The Shadow Throne (The Ascendance Trilogy, #3)(41)

I closed my eyes again, but this time it wasn’t to picture Imogen in my mind. I was remembering the moment of emerging from my carriage after returning from the pirates, with a bruised body and a broken leg. It had seemed as though the entire kingdom had come to welcome me home. They had bowed and hailed me as the Ascendant King. Meant to rise from the darkest night and bring dawn to my country. The forces against us in this war were overwhelming. But if I did not find a way out, our doom was guaranteed. There would never come a day when I didn’t love Imogen, didn’t ache to have her back again. But I would have to rise one more time.

“Let’s get some sleep,” I said to him. “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to finish this war. We are going to save Carthya.”





The next morning, Mott was alone in camp when he suddenly found himself surrounded by a pack of Avenian soldiers who stormed in from all sides, took his sword, and forced him to his knees. The five men were armed and rowdy, and one of them said something about having come back to search for a missing soldier. Probably Mavis.

All the intruders were ugly — hardly unusual for Avenians, but it was the foulest of them all who spoke to Mott. He had a patch over one eye and thin, colorless hair that looked like winter grass sprouted from his uneven skull.

“Where’s your king?” the man asked.

“Not far,” Mott said. “And he won’t be happy you’re here. I suggest you leave now.”

The man laughed, revealing blackened teeth. It was rather surprising that he still had any left. “One of our newer recruits got into some trouble near here. He told us about you.”

“He told us about you too,” I said from above them. Earlier that morning, I had edged up the limb of a tree to a solid perch where I could wait for their arrival. Being as unaware as they were unintelligent, they had failed to notice me when they came. “Though your recruit didn’t get the description of your odor quite right. He said it was similar to a skunk’s, but I think that’s unkind to the skunk.”

In my hand was a bow Mott had brought along with him. The arrow was already nocked and ready to pull back. I wasn’t the best shot, but they were close enough that an accurate aim wouldn’t be a problem. The man in the center put a knife to Mott’s throat, and only then noticed his companions had already stepped away from him.

“You should drop that now, before you hurt yourselves.” It was the most warning I intended to give.

One of the other men said, “Why? Even up there, we can still get you.”

“In theory, yes. But you won’t.” I tilted my head to the trees behind them. Both Tobias and Amarinda were up there. Together they held a long rope that ran down the tree’s trunk, with a hunter’s knot on the end. When they pulled it, the rope went tight around the ankles of the Avenians, knocking them all to the ground and binding them together. It wasn’t much different from what had happened to Mavis, and I hoped they appreciated the irony in that. When he saw that he had no support with him, the man behind Mott dropped his knife and held up his hands in surrender.

Mott stood and collected their weapons while I swung down from my branch and landed on the ground in front of them.

“You travel so loudly, we knew you were coming an hour ago. I was getting bored, waiting for you.” Then I turned to the man who had spoken. “We lured you here like fish to a baited worm. Now, did you come for me?”

Fish Breath didn’t seem interested in talking until Mott returned the favor and gave him a poke with his own knife.

He squealed and held his arms higher. “I already told you, we came for one of our own.”

“And where is your army headed? To Falstan Lake?”

“I have nothing to say to a boy king,” Fish Breath sneered.

“As you wish.”

I nodded at Mott to drag him away, but he squirmed within Mott’s grasp and shouted back, “You will not kill me!”

“Are you sure of that? Because I was just thinking that I might.”

“Let me live, and I will give you information.”

I made a show of thinking it over. “Well, if it’s interesting, then I’ll keep you alive. But if you waste my time, or tell me any lies, then you have no promise.”

His eyes darted from left to right before he spoke, and when he did it was quieter than before, possibly so that wherever he was, King Vargan wouldn’t hear the betrayal of secrets.

“Vargan is heading directly for the capital. Mendenwal is already there, on orders to destroy Drylliad and everyone within its walls. The victors will join those already encamped at Falstan Lake to end the war there.”

Amarinda drew in a breath and reached for Tobias’s hand. I looked from them over to Mott, debating whether this information was true.

“Has fighting begun in Drylliad?” I asked.

“If it hasn’t, it will soon. I’m told the captain of your guard has formed a line near the city, and reinforced it with the armies of Bymar. They won’t last long, though. Once we figure out how to breach their lines, it’s an easy march into Drylliad.”

My eyes narrowed as I studied him. “I think you’re lying.”

“I’m not! I heard this straight from a man named Kippenger, one of Vargan’s top commanders.”

Kippenger. I remembered that name like vinegar on my tongue.