Page 20 of The Chains You Defy

“We have names, you know? Also, you’re extremely vague.”

She had nerves confronting me, and I smirked at her. Having a course of action had revived my spirits. Only a few more hours, and everything would improve. “If you’re in, meet me at the castle gates tomorrow morning at the third hour after the Triad’s bell rings. If not, we’ll do this without you. But be warned, the second-best solution won’t be as peaceful as the one I have in mind.It’s on you to prevent deaths you might care about, and I don’t.” As much as I’d allowed my blackmail skills to become rusty, I still aced the craft.

Since the two villagers had nothing of value to add, I ignored them as they communicated solely through eye contact and turned my attention to Nancy instead. “And you’d better be sick tomorrow and in the foreseeable future. Explain to Ireas where you live, and he’ll visit you, tending to said sickness as he keeps an eye on you, and should you double-cross us, keep in mind he isn’t only an expert in herbs with healing properties.”

Ireas paled as he understood my implication but kept his mouth shut. He was still much too sensitive when it came to issuing death threats.

“Fiolar, Antas, Carthain. You’ll accompany me.”

None of them wore a cheerful expression, but as usual, I didn’t give a shit. In the end, I was their superior, and if I issued commands, they couldn’t disobey. Usually, I loathed pulling rank, as my titles were a sham anyway, but in this situation, throwing my weight around definitely had its merits.

“Since when can he give you orders?” The Rewani girl locked her gaze with Fig, who rolled his eyes.

“Long story, wrong place,” he muttered.

“I’ll do it. Not for you, but for Nayana. For her, I’ll trust you.”

Turning to the noisy boy who stood there with clenched teeth and appeared as if he wanted to be swallowed by the earth, I dipped my chin. “Good boy. Be ready.”

Dawn was breaking as I arrived at the assembly point long before the scheduled time. I had capitulated to the urge to observe the surroundings and plot alternatives, should the boy fail to get us into the castle.

Given his level of incompetence, his failure was almost guaranteed.

Nothing had changed about how exhaustion coiled through me in waves, but I was powered by anticipation and a pure need to keep going. This wasn’t the day I’d allow my body to betray me.

Yesterday, back at the inn, I’d locked myself into my room. The chance to be caught in hour-long discussions about my plans by the others had been too high, and nothing could change my mind anyway.

The hardest part would be gaining access and getting in front of the royals.

King Pritatus was more approachable than my grandfather, at least according to rumors, but I doubted we could get away with simply waltzing into the throne room without an audience.

That was where the boy came into play. If he’d really saved the queen, his boon wasn’t a minor one. So, he was my ticket into the castle.

I hated being forced to rely on him, but since resorting to violence would hurt more than help, this was the best solution I could have come up with.

Granted, my mind had been quite fuzzy lately, but I’d rather perish than admit to that.

Satisfied with my reconnaissance, I settled down on a bench with an unobstructed view of Ivreiana Castle and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Whatever size the boon the boy had gotten for saving the queen didn’t matter because the thing worked like a charm. He stated his rather dull name, and the guards at the main gate jumped into frantic action.

They sent a messenger who fetched an assistant of the steward, and he led us to a sitting room before asking us to wait. There wasn’t even an interrogation about why the boy had brought so many people to accompany him—one of them being an adult female who wasn’t displaying any proof of ownership, thus breaking the law of the very man we were aboutto visit.

Even if my vast knowledge of royalty lacked information about the current Ivreian court customs, I was certain protocol wasn’t usually that relaxed.

My mind drifted to the hypothetical issue of how my grandfather would react if someone rescued a person near and dear to him—not that anyone in his life came close to fitting the definition—and I couldn’t suppress a scoff. If the soldier in question got injured during such an endeavor, they could consider themself lucky to leave Alaiann with their life. A crippled warrior was a useless one and of no merit to the most benevolent High King of Galanta.

“Thank you, darling. Find me later, will you?” Thain’s lilting voice pulled me out of my brooding and grated on my nerves, especially as I witnessed his interaction with the maid bringing refreshments.

She—a young dark blonde thing with huge hazel eyes and dressed in a dull brown high-collared, long-sleeved dress—giggled and blushed. “And where can I find you?”

“I’ll be around, I promise. You can even bring one or five friends if you like.”

Gods, he and his antics. Couldn’t he keep his cock in his pants for once?

During the last days, Thain had been wise to maintain his distance from me, much to my relief. The whole situation was bad enough without him piling more shit on the mountain of my problems—like he did now, at the Ivreian castle, of all places.

My fists balled, twitching with the impulse of connecting with his face, but Antas put his hand on my shoulder, shaking his head.