A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3) - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

The knights made moving through the river seem easy. None of them were wearing their big, bulky armour, but I had to imagine that the leather was still heavy. At first I tried to act like I wasn't having trouble. That lasted until Mandell offered me his arm, and I gratefully clung to him. In the darkness, I had trouble picking out the cave until we were nearly upon it. Kor and Ender, by far the best swimmers of the group, disappeared under the water. The rest of us waited quietly for their signal. It didn't take them long, although somehow it felt like it had been ages.
The rest of us moved into the cave and climbed out of the water. As Kor helped pull me out, I cast a quick glance towards the small guard room. Equal parts relief and confusion flooded through me to see it empty. There should have been guards.
At least there was no one to sound an alarm. I started towards the dark doorway, but Tannix reached out a hand to stop me. He looked like he wanted to say something. I did too, but there wasn't time. It felt almost like it had in East Draulin, before he'd ridden off with the army.
Although, we actually did have a bit of time, because the knights weren't going to move until I led them forward. I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around Tannix's waist. We were both soaked, but he still felt warm and comforting. The knights stood around, quietly trying to wring water out of their clothes.
After a moment, Tannix gently pushed me back and held me at arm's length. "Tomorrow, let's watch the sunset together. It's absolutely beautiful across the desert."
It was nice to pretend he could promise me something like that. I nodded. "That sounds amazing."
He leaned in and kissed me. It was quick, but we had already wasted time. I took a deep breath, trying to force my thoughts back in line. Then I pulled away from him and crossed to the door.
As soon as we started up the stairs we were plunged into darkness. I trailed a hand along the damp stone beside me as we climbed. Behind me, the knights really were trying their best to be quiet. They almost managed. Luckily, the hallway that the staircase opened into was empty.
Despite the missing guards downstairs, part of me was still surprised. Kassia had known exactly how I was getting out, and she was too smart to think I wouldn't tell anybody about a secret, barely guarded door. Things in the castle must have been more chaotic than I thought.
I pictured the halls in my head and led the knights deeper into the complex. The prison was eerily quiet. I kept expecting to see soldiers, and cautiously peered around every corner we came across. There was no one, and slowly, against my better instinct, I started to let my guard down.
I wasn't thinking when I crossed an intersecting hallway and caught sight of bodies to my right. I froze. I didn't want to look but it was hard to drag my eyes away from the three soldiers. How long had it been? The last few days were a jumbled mess in my head. Long enough that their blood had dried, black against the stone floor. Long enough that flies were crawling over them. Long enough that the hallway smelled. Why hadn't anyone moved them?
Jalor walked closer to inspect them. "I'd say about two days," he answered the unasked question. "I wonder if they're turning on each other. This might be easier than we thought."
I shook my head and willed my voice to keep steady. "No. It was us. Me, Castin and Kovin. We each killed one of them."
I didn't know what reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't for Jalor to nod briskly. "That timing fits. Still, very odd that they haven't been dealt with."
"Kalvahi's struggling to manage his men," Tannix said. "This is good."
I couldn't look at the bodies anymore. Just as I'd hoped, as soon as I started walking the knights followed. We continued on without crossing paths with any Deorans, and then the moment arrived.
"This is the way to the castle," I whispered, gesturing at the hallway. I pointed the other way. "That'll eventually get you back to that courtyard we escaped from last time." It was time to split up.
"Wait," Tannix said before anyone had even mentioned the split. "No, we're going to stay together."
"What?" The mood shifted instantly. "You said we were going to get Mayah." Jalor took a step forward that was just threatening enough that Acen clamped a hand around his forearm. Jalor's gaze dropped to Acen's hand.
Tannix almost managed to act like he hadn't noticed Jalor's misstep. "We are. All of us. We're going to go into the castle, free Mayah, kill Kalvahi, and then we'll go open the door for Tandrin."
Acen's hand fell from Jalor's arm. "That isn't the plan," Acen said.
"It isn't that different."
"We agreed that Finn would take Jalor and Evrik into the castle, and the rest of us would go to the city gate."
"I'm going this way." Tannix stepped towards the castle tunnel. "I'd appreciate your company, Acen."
"Don't put me in this position. I told Tandrin—"
"—that if Jalor was going to be reckless you wouldn't let him come. You didn't tell Tandrin anything about me."
"I don't have to specifically promise the king that I'll keep you safe. That's my job."
"Reckless?" Jalor interrupted. "You were going to leave me behind?"
