“And you think this prisoner will simply spill his secrets to me, a stranger, when you couldn’t beat them out of him?” I asked.
Renwell’s lips twitched. “I think your approach may be more effective, yes. But it may take time.”
My eyes narrowed. “How much time?”
“Earn his trust. Help him escape the Den, and you could unlock all the information we desire.”
My breathing turned shallow. Escape with a violent criminal? Stay by his side for days? Weeks? Make him trust me? I had never attempted such a thing. Holy Four, I’d just completed my first real mission—and that with a few mistakes.
Renwell camecloser, his gaze searing into mine. I backed up another step, my boots hitting the bed post. “This is no coincidence, Kiera. If Garyth is in league with other traitors and this man managed to infiltrate the Den, something is happening. Perhaps something worse than the Pravaran rebellion. Worse than the assassination of your mother. Wecan’t?—”
“Stop,” I gasped. “Stop. Just... give me a moment.” I twisted away from him and stumbled to my only window. I pressed my forehead to the cool glass as rain pelted against it.
This window didn’t open, so I was safe from the sharp cliffs and stone parapets below. But for once, the height didn’t bother me as much as the thoughts swirling in my head.
There were so many ways this mission could go wrong. I had no idea who this man was or what he was like. He might see through me as easily as these glass panes.
But isn’t this what you’ve been training for? Since the night Mother was murdered, all you’ve wanted was to protect the rest of your family from further threats. To be the High Enforcer for your brother when he takes the throne. To finally have the power you didn’t have as a princess.
What will happen if you don’t do this? There’s no one else who will.
My breath fogged the glass, blurring the dark sky and the tireless sea. I had to do this. For Mother. For my family. For myself.
“Fine,” I rasped. “I’ll do it. But how? I need a cover story, a way in.” I turned to face Renwell, but he wasn’t looking at me.
He was staring at the dagger I’d thrown on my bed. I grimaced but made no move to retrieve it.
“I thought I told you to stop carrying that around,” he whispered.
I hated it when he spoke like that. Unlike my father who loved to rage and rant at the top of his voice, Renwell grew quieter the angrier he was.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered back. “I feel safer with it.”
“And what if someone saw it? Recognized it? Your father wanted it buried with your mother.”
I bit my lip. He knew why I kept it.
The dagger was one-of-a-kind, meant for royalty. The sunstone blade was straight and longer than my hand, the edges jagged. The hilt and guard were gold and studded with bits of sunstone. I had no idea where my mother had gotten it. I’d seen her with it a few times before an assassin used it to stab her in the heart.
And I’d kept it for myself ever since. A reminder and a promise.
Renwell drew in a deep breath and finally met my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll be leaving it with me.”
I opened my mouth to protest but then realized I couldn’t bring it with me where I was going. I nodded.
Renwell straightened, squaring his shoulders. “Good. Now, let’s plan your way into that cell.”
“And a way out if... if it goes poorly,” I added.
His dark gaze turned deadly. “If the prisoner refuses to believe you or threatens to harm you, I will retrieve you come sunrise and kill him where he stands.”
My heart thumped harder as heat rose up my neck. Renwell would damn the consequences for me. He would execute our only other lead to the potential threat he felt looming over my family. For me.
It was moments like this when I questioned if some hidden part of Renwell did actually care for me.
A memory flashed through my mind—of the night Renwell had first spoken to me. I was eighteen years old, and I’d stolena few hours of freedom at a seedy tavern. After winning a few games of Death and Four, one of the defeated drunkards ambushed me in an alley.
I’d panicked and tried to shove him off, but he was twice my size. Renwell had swooped in from the shadows and slit the man’s throat before I could scream.
