“I’m not leaving until we see our gold,” Dunixi answered without hesitation. His eyes were serious, but his hands gave him away—one rubbing at his rings, the other gingerly touching the back of his neck. His sunburn was scabbed and healing thanks to the oat paste. He shouldn’t mess with it, but this boy didn’t know when to leave well alone.
Ula shook her head. “The prince was clear. ‘If we find her, you’ll get to keep your life’—that was our payment.”
“I heard that, too, Dunixi,” Urtzi agreed.
“I don’t care what he said,” the Eritrian spat before lowering his voice. “He owes us.”
“He owes us nothing.” Ula’s words were rushed and frustrated. “We need to get away with our heads on our shoulders. If we leave now, they won’t waste time running after us—Renard clearly wants to get that ring on the princess’s finger as fast as possible.”
Dunixi let out a bitter laugh. “Rich people, always hurrying off to multiply their wealth through a few words and a marriage bed.”
The pirates weren’t sure why the prince was in such a hurry, but they’d agreed that he was even before he’d said so while entering the camp. They’d actually been surprised that the party had stopped for the night at all. Renard had been a man possessed from the moment they’d joined him, and even before, when they’d been hired—by proxy, but still.
Ula tried again. “Actually, I’d rather help the princess. He’s using her. And he’s going to hurt Luca—he’s too much of a threat and you know it.”
Urtzi’s eyes narrowed. “Since when do you care about the stableboy and the princess?”
“Since they saved every one of us from the asps.”
Stung, Urtzi snapped his lips shut. Ula’s attention swung to their so-called leader—she was having a very hard time remembering why they’d followed him in the first place. “And let’s not forget about your neck.” Dunixi’s hand stilled against his burn, the gems of his stupid rings glittering even in the low light. “We can’t just let them give in to that blue-eyed rat’s demands.”
“Hey,” Dunixi joked. “I thought that was your nickname for me.”
“There are enough of you to necessitate nickname duplication.”
The Eritrian straightened, both hands coming to his hips. He tipped his chin over his shoulder and surveyed the camp, which was more alive now. Both princes were up—Renard tossing orders about, Taillefer drinking coffee while inspecting some sort of weed at camp side. Luca was currently being led out of the tent he shared with the younger prince by the general, Tousette. The princess was nowhere to be seen.
When Dunixi turned his attention back to his partners, all the amusement had fled from his voice.
“You imply that I’m greedy, but the simple matter is we need the gold,” he whispered. “We docked the ship days ago, and without gold we can’t release it. We’re not out of here until we’re paid.”
“We’re not pirates without a ship,” Urtzi mused.
“We could sell one of your rings,” Ula suggested. It was ridiculous how this boy wore his only wealth out in the open. A woman could never do that.
“We could sell your sword,” he fired back.
That was Ula’s hard line. She’d leave before she allowed that to happen—history and ship be damned.
After a long beat, the Eritrian spoke again, eyes on the sun rising over Urtzi’s shoulder. “We steal the stableboy away again and hold him until Renard or Taillefer or someone pays us.”
Ula scraped her fingertips across her temples. “Renard already has the princess. Collecting her for his own was the whole aim in stealing Luca in the first place. There’s no point to taking him now.”
The Eritrian smiled that know-it-all grin. “Okay, then, we’ll steal her away instead.”
Ula nearly shot back that Dunixi had a death wish if he hoped to take the princess against her will, but … stealing her away was exactly what the princess would want.
And so Ula didn’t point out the difficulty level in what Dunixi suggested. She simply made him feel as if, as the leader, he had come up with the perfect solution. She could go along with it as long as it kept the princess from marrying that ogre and leaving Luca to whatever fate the Bellringe held.
“That’s a much better idea.” Then she added, “But the princess is much more likely to go easily if we have Luca, too.”
Urtzi smiled. “So we steal both. Easy.”
Gold seemed to flash before Dunixi’s eyes. “Yes. And if Renard won’t pay, we tap Ardenia for payment.”
Ula wasn’t about to do that, but if it made Dunixi see it her way, then fine.
“What’s the plan?” Urtzi asked, dark eyes flashing. This boy was a lot of things, but mostly he was always ready for a fight.
“To wait,” Dunixi announced, and the Myrcellian’s face fell. “We’ll never get out of here cleanly with the two of them. But at the castle? Before the wedding night? Yes.”
“But there we’ll be in the heart of Pyrenee,” Urtzi surmised, brows cross. “Here, we’re in the open.”
“Have you learned nothing from our successful kidnapping of the stableboy to begin with?” Dunixi whispered, thin lips quick. “Castle grounds are all shadows and people lulled by the comforts of home. Their backyard is the best place to steal away what you desire, because no one is on guard.”
CHAPTER
42
THEY sent no party ahead. No rider to prepare the Bellringe for the arrival of Prince Renard and his crew. Amarande understood this completely—the prince aimed to catch his mother off guard. The last thing he wanted was to give Dowager Queen Inés enough warning to set into motion her supposed plan to steal his kingdom.
It was smart, tactical, and it lent credence to why Renard had gone so far in seeking Amarande’s hand.
Renard seemed certain his mother hadn’t stayed at the Itspi to wait for him after he’d gone into the Torrent after Amarande. The princess wondered if Dowager Queen Inés had expected her son to fail. Or maybe to find himself and his brother tossed into one of the Warlord’s fire pits, allowing her to reach her aim without blood on her hands. She’d have a tragic story of her brave sons and live the rest of her life ruling in their stead, a martyr by proxy.
And so the group rumbled toward the Bellringe as one on the thin mountain trails, winding up and up, to the glimmering snow-white castle at the summit of a mountain named King’s Crest. Amarande was squeezed between Renard and Taillefer, the brothers exchanging places as the road funneled down to its narrowest points. Taillefer and Luca went ahead of the princess, while Renard rode at her back. Amarande knew this was because they thought she might attack Renard from behind.
The knife pressed against her ankle indicated that they were not wrong.
She watched Luca’s back as they trudged up the mountain. He’d glance over his shoulder as often as he could, stealing moments before Renard would yell, “Eyes off the princess, stableboy!” and he’d be forced to turn around until he was brave enough to try it again.