Capture (18 page)

Ryneq shook his head, but refused to look away from Nykin as the guard hit him again. Nykin’s face crumpled with pain, and Ryneq winced, his fingernails cutting deep into his palms. He couldn’t help but compare the broken and bleeding man in front of him to the young dragon rider from the Eyrie, with long blond hair and bright-blue eyes, who had blushed at his teasing.

Ryneq had enjoyed flirting with Nykin back at the palace, had even been jealous when Faelon had shown an interest, but he doubted it would ever have gone any further than that. Now, though… now Nykin had cut his hair and posed as a member of Ryneq’s own personal guard so he could get himself taken prisoner and then be tortured. All in the hope that he could help Ryneq escape—and Ryneq couldn’t help but feel
something
about that.

Bile rose in the back of his throat at the damage that had already been done to Nykin, and at knowing that there was still more to come. Ryneq wanted to take that knife and bury it deep in Hatak’s throat for what he’d done. If Nykin’s plan actually worked and they got out of here, that was exactly what he was going to do.

“Where is she, Ryneq?” The smile vanished from Hatak’s face as he strode over in front of Ryneq again, blocking his view of Nykin. “We’ll find Cerylea sooner or later. She can’t be in Hervath, because we’ve been watching the river and no one has tried to cross. And she’s not back at the palace. So that leaves the forest.” He leaned forward and grabbed hold of Ryneq’s jaw. “If you tell me where she is, I might even kill him quickly.”

Ryneq swallowed thickly, knowing his refusal to answer would mean more pain for Nykin, but unable to stop it. “I don’t know,” he hissed. Hatak’s tight hold on his jaw distorted the words somewhat, but Hatak had no difficulty understanding. He nodded at one of the guards and pointed to Nykin’s injured arm.

Nykin’s scream pierced the air when the guard placed his thumb over the wound and pressed down hard. His eyes were scrunched tightly shut as the tears ran down over his cheeks, and the white bandage quickly turned a horrible dark red as the guard kept the pressure on it. Nykin struggled to get away, but he had nowhere to go. With another flick of Hatak’s wrist the guard stepped away, and Nykin slumped against his restraints.

“You can stop this at any time by just telling me where she is.”

“Never.”

Hatak shook his head, letting Ryneq go with a vicious shove that snapped his head painfully backward. “Looks like you were wrong, Nykin.” Hatak turned and walked slowly over to Nykin. He grabbed Nykin by the hair, pulling his head up so he was looking straight at Ryneq. “You obviously don’t mean that much to him after all.”

It was ridiculous, because they were only pretending to be lovers, but there was an unmistakable flash of hurt in Nykin’s eyes, and Ryneq’s heart clenched a little at the sight of it. He wasn’t the only one to have noticed, because Hatak’s mocking laughter echoed around them.

“Take him away.” Hatak gestured to Ryneq, and both guards hurried over and started to untie him from the chair. “Say good-bye to your boy, Ryneq. I doubt very much he’ll be joining you later.”

Ryneq watched helplessly as Hatak let go of Nykin’s hair and Nykin’s head slumped back down to his chest. He didn’t look up again, and a feeling of dread washed over Ryneq as the guards pulled him from the chair and dragged him toward the door.

N
YKIN
HEARD
them take Ryneq away and almost sighed with relief. He needed to be alone with Hatak to put his plan into action, and for a moment he’d been afraid it would never happen. He was too focused on not passing out to watch Ryneq leave the room. The pain in his arm and his ribs kept threatening to take him under, but Nykin held on with everything he had, because this was it. This was the culmination of all their planning, his chance to convince Hatak to let them escape, and he had to be as alert as possible.

Hatak waited for the door to close before stepping nearer to Nykin until they were almost touching. “So do you have anything in here that I want, Nykin?” He tapped the point of his knife against Nykin’s temple. “I think you do.” Hatak tilted Nykin’s chin up, forcing Nykin to look at him. “I think you have a lot of information up there, and since your king really couldn’t care less whether you live or die… you’re going to tell me. Everything.”

