Duke Dryden said heavily, “To Castle Mir.”
Chapter
Twenty-Two
A CHANGE IN STRATEGY . . . one dungeon to another . . . political marriages . . . no more disguises
This new information changed everything.
Bryn and Valenden spoke with the bandits who had liberated Rangar, who explained what had happened in further detail. They gave the abductor’s description, and Bryn nodded tightly.
“Yes, that’s Broderick, all right.”
As night fell, the rest of the camp went to sleep except the sentries. Bryn, Valenden, Elysander, and Duke Dryden sat around the fire, speaking in low voices.
“We can still continue to the Wollin,” Valenden suggested. “The Hytooths will still shelter you, Bryn, and support your rightful claim to the Mir throne.”
Bryn toyed nervously with Rangar’s ring strung around her neck. “The Wollin is five days on horseback from here. It’s in the opposite direction from Castle Mir. We’d only be moving further away from Rangar and any chance of helping him.”
“I’m not sure I know how you could help him, anyway,” Elysander said quietly. “Captain Carr will have put him in Castle Mir’s dungeon, and there is much more security there than at Barendur Hold. Not even our bandits could get you in.”
Bryn argued, “I can’t just hide out in the Wollin while Rangar is imprisoned by Captain Carr! It was a good plan when we thought we had time to build an army, but that would take months. Rangar’s life is in danger with every passing day.”
“But if you go to Castle Mir to help him,” Elysander countered, “Captain Carr will capture you, too. He might kill you and Rangar both! And you, too, Valenden!”
They debated more possibilities, and Bryn was grateful for the duke’s advice both as a royal court member and a criminal—he knew the ins and outs of all levels of society. At last, he said, “What does Captain Carr want more than anything?”
“A rightful claim to the Mir throne,” Elysander answered.
Duke Dryden nodded, stroking his short beard. “And what is the easiest way for him to get that?”
All eyes shifted to Bryn.
Valenden was the one to voice what they were all thinking. “To marry the crown heir. Bryn. But the crown heir must marry a man with royal blood. A prince or, at the least, a duke or count.”
Bryn clenched her jaw tightly before admitting, “Captain Carr is a distant cousin of our father’s. The connection is weak, but he does technically have royal blood.”
“Exactly,” the duke said. “So, what if you go to Castle Mir not as an enemy, Lady Bryn? Don’t arrive with an army and a vendetta. Show up claiming to be exactly what everyone there already thinks you are: a captive. Insist that youwerekidnapped by the Barendurs, managed to escape, and returned at great hardship to your homeland. If you can convince Captain Carr that you aren’t his enemy, he’ll have no reason to kill you. Notwhen marrying you is a much simpler way to achieve his goal. In fact, your safety would quickly become his priority.”
“I wouldnevermarry that man, not even for a political advantage.” Bryn felt a wave of revulsion. Captain Carr was old enough to be her father, and she hadn’t forgotten the vile things he’d told his soldiers he wanted to do to her and Elysander.
“I’d neverletyou marry that man,” Valenden interjected. “But I see the wisdom in Duke Dryden’s plan. It wouldn’t be hard to drag out a betrothal over weeks or months. Claim you need time to heal from your vicious captivity at my hands.”
Bryn shot him a look, and he smirked.
“But even if I can get into Castle Mir, how can I free Rangar from the castle dungeon if not even your bandits could get him out?” she asked.
They discussed it more at length, and Valenden offered, “I’ll return to the Baersladen for help. Banditry might not break him out, but magic could.”
Elysander looked at Bryn with wide eyes. “Magic? Bryn, are you all right with that?”
Bryn’s hand drifted to her ear, feeling for the hexmark scar carved there. “Magic isn’t what we were made to believe, Elysander. The southern kingdoms abhor it, but the northern kingdoms embrace it. Vil-Kevi, Vil-Rossengard, and the Baersladen most of all. I’ve . . . embraced it myself. In fact, I had hoped to train as a mage.”
Elysander shared a doubting look with her husband. “We’ve always been told that magic is dangerous.”
“We were also told magic was useless,” Bryn countered. “The equivalent of cheap tricks. So which is it, useless or dangerous? The truth is, Elysander, it’s more powerful than anything you could imagine. And it’s freely available and taught in the Baersladen. That’s one reason why the Baer people thrive even in a harsh environment. They can be independent. They don’trely so much on their crown because they can do more for themselves.”
Elysander didn’t seem to know what to make of this, but she didn’t roll her eyes and argue the way Bryn would have expected her to do months ago. She only said, “So you walk right up to Castle Mir and say you’ve escaped and returned home? Captain Carr will see straight through that.”
