If Queen Mina decided that we should spend the rest of our lives in these cells, there was a good chance that King Evert wouldn’t overrule her. It would seem like a weakness on his part, as if his wife had been allowed to act without his guidance and he didn’t have a handle on the running of his kingdom.
We would die in here, if that’s what the Queen wished, and after how she’d acted today, there was no reason to think she wished otherwise.
My eyes were locked on the sad, weepy eyes of Samuel Peerson. I stopped, frozen in my tracks, as I realized that Kasper and I couldn’t risk waiting for a trial. Elliot had been leading Kasper along, and the guard that had been charged with me nudged the small of my back.
“Get moving,” he barked, and I knew what I had to do.
He was standing directly behind me, so with one quick move I lifted my arm back and slammed the iron cuff into his head. He let out a groan, then fell to the floor unconscious. Kasper and I were still attached by the shackles, so when I moved to the side, he moved with me.
“Hey!” Elliot shouted in surprise and drew his sword on us.
“Elliot, don’t do this,” I said.
“Please. ” Kasper pleaded with his friend. “You know we didn’t do what the Queen is accusing us of, and if you throw us in these cells, we’ll end up just like him. ”
“They’re right, boy,” Samuel Peerson said in a hollow, craggy voice.
Elliot looked at the old man with a stricken look on his face, and I knew he had to be making one of the hardest decisions of his life. It was hammered into the Högdragen again and again that they must never disobey the orders of their King or Queen.
Finally, he let out a shaky breath and lowered his sword. He took the keys off his belt and tossed them to Kasper.
“You did the right thing,” Kasper assured him as he hurried to unlock his shackle, then handed me the keys so I could take care of mine myself.
“I hope so,” Elliot muttered and handed Kasper his sword. “Before you go, will you do me a favor and hit me on the head, so I have an excuse for letting you get away?”
“Okay. ” Kasper nodded. “And thank you. ”
Elliot closed his eyes, steeling himself for the blow, and Kasper raised the sword and slammed the bell handle into his head. Elliot cried out in pain and stumbled backward, but he didn’t fall unconscious.
“Do you want me to hit you again?” Kasper asked.
“No, no,” Elliot said hurriedly. His head had already begun bleeding, and he touched it and winced. “I’ll just run and get the guards after you’re gone, and tell them I was knocked out. ”
“Can you give us a ten-minute headstart?” Kasper asked.
Elliot grimaced. “I’ll try. ”
“We have to get out of here,” I said, because ten minutes wasn’t very long at all.
He nodded, and we turned to make our escape. Before we did, I stopped and tossed the keys to Samuel, who reached his arm out of his cell to catch them.
“There’s one key for the shackles, and one for the cell,” I told him. “Get out of here as fast as you can. ”
He’d move slower than us, but since the guards would most likely be far more interested in catching us, Samuel actually had a good chance of making it out.
Kasper reached the top of the steps at the end of the dungeon before I did. They were curved, so I couldn’t see the top, and I actually thought he might have left without me. But he was waiting with his back pressed against the wall, peering out around the corner.
“Is anyone coming?” I whispered.
“Two guards went around the corner, so just to be safe we should wait another thirty seconds. ”
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“Once we get past here, we won’t be going the same way, so you don’t have to wait for me. ”
He turned back to look at me. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to find Kennet. Our only way out of this is getting him to confess his part in this. Otherwise we’ll have to spend the rest of our lives on the run. ”
I wasn’t sure how much knocking guards out and escaping a pair of shackles would do to help convince anyone I was innocent, but once I found Kennet and got him alone, I’d do whatever it took to get him to tell the truth.
And if I couldn’t get him to admit everything, I would get him to tell me something that would help me gather more evidence to convince Evert that he was working with Konstantin Black and Viktor Dålig. Evert would take his wife’s side in many things, but he would never stomach any aid to his nemesis.
“I’ll go with you,” Kasper said.
