Last Stand (The Black Mage #4)(53)

The prince took another step forward, advancing on my cell. He stood just yards away when he snarled, “The traitor is going to give us a reason why we shouldn’t hang her from the rafters like her brother?”

The traitor.

It was a blow I had never expected. Not from him. Not so sudden, not before I had a chance to explain. My resistance was crumbling, and for the first time, I realized there was a chance he might never believe me—ever.

I had known it was there, but up until this moment, the part of me that kept clinging to hope, it was breaking.

But another part was bracing to fight.

“Your brother isn’t who you think he is!” I grabbed the bars to close the distance between us, but Darren had already taken a step back, his head shaking, while the king broke into a throaty laugh. “Blayne’s lying about everything!”

“Oh, Ryiah.” The king was smirking. “You are making this too easy.”

“Darren, look at me!”

The Black Mage clenched his jaw as he turned. “My brother isn’t who I think he is?” His fists were balled. “What about my wife?”

“Listen to me!” My fingers clutched the bars so hard I could feel the rusted metal cutting into my palms. “Just listen to me! Blayne and your father staged the whole war.” Blayne stopped laughing, and my voice rose. I knew what was coming next. Up until that moment, the king hadn’t realized what I knew. “They’ve been doing it for years—”

Blayne’s order cut me off as ten castings hit the air.

By instinct, I threw up a magicked shield, but it wasn’t enough.

Not when I was trapped in a cell and up against the best of the king’s men.

My globe splintered, and my back hit the wall with a crunch. The air rushed my lungs. For a moment, I couldn’t see or hear anything. There was so much pain I couldn’t even breathe.

And then there was a shout and everything stopped.

I slumped to the floor. All I could hear was blood pounding in my ears as pain enveloped my chest.

“Brother, you have three seconds to get that thing out of my face.”

My eyelids fluttered open.

Darren had Blayne pinned against the entry, a blade to his throat. The entire regiment of mages was surrounding his back, ready to strike.

Something stirred in my chest, something besides the agony that was eating me alive. It made me want to move; my shaking palms tried the floor and I rose to my knees.

Darren’s weapon disappeared and he staggered back, looking at his own hands like they’d betrayed him.

“I-I don’t…” The prince looked from his brother to me, and for a moment, his expression faltered. I saw pain and anger and something like grief.

Then his gaze hardened and he looked away.

The king put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t kill her just yet.”

Darren said nothing.

No. I struggled to my feet.

“Now, Ryiah,” the young king said, “this was your chance, but it appears you don’t want to cooperate—”

“No.” Darren’s command was flat. “We are going to let her explain.”

Blayne ground his teeth. “I thought we just—”

“She will talk.” The prince wouldn’t look at me, but I didn’t care. He was going to let me explain. He was going to listen. “I want to hear her out.” His voice was hoarse. “Even if it’s all lies.”

“She’s a rebel and a traitor. How could you possibly—”

“Because I loved her!” Darren’s shout reverberated across the chamber; a different kind of pain wedged itself into my heart. The prince was shaking and his eyes were rimmed in red. “She’s my wife, Blayne!”

“Very well.” The king turned his cold eyes on me, and I saw a promise of what was to come the moment Darren left the room. “Let us hear her lies. It makes no difference one way or the other.”

I was still trying to stand. My hands kept slipping on the bars as I struggled to my feet. I hadn’t hoped for much, but somehow hearing Darren’s plea was worse. Tell him.

“C-Caltoth has never been our enemy.” I drew a staggering breath as the prince fixated his attention on something behind my head. Look at me. “Darren, everything was staged. For years. Your father coveted Horrace’s wealth. He knew he would never win a war without the Pythians’ and Boreans’ support.”

“So all of those attacks on our border,” Darren drawled, “they were just a big misunderstanding?”

“Yes—I mean, no!” I caught the disbelieving look on his face. “Those men were Caltothian mercenaries your father bought. That attack in Ferren’s Keep our fourth year of the apprenticeship? It was a ploy to secure the other countries’ aid.”

“What an imagination you have.”

My plea turned desperate. I knew I sounded mad. I hadn’t believed Derrick when he explained it to me before. “Remember that mission in Dastan Cove, Darren? Mira wasn’t under your father’s orders. It was your brother’s—”

“You filthy, little liar!”

“Mira,” the king’s reprimand was sharp, “we all know Ryiah is lying. No need to intrude.”