Nervously eyeing the gray-clad group, Kiva wondered if she’d made a mistake in not running and hiding, consequences be damned.
“You said to get her,” Rooke answered the woman, a muscle feathering in his jaw. “You didn’t say what condition you wanted her in.”
The woman scowled, but one of her companions, the taller of the two men, interjected with an equally thick accent, “It matters not. We’ll find her something on the way.”
Kiva replayed the words, trying to make sense of them. It sounded as if . . .
But no. Surely she must have heard wrong.
“You understand that if you take her, you’ll be courting the wrath of Evalon’s new queens,” Rooke said, a threat in his voice. “They won’t take kindly to you freeing one of their most valuable prisoners.”
Kiva stared at him, then turned to gape at the gray-clad soldiers, hardly daring to hope. Were they truly there to take her away from Zalindov? Could her freedom be within reach?
“Queen Zuleeka authorized this herself,” said the woman, still scowling at Rooke. “Kiva Corentine is required for the royal wedding. You have your orders — she’s to be released into our custody. Immediately.”
The royal wedding. Kiva was stunned to hear Zuleeka really was going through with it. She was marrying Navok, a man she’d never met, as far as Kiva knew. The new king of Mirraven was said to be cunning, perceptive, and incomparably brutal — enough that he’d killed his own father to take the throne. How could Zuleeka consent to their mother’s deal, especially if it meant tying herself to someone like that? And — perhaps more pertinently — why was she allowing Kiva to attend the celebration? Had she grown a conscience in the last two months and wanted to make amends? Had Torell found out where she’d sent Kiva and demanded her release? Was there some other reason for Zuleeka’s apparent generosity?
There was no way for Kiva to know — nor did she know why it was Mirraven soldiers who were retrieving her, and not Evalonian guards.
Nothing about this made her comfortable, but if it meant she could escape Zalindov, if it meant her freedom . . .
Kiva would be stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity. It would mean she was one step closer to seeing her friends again — and to earning their forgiveness.
Unable to believe her luck, she turned to the Warden. He was grinding his teeth loud enough for them all to hear, but he gave a jerk of his chin, indicating his reluctant consent. His dark eyes were full of fire as he locked them with Kiva’s and said, “You’ll be back. And I’ll be waiting.”
He then signaled to the guards on gate duty, a silent order for them to stand down, before he turned and stalked away.
The Butcher followed him, but only after smirking over his shoulder at Kiva and saying, “I’ll tell your little friend goodbye for you.”
Cresta.
Kiva looked in the direction of the punishment block, even knowing it was too far away to see. After everything the ex-quarrier had done, Kiva hated the thought of abandoning Cresta, but she could do nothing as the three Mirraven soldiers ushered her through the iron gates toward the carriage.
“I have a friend —” she tried to say.
“Quiet,” the woman snapped.
“But she —”
“You can be quiet, or I can cut off your tongue.”
Kiva turned cold, instinctively aware that the woman wasn’t bluffing. There were numerous weapons strapped to her leathers, and the confident way in which she moved indicated she knew how to use them. Whatever orders she was following, she clearly hadn’t been told to be gentle.
Maybe Zuleeka hadn’t had a change of heart after all — not that Kiva would believe her, even if that was what she claimed when they were reunited.
Turning back just once more as she was hustled into the carriage, Kiva struggled to reconcile all she was feeling. Mostly, it was relief from her unanticipated freedom, concern about her newest captors, and sadness for leaving Cresta behind.
Of them all, relief won, but her sadness dampened it.
I’ll come back for you, she mentally vowed. I promise.
And then the carriage door sealed shut, leaving her alone in the luminium-lit space sitting opposite the taller of the two men, with the woman and the shorter man having mounted horses to ride on ahead, leading the way out of Zalindov.
Leading Kiva to her freedom.
Chapter Five
It only took a short journey through the dense Blackwood Forest for Kiva to realize they were heading north, not south. That explained the presence of Mirraven’s soldiers — the wedding must be taking place at Navok’s castle in Zadria, rather than at the River Palace in Vallenia.
Kiva was disappointed — and alarmed — by the discovery, since every mile they traveled was another mile between her and her friends.
So many questions bounced around her mind as they ventured toward the wild northern kingdom. Was Zuleeka already with Navok? When was the wedding? Would Kiva be sent back to Zalindov afterward? If so, how would she escape and make her way back to Vallenia alone?
There were just too many unknowns, all of which occupied Kiva’s mind as the scenery shifted from the lush alpine forests of Evalon into the craggy, barren landscape of Mirraven, becoming a rocky gray wasteland the further they traveled. There was nothing welcoming about this kingdom, but Kiva endured it by reminding herself that every day they moved closer to the capital was a day closer to when she could leave.
For the sake of her sanity, when they stopped each night — usually to camp on the side of the road, or at a tavern in one of the sad little villages along the way — she made sure to do the exercises she and Cresta had disciplined themselves with in the Abyss. The strenuous movements helped keep her thoughts at bay, fighting back the darkness that had overwhelmed her during her early days at Zalindov. She would be no good to anyone, including herself, if she fell back into that all-consuming hopelessness. And with the food the Mirravens were shoveling into her — You’re nothing but flesh and bone, the woman had said with a frown — she was beginning to regain the health she’d lost after leaving the River Palace. She still had a long way to go, but she was determined to be as strong as possible, mentally and physically, for all that was ahead.
As their northward journey continued, Kiva considered what she knew of Zadria and the Kildarion royals. She already knew to avoid King Navok, but his sister, Princess Serafine, was said to be his polar opposite, kindness epitomized. Then again, she was in love with Mirryn, so that alone made Kiva skeptical about her nature.
Aside from the royal siblings, she knew little else about the family. Thanks to Navok, their father, Arrakis, was dead, and years previous, their mother was said to have fled, abandoning her two children — with rumor claiming she’d barely left the castle grounds before Arrakis had hunted her down and killed her. That was the extent of Kiva’s knowledge, limited as it was. She also knew nothing about Zadria other than that it was the capital of Mirraven and, being located at the center of the kingdom, was completely landlocked. Despite her unease, she was interested to see how a city might survive in the middle of such a rocky wasteland.
After twelve days of uncomfortable travel, they finally made their approach to Zadria, crossing the last of the desolate, cracked earth before it began to rise in a steady incline. Kiva didn’t hide her curiosity as she pushed the carriage curtains wide, gaping openly at the sight before her.