Page 48 of Sword of Desire
“I’ve been arrested for treason,” she replied.
“Treason?”
She started pacing in her cell, trying to think of what to do. The key that unlocked every door in the castle was hidden in the queen’s bedchamber under the floorboard. Not having a way to reach it, she’d need to come up with another plan. Hopefully, the fact that she hadn’t been crowned would work in her favor. Maybe Lyle wouldn’t kill her until that happened. At the very least, it would buy her time to think of something. Not that she wanted to run away and hide. She wanted to fix the mistakes she’d made.
“Harley?” a man groaned. “Harley, is that you?” It sounded like he was in the next cell over to her left.
“Yes,” she replied. “Who are you?” The last time she’d been down there, she hadn’t come across any other prisoners.
“It’s me, Rikter.”
The floor felt as if it spun beneath her. “Rikter? What are you doing here?” Panic swelled within. Not only did Lyle know she was going to try and kill him, but Rikter was here as well.
“Haven’t you wondered where I’ve been these past few days?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” She didn’t understand his question. “We’ve been leaving each other correspondence for the past week in the guest suite.”
He didn’t respond.
“Rikter?”
“What do you mean by correspondence?” he asked, his voice hard.
“Letters.”
“I haven’t written, nor have I left any letters in a guest suite for you. Why do you say I have?”
She thought back over everything. She’d found a letter in Oriana’s bedchamber telling her to leave correspondence for him in the guest suite. What if it hadn’t been from Rikter at all?
“Harley?”
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” He didn’t need to answer her question because she knew. Lyle. He must have figured it out somehow. “How long have you been down here?”
“I’ve lost track of time, but I estimate about a week.”
If Lyle had been reading her letters and leaving replies, then that meant he wanted her to find his ledgers. He wanted her to discover the soldiers were in Losger. She had no idea why, especially if her information wasn’t even getting to Owen.
“Who do you pass the information on to?” she asked.
“One of Ackley’s men.”
“Do you speak to him directly?”
“No,” he replied tartly. “I leave him a coded message.”
She thought through it. If the messages were in code, then Lyle shouldn’t be able to figure them out. And if Ackley’s man received one not in code, then he should be able to deduce Rikter had been compromised.
“Who else is in here?” Rikter asked. “The entire time I’ve been down here, I hadn’t realized someone else was here.”
“My father.” Well, he wasn’t really her father. “I mean, my stepfather.” Regardless, he was the man who raised her. And he was here to announce to the kingdom that she wasn’t his child.
Harley settled in, leaning against the wall. This entire time, she’d thought she had the upper hand and Lyle had no clue Ackley had sent her there as a spy and potential assassin. Instead, Lyle had figured it all out and managed to outsmart her. She’d played right into his hands, and now here she sat in the dungeon.
Pulling her legs to her chest, she rested her head on her knees. She had to figure a way out of this mess.
* * *
“I can’t do it down here,” a male voice said, rousing Harley from her sleep.
