Kyrin gave a nod and forced herself to wait. Thankfully, it wasn’t long. A few minutes later, the two older men joined them. Gathering her thoughts and determination, Kyrin stood.
“I’m going to give myself up.”
The men looked at each other, and she caught Jace’s horrified expression as he pushed to his feet.
“You can’t,” Rayad said only a second before Jace surely would have. “I know it’s difficult, but giving yourself up won’t save your brother.”
“It might,” Kyrin replied. “This isn’t what you’re thinking. Like Trask, the only way to rescue Kaden and Trev is if they’re taken out of the barracks. The problem is, if we wait around for that to happen, Richard will start torturing my brother and…” She swallowed to wet her aching throat. “ I just can’t bear that. And now that they don’t need Trask to tell them where I am, Goler could just kill him. It doesn’t leave us any time to wait for a perfect opportunity that might never come.”
“So, what’s your plan?” Warin asked.
“If I give myself up, Richard won’t have a reason to hold any of us in the barracks. He’ll want to get us back to Valcré for execution. So, when they transport us out, you can rescue us. I’ll just go in to get things moving.”
Rayad exhaled with a deep frown of uncertainty. “I don’t know. It’s risky. There’s no telling what will happen to you before you’re transported, and there’s always a chance he could just kill you there.”
“I know, but I don’t believe he will. The emperor wants our deaths, particularly mine, to be public. He’ll want Richard to bring us all to Valcré. I know the risk and that things could go wrong, but I have to do it. For Kaden.”
Rayad looked over at Warin, who shrugged and said, “It’s more of a plan than we’ve had so far.”
Rayad considered it for a long moment, his expression mirroring his hesitation, and Kyrin prayed he would not only agree, but that her plan would indeed work. She glanced at Jace. He stared at Rayad too, with an almost pleading look in his eyes.
Finally, Rayad nodded. “I’m not at all comfortable with putting you in harm’s way, but…” He sent Jace an apologetic glance and continued, “You’re right that we don’t have time to search for other alternatives.”
Jace released a worn breath and hung his head, but when he raised it again, determination had replaced his fear. “We’ll have to scout the road and select an ambush point.” He looked at Kyrin and his face softened. “We need to have everything ready and planned out before you go in.”
Rayad agreed. “As soon as we’ve had our breakfast, we’ll ride out and do some scouting.”
Richard picked at his lunch and scowled. Such a tasteless diet was not fitting for a man of his breeding. And his sleeping accommodations! He snorted. The flat straw mattress had left him itching and no doubt crawling with bugs. His bedroll on the ground had been more pleasant. That girl would pay for forcing him to come all the way out here to the wilderness and endure this. Oh, yes, she would pay. And the longer she kept him waiting, the more he would enjoy inflicting pain on her in any possible way he could conceive.
His mood darkening by the hour, he shoved back his chair and stormed out of the headquarters, leaving his half-eaten food to the flies. It wasn’t fit for much else. He strode across the yard and climbed up to the watchers on the palisade tower.
“Anything?”
“No, sir.”
Richard’s eyes scanned the tree line and narrowed. Nothing stirred. That’s it. He would not be kept waiting by this little ragtag group of traitors. He spun around and climbed back down. On the ground, he met Goler.
“It’s been over twenty-four hours,” he snapped. “Time to send a message.”
Everything inside Jace rebelled at what was about to happen. His eyes rested on the barracks for only a moment before coming back to Kyrin. Rayad offered her a waterskin, and she took a gulping drink before handing it back. Her face appeared pale as she too looked out across the field.
“Ready?” Rayad asked, and she nodded.
Jace watched her struggle to draw breath just before she looked at him. She attempted a smile, though it resembled a wince, and his heart nearly broke.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked. His insides churned over what could happen to her. Now he wished he’d protested it more. He’d do almost anything to get her to reconsider.
But she stood up a little taller, and determination solidified in her eyes. “He’s my brother. He’s always thrown himself into any situation to protect me. I have to do this for him.”
