Page 9 of A Queen’s Betrayal (Legends of Worldbinders #1)

Arenna winced as her back hit the wall, pain lingering from the spot where her head had split two days earlier, though the wound had since healed.

Aiwin, the castle healer, had shown up the morning after her release, dressed in his usual blue-black robes.

He spoke little as he rummaged through his pack, pulling out bundles of herbs.

Methodically, he tore off the leaves and mashed them into a small bowl.

Once the mixture was ready, he applied the green paste to the back of her head and let the herbs do their work.

It would have been easier for Aiwin to use his healing magic to rid her of the wounds and the pain.

But he was forbidden from using magic—at least on her.

Jaksen believed the healing process was vital to her punishments, insisting she endured the pain to fully grasp the weight of his demands.

Jaksen’s ancestors had discovered Fae healers—beings gifted with the power to mend bones, close gaping wounds, and even pull someone back from the edge of death with just their hands—in the First Years .

Those healers, once recruited from battlefields, had been forced to serve in Brookworth, and Aiwin had come to the castle during Jaksen’s grandfather’s reign.

Arenna always noticed the haunted look in Aiwin’s eyes. He never seemed truly happy, though he tried to appear so. She imagined he’d left behind a family in Vlazias, a family he likely longed to return to.

Still, Aiwin was kind and gentle, and she sometimes thought she saw sorrow in his eyes when he treated her wounds. Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking, her desperation for someone— anyone —to care.

Her consciousness had drifted on the edge during Aiwin’s visit, the pain nearly unbearable.

She had lain still, imagining herself far away in the home she dreamed of, lush green lands, towering mountains, the scent of rain and wet earth in the air.

If not for the sting of Aiwin’s warm hands on her sensitive flesh, she might have believed she was truly there.

When Aiwin finished, he left her a small vial of green liquid—a pain tonic, he called it—meant to ease the discomfort. But now, the tonic’s soothing effects had faded, and she felt every ache from hitting the wall of the lower levels of Brookworth.

She rolled her shoulders and pushed off the stone.

Koltin smiled, like a predator circling his prey. The steel in his hand gleamed under the glow of oil lamps, a sharp reminder of the danger should she misstep.

Arenna rolled her shoulders again, letting the dull throb in her skull drive her focus.

As their sparring session for the night began, she channeled her frustrations into every move. She had decided Koltin, Isabella, and Faylen needed to get out too.

Koltin lunged, his expression briefly softening with sympathy before turning deadly again. Arenna barely evaded him, ducking just in time to sweep his ankle. He hit the floor with a loud thud, a cloud of dust rising around him.

“It’s getting too easy to knock a pretty boy like you off his feet,” she taunted, winking. They had been training together in secret for nearly two years, meeting most nights in a forgotten room deep within Brookworth Castle’s basement.

“Show me what you’ve got,” he mocked. With his agile frame and quick reflexes, Koltin moved like a shadow on the prowl, the hilt of his dagger clenched tightly in his leather-clad hand.

Arenna circled him, eyes narrowed, her movements deliberate and controlled.

He struck first—a lightning-fast jab aimed at her midsection. She sidestepped with grace, her dagger deflecting his blow with a sharp clang of metal.

She immediately lunged, targeting Koltin’s exposed flank. He twisted just in time, narrowly avoiding her blade.

Sweat glistened on their brows as they traded blows. Koltin’s dagger danced with lethal precision, while Arenna’s strikes blurred with speed and calculation. He was balanced, strong, and deadly. But she was smaller, quicker, and moved around him with ease.

Spotting an opening, she unleashed a series of rapid strikes. Her fists connected with his body, her dagger grazing leather. With a swift parry, she disarmed Koltin, his dagger clattering to the ground. “Have you been practicing on your own?” he asked, pride gleaming in his eyes.

“I’ve been doing what I can in my chambers.” Arenna kicked his dagger to the opposite end of the room.

“Well done, Ren.” Koltin smiled, bright and warm.

Pride surged through her, but she realized her mistake a moment too late. Koltin had distracted her, and with a quick spin, he pulled a hidden dagger from his boot, continuing the fight.

This time, he pressed her harder, attacking with speed she struggled to match.

Before she knew it, her back was against his chest, his dagger at her throat. “I’m proud of you,” he said softly, “but we still have much to work on. I shouldn’t be able to reach your throat so easily.”

“It’s that fancy footwork of yours. I can never keep up.”

“You will,” he said, grinning. “We’ve got nothing but time, right?”

Arenna’s gaze dropped, her stomach twisting with unease. “I’m leaving soon.”

Koltin’s smile faltered. “Leaving? What are you talking about?” He let go of her, stepping back.

“I have to leave, Koltin, even if it kills me to try.” She closed her eyes, forcing away the memory of the long night in the dungeon with Lord Bishop’s corpse. “He’s getting more violent, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll survive.”

His face darkened with rage. “Do you have a plan? Where will you go?”

“That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet,” she admitted, leaning against the wall. “I guess I’ll figure it out as I go. You, Isabella, and Faylen will come with me. We don’t have to live like this anymore.”

“Arenna,” he drawled.

“Don’t.”

“Without a plan or knowing where to go, how do you expect to escape? He’ll find you. He knows this continent like the back of his hand, and planning an escape for four people will require so much more thought than you’ve given this.”

Her throat tightened. “I know,” she muttered, biting her lower lip.

Koltin’s brows lifted. “So?”

“ So? ” she echoed.

He sighed, sheathing both daggers into the straps around his thighs. “This is all too soon. We need time to plan.”

“I don’t have time,” Arenna snapped, harsher than she intended.

“If I speak out of line, breathe when I’m not supposed to, or even eat or drink the wrong way, he’ll kill me ,” she protested, voice cracking.

Koltin stiffened at her words. “I can’t live like this anymore.

Maybe we could sneak off with the carnival, blend in somehow. ”

The other night in the dungeon had been the final straw. He had gone too far, and only the Seven knows when Jaksen will finally finish her off.

“You’re right,” he whispered, swallowing hard. “You’ll leave—with or without a full plan.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. “Let me talk to Isa. The carnival might work.”

She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his worn training leathers. Koltin had always felt like a brother to her, making him one of the only family she had left. “And you? Isa? You’ll come too?”

The longer Koltin hesitated, the heavier the tension grew. She couldn’t imagine leaving them behind, running off while damning two of the only people she had ever loved. “Yeah, we’ll figure something out.”

Arenna glanced up at Koltin, hating the knot of dread his sad smile stirred in her stomach.

“Jastinach is pointless. He’d find you before you could even board a ship,” Koltin said, running a hand through his sandy-blond hair as he pulled away. “The south is off-limits. House Casierie would send you straight back. And Forx is a pisshole. It’s a miracle it’s even standing.”

He continued rattling off places as she slumped against a dirty barrel. Arenna rubbed her temples, trying to push away the sinking feeling of doubt. A flood of thoughts rushed through her as she tried to recall the maps from the library, searching her memory for every city, port, and House.

There were plenty of forgotten towns and villages where she could blend in. Vlazias was a mystery, its lands barely recorded since the continents’ separation.

Then, a thought struck her.

Somewhere Jaksen would never think to search.

Arenna shot to her feet, scrambling in the loose dirt. Koltin’s head snapped toward her, his hazel eyes darting across her face, watching her with a mix of curiosity and concern.

An idea bloomed in her mind, painfully perfect, foolproof. “Worden,” she rasped. “I’m going to Worden.”