The Glittering Court (35 page)

Elias turned on Cedric angrily. “This is what comes of letting you near those! You never should have been let near
any
of this! A coddled city boy has no business out here around real work—deadly work for those too stupid to know what they're doing!”

Cedric took an angry step forward, fists clenched at his sides. “I did know what I was doing. I handled every one of those components perfectly, and then I checked them over twice. No pins were out. Something in the explosives was faulty—just like that harness you brought me.”

“Don't blame your continued incompetence on me!” exclaimed Elias.

“And don't act like I can't see this sabotage!” returned Cedric. “There was nothing wrong with the canisters I assembled.”

I was rubbing my head, still recovering from the blast. Slowly, memories surfaced to the front of my mind. “But you didn't assemble them all,” I said. Everyone turned to me, and I pointed at Elias. “When you brought the rope, you added more explosives to Cedric's pile.”

“Leftovers that weren't needed in the first wave,” said Elias. “Safer to keep them in one place rather than—”

“Leftovers that Cedric didn't put together,” I interrupted. “I don't fully understand their mechanics, but they must have been tampered with from the inside to do a slow mix and eventually combust.”

Warren placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Adelaide, you need to rest. That blast was harder on you than you realize.”

I pulled away from him. “Elias knew! It's why he pushed me away when I started to get close to the explosives. He steered everyone away. He knew they were going to go off. If Sully hadn't arrived, Cedric would've been right there.” I choked for a moment, unable to
comprehend such a terrible outcome. Then, a new realization hit me as I met Warren's eyes. “And you knew too. Elias turned to you when Cedric left. And you made sure to keep me away too. You were in on it.”

Cedric moved forward, putting himself between Warren and me. “What's your endgame been? Why did you bring us out here? Has this really all been some sort of elaborate revenge scheme?”

Several heated moments hung in the air as we all sized each other up. Then Warren gave a simple nod, and two men lunged forward and tackled Cedric to the ground. I screamed and moved forward, but Elias grabbed hold of me. Sully also started to come to the rescue, but Cedric managed to lift his head through his assault and cry out, “Go, get help!”

Sully hesitated for only the blink of an eye before hopping back on his horse. For a man his age, he moved remarkably fast. It didn't hurt that his horse could've run circles around Lizzie. Within seconds, Sully was tearing off across the claim. “Go after him!” Warren shouted at one of the men. Their horses were farther away, tethered near the shanty, giving Sully a respectable lead.

Neither Cedric nor I were yielding easily to our captors. We were restrained in different ways, however. When Cedric resisted, he was met with brutal punches and hits. I saw him gasp as a foot slammed into his ribs, and later, a punch to the face made him spit blood. I fought frantically against Elias, desperate to help Cedric, but he shoved me down onto my knees and use his greater weight to keep me in place.

“Be still, you hellion.” To Warren, he asked, “What now?”

Warren looked weary more than anything else. “Take her to that hovel and tie her up for now. As for him . . .” His eye fell coldly on Cedric. “Over to the river, by one of the sluices. That's where he'd most likely be working if raiders came. Then clean out the other sluices and do a little work on the outcropping—enough to look like some hasty, haphazard job. We'll truss up the house later, not that anyone could tell the difference. The rest of you, come with me and see if we
can catch up with that old fool.” As he started to walk away, Warren paused and added to Elias, “Don't
quite
kill him. I'll take care of that when I'm back. But make sure he doesn't get up in the meantime.”

The group dispersed, and I realized they were going to make this look like the work of bandits who'd swooped in to kill whoever they found and seize whatever gold was easily accessible. “Cedric!” I screamed as two men literally dragged him off toward the river.

Elias slapped me, apparently bolder without Warren's watchful eye. “Quiet.” He hauled me back to the shanty, and I kicked and fought him the whole time. Once inside, he tied up my hands and feet with climbing rope and left me on the floor. After a moment's thought, he also tied an old cloth around my mouth. “You're getting no less than you deserve,” he said coldly. “You could've had everything—now, you're losing it all.”

