allow the blood to fall upon the stone, and it shall do the rest. Let us all watch as it leeches the Icethorn of everything that made him who he was.”

But that wasn’t it. I was in control, and I sensed the draw. It was my choice to give in or ignore it. Rafaela had told me as much.

Kayne’s body had stiffened in the hours since Duncan killed him. Eroan’s glamour did little to conceal the necklace of bruises that encircled his neck. I brushed the sharp edge of the blade against the bruises, pressing the edge into flesh.

I risked one glance toward Althea. She was close now. I longed to watch as the excitement drained from Aldrick’s face when he realised his failure. If only I could memorise the moment the realisation struck that he had been deceived. Witnessing that would make this all worth it.

Duncan must’ve figured it out, because I saw him look to Althea.

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