He nods, and so I turn my attention to the great betrayer—Tynan.
His hands are lifted in surrender. Zogar, Surath and Xendus, all in human form, have surrounded him in a circle formed by sword tips.
“Quiet!” Zogar shouts. “I don’t want your excuses. The evidence of your betrayal is clear.”
I stomp toward them, leaving Saxon and Olifer behind me.
Tynan’s face fills with joy. “My Rose, my love!”
“Don’t youdarecall me that!” I glare at him. “What you have done can never be forgiven.”
He looks genuinely confused. “But I saved?—”
“Silence.” Zogar presses the tip of his sword into the hollow at the base of Tynan’s throat, and Tynan appeals to me with his eyes.
“Sister,” Alfryd draws my attention. “Prince Tynan did play a small part in our escape from the Keep.”
“I played more than apart,” Tynan says.
Zogar growls, pressing the sword so tight against Tynan I’m shocked he has not yet drawn blood.
I turn to Alfryd. “How could you even speak to this man, after he killed our father!”
“What are you talking about?” asks Tynan.
“Prince Tynan killed Father?” Alfryd seems surprised to hear this. Clearly that news didn’t reach my brothers in the Keep.
“Tynan gave the orders to execute Father,” I tell Alfryd. “Marshal told me.”
“That’s not true,” Tynan says. He shakes his head and the tip of Zogar’s sword sends a trickle of blood trailing between his collar bones.
“How can you deny it?” Zogar says. “We saw the king’s head on a pike.”
Realization enters Tynan’s expression, and he raises his hands again. “May I speak?” He glares at Zogar.
“Yes,” I say. “I’dloveto hear how you justify killing my father.”
Zogar backs his sword a finger width away from Tynan’s throat.
“When I arrived in Achotia.” Tynan looks directly at me. “I wanted everyone at the castle to believe I was on my father’s side. I came here, hoping to free not only your brothers, but also your father.”
My eyes narrow. This story doesn’t match what we’ve heard.
“Your marshal seemed suspicious of me. He was surprised when I inquired about the king. He told me that my father ordered your father’s execution. To cover my mistake, I told Marshal that I was testing his loyalties, because I’d expected to see the King’s head on a pike when I arrived.” He appeals to me with his eyes. “Your father was already dead. I didn’t think they’d actually put his head on a pike.”
“Tynan is telling the truth,” Olifer says from beside me. I didn’t even hear him approach. “I witnessed Father’s execution, twenty-three days ago. I counted off the days, marking scratches in the floor of the Keep.”
“You knew Father was dead?” Alfryd says, incredulous. “You knew I was King?”
I drag in a shuddering breath. No wonder Father’s severed head was decayed.
“Someone is coming,” Saxon says sharply. “Let’s take cover in the woods.”
I turn. Another cart, this one drawn by a pony, is cutting across the field along the edge of the woods toward us. I squint. “It’s Nurse.” At least I think it is.
“Rosomon is correct,” Zogar says.
“We should move into the woods, regardless,” Saxon says.