I shook my head. “No, you need to take Tilda and get out of here as fast as you can. ”
“You think I want to drag Tilda and the baby along with me into a life in exile?” he asked. “I need my name cleared just as much as you do, so I’m going with you. We started this together, we finish this together. ”
I relented. “Okay. ”
Kasper leaned forward, craning his neck out into the hall, and it must’ve been clear, because he dashed out into the hall and I ran after him.
FORTY-THREE
ambuscade
We sat in wait behind the door of the en suite bathroom. I’d left it partially open so I could peer through the narrow crack. When the bedroom creaked open, I held my breath and leaned forward, trying to see the figure who had come in.
In the late 1800s, the Kanin had enjoyed an influx of cash thanks to a few well-placed changelings and the industrial revolution. That allowed Queen Viktoria to undertake a massive remodeling project on the west wing of the palace, including the installation of dumbwaiters in the guest rooms.
Guests of the palace were always dignitaries, and the Queen didn’t want them to be forced to trek down the cold halls to the kitchen or wait for servants to bring up inevitably chilly food. (Even in the nineteenth century, we had a problem keeping the massive stone palace warm. )
All Kasper and I had to do was get down to the lower level beneath the west wing, which was separated from the dungeon under the east wing. That required a lot of moving quietly, hiding against walls, and dashing into broom closets and restrooms until guards passed by.
And it all had to be done very quickly. Right now, hardly anyone knew that we’d been arrested, let alone that we’d escaped, so our sneaking around was more of a precaution. But we were in no position to take chances.
Once we made it down to the west wing, I left Kasper to choose the appropriate dumbwaiter because he had more knowledge of the palace. As a Högdragen, he knew most of the ins and outs of the palace, since that had allowed him to better protect it.
Given the cozy relationship between Kennet and our King and Queen, we both surmised that he would most likely be staying in the finest room we had. That fortunately made finding the dumbwaiter a bit easier, because the nicest guest chamber was on the south corner of the palace, in a massive turret.
Once we made it up to the bedroom, I set about checking to see if it was Kennet’s room. Thanks to the servants who made the beds and tidied up, it was nearly impossible to tell if the room had been used at all.
The heavy drapes were pulled back from the massive windows that ran along the rounded walls, leaving only sheer curtains to let light in, but I didn’t know if that meant anything. Though it was a lush suite, I noticed absently that the French windows were in need of repair—the paint was chipping and the wood appeared warped.
Confirmation that we’d found the right room came from the massive wardrobe across from the four-poster bed. When I opened it, I found a fur-lined parka and silver suits hanging up, including an all-too-familiar sharkskin one.
Kasper and I decided that our best course of action was to surprise Kennet, especially since we couldn’t know if he had a guard or two in tow, so we hid in his bathroom. Kasper stood slightly behind me, leaning against the embossed wallpaper, with Elliot’s sword still clutched in his hand.
<
br /> We’d waited for what felt like eternity, but in reality, it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes until the doors finally opened. I caught a glimpse of a shadow—someone moving in the room—but I couldn’t tell who the person was, and if it was merely a maid instead of Kennet.
I leaned so close to the door that my nose brushed up against it, and finally he turned enough so I could see his face—it was Kennet. He took off his jacket and tossed it on the bed, and as far as I could tell he was alone. I decided to go for it.
The door didn’t make a sound when I opened it, and Kennet stood in front of the window, pushing the voile curtains aside to get a better view of Doldastam.
While we’d been waiting, Kasper and I had decided it would be better if I took the lead with Kennet, since he and I had a bit of a history. But Kasper stayed only a step or two behind me with his sword drawn, so Kennet would know we meant business.
“Kennet,” I said.
He whirled around, his eyes startled and wide, but within seconds, a smirk appeared on his face.
FORTY-FOUR
rivalry
“Nothing can hold you back, can it?” Kennet asked.
“No thanks to you,” I snapped.
“Bryn, that wasn’t my idea,” he reminded me. “You can’t blame me for your Queen being overzealous. ”
“Yes, yes, I can. You did nothing to defend me. ”
“What should I have said? ‘Yes, it’s true what she says. It’s all my fault. Lock me up and throw away the key’?”
“That would’ve been nice,” I said dryly.
