The Runaway King (19 page)

T
he fact is that I wasn’t prepared to die. Not only would I be dead, but even worse, it would prove everyone right who had called me a fool for coming here. Besides, it would give Gregor the last laugh, and I had no intention of dying and allowing him that satisfaction. However, I assumed that Devlin probably had no plans to die either. One of us would have to lose. I hoped it was him.

The pirates formed a rowdy and uneven circle around us. Imogen was left outside the circle, but I preferred that. If things did go badly, I didn’t want her to have to see it. I mumbled my wish for the devils to use their mischief against Devlin, rather than me. It was a fair request. The devils had spent a lot of time on me lately.

Agor tossed my sword into the ring, requiring me to dive close to Devlin to retrieve it. I leapt at it and quickly rolled away from him. He stabbed at the ground and caught the back of my shirt, which snagged for a second before I tore free.

Devlin had punched his sword so deeply into the ground that he needed both hands to tug it out. I used that opportunity to slash his ankle. He yelped and brought his sword up at me as it came loose. I blocked it with my sword, though I had to roll on my back to do it. When he reared up for a second swipe, I kicked hard at his knees, knocking him backward.

Around us, the crowd was cheering for Devlin. I didn’t detect anyone calling my name, at least, not without some wish for my death attached to it. No big surprise there.

While Devlin stumbled away, I jumped to my feet and ran for him. He recovered and we locked swords. It was obvious that he was far stronger than I. I could block his blows but only with considerable effort, and mine seemed to have little more impact than if I’d tossed feathers at him.

However, I had the advantage of being a smaller target and was much quicker on my feet, so it was easier to dodge his hits and swipes. I was also younger, so I decided to make him move as much as possible, to tire him. Gradually, that seemed to be working. His sword still struck mine ferociously, but his reaction time was slowing. I used the gaps to work in extra hits.

He attacked to my right, which I blocked, but it knocked me off balance. He used the moment to switch hands, and so I charged forward, piercing his shoulder. Devlin cried out and fell back. With his weaker arm and with his injury bleeding profusely, I finally gained the advantage.

I increased the speed of my sword, forcing him back against the crowd, which had now largely fallen silent. They gave him no leeway and for the first time it occurred to me that there might be several who liked the idea of losing Devlin as their king. However, that didn’t mean any of them wanted me to have the job.

Devlin dropped his sword and I exhaled, relieved that this fight was about to be over. But his other hand swung at me from behind his back, and I ducked when I realized what he was holding.

“That’s my knife!” I scowled, insulted that he had attempted to kill me using my own weapon. I hammered his arm with the flat edge of my blade. His reflexes reacted and the knife fell. He started toward it but I kicked his thigh, knocking him to the ground.

Devlin put an arm in the air for mercy and slowly rose to his knees. I kept my sword at his neck as I crouched low enough to pick up my knife. “Thanks for not making me steal this. That was going to be a lot of work.”

Devlin bowed his head. “Sage . . . Jaron, spare my life, I beg you.”

“If you want to live, then release Imogen first.”

“Devlin has no authority to release her, even to save his own life,” Agor said, stepping forward. “She still must answer for violating the pirate code.”

“But I can save you, Jaron,” Devlin grunted, and held his wounded shoulder. “If you kill me, my pirates will never accept you as their king. From the instant I fall, your rule will be challenged by one pirate after another until your strength eventually fails. So if you give me my life, I’ll give you yours. I’ll let you go free, and the pirates will never come against you again.”

“If this is a sincere offer, tell me the names of anyone else in my court with any connection to you.”

Devlin growled, but I kept the point of my blade at his neck. To encourage the conversation, I gave him a scratch and he said, “There’s no one else. After Conner’s failure, Gregor was our only remaining connection to your court.”

I withdrew the blade slightly. “And do I have your word on this?”

“Yes.” He looked up at me. “Please.”

“Then I accept your offer. With one exception. If I can trade one life for yours, then it must be Imogen’s. Let her go. Assure me she has safe passage away from here.”

Devlin blinked in disbelief. “And what happens to you?”

“You have me. But she walks free.”

“Then release her yourself.” Devlin grunted at the men behind us, “You heard this fool’s bargain. Move aside!”

The crowd parted, revealing Imogen behind them. Tears stained her cheeks and new drops fell again when she saw me. I reached for the ropes around her wrists and began untying them.

“This can’t happen,” Imogen said. “There must be another way. If you finished it with Devlin —”

“He was right. If I took his place as king right now, they’d kill me first and then come for you. At least this way, one of us walks free.”

“Then let it be you,” Imogen said. “You must save your kingdom.”

“You will save it. You must return to Drylliad and expose Gregor’s treachery.”

“No, Jaron. They’re going to kill you!”

Getting killed wasn’t in my plans, although admittedly, the outlook wasn’t presently as good as I would’ve liked. But Devlin still needed me to find that cave. I had some time.

I glanced back at the pirates. Several were tending to Devlin’s shoulder but many more looked my way with fisted hands, waiting for the order to take me. I knew what would happen when they did, and it terrified me. But I didn’t want Imogen to see, didn’t want her to know. The thought of it made my own hands shake, and I had trouble loosening the rest of the rope.

Panicked, Imogen touched my cheek with her free hand. “A king would give his life for his country. But I’m asking you to save it, and not just for me. If you fall, all of Carthya falls.”

