Page 94 of A Deception of Courts

“Those that matter have,” she replied. It was obvious from the lack of attention she gave Kayne that she believed to have greater authority than him. She paid more attention to her weapon than him. “There are a still a few fey remaining in that pompous building in the city’s north, but it will take only a few hours to deal with them.”

“We don’t have the time to spare,” Kayne spat, snatching the sword from her and throwing it to the ground.

She stood quickly, finally addressing him, pressing her face close to his as she seethed through bared teeth. “Do you require a reminder of who you speak with,deserter?”

Lucari screeched upon Kayne’s shoulder, distracting the nameless Hunter from his hand, which disappeared into his belt where the handle of a small knife waited. In a blink, Kayne drew the blade free and sliced it across the woman’s neck. She was dead before her body hit the ground.

“Let that be a reminder as to who Aldrick favours,” Kayne said, sheathing the blade without bothering to clean it. “Who’s in charge here?”

Another Hunter pointed downward at the body of Kayne’s victim. “No one… now.”

His posture straightened, his face easing from its mask of anger. Kayne stepped into the position of command like a snake shedding new skin. “Wrong answer, the right one is that I’m in charge.”

I watched as the Hunters shared a look, one screaming of trepidation. I almost hoped they’d turn on Kayne just to save me an eventual job, but that wish dwindled when they submitted to him.

“It is imperative we leave for Elmdew and return the keys to Aldrick.” Kayne pulled on the rope at my wrist, making me trip over my feet. They laughed at me as I almost fell atop the dead Hunter.

I made sure to look them each in the eye, hoping they saw the dark thoughts I beheld for each and every one of them.

“What has become of the Cedarfall key?” Kayne asked, reminding me of the terrible loss this city endured.

“Daveed has already left with it,” another Hunter answered. I memorised his face as I did with all those around me. He was young, with his chin and cheeks speckled with white-tipped spots. Dark circles surrounded his blue eyes, making them sink into his skull. Unlike the other Hunters, his clothes hardly fit him. A human boy, likely thrown into a world of promises made by the Hand. And, unlike those who circled him, I sensed guilt across his face. He didn’t smile, nor did he spare much of a glance at the surrounding dead.

“The teleporter?” Kayne said, unable to hold back his sudden fury. “He left without us? I was told he would wait, who gave the command – was it you?”

The young boy flinched away as Kayne drove forward. He cowered beneath raised arms, pleading through a snot-filled nose. “Please, please don’t hurt me. Sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t give the order, I only know of it…”

Kayne paused, hovering an open palm above the boy as though frozen in place. Then he lowered it. “Pathetic. Is this an example of those who wish to fight for the Hand and the future he promises? Boys like you would have never passed initiation. Desperate.”

The young Hunter scampered away from Kayne on an awkward footing. Those watching on laughed; even Kayne cracked a smile. “See that the boy is flogged for his weakness. It may toughen him up. In the meantime, someone tell me when Daveed will return.”

“By morning.”

The answer didn’t please Kayne, but this time I watched as he swallowed his anger. “It will have to do. And do you knowwhyhe left before we arrived?”

“Truthfully, those who were in charge didn’t think you’d succeed…”

“Well.” Kayne mocked a bow. “I do enjoy exceeding expectations. If I’m forced to wait until morning, then something must be done about him. I have been cursed with his presence too long already. See that he is locked away until the teleporter returns.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kayne stepped to me. I flinched as his pale, freckled fingers drew toward my mouth. With rough hands, he pulled the cloth from between my teeth, ripping the skin at the corners of my mouth deeper.

“I would suggest you act carefully going forwards, Robin,” Kayne warned. “There is no one left to save you. Perhaps, depending on the accommodation these fine Hunters seem fit to provide, you should get some rest.” His voice lowered. “I hear that the extraction of the key is rather… uncomfortable for the person experiencing it.”

I drew my head back and thrust the hard part of my forehead into Kayne’s nose. The sound was beautiful. Kayne rocked back, hands slapped across his face as he choked on a curse. “How was that?” I snarled. “Equally as uncomfortable, I hope.”

A trickle of blood slipped down my forehead, catching in my brow. Sweat made the cut sting with vengeance, turning the pain into a throb all across my skull. Not that I cared – nothing seemed to matter anymore. Seeing the smudge of Kayne’s own blood spread between his cupped hands was worth every ache.

“Lock him up, hurt him, do whatever it is you wish,” Kayne commanded the crowd of Hunters. “But make sure, come morning, he still breathes. I want him to experience every ounce of suffering that waits for him.”

With his final words, Kayne swept away, clutching his bloody nose, Lucari following in flight. That left me to drown in the wave of Hunters who suffocated me where I stood, all before I could fight my way free.

Far above me, Lyra Cedarfall’s body swayed in the night breeze. Her neck was bent at an ungodly angle, tied by three thick knots of rope. The noose was the only thing keeping her up, the rest of her body weighed down by death.

She’d been stripped down to the thin garment that would have once been pure white. It, too, danced in the winds, turning her into a vision of a phantom before my very eyes. The dress was torn and stained with blood. Her wild locks of red hair would blow away from her face, exposing the wide, all-seeing eyes and gaping mouth. Only then would I turn away. Unlike her husband, who hung to her left side, or the line of red-haired children hanging to her right, Lyra was the only one whose arms showed signs of mutilation. Two angry slashes marked both wrists. Her hands and fingers were almost black with dried blood. Her death hadn’t been caused by the noose around her neck, not like her family’s. Lyra had been bled dry, forced to expel the Cedarfall power – the key – until she was nothing but a husk.

The Cedarfall family was dead, every one of them. Faces I’d seen at the banquet during my last stay in Aurelia. I thought of Orion, killed by Hunters and now reunited with his siblings and parents. But mostly, my mind drifted to Althea. I saw her in all of them.

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