“Look, I didn’t want you locked up, but I didn’t exactly have a choice. ” Kennet held up his hands, trying to appear innocent. “You backed me into a corner. ”
I shook my head. “You’re such a conniving weasel. I can’t believe I ever found anything likable about you. ”
“Hey. ” He scowled. “I liked you too. And despite everything else that’s going on now, I did have fun with you, and I’m sorry that things have gone the way they have. ”
“Everything you said was a lie,” I hissed at him. “Your whole act was to keep me distracted so I wouldn’t notice what was really going on with you. ”
“I’ll admit, I was told to keep you occupied so you wouldn’t get yourself into any trouble. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my time with you. ” He tried to flirt with me, but it just felt forced and sleazy. “Some things can be both work and pleasure. ”
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“You’re so full of shit. You’ve only ever cared about yourself,” I spat at him. “You’ve told me over and over that you love your brother, and look how you treated him. ”
His expression hardened. “I do love my brother. ”
“Spare me your lies, Kennet. We all know what you did. ”
“You know nothing about what I did!” he shouted. “Mikko hated being King. It made him miserable. He never should’ve been crowned in the first place. But he had to take the job, not because he was the most qualified, not because he was the best one in our family for the position, but simply because he was born first, and Father insisted that Mikko fulfill his obligations. ”
“So you have him imprisoned for life?” I asked mockingly. “That fixes everything?”
“Once this is all over and I’m officially King, I’ll pardon him and set him free. He’ll be fine, and he’ll be happier in the end. ” Kennet tried to reason away his sins. “We both will. ”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you tried to kill the woman he loves,” I reminded him.
“Is that what Linnea told you?” Kennet rolled his eyes. “That’s some fairy tale fantasy she has. And that’s all beside the point, since I never laid a hand on her. ”
“You hired the person who did,” I countered.
He sighed. “You make it all sound so evil, but it wasn’t. They told me that if I gave them sapphires, they’d help me dethrone my brother in a nonlethal way. Mikko has been so unhappy since he’s been King, and I was honestly doing this for him as much as I was for me. ”
“If that’s what you tell yourself, go ahead. ” I shrugged. “Maybe if you keep on going with that, your brother will pardon you after you confess. ”
He raised his eyebrows. “Confess? Why on earth would I do that?”
“Because this is over,” I told him. “The Queen may be blinded by your lies, but as soon as King Evert hears about your involvement with Konstantin Black, he’ll investigate and find out the truth. He’s too paranoid to let it go, so you should make it easy on yourself and just admit what you know. ”
“Konstantin Black?” Kennet laughed. “I never even met the guy before you arrested him. ”
I shook my head in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
“I never met him. I’d never even heard of him or this Viktor before you all started going on about them. ”
I narrowed my eyes. “Then who did you deal with?”
He tilted his head, a bemused smile on his lips. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This is bigger than either of us. ” Kennet stepped closer to me, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Kasper raise his sword. “You think you can come in here and threaten me, and I’ll just bow down and do as you say, but you’ve got nothing to threaten me with. ”
“I think you’re grossly underestimating the situation,” Kasper growled, and Kennet glanced over at him.
“You and your little sword are nothing compared to what would be done to me if I betrayed my allies,” Kennet told him bitterly.
As soon as he said that, my mind flashed back to the dungeon on Storvatten, when Konstantin had still been in his prison cell and Bent Stum had been lying dead with his wrists slit. Konstantin insisted that Bent had been murdered to keep him from spilling the truth, and when I pushed him to tell me by whom, Konstantin told me nearly the exact same thing that Kennet just had.
Whomever they were both working for had them scared as hell.
“You killed Bent Stum,” I realized. “So he wouldn’t talk and ruin everything for you. ”
“I did what I had to do,” Kennet admitted. “And I’ll keep doing what I have to do. ”
His aquamarine eyes almost always seemed to sparkle, but now as he looked down at me, they seemed much more muted, almost glazed. The smile had gone from his face, replaced by a sad vacancy.
