Thorn Queen (Dark Swan, #2)(27)

"Stop, Volusian."

The spirit stepped back, his glum expression growing.

"I don't know anything about girls disappearing," the man said. "We aren't taking them."

"You've been preying on people," I pointed out. "And girls have been vanishing near your base of operation. Seems kind of suspicious."

He shook his head frantically, eyeing Volusian warily. "No, it's not us."

"Have you heard of them disappearing?"

"Yes. But it's not us." His words were adamant.

"Yeah, well, I find it hard to believe they're all running off. If it's not you, then who is it?"

"You're a fool," the woman snapped. "What would we do with a group of girls?"

"The same thing men usually use girls for," I replied.

"We can barely feed our own people! Why would we take on more mouths to feed?"

That was kind of a good question. "Well, you still haven't really given me another explanation."

"We heard a monster's doing it," the man blurted out.

"A monster," I repeated flatly. I looked over to Rurik who simply shrugged. I turned back to the prisoners. "Any details on this monster?"

Neither responded. It was strange, particularly considering how some prejudiced part of me still regarded most gentry as dishonest, but I believed them about not taking the girls. I thought the monster explanation was bullshit, but they might honestly have believed it to be true. Volusian took a step forward without my command, and the guy hastily spoke.

"The monster lives in our land. In the Ald-Thorn Land, that is."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because only girls from the Thorn Land have disappeared," the woman said. "Westoria borders the Rowan Land, and two of their villages are very close. Skye and Ley. But they've had no one go missing."

"You guys seem to know a lot about this for allegedly not being involved."

"We don't need to be involved. We raid both sides of the border-word gets around." She spoke of her raiding as a matter of pride, and I tried not to roll my eyes.

"Okay. Let's put the girls on hold. Where did the fire demons come from?"

No answer.

I sighed again. "Volusian."

Volusian swiftly moved forward again and wrapped his hand around the guy's throat. Most spirits had little substance, but with his power, Volusian was as solid as any of us, his touch cold and deadly. The man screamed and crumpled to the ground.

"Stop! Stop!" yelled the woman. "I'll tell you."

I halted Volusian and looked at her expectantly. The man remained on the floor, rubbing his throat and moaning. The skin on his neck bore bright red marks. The woman looked angrier than ever.

"It's our leader who summons them. Cowan."

"You expect me to believe some vagrant has that kind of power?" I asked. "Why isn't he off working for a noble?"

"He was a noble, one of Aeson's advisors. He preferred to live a rough life, rather than work for someone like you."

"Aeson did have a noble named Cowan," Rurik said. "Her story isn't implausible."

I suddenly felt weary. None of these were the answers I wanted. No leads on the girls, and now I had a rogue noble who could summon demons. "Okay," I said. "That's all I've got for now."

"What are you going to do with us?" the woman demanded.

"Another excellent question," I murmured.

"Aeson would have killed them," said Rurik.

"And you know I'm not Aeson."

Would setting them free accomplish anything? Much of what they'd done had been from hunger and desperation, not that that justified robbing and potentially killing and kidnapping. If I freed them out of guilt, I doubted they'd learn their lessons and go on to become upright citizens. I certainly wasn't going to kill them, though. I didn't even want to hold them in this cell much longer.

The guard who'd accompanied Rurik cleared his throat. "Your majesty, you could sentence them to a work detail."

"A work detail?"

"There are others like them, other criminals, who serve a term doing labor as punishment for their deeds."

"Like digging your aque...whatever," said Rurik.

That didn't sound so bad. And hey, it might actually be useful. I gave the order and was assured the two prisoners would be transported to their work site. The whole thing felt a little strange. Here I was judge, jury, and-if I chose-executioner. No one argued with my decision. No one questioned the time I set-six months. Although, Rurik's arched eyebrow made me think he would have sentenced them to life.

"Okay," I said when we'd emerged out of the lower levels of the castle and I'd sent away Volusian. "Now I'm going home."

Shaya suddenly rounded the corner. "There you are," she said anxiously. "I've been looking for you."

"I'm leaving."

Her face turned confused. "But Prince Leith is here to see you."

"Who...oh." The image came back to me. The moderately cute guy from the party. The Rowan Queen's son, who hadn't been all that annoying. "Why is he here?"