Page 83 of A Tale of Treachery

He threw a snowball, and it struck the side of Gabriella’s head. She fell to the ground, bursting out in a fit of laughter as she faked her slow, excruciating, and overdramatic death. I held her hand as she lay laughing at death’s fake door and vowed my revenge, screaming into the sky. “Prepare to be annihilated, invader!” I shouted, gleefully packing snowflakes into a tight ball with my hands.

It felt good to play again, like when we were kids.

After packing six snowballs, I rose above the fort, prepared to administer a rapid assault with my frozen artillery. I halted at the approach of heavy hooves, my smile slipping as George’s snowball smacked into my body, disintegrating and falling to the ground. He turned to see what had caught my attention, and his smile morphed into a grimace. He straightened his spine and stood at attention.

Aiden was back.

The gates to the palace opened wide, revealing a party of soldiers bearing the flag of Cambriel. Dressed in silver-plated armor, they were led by the prince, who sat atop his golden steed as if he owned the world. My heart dropped at the sight of him. My fun was over. There would be no more sneaking away with Gabriella, no more secret smiles shared with George.

I scanned his party, seeing Brandon at his side, while searching for injuries or the sight of prisoners from the collection, but found nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, but relief was quickly replaced with horror when the other half of his party rode through the gates with a caravan of cages attached. I counted five, six, and then seven iron cages packed with occupants, the cages growing in number with each passing moment.

Hundreds had been captured.

How could he? I looked at Aiden, noting Brandon’s slouched posture as he rode alongside the prince. It was clear he didn’t approve of this.

Gabriella stood and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go back inside before he sees us.”

“We can’t. We’ll be expected to greet him on the steps.”

Servants and soldiers bustled at the entrance, lining up to welcome Aiden home. King Drake swiftly descended with the king and queen of New Hazel at his back and raised a brow at the two of us in irritation.

“Who cares what they expect of us?” Gabriella crossed her arms over her chest. “We don’t have to greet him.”

We did have to greet him…we really did. The king was here, and if he caught us snubbing the prince, my life would be made a living hell. Besides, I needed to stick around and see who was in those cages. I’d never seen a collection so large and felt a deep dread that I would recognize the occupants.

“Gabriella, sometimes it’s all right for us to rebel and be reckless, but right now is not one of those times. I know your parents are here, but they won’t be around after the wedding and the king is not someone you ever want to cross. Promise me you won’t.”

Gabriella sighed. “I promise.”

We made our way up the staircase along the balustrade, Gabriella taking her place next to her parents, while I stood at her side, positioning myself as far from the king as possible. Redmond came running up the stairs, panting with exertion, to join me. He was always needed when a party rolled in after a collection, since there were usually numerous injuries to tend.

“That’s a large number of cages,” Redmond whispered at my side. “Is it anyone you know?”

“I don’t know. Does it matter? Aiden is sending all these people to the executioner’s block, whether they are guilty or not.”

“I usually insist that you don’t get involved, but…”

Redmond’s words were cut off by Aiden’s appearance at the bottom of the staircase, flanked by Thomas and Brandon. When Aiden climbed the steps to greet his father, Brandon side-eyed me, delivering a brief shake of his head, a sign to not do or say anything until we could speak in private.

“Welcome back, son!” King Drake clapped Aiden on his shoulder in a welcoming gesture as the prince rose from a bow. “I’ve never seen such a large collection. How many did you get?”

“One hundred fifty. I believe we were able to collect every last witch and mage in the forest. There should be none left,” he replied, his shoulders thrown back with something that resembled pride.

“Well done. My son, the prince, cleaning out the Scourged Forest for good. This is worthy of a celebration.”

The king turned, shouting orders to the butlers to prepare for a feast and create a celebration the likes of which had never been seen, while Aiden scanned everyone present. His eyes met mine, and my stomach curled, a feeling of rot twisting within its depths. This was no collection. This was murder on a grand scale. I couldn’t grasp how such a good man could transform so quickly and couldn’t help but wonder if it was my fault.

The king, his advisors, and the New Hazel royals made their way back inside, Gabriella leaving me behind with a sympathetic look before fleeing to join her parents. The servants and butlers cleared the space, ready to begin preparations for the celebratory feast, until only Redmond and I remained, staring at the prince in shock.

“Redmond.” Aiden approached. “I have a few men that you’ll need to tend to, so you’d better make haste.”

Redmond bowed and turned to leave, but not before giving me a shake of his head that spoke volumes, that one little motion whispering that we would talk later, to keep my composure, and to not burn any bridges just yet.

There was no composure left to be had.

“How could you?” I seethed. “You collected generations of innocent people, to what? To wipe them off the face of the map?”

“Don’t worry about them,” he murmured. “I have a plan. They’ll be freed before they’re even processed.”

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