I cursed him through the gag, but he only gave me that infuriating smirk before shutting the door behind him. I immediately began struggling against the ropes, but he'd made the knots tight. I paused, frustrated, and then heard Cedric's scream of pain in the distance. Frantically I renewed my efforts, wiggling and flailing. The knife Cedric had used on the bacon was up on the table. If I could somehow get over to it—

Knife.

The Alanzan tree knife Cedric had given me on the ship was in my belt, concealed in the folds of the split skirt. I wore it every day, mostly out of habit, using it occasionally. My fingertips could just now graze it as I reached toward it. A little farther, and I'd be able to pull it out. The ropes at my wrists were tight, and I felt them chafing and cutting as I strained against them. At last I managed to release the knife from the belt, only to drop it. I rolled over and grabbed it with my hand. Now began the weary task of trying to cut my ropes from such an awkward angle, since my hands were bent in the wrong direction. No more cries from Cedric came, and that terrible silence drove me on more. At long last, I wore away at the ropes enough to free my hands
with my own strength. Cutting the ones at my ankles and removing the gag was easy after that.

I sprang up and ran to the door, peeking out just in time to see Elias land a hard kick on something in the river before striding off. I knew what that “something” had to be, and my stomach turned. There were two other men destroying and cleaning out the sluices, and they too were finishing up their tasks. Elias waved them toward the outcropping and barked out words I couldn't hear. Soon, they were all crowded at its base, gathering the fallen gold and picking near the bottom, just as frantic raiders might do in the hopes of making a quick score. As they moved around the back side of the outcropping, I made my move.

I didn't care that I was exposed on open ground. I had to get to Cedric. The men continued working, never turning back to the river, and I splashed into one of its shallow parts unnoticed. There I found Cedric lying on his back, and I nearly fell forward weeping. His face was bloody and bruised, with one of his eyes swollen shut. I couldn't assess the damage to the rest of his body, but there was an unnatural bend to his arm. For a moment, I feared the worst, but a ragged breath from him told me otherwise. And I knew there was no time for tears.

“What . . . you doing . . . ?” he gasped out when I slid an arm around him and raised him up. His good eye fluttered open.

“Getting you out of here.” I supported as much of his weight as I could and began leading him down the river. He was able to walk a little, but I did most of the work.

“You . . . you need to get out of here.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “And you're coming with me.”

A glance back showed we were still unnoticed, but we'd never make it to the far side of the claim in time, not at this rate. The grove and pond weren't that far away, and I made that my goal, guiding Cedric one agonizing step at a time. I had no idea if I was worsening his injuries, but I had no choice. When we finally reached the shelter of the trees, I eased him down and reassessed my options. One of the men
had moved to the front of the outcropping, but we were concealed, and they all thought Cedric was back in the river.

“Lizzie,” I said, turning my gaze to the shanty. She was tethered there, grazing idly. “We need to get her.”

“Too dangerous,” said Cedric.

“Going on foot is dangerous. I'll get her. Stay here.” It was a stupid thing to say, since he didn't have many other choices. I kissed his forehead and then timed another sprint to run back to the shanty. Again, I had to cover open ground, and again, my luck stayed with me. At least until I reached Lizzie.

As I was about to untie her, I saw two riders returning to the claim. One was Warren. I could've released her and rode back to Cedric, but not without being seen. There was no way I'd be able to retrieve him before we were caught. And I wasn't going to ride off without him. Out of options, I dove back into the shanty.

With the skillet in one hand and my dagger in the other, I waited by the door, certain someone would be coming for me. One of Warren's men entered, and I swung the skillet hard over his head, catching him unawares. He fought against me briefly before passing out, knocking my knife out of my hand in the process. Before I could recover it, Warren appeared in the doorway with a gun pointed at me.

“Drop the skillet,” he said.

I did, slowly raising my hands up. He shut the door and stepped over his fallen man, nodding at me to back up against the wall. “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Was this really to get revenge on me?”