Then, without warning, he raised his arm and punched me in the face. It was so unexpected that I didn’t have time to block it. And he was much stronger than I’d anticipated, especially for a Prince. I stumbled back, falling against the bed.
He’d hit me in my left eye, and the trauma to my head was enough to exacerbate my injury from Viktor. My eyesight blurred in both eyes. A white light replaced the vision in my right eye while my left eyelid began to puff up, closing off my sight.
For a few horrible seconds, I could only hear the sound of fighting going on around me—grunting, cursing, and then the clatter of the sword falling to the floor. I wanted to help Kasper, but I couldn’t see, and I didn’t want to blunder in blindly and make things worse. Kasper wouldn’t use deadly force unless absolutely necessary (the sword was meant to be more of a threat) since we needed Kennet alive to clear our names.
Finally, the figures before me came into focus. They were rolling around on the floor, fighting over the sword. I started to move toward it, meaning to grab it, but Kennet got it first and rolled over onto his back, holding the sword pointed out in front of him as Kasper got to his feet.
“This game is done,” Kennet said, standing slowly with his eyes and sword locked on Kasper. “You aren’t going to let this go, which means that I can’t let you go. ”
“It doesn’t need to come to this,” Kasper said, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.
Kennet only smirked in reply, and in a moment of desperation, Kasper charged
at him. I was sure he meant to get the sword away from Kennet again, but that wasn’t what happened.
I was standing right behind Kasper, and I saw the sword come out his back—the sharp metal stained red as it poked out between his shoulder blades. The blood flowered out around it, darkening his white shirt.
Kennet’s face paled, and he let go of the sword, allowing Kasper to stagger back. I rushed over, catching him just as he began to fall and lowering him to the floor, but I kept my arm around his shoulders, holding him up so the blade wouldn’t move.
FORTY-FIVE
downfall
“It’ll be okay,” I said thickly, even though I didn’t believe it.
Kasper stared at me, his dark eyes uncomprehending. He moved his mouth as if he meant to say something, but nothing came out. And then, as I held him in my arms, Kasper took his last breath and his body went lax.
“It had to be done,” Kennet said in a low voice.
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When I looked up at him, the only thing I felt was anger—a blinding rage I’d never experienced before. I knew I should try to control it, but just then, I didn’t want to.
I jumped and charged at Kennet. He tried to block my attack, but I was faster than him and I hit him in the face, the stomach, the arms—anywhere I could reach. He stepped back, trying to avoid the blows, and he wasn’t paying attention to his footing.
His fight with Kasper had left the rug rumpled, and he tripped on it and staggered back. I watched as he fell into the window. The glass didn’t shatter, but the locks that held them shut were old, and under his weight the French windows swung open.
Kennet started falling backward, and while I was tempted to let him just fall, I needed him alive. I needed to know who he was working for and what was happening, so Kasper’s death wouldn’t be entirely in vain.
I ran forward, and I was nearly too late. I leaned out the window, almost throwing myself after him to grab his hand. I gripped it as tightly as I could, holding Kennet as he dangled over five stories above the ground.
“Pull me up!” Kennet yelled, his voice cracking in terror. “I’m sorry for what I did! Just pull me up and I’ll do whatever you want!”
“Tell me who you’re working for!” I demanded.
“Just pull me up and I’ll tell you,” he insisted, and his eyes were wild with fear.
The truth was that I was trying to pull him, but my grip on him wasn’t good enough. I had to use one hand for balance, holding on to the windowsill so I wouldn’t tumble out with him. Both of my hands had Kasper’s blood on them, leaving them slick, and whenever I tried to lift Kennet, I felt him slipping away.
“Tell me first,” I said, trying to pretend like this was my idea and I wasn’t losing him.
“Bryn, please!” Kennet begged. “I’m sorry! Just help me!”
And I wanted to. As much as I hated Kennet, I wanted him to live so he could pay for what he’d done. But I couldn’t hang on.
His hand slipped from my grasp, and he fell to the ground, screaming all the way until he hit the cobblestone courtyard below. I looked away so I didn’t have to see the mess he’d become.