“Don’t think so,” Nykin scoffed, and sniffed back tears, grimacing at the ache in his ribs. He had to be careful now. He couldn’t just turn traitor as soon as Ryneq was gone or Hatak would immediately be suspicious. He had to drag it out as much as possible and somehow keep Hatak from killing him.

Hatak fingered the stained bandage covering Nykin’s arm, and Nykin flinched away from the contact. “Oh, believe me, Nykin. You’ll talk.” He slammed his fist hard against it, and Nykin’s screams echoed around the room. Hatak pressed firmly against the wound, grinding down into it until Nykin eventually blacked out from the pain.

“Nykin?”

“Nykin? Is everything all right?”

Fimor’s voice sounded fuzzy in Nykin’s head, and he wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not.
“Yeah… think so.”
Nykin opened one eye, just enough to see out of, but not to alert Hatak to the fact that he was conscious. Nykin kept perfectly still. He could see Hatak talking to someone just outside the door. He had his back to Nykin, so Nykin took the opportunity and opened both eyes to try and get a good look at his arm.

The bandage covering the wound was virtually all red now, and some of the blood had seeped out to trickle down the underside of his bicep. He could barely move his fingers, and his whole arm throbbed constantly, but the pain helped him focus.
“I think it’s going to happen soon, Fimor. Hatak’s getting frustrated with me, and I get the feeling he’s not going to let it go on for much longer.”
The door closed, and Hatak started to turn around.
“I have to go.”

“Be careful, Nykin, and remember what I told you. I can be there quicker than you think.”

Nykin felt the connection slip away. He kept his eyes open, letting Hatak see he was awake so they could get this over with.

Hatak’s face was unreadable as he approached. “Glad to see you’re back with us, Nykin.” He studied Nykin for what seemed like ages before frowning and drawing his knife. “As much as I’d like to play with you for the next few hours, I need to find Cerylea sooner rather than later, and torturing you clearly isn’t going to make Ryneq talk.” Hatak lifted his knife to Nykin’s uninjured arm and paused, flipping the blade to rest the serrated edge against the skin of Nykin’s wrist. “Although… maybe that would change if I sent you back to him piece… by piece.”

Hatak drew the knife back, increasing the pressure so the blade tore through Nykin’s skin, and Nykin didn’t even try to stop the pained cry that escaped him. The cut sat just above his leather cuff, and Nykin prayed it hadn’t sliced through his mark. He had no idea what effect that might have on his bond with Fimor. Blood flowed thick and red down Nykin’s arm, and from the crazed look in Hatak’s eye, he clearly had every intention of cutting off Nykin’s hand.

“Wait!” Nykin yelled as Hatak repositioned the blade for another go. “I can get Cerylea for you!”

Hatak stopped but left the knife resting where it was. “How? Do you know where she is?”

Nykin shook his head. “No, but I know how to find her.” He bit his lip, waiting for Hatak to take the bait while his heart threatened to burst out of his chest.

Hatak withdrew his knife completely and sheathed it in his belt, not bothering to wipe off Nykin’s blood this time. “Explain.”

“Ryneq is the only one who knows where Cerylea’s being hidden.” Nykin paused to take in a ragged breath. It hurt, his broken ribs complaining with each inhale. “If he can escape from here… and if he thinks you’re close enough to finding Cerylea… then I believe I can get him to go to her first. If I leave… a trail for you to follow, then Ryneq will lead you right to her.”

“That’s a lot of ifs, Nykin.” Hatak paced back and forth. His hardened expression hadn’t changed, but Nykin sensed he was at least intrigued by the idea. “So, what… you expect me just to let both of you escape?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you think Ryneq won’t be at all suspicious? You’ve just been tortured, Nykin. It’s reasonable to assume you’d do anything to stop me from killing you.” Hatak’s mouth curled up at the edges. “Which you have.”

Nykin glared at him. “He may not love me enough to save me… but he still trusts me.” The pain in his ribs increased as he struggled to take in enough air to talk. At this point he was basically running on adrenaline. “I’ll tell Ryneq that Seran interrupted the interrogation with news of Cerylea. He’ll be too worried about her to question anything.”