Jace let a long sigh seep out and glanced over her head to the barracks again and the distance she would have to cross by herself—or maybe not.
His gaze dropped to meet hers again, and his pulse quickened. “I should go in with you.”
Her eyes widened a little, but she shook her head. “No, you can’t. Richard would find any way he could to use you against me, and there would be nothing you could do anyway.”
Jace didn’t care what Richard did to him, and maybe he couldn’t protect Kyrin in there, but she shouldn’t have to walk in by herself.
“I have to go. Alone,” she said. Her voice held a slight tremble, but she was good at hiding her fear. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “Pray for me?”
“I will,” he promised without hesitation.
She managed another brief smile and turned away to walk into the clearing toward the barracks. Jace stood and watched, never taking his eyes off her. Halfway across, she glanced back, and he took a step forward. Those men could so easily kill her, just like Kalli and Aldor. A fresh sense of loss from that day knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t lose someone like that again. But Rayad grabbed his arm.
“This is her choice,” he said quietly. “We have to stick with the plan and pray it works.”
As Kyrin drew nearer and nearer to the barracks, Rayad’s grip on his arm remained. How the overwhelming desire to protect her had developed in the last weeks, Jace didn’t quite know, but it burned through him like fire. No one had ever found their way past his barrier walls and mistrust so quickly before—not even Kalli. But Kyrin had. She’d offered friendship and understanding in the midst of hostility, but greater than that, she’d brought back a stirring of hope that he thought had died on the farm. If this didn’t go according to plan and Richard didn’t bring her out in the next day or two, he would get to her one way or another. He’d tear that barracks apart if he had to.
Loud footsteps echoed through the jailhouse. Kaden glanced at Trev. Gut instinct warned him what was coming. Richard stalked toward the cell, followed by Goler and a trail of soldiers.
“Your sister must not care about your well-being,” he said in a low snarl. “Either that, or she considers me a fool.”
With a jangle of keys, Goler unlocked the cell door. Kaden scrambled to meet them on his feet. They could break his body, but not his spirit. He would never stop fighting. Still, his heart pounded and refused to slow.
Two soldiers seized him by the arms, igniting his adrenaline. He wrestled against them, but one drove his fist into Kaden’s side, setting fire to his already bruised ribs. He gasped, his struggle weakened, and they shoved him up against the wall. His breathing came harder as he glared back at Richard. The man yanked out a dagger, and Goler grabbed Kaden’s wrist, splaying his hand against the stone. He tried to wrench it away, but his strength was depleted after being starved in the days since his arrest.
“Let’s see how stubborn she is after this,” Richard sneered.
The soldiers’ tightened their grip on Kaden even as his will to fight them exploded with the knowledge he was about to lose some part of his body. Richard’s dagger pressed down on one of his fingers, and the sharp blade sliced into his skin. He bit back a groan at the fiery sting, but it clawed its way up his throat as the blade went deeper—all the way to the bone. Hot blood ran down his hand. He ground his teeth together and shut his eyes tightly. He would do this for Kyrin.
Anything, as long as she stayed safe.
“Sir!”
Kaden’s eyes popped open, and Richard whipped his head around. A soldier rushed to the cell door.
“Sir, she’s here.”
The pain vanished, and coldness gripped Kaden instead. He couldn’t mean Kyrin. She wouldn’t come…she couldn’t.
Richard wiped his dagger clean and snapped it back into the sheath as he strode from the cell. Goler and his men followed, locking the door shut behind them. Kaden slumped against the wall and looked down at his hand. Blood still trickled from the wounded finger, the steady drip adding to the spatter on the floor. He clamped his hand over it, but his eyes rose back to the hall. If Kyrin showed up there…He let out an aching groan and prayed like never before.
Nothing prepared Kyrin for the terror of walking up to the barracks alone and unarmed. She’d walked into the temple at Auréa, but she’d had no choice. This was voluntary and went against every screaming sense of self-preservation or logic. Waves of heat and frosty cold rolled through her muscles. She drew a shallow breath, but tremors followed. What was she doing?