“Not on you, exactly,” he said. There was a cold, dispassionate tone in his voice, so different from the guileless enthusiasm he'd displayed in Cape Triumph. “Mostly on him. I told you before I was straightforward and go after what I want directly. I wanted you. He took you, so the plan was to eliminate him and then, when your grief eventually subsided, take you back. But then two things happened. Three, actually.”

“Your attempts to kill him didn't work?” I guessed. As I spoke, my
eyes darted around, looking frantically for some weapon or escape. That gun definitely put the odds in his favor. If it was a newer one, it could have two shots in it.

“Yes, actually,” admitted Warren. “And then, this seemingly useless gold claim turned out not to be so useless after all. Not that it would matter in the end—once he's dead, it reverts back to my full ownership. But it did mean he might have had a chance to pay off his debt early.”

My knife was the closest weapon to me, but even so, I'd never reach it in time. “What was the third?” I asked, needing to keep him distracted.

He sighed melodramatically. “You found out what was happening. This was all supposed to end with you willingly back where you belong—with me. But something tells me that's pretty unlikely at this point.”

My only answer was a glare.

“And so,” he said, “it seems you and the unfortunate Mister Thorn will both have died at the hands of vicious claim bandits. But at least I won't feel like I'm leaving empty-handed before you die.”

Hope surged in me as I realized he didn't know Cedric was gone. Then, those last words struck me. “What . . . what do you mean?”

Warren gestured casually at the table with his gun. “I've been in houses of ill repute. I know what cinnamon thorn smells like. And I know what kind of girls drink it. So much for all your fine talk about staying virtuous until your wedding night. But—I guess it means I don't have to feel guilty about taking anything of value, seeing as it's so freely offered.”

He set the gun down on the table but moved too quickly for me to take advantage of the reprieve. He threw himself on me, knocking me to the floor and pinning his body over mine. I balled my fists and tried striking at his chest. When I realized that wouldn't work, I started poking at his eyes. He cursed and held my hands down with his.

“You were more docile back at the balls,” he said. “Prettier too. Cleaner.”

He tried holding both my wrists with one hand so that his other could grapple with my clothing. He managed to tear the blouse and then move down to my skirt just before I broke my hands free. He couldn't hold them both one-handed, and he knew it. I clawed at his face again, and frustration replaced the earlier confidence.

“Damn it.” He grabbed hold of me and rolled us over so that I lay on my stomach. “Less refined it is.”

Positioned like this, with his body keeping me facedown, I couldn't so easily attack or even shift around. He kept one hand on my head to keep it down and began pulling at the skirt again. I called him names that would have made Tamsin blush and struggled as much as I could, knowing it wouldn't save me but would at least make it more difficult for him. Then, I caught sight of what this new position had brought me closer to.

The Alanzan dagger was within my reach.

Without a second thought, I grabbed it and swung backward, not caring what I struck so long as it was him. Warren screamed and fell off me. I immediately scrambled away and made it to my feet with shaking legs. He lay there on the floor, clutching at his leg, which had my knife embedded in his thigh. It wasn't a killing blow, but it had bought me my escape. I moved toward the door, only to have it open from the outside. I braced myself for one of his men and instead came face to face with Silas Garrett. He wielded a gun and looked as surprised to see me as I was him.

“Arrest her!” Warren shouted. “I came to inspect this claim, and that bitch attacked me! She stabbed me—stabbed me with this—” He pointed down and gaped as he got a good look at the knife with its tree design. “With this blade—this
pagan
blade! It's an Alanzan knife! She's a heretic—arrest her!”

“It . . . it's not hers,” a voice behind Silas said. “It's mine. I'm the Alanzan.”

Silas stepped aside, revealing Cedric leaning on Sully. I couldn't believe Cedric was even conscious after all his injuries. I wanted to
run to him and order him to lie down, but Warren was still on the offensive. “He'd say anything to protect his whore.”