Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) - Robin LaFevers Page 0,199

rises to his feet. “In the time it took you all to argue about it, I got it all planned out.”

“Who will stay with the girl?” Maraud’s question stops us cold.

Before Sybella can answer, Charlotte asks, “Why can’t I go too?”

Sybella hurries over to kneel before her so they are eye to eye. “Because it will be very dangerous. These men are every bit as cruel and brutal as Pierre, but you will not have Pierre’s protection here.”

“Will you be safe?” Her calm composed face does not hide the faint note of fear.

“I believe so. Else I would not be going and leaving you.”

“But you don’t know. Not for certain.”

“No, I don’t. But then again, nothing is certain. There is always a chance.”

“What will happen to me if you don’t come back?”

“What would you like to have happen to you?”

She is pleased to be asked, her face serious as she considers. “I should like to go back to the convent. That would be the best place for me to finish growing up.”

Sybella blinks a few times before she manages to speak. “Very well.”

Aeva, who has said little for the entire trip, volunteers, “I will stay with her.”

“You are the best shot of all of us,” Maraud says. “We may well have need of that skill.”

“I will watch her,” Valine offers.

Charlotte turns to look at her, somewhat unconvinced. Valine leans forward. “I can teach you how to dice,” she says in a low voice.

Charlotte’s eyes brighten, then she glances at Sybella. “She can stay with me.”

Sybella turns to Valine. “Do you know where the convent of Saint Mor-tain is?”

“Yes. I was raised in Brittany.”

“Then if I do not come back, see that she is taken there. Ask for Annith.”

She meets Sybella’s solemn gaze. “You have my word.”

 Chapter 116

Sybella

As it turns out, there is no need to burn down the portcullis. The guards at the gate tower of General Cassel’s holding are few and far between. Aeva is able to shoot them both before they even realize a bow has been fired.

With no guards to sound an alarm, we rush to the wall. When we reach it, Tassin stands close to the smooth gray stone in a wide stance. Like performers at a fair, Maraud scrambles up onto his shoulders, then Jaspar, lighter than the others, climbs up them as if they were a ladder. He carefully stands on Maraud’s shoulders, which enables him to reach the top of the wall and pull himself up.

“We’re in,” Maraud says as he leaps off Tassin’s shoulders. Once inside, he comes around to open the gate for the rest of us.

The courtyard is eerily empty and quiet. There is one lone groom at the stables who, if he sees us, decides to ignore us as we creep along the wall toward the main keep.

Inside, it is much the same. “Where is everyone?” Gen asks.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Tassin says. “They’re not here getting in our way.”

When we reach the stairs, Maraud mutters, “Up or down?”

I cock my head, not listening so much as feeling for other heartbeats. “Down.” I take the lead. As we descend, sounds begin to reach us. One voice in particular grows louder the closer we get: “I am impressed that throughout all of the trials I have put you through, you have not given up the girls’ location.” Cassel.

At the landing, there is a doorway that leads onto a gallery overlooking a large open room—either an empty storeroom or a training room of some sort. I motion for everyone to fan out and take up positions along the gallery.

“Your fortitude and loyalty are most admirable.” There is no anger in Cassel’s manner, no bitterness, simply admiration. I cannot even begin to guess what his motive is.

I peer down into the room in time to see Beast wipe his mouth with the back of his chained hand. He is battered and bruised, with marks along his naked back and chest, and one eye swollen shut. My heart twists in fury.

“What manner of men serve you that they are so willing to throw their lives away in this malevolent game of yours?” he asks.

Cassel’s nostrils flare. “These are not mere soldiers, but men who have been honed and fashioned into the most elite fighting force on the continent. Each one is worth ten of the king’s soldiers. They know no fear, no hunger. They do not tire, nor will they stop fighting for any reason unless I give the command. That is part