She looked over her shoulder, toward the trees where she had left her friends, and her feet dragged. She could still turn and run. With Niton, Jace could surely reach her before the soldiers did. No. She set her eyes back on the barracks and clenched her trembling fingers. Kaden was in there. If she turned back now, he’d be doomed to agonizing torture and death.
“Elôm,” she prayed to drown out the blood thrashing in her head. “I believe this will work, but only if it’s Your will. I ask for Your protection and rescue, for me, Kaden, Trev, and Trask. Please, let it work.”
Shouting clamored from inside the barracks. Her steps faltered and her insides gave a savage twist, but she pressed forward. The palisade loomed above her now, and the gate swung open.
“And, Elôm, I pray for strength in whatever happens. Give me courage and help me trust You.”
Just outside the gate, a soldier rushed out and seized her. She winced as he pulled her roughly inside. Her gaze swept the compound, taking it all into her memory, and fell on Richard as he emerged from a nearby stone building. Triumph gleamed in his eyes. Fresh blood smeared his hands. Kaden’s blood—she was sure of it. Please don’t let me be too late! The soldier yanked her to a halt in front of Richard.
“Miss Altair.” He grabbed her arm in a bruising, vice-like hold and hauled her into the building he’d just exited. “I knew you’d come.”
A chill sweat dampened Kyrin’s back. The building’s dim interior and iron bars brought back images of the palace dungeon—the suffocating darkness and cold. They rounded a corner. Regular intervals of small windows let dusty streams of light into each cell. Her gaze shot straight to Kaden, and she sagged with relief. He stood at the cell door, his intense, taut expression both horrified and demanding. His ice-blue eyes snapped with questions, but an explanation would have to wait.
Richard shoved her into a cell directly across from Kaden. She turned to the man, but was met with a solid slap across the face. She stumbled, catching herself against the wall, and grimaced. Heat radiated in her cheek from the sting of the impact, and she put her hand to it. Slowly, the sting wore off, but her lip continued to throb and blood welled. She pressed her sleeve to it and turned again to face Richard, but more cautiously this time.
He glared down at her. “You will learn very soon that you should never have played games with me or the emperor.”
She flinched at the slamming of the cell door. Richard turned away, casting a glance at Kaden, who gave him a flaming look, and stormed off. Kyrin stood quietly at the bars until his footsteps faded. Then, she rested her eyes on her brother. The intensity of his expression had not diminished.
“Why are you here?” His raised voice broke the silence, but she understood it came from concern. “Why did you give yourself up?”
Before she could answer, she noticed his bloodstained hands. “Are you all right?”
Kaden frowned, then seemed to realize what she meant and looked down. “I’m fine,” he muttered. He met her eyes again with the frown still in place.
“Richard was going to take your finger to send me, wasn’t he?”
Kaden refused to answer and practically glared at her.
“That’s exactly why I gave myself up. I couldn’t let him do this to you. You would’ve done the exact same thing.”
Kaden shook his head fiercely. “But you’re a girl! You shouldn’t be here. You should’ve just let it be. We’ll still be tortured and killed anyway.”
Kyrin bowed her head. She hated to upset him so. “I know.”
He threw his hands out, flinging droplets of blood. “Then why did you do it?”
Kyrin glanced down the hall. If only she could explain, but if anyone overheard, the mission would be over and they really would die. She looked back to his face and tried to appeal to him with her eyes.
“Just trust me.”
Pink dusted the sky outside the jailhouse windows when the thud of footsteps interrupted the quiet conversation inside. Sitting against the bars, Kyrin peered out of her cell. Richard appeared first, and then Goler and his soldiers. She breathed a prayer that their escape had arrived, but when Richard reached her cell, he only glared in at her without moving to open it.
“Who besides that man”—he gestured to Trask—“have aided you?”
Slowly, she rose to her feet and glanced at Trask, but said nothing.
“His father?” Richard pressed.