Unable to loosen the knot on her right hand with my trembling fingers, I used my knife to slice through the rope. She pulled free, then wrapped her arms around me and said, “If there’s any friendship between us, then you must do what I ask. There has to be a way for you to leave. Find that, and come with me, please. It’s not too late.”

Forcing myself to concentrate, I leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “This isn’t over. I didn’t come here to fail.”

“And I didn’t come here to lose you!” Her fingers dug into my shoulders with the desperation she felt. “All that’s left is for you to run. If you won’t do that for me, then do it for your people. Don’t they matter to you?”

“Of course they do.” It hurt that she’d suggest otherwise. I closed my eyes, almost too full of emotion to breathe. But when I opened them again my voice was firm. “Take Mystic and get to Drylliad. Do not come back here. Ever.”

Before she could respond, several pirates grabbed me from behind. They removed my sword and took the knife. Again. I didn’t resist, except for what it took to watch Imogen as she ran to Mystic and leapt on his back. She paused when she saw me and looked for a moment like she might try fighting Devlin herself.

“Go!” I yelled at her.

With tears streaming down her face, Imogen nodded, then kicked at Mystic’s side and disappeared into the woods.

By this time, Devlin had been given a chair and his shoulder was wrapped in a bandage. He’d need better care soon, but it would do for now. They brought me to face him and forced me to my knees at his feet. Refusing to kneel, I shifted my legs into a sitting position. That only amused him temporarily.

“You made an oath to me,” Devlin said. “Can we agree that you violated it?”

Not by my definitions, but again, Devlin wasn’t the type to debate the subtleties of word meanings. And possibly even then I had violated it.

“Any chance we can bypass the cruelest method of death and settle this over a game of cards?” I asked.

Devlin chuckled lightly. “Are you afraid?”

Afraid
didn’t even begin to describe the terror I felt. Pinched behind me, my hands still shook. But I was angry with myself too. Because for all my good intentions, it was obvious that I had been wrong to come here. There were so many who would pay for my mistakes.

Devlin leaned in toward me. “You should be afraid. Because I still have my whip and my map of Carthya. I’ll give you as many lashes as it takes until you’re ready to disclose the location of that cave.”

He nodded at whoever was holding me. They yanked me to my feet and dragged me to the same post where Imogen had been tied only moments ago. Dried blood stained the wrist holds of the post. I briefly wondered whose it was and what they’d done to earn a place here. Whoever it had been, the blood had probably come from them trying to pull their hands free. The pirates would let me get to the same point of desperation, I was sure of that. I was equally certain that when they finally did decide to kill me, I’d be grateful for it.

As they began to tie me, I wanted to yell out, to release some of my fear that way, but I held it in. Imogen wouldn’t be that far from here yet, and I didn’t want her to know what was about to happen. If it was possible to scream on the inside, though, I was, and the sound of it was deafening.

M
y shirt was already in rags, so it was an easy thing for them to tear the rest of it away. Devlin remained in his chair where he could watch me, but Agor held the whip and I could tell by the fierceness of his expression that he relished the opportunity to use it.

“Who are you to make me look like such a fool?” he sneered.

I thought the answer to that had been more than adequately covered, so I didn’t bother to respond.

“You may have defeated Devlin, but in a real fight I could still beat you,” Agor said.

That was unlikely. Agor was too predictable to be very dangerous. But telling him that would only make him angrier than he already was, and since he held the whip, I opted for silence.

With my shirt off, Agor walked a full circle around me, surveying exactly where he wanted to begin. I took deep breaths and tried to prepare for what was coming. It hadn’t been that long since Mott and Cregan whipped me in Conner’s dungeon. And as horrible as that had been, Conner’s strap had been thick, intended to bruise me rather than to leave the deep cuts Agor’s whip would inflict. Mott’s whipping had come as a punishment, and I’d known the torture would end if I just endured it. But Agor wanted something from me. He’d continue until I gave them the location of the cave, or until I was dead.

“Come see him,” Agor said to Devlin, still looking at me. “This is not the body you’d expect of a king.”

Irritated at being treated like a show exhibit, I rolled my eyes, but again I held my tongue. If nothing else, it bought me another minute or two.

Curious, Devlin rose from his chair and walked behind me as well. From where he’d sat, he would already have seen the slash across my stomach from Erick’s thief, and the cut from Roden on my arm. But I was far too thin for someone who was literally given the king’s feast each meal. I was also covered in bruises from my sword match with Agor, I had numerous scrapes from my fight with the pirates just now, and I had the two scars on my back from Farthenwood.

Devlin walked back to face me, but I couldn’t read his expression. It wasn’t quite a look of respect, but it wasn’t anger either.

“I thought you were from a civilized country,” he said. “How have you come to look more like Carthya’s whipping boy than its king?”

“I have a habit of irritating some of our less civilized people,” I answered. “But you seem like a civilized . . . pirate. I’d much prefer it if you didn’t have me whipped.”

“And why shouldn’t I?”

With some effort, I forced a smile to my face. “Because it will hurt.”

“I hope so.” Devlin held his shoulder as he returned to his chair. “You’ll get enough lashes to learn some humility, then we’ll have a talk about that cave.”

“That’s a waste of your time,” I said. “It’s not in me to become humble, nor to reveal secrets to my enemies.”

Agor unwound his whip and snapped it once in the air. I cringed when I heard it and gritted my teeth together. It would be impossible to keep myself from crying out, even to save Imogen from hearing, and a part of me worried that