King of Blades (Blades #2)

Chapter 4

It was three days before Llyr was fit to be questioned. With regular treatments from the healers, the blisters in his mouth and throat had almost completely healed. Guards still had to force him to eat and drink, but Coulta thought Llyr's refusals were likely more related to preferring starvation over speaking to anyone than with the pain from the blisters.

"We will speak to him alone," Shelton explained to Coulta as they walked to the dungeons.

"Because I knew him?" Coulta asked.

Shelton shook his head. "Well, that is something of an advantage, but not the reason. The royal spymaster not only directs and coordinates with our spies, but he also speaks to others' spies that get captured, so we learn as much as we can. You haven't asked for the full responsibility of that position yet, but you should be learning how to do things."

Coulta supposed that made sense. He followed Shelton down into the dungeons, remembering despite himself how it had felt to spend his first night in Ryal locked in a dungeon cell. Surely Llyr's experience was worse, and not only from the pain of his injuries. Coulta had known he was guilty of nothing, but he'd had nothing to lose if he were killed before Wildas could speak for him. Certainly Llyr stood to gain something by acting against the crown. In all the years Coulta had known him, he'd always stayed as far from the violence as he could. Even if he hadn't been sent to kill any of them, his actions were still unusual for the man Coulta had once known.

They reached the cell where Llyr was being held and Shelton took the offered keys from the guard standing beside the door. Then he dismissed both guards, who bowed and made their way to the other end of the passageway.

Shelton unlocked the heavy wooden door and entered. Coulta followed and closed the door behind him.

In the dim light from the single, small barred window high up near the ceiling, Coulta could see Llyr sitting on the thin pallet on the stone floor, chained by the leg to the wall.

Llyr looked up at Coulta and smiled sinisterly at him. "Someone I never thought I'd see again," he croaked, voice hoarse. "I see you've had an upgrade of masters, too. If only you weren't on the wrong side this time. And it's a shame you had to get here by sleeping with a man."

Coulta leaned against the wall. "Are you trying to insult me?"

"Am I?"

"No."

Shelton abruptly took over the conversation. "Why did you come here?"

Llyr shrugged. "To kidnap the queen."

"And what was Kemale going to reward you with?"

"Ryal."

"At least you're being honest," Shelton commented.

Llyr laughed – or tried to – and winced. "Why would I not be? A rescue wasn't in the agreement."

"What was to happen if Wildas chose to meet you?"

"I was to threaten to kill the queen while he wrote an abdication. Then I was to kill her and take him prisoner."

"And what about the rest of the people in the castle? The guards and the rest of the royal family. Were they expected to accept this?"

"I would have forced him to tell them to accept it."

"Do you truly believe that would have worked?"

Llyr shrugged. "Why not?"

"Some of us would not have easily accepted that. You would have been captured and prosecuted, as you are now. This was designed to fail from the start. Was he planning to attack once you had Wildas?"