Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1)(71)
Ildiko trusted whatever plan he had in mind, but the thought of wearing a dead man’s clothes made her skin crawl. “What will we do now?”
The wolfish smile he gave her made her glad they were on the same side of this particular conflict. “Play raider,” he said. “And you don’t even need to ride a horse.”
*****
“Are the knots too tight?” Anhuset tugged on the strips of cloth that bound Ildiko’s hands together.
Ildiko shook her head. “No. I can twist out of them quickly if necessary.”
They stood within the concealment of heavy underbrush and the overcast shadow of rocky outcropping. Within the shelter of the forest, Kai and Beladine waited together as Ildiko prepared to act as the bait Serovek needed.
Her clothes were ripped and filthy, her hair a wild mat of tangles, her face smudged with dirt and streaks of dried blood. Anhuset strengthened the look by shredding random spots of Ildiko’s tunic. “I still don’t think this is the best idea.”
Ildiko shrugged. “I think Lord Pangion is right. If we want to be sure of entering the right cave, I’m the best thing to draw them out.”
“Brishen will never forgive me if you die during my watch.” Anhuset tied one of her daggers to the sash encircling Ildiko’s waist.
The Kai woman’s skin was clammy under Ildiko’s fingertips, hints of fever in the darkened flush on her cheekbones. “I think he would forgive you anything, sha-Anhuset,” she said softly. “Besides, I have no intention of dying today.”
The other woman stared at her in silence for several moments. “I once thought you weak. I was wrong.” She finished strapping the dagger in place. “Are you afraid?”
Ildiko nodded. “Terrified.”
“Good. You’ll stay alert that way.”
Serovek joined them, accompanied by one of his men dressed in the clothes of one of the dead mercenaries. “Ready?”
Ildiko exhaled a shaky breath. “As much as I can be.”
Their plan was simple. They’d ascertain the captive raider hadn’t lied about his information by luring some of his compatriots out of the caves. Serovek’s man, acting as one of them, would lead her before them in full view, the captive Gauri woman they so eagerly sought. That was all they needed from her. Every Beladine soldier would pair up with a Kai—one to fight in the light, one in the dark, neither helpless as long as the other covered their backs. They’d rush the caves, fight their way in and back out again, hopefully with a living Brishen in tow.
Twilight engulfed the sky by the time a stumbling, weeping Ildiko followed her false captor as he jerked her by a lead rope across the clearing toward the caves. Her stomach did somersaults under her ribs, and she peered through the screen of her ragged hair at the cave openings that seemed to watch them from eyeless sockets.
She stubbed her toe against a jut of rocks hidden within ankle-high wisps of yellow grass and fell to her knees. The soldier leading her slackened the line. “Highness?” he whispered.
“Pull the rope,” she whispered back. “Call me names.” If they heard his earlier question, the masquerade was finished.
The soldier yanked hard on the rope, dragging her across the ground. She yelped as gravel abraded the exposed skin of her side and the rope welted her wrists. “Get up, bitch,” he snapped at her. “I don’t have all night.”
She stumbled to her feet, weaving drunkenly at the end of her tether. A flutter of movement caught her eye. Two figures emerged from one of the smaller cave openings, cautious in their approach, until her “captor” waved and raised the rope. “I caught her,” he called out in a triumphant voice. Exultant whoops answered, and the two figures became a pair of bedraggled raiders who raced toward him.
Their celebration was short-lived. The ambush they’d earlier set upon the Kai was turned on them. Beladine and Kai warriors swarmed from the forest and rushed the cave opening. Ildiko caught only glimpses of Serovek and Anhuset as they plunged into the cave’s darkness before a Kai warrior lifted her off her feet and fled with her into the forest.
This time she didn’t struggle as she had with Anhuset. She waited, free of her bonds, amidst a circle of tense, heavily armed guards and watched the cave with eyes that watered because she was too afraid to blink.
Light flashes illuminated the darkness in brief bursts. The ring of metal on metal mingled with shouts and cries of pain. Her heart paused in its thunderous beating when the noise died, and all she heard were the soft hoots of howls and the rustle of rodents hiding in the leaves.
It was full dark, and the moon planished the landscape in silver armor. Ildiko laced her fingers together and prayed to gods she hoped would be merciful this night. Her prayer was answered when Serovek’s and Anhuset’s warriors spilled out of the cave. She cried out, feet flying across the brittle grass toward the war party.
Anhuset emerged from their midst to catch Ildiko about the waist and spin her around. “We have him, Hercegesé,” she said in a tight voice.
Ildiko gripped the other woman’s arms. “Where is he?”
“Ildiko, he’s been tortured.”
Her knees gave, and she sagged in Anhuset’s arms. Shock quickly gave way to rage. “I want to see him. Now,” she said.
Anhuset nodded and guided her through the flow of soldiers until they reached a small knot gathered near the cave entrance. Serovek stood when he caught sight of her. He blocked her path and her view.