“And what happens after you both…
escape
?”

Nykin was starting to feel light-headed. The cut on his wrist wasn’t bleeding as much anymore, partly helped by being elevated, but he’d lost a fair bit of blood already, and his stomach was virtually empty too. Not a good combination. He swallowed thickly and tried to concentrate. This was the most important part of the plan. “I’ll leave a trail… without Ryneq noticing. You bring however many men you need, and capture Cerylea.”

Hatak narrowed his eyes. “You really think I trust you to leave a trail for us to follow? How stupid do you think I am?”

Nykin fought hard to keep his composure. It was almost impossible to come up with answers to all Hatak’s arguments when he was on the verge of fainting. “Send a couple of men ahead as scouts… keep a close eye on us… but not so near as to alert Ryneq.”

Hatak hummed as he mulled it over in his head. “And why would I believe a word you say?” he asked finally. “For a member of the King’s personal guard, you seem incredibly eager to turn against him and his sister.”

Nykin closed his eyes and put all the bitterness and pain he could manage into his voice. “He told me he loved me… promised to take me as his royal consort… said I was the most important person in the world to him.” Nykin looked Hatak straight in the eye, then glanced over at his injured arm and then his wrist. “Clearly that’s not true. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be hacked up… and delivered to him in pieces.” Nykin let his head fall onto his chest, forcing himself to sound defeated, which wasn’t exactly hard at this point. “I just want to live.”

Nykin felt Hatak’s knife at his throat, and for one heart-stopping moment, he thought their plan had failed, but then Hatak leaned in to whisper in his ear. “If you’re lying to me, Nykin, I will kill you and your king so slowly and painfully it will take you days to die. And I’ll make sure you’re in agony for every single moment.”

Nykin didn’t bother to respond. He just slumped against his restraints in exhausted relief as Hatak walked over to the door.

“Fetch me Seran,” Hatak shouted. “And send someone in here to clean him up. I need him alive after all.”

T
HE
ESCAPE
plan was simple.

It was Seran’s idea. Once Hatak explained Nykin’s proposition to him, he was more than willing to go along with it. The serving girl, Cassia, would slip them the keys to their cell when she came to bring them food that night. Seran would give her some excuse as to why she was helping them, but he was certain that Ryneq would believe her. Or at the very least take the opportunity that presented itself, even if he did so with caution. Hatak would purposely have a light guard on duty, but Ryneq and Nykin would still have to get past the remaining soldiers. Otherwise it would appear too easy, and Hatak said Ryneq would be suspicious. Nykin got the feeling Hatak wouldn’t exactly mind if his soldiers actually killed them while they tried to escape, but he didn’t comment. Instead he just sat and listened, slumped painfully in the chair while someone applied fresh bandages to his arm and his wrist. They didn’t touch his ribs. He’d need to let Fimor know what was happening as soon as possible, but he couldn’t concentrate enough to do it with the others there.

“Are you sure you’ll be fit to escape tonight?” Seran eyed Nykin’s injuries with concern.

Nykin had been thinking the exact same thing, but he answered as confidently as possible. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”

Seran gave him a long look before addressing the guards. “Take him back to his cell.” He turned to Hatak. “And send for the serving girl.”

Nykin cried out when the guards hauled him to his feet, his broken and bruised ribs protesting violently at the harsh treatment. Now the adrenaline was starting to wear off, he felt bone weary and his whole body ached and complained at the slightest movement. Every breath hurt, and Nykin wondered if he’d even make it back to the cell before passing out.

R
YNEQ
HAD
no idea how long he’d been back in his cell, but the waiting was killing him. He hated not knowing what they were doing to Nykin, and his mind was helpfully supplying all sorts of awful images. If Hatak didn’t go for Nykin’s proposal, then Ryneq knew without a shadow of a doubt that Hatak would kill him. Ryneq had made it perfectly clear he wouldn’t be swayed by anything Hatak did to Nykin, and that meant Nykin would no longer be of any use to them.