Of Dark Things Waking by Adam J Nicolai

Author:Adam J Nicolai [Nicolai, Adam J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lone Road Publishing, LLC
Published: 2019-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

15

i. Melakai

Nothing.

No word from his contacts. No sign of Trius. Nothing at Extivus.

He had scrambled to throw together a squad of Blackboots and Kesprey, had hit the temple within an hour of Cort's report with the full force of the throne and God, only to find it empty. The insurgents had cleared out, and burned or taken any sign of their plans. Even the thin-lipped deacon Cort had reported at the place had vanished.

In the days since, the inconspicuous watch he had posted had reported nothing. Trius was still in Keswick, somewhere—no doubt eating Kespran grain and plotting insurrection—and Kai was running out of ideas to find him. In fact, he was pursuing the last one right now.

He arrived at Redbrick prison just before highsun, with days of stifled rage simmering in his chest. She'll know something, he thought. She has to be tied up in this. She has to be.

"Get me Glora Terling," he snapped as he entered. "I'll be in the interrogation room."

They brought her in minutes later. Weeks in the city prison had drained her face of color and left her hair a rat's nest, but her eyes still held a spark of defiance he didn't care for. He knew as soon as he saw her that she had what he needed. Unfortunately, he could also tell she knew it.

The guards seated her across the table, tying her hands behind her. "Demetrius Cariott is still in Keswick," Kai began as they left, "and I'm willing to bet you know where he is."

"Who?" Glora said.

"Trius Cariott, the former head of the Blackboots." The man who betrayed my son and got him killed, the man who oversaw my granddaughter's kidnapping, the man who's planning to kill the King. Just speaking the vermin's name made Kai want to spit. Right under my nose. He's been right here the whole time and I've been too sehking stupid to—

"I don't know who that is."

Kai glared. "You know God damn well who it is. You and your little mob—don't tell me you're not tied up with him."

Glora sniffed and returned his glare—but she didn't keep his eyes. When she glanced away he noticed the tremble in her lips, the weight she'd lost. Two weeks in the dungeon softened you up, did it? He switched tacks.

"Glora, you're responsible for two deaths at the Winterwheat field. The King could kill you for that."

"That wasn't me," she snarled. "That was that witch, and you know it. Everyone knows it—they all saw."

"That's not how the King sees it. The girl was just trying to control the situation. You're the reason there was a situation in the first place. There's blood on your hands."

She scoffed. "M'sai. I'd expect nothing less from a usurper."

"I'd quit talking like that if I were you. It's just going to bring the executioner's axe down faster."

"Then bring it down," she spat. "I'd rather die in service to the Fatherlord than rot in here."

A little thrill ran through him. You shouldn't have said that. "Oh? That's interesting.

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