Kyrin’s eyes met his. “No.”
“Landale’s villagers?”
“No.”
“Who then?”
Again, Kyrin fell silent.
Richard’s voice rose. “Where have you been hiding, and who were the men with you?”
Not a word. Kyrin just stared at him and the deep shadows brewing in his eyes.
Barely restrained, Richard said, “You really should know by now not to try my patience.”
He spun around and motioned to Kaden’s cell. Goler unlocked it with a wicked grin. Kyrin’s heart launched into her throat. Please, not this. They’d warned her back at camp of the possibility of Richard using Kaden to draw information from her. She’d had to promise, no matter what happened, she wouldn’t give up anything, and they trusted her with their lives.
“No,” she gasped as the men entered Kaden’s cell.
They dragged him forward and forced him to his knees facing her. Kyrin locked her fists around the bars and looked him in the eyes. His jaw set defiantly.
“You know, Miss Altair, just because you’re here doesn’t mean I can’t go through with my threats,” Richard said in a deceptively conversational tone. He grabbed Kaden by the hair and yanked his head back, placing the tip of his dagger just under Kaden’s eye.
“No!” Kyrin cried.
Richard’s glare slammed into her with the promise of action if she did not comply. “Then tell me who aided you and where you were hiding.”
Her eyes jumped between him and Kaden. Her throat constricted and strangled her words. “I…can’t.”
“You’d prefer to see your brother lose an eye?”
She stared at the menacing glint of the dagger’s sharp edge. The thought of Kaden so gruesomely harmed was too horrifying to imagine. There had to be another way.
“Miss Altair,” Richard snapped. “Give me the information.”
Moisture flooded her eyes, and her mind whirled. Please. She squeezed the bars, the rusted metal slivers digging into her fingers, and gritted her teeth. But she was powerless. She could do nothing without endangering the others. She gulped, throat aching. Why did it have to be this way? Could Kaden forgive her for allowing him to suffer so? Could she live with it burnt into her memory for the rest of her life? Yet, she’d chosen to risk this very situation with the hope it would lead to their escape—to save their lives no matter what was left of them. She’d already made the choice, but to have to live it…Her mouth opened,
but no voice came out.
“Kyrin.”
Her blurry eyes focused on Kaden. His voice was quiet and a little shaky, yet firm.
“There are too many other lives at risk.”
Richard’s dagger cut into his cheek, just below his eye. He flinched and strained against the soldiers. Kyrin bit back a whimper. The blood trailing down her brother’s face matched her tears.
“Last chance,” Richard warned.
Kyrin scrunched her eyes closed, and her wobbly knees almost failed her. She’d choose to face Daican again, to face a murderous mob—anything but this. With an agonized groan, she cried, “Kaden, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right,” he murmured.
Richard scowled. “Very well, Miss Altair, this is on you.”
He squeezed the dagger, and Kaden sucked in a breath.
“No!” Kyrin screamed, the nightmare fully setting in. “Please! Don’t do this! Elôm! Stop him, please!”
The point of the dagger hovered above Kaden’s closed eye. Kyrin jerked at the bars, desperate to reach her brother, and cried for Richard to stop. After a moment, he looked over at her with a smirk of twisted satisfaction on his face. He straightened and stepped out of the cell to walk across to hers. Tears still streamed down Kyrin’s face as she gulped in air. Richard reached in and grabbed her by the throat, drawing her against the bars with bruising force. Bending close, he sneered in her face, “I could keep at this, a little bit at a time, until he’s completely unrecognizable. And lest you think your god has anything to do with this, no amount of pleading, crying, or screaming would stop me. I stop now only so His Majesty can watch you beg. Once we’re back in Valcré, we’ll finish this.”
Kyrin hugged her knees and huddled in the dark. Sleep was impossible. Every time she closed her eyes, she could only see Richard and that dagger, so close to mutilating her brother. She swiped at a tear that worked its way out, and not for the first time wished Jace were here even though she knew it was good he’d stayed behind.