Prince of Lies [COMPLETED]

Chapter 36

Frederick had carried out the decision to betray his wife, and now that it was done, he realized he'd made the wrong decision. One that could never be undone.

With Arabella and her court captured, Saebane had few tasks remaining at Carnelia. He took a small group of Rycard's resurrected mortals and descended upon the Carnelian Empire. Frederick could not help the overwhelming guilt that suffocated him as sounds of war erupted from the city.

Then abruptly stopped.

Urnald and Rycard set about the task of emptying Arabella's castle of anything of value while they waited for Saebane to return. Soldiers from Thescan and Hendlemark, newly aligned and under Saebane's direction, took whatever treasures they could find. The morbid art. The silverware. Fabrics. Contraptions. Weapons and more weapons.

As they set about their work, they fast discovered that they were running out of time. The castle was already disintegrating with no Errand to thrum through its stones. The remaining barbicans crumbled and fell, its structure coming undone as it succumbed to rubble and ash. The rest of the castle faded piece by piece within the hour, nothing but a pile of stones remaining as if it had been destroyed for millenniums.

Frederick's newfound home. Gone. Soldiers desperately overturning rocks like vultures picking at a corpse. He felt a sense of loss as he viewed the pieces that once held Arabella's history become no more.

As if she never existed.

Saebane returned with word that most of the Carnelian inhabitants had vanished, their prized belongings leaving with them. Only the most loyal had remained behind to fight, and all of them had successfully been subdued and taken to Thescan—the new middle ground that would serve as the stronghold between Hendlemark and the Carnelian ruins.

Frederick hid his relief in knowing that most of Arabella's subjects had escaped, but those who remained would surely suffer for it now. He had yet to learn of what had become of Gheorge and Viscon, but he would find out soon enough. Knowing that whatever they were about to be subjected to was likely so abhorrent that he couldn't stand to fathom it ...

He foolishly began to believe that the worst of this nightmare had come to pass. That he could now turn his focus to finding and freeing Arabella.

When Saebane declared his intention to go to the Spiderweb.

Saebane mystically conjured Viscon and Gheorge and commanded them to take them to Arabella's prison. Unable to resist his magic, they vanished and took them to the small above-ground structure that led to the most abhorrent criminals in all the Star.

Saebane's mouth split into a grin. "It truly exists. I almost didn't believe it. Are the beings that are held here really terrifying?"

Urnald looked to Frederick for the answer, but Frederick shook his head. "I advise you to exercise caution before dealing with them. They're here for a reason."

"Yes, well, they'll be given two options," Saebane said. "They can swear to serve me, or they can choose to die by my hand. I don't mind either way."

"They won't be easy to find," Frederick continued. "When I first arrived, the dungeon turned into a maze, and there was no way to get out. The enchantment that holds them there might trap us also."

Saebane shrugged, the spikes on his shoulder glinting. "No matter. I can see through any enchantment. So let's head in, shall we?"

They made the descent into the dark, the lime flames lighting their way to the antechamber full of torture apparatus. Rycard and Urnald paused to examine the devices that lined the walls.