A Soul For Trouble

Chapter 24

"And the witch? How did she become his whore?"

Kell ground his teeth at Gandor's question, not wanting to remember how he thought the same thing when he first met Arden. He took a deep, calming breath before answering, "She's his apprentice. He's determined to take her back to Gravaria for more formal magic training."

"So, we have a Gravarian knight coming into our kingdom without permission to sneak out a witch, and you want to treat them like 'special guests?'"

His hands curled into fists. If they were fifteen years younger, he might have punched his brother. The idea still tempted him. "He's very tight-lipped about his real mission, but he mentioned something about being a servant of Loku. They both bear this mark." He reached into his pocket and pulled out Bynn's sketch. "He has it on his sword, and she has it on her lower back."

"Already got her naked, Kell? My, you do work quickly."

"Can you offer something other than sarcasm, Gandor?"

Therrin peered over his father's shoulder and studied the symbol. "Loku, you said? Hmm..."

"You know something about this pagan god?" Heodis turned the symbol upside down, his grizzled brows furrowed together.

"Just an old legend I stumbled across in a Gravarian text."

"There's usually some truth in legends." The king laid the sketch aside. "Tell me, do either one of them seem unbalanced?"

Kell shook his head. If anyone seemed unbalanced, it was him every time he came near Arden. "Both are very sane and very intelligent."

"And what do you think they desire?"

"Desire?" The word caught him off-guard. Did she desire him as much as he desired her? Or did her heart and body already belong to Dev?

"Yes. You need to truly get inside your enemy's mind if you want to defeat him. Find out what he desires, and you'll know his weakness."

"I already know his weakness: her. He claims to be her Protector, and as long as we control Arden, he won't give us too much trouble."

Heodis steepled his fingers under his chin. "Until he gets pushed to his limits."

Kell nodded, remembering the few times when Dev's thinly veiled rage caused him to reach for his sword in case the knight attacked. "I've been trying to avoid that by working on Arden."

"The witch?"

"Yes. I know she wants to help us—she's a Ranellian—but Dev has somehow convinced her that she needs to go to Gravaria as soon as possible or something bad will happen."

"Do you think she'd be willing to help you hunt down Sulaino?"

"I'm almost sure she would."

"Almost?"

His father's question tugged at every thread of doubt he had, threatening to unravel his plans. "I just need to get her away from Dev long enough to convince her to do what she knows is right."

"That should be simple enough. Kill the elf, and she's all yours." Gandor wiped his hands as if cleaning them from the problem. "Then, depending on how helpful she is, we can decide if she'll live or not."

"Nothing is ever as simple as you expect it to be," the king replied tightly. "It's something you need to learn before you inherit my crown, boy."

"Exactly," Kell added, somewhat giddy at seeing Gandor knocked down a few notches. "She's very attached to Dev. If you kill him, I'm afraid of what she may do in retaliation."