Bonds of Light and Fire

52. Seeking Answers

The artwork above is not mine.

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"We were sent by Brye Alburn!" Kron screamed, jerking against Rowan and Lorcan's grasp. Vaughan tossed another piece of brown skin onto the growing pile on the floor.

Vaughan scraped his dagger over the nerves now bare on Kron's stomach. The male's voice broke with his next scream. "Truth," Dorian said.

"Why did Brye send you?" Rowan demanded.

Kron managed to glare at Rowan, and spat at his face. Vaughan wedged his blade beneath Kron's skin and twisted. Kron gritted his teeth against another pained cry. "He wanted Luciana! He wanted us to bring her back to his estate!"

"Why?" Lorcan urged.

"Just tell them, Kron!" One of the unfamiliar males sobbed. His mouth was ringed with vomit. "Tell them everything!"

Blood dripped onto Vaughan's hand as he waited for Kron to speak. Slowly, he began to carve another strip of skin off his stomach. Kron shook with pain and roared a curse. "He just wanted his daughter back! He... Augh!" Another sliver of skin hit the floor with a wet thump.

"He told us to find out if she was of any value to Aelin's Court!" Kron hollered. "He wanted to know how involved she was, and if she could be used against you as a bargaining chip! He wanted to know how much of a threat to him she'd become."

"What information were you able to pass to him?" Vaughan growled, readying his blade once more.

"He knows how powerful she was becoming and how many friends in the Court she had. That's all."

"I don't believe you." Vaughan sparked cold flames to life and pressed his palm against Kron's riven flesh.

"It's true! I swear it's true!" Kron wailed. "That's all we learned about her!"

Vaughan glanced back at Dorian. The King was watching Kron with a disinterested expression. "He knows something else. What he said is true, but it's not the entire truth," Dorian said.

Vaughan applied more pressure on Kron's wound. "Tell me," he snarled.

"He knows you found out about the bond!" Kron's voice broke. "He has spies in Sellene Whitethorn's staff and they told him what you found in Doranelle! I don't know how they learned it, I swear! All he told us was that you two were carranam and we were supposed to find out if you'd formed the bond!"

Vaughan turned to Dorian again. He gave a short nod and Vaughan let his flames dissipate. "Why would Brye Alburn want to know these things?" Rowan asked.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Kron panted. Vaughan lit a flame above his fingernail and dragged it along the raw edge of Kron's gaping wound. The scent of burnt flesh curdled the air around them. "General Alburn is one of the Revolutionists' leaders!"

"Keep talking," Vaughan ordered.

"The Revolutionist leaders are lying to their followers about what they're trying to do! They're going to use the people to conquer the kingdoms of the world and take over themselves!"

"How?" Rowan snapped. "The people would turn against them as soon as they assumed power."

Kron shook his head, sobbing weakly. "A few hundred of us in every targeted kingdom know the truth. We've been ordered to slaughter the others once each kingdom has been conquered. In exchange, we've been offered wealth, privileges, and positions of power in the new courts."