Brydon shot to his feet. "This cannot be!" he burst out.
Reed ignored his outcry and switched his gaze, dark and glittering, to Toryn. "And you, swordsman. I had hoped to meet you again. This time I will cut your heart out."
Toryn sneered. "As long as you have your army to help you," he said and gestured to the men-at-arms.
"Indeed," Reed promised. He stared at Davin for a long, silent moment, stroking his mustache with forefinger and thumb, but he said nothing to the silver-haired Penk. He looked lastly at Shevyn.
"I do appreciate you bringing my little Shevyn back to me. I feared that I would never see her again. How did you find her?"
Shevyn pressed closer to Brydon with her eyes firmly fixed on the ground, as if willing it to open up and swallow her. Brydon put an arm around her shoulders and glared at Reed, holding her protectively.
"How sweet." Reed smiled. "Did she talk you into coming here to kill me?"
"I need no persuasion for that," Brydon snapped. "If you are truly the King of Ven-Kerrick, why were you in Terris dealing with bandits and stolen horses?"
"That is not your concern," Reed said in a bored tone. He stepped back and sprawled casually on the throne as if wearied by their conversation. He gestured at his guards.
"Take them out of here until I decide what to do with them." He paused and his eyes narrowed. "Except the Penk. He stays here."
"You don’t even know why we’re here!" Brydon protested, horrified to have his quest come to this. For him to die here with his quest unfulfilled—it was almost beyond imagining. In his wildest dreams, he had never envisioned the King of Ven-Kerrick to be a dishonorable cur such as Reed.
"You are here to take the gauntlet, are you not?" Reed asked. Brydon was startled. No one but Toryn knew what he was after, and he doubted Reed had been able to pull the information from his mind during their brief encounter in the forest of Terris.
"It’s a pity that you traveled all the way from Falara for no reason at all." Reed sighed dramatically. "The gauntlet is already gone." With that, he waved a hand and the guards dragged them out of the room, leaving only Davin to stand before him.
"I knew this would be interesting," Toryn commented unnecessarily.
They were hauled down two long corridors and descended a dark, winding stair to the dungeon. Shevyn clung to Brydon as long as she could, but she was dragged bodily from his side and they were tossed into separate cells.