"And," Acen continued over Jalor's protest. "I did tell Tandrin something. I swore that I would drag you out of Deorun even if it means disobeying you. And when it comes to your safety, the men will listen to me. You're Lord West Draulin. Don't forget that."
"How could I?" Tannix shot back. "The title either makes me a fragile lord who can't take any risks, or some sort of expert strategist who is qualified to give the King advice. But neither of those things has ever been true."
"Nobody here thinks you're fragile, but protecting you is still our job," Acen said.
Tannix held his gaze for a moment. "I'm going this way," he said again. "We just need to be quick. We can easily make it down to the city gate in time. Or, we can still split up. But I'm going to the castle. I need to do this."
Watching Acen and Tannix argue made me uneasy, and a quick glance at the other knights made me suspect they felt the same way. I had often wondered in what situations Acen's authority would surpass Tannix's. It had never seemed clear-cut to me, but since they were usually in agreement it never mattered. I could almost see the knights trying to decide who to listen to.
We didn't have time for a power struggle. Acen seemed to realize it, because he nodded briskly. "We'll all go to castle to find Mayah, and then we're leaving. We're not going after Kalvahi."
Tannix looked at me. I don't know what I did to make him see sense, but he sighed. "Fine. I won't go after Kalvahi. But if I see him, I'll kill him."
We made it through the tunnel without issue, but instead of being glad, the uneasiness lingered. Something was wrong. Even making it into the castle undetected didn't make me feel any better, partially because this should have been the hardest part of our whole mission. I was supposed to lead them to Mayah, but I had no idea where she was. The only place in the castle I had seen was the throne room, which didn't seem like the best destination.
I slowly led the knights through the castle's oddly bare corridors, planning the whole time. When an idea finally came to me, it wasn't a particularly good one, but it was all I had. I slipped into an empty room and the knights followed me cautiously. They didn't seem to realize it was a dead-end until I pushed the door closed behind Mandell and the room went dark.
"I don't know where Mayah is," I admitted, before any of them could ask. "I need to take a look around, alone."
"No." I could barely see Tannix in the dim light from the windows.
"I can do this alone," I said firmly. "I'll be safer on my own. You're going to stay here?" I meant it to sound like an order, but it came out as a question. I needed to hear him agree.
He took a deep breath. "Finn, I—"
"Don't have the luxury of making decisions based on how much you love individuals."
"If that was true, we would have run straight for the front gate," Tannix said.
"I know." I took a step back and my hand found the door handle. "You're willing to risk yourself to help someone you care about. I'm willing to do the same thing. So let me go."
He closed the distance between us in two steps, and kissed me. "Be careful," he whispered as he drew back.
"I always am." I grinned at him with more confidence than I actually felt, then slipped through the door into the hallway.
Immediately, I felt more at ease. There was still something clearly wrong in the castle, but on my own I felt invisible. Although I lost the protection the knights provided, I didn't need it. I could move more quickly and quietly without them.
I made my way down bare, silent hallways, steadily heading closer to the throne room. There were more signs of life the closer I got to the centre of the castle. A few times I saw guards or servants, but I easily slipped out of sight before they could see me. Still, there weren't enough people around.
Then I reached the atrium, and the lack of people suddenly, horrifyingly, made sense.
The atrium floor was strewn with bodies. Guards, nobles and servants alike, lying where they died, dry pools of blood staining the stones. Open windows on either side of the atrium let in a cool breeze that helped with the smell, but I still needed to pull the collar of my tunic up over my nose. I turned away from the carnage and stood with my back against the stone wall. I struggled to make sense of what I had seen, tried to come up with some sequence of events that would cause the Deorans to turn on each other. Had Kalvahi sought revenge for the death of his uncle?
And if he had, what had happened to Mayah?
I couldn't stand near the atrium forever. I still wanted to check on the throne room, so I steeled my nerves and looked at the gruesome scene again. Near the throne room doors there were a few soldiers' bodies. It was impossible to tell whether they had been guarding the throne room or trying to get in. Either way, it seemed like someone important might be inside.
I didn't want to cross the room or try to move the bodies. Instead, I slipped out of the window. It was a cloudy night, luckily, I didn't need much light to feel comfortable climbing. The throne room's windows were fairly high, so I worked my way over and then up until I had reached them. I swung one leg over the sill and paused there, inspecting the room below me.
There was a fire crackling in the middle of the huge room, eating a pile of furniture and sending dark smoke up to gather against the ceiling. Bright firelight lit up more bodies slumped near the doors and around the edge of the room. The pieces of art that had been gathered in the room lay about haphazardly, and the throne cast a huge shadow on the wall behind it.
And the throne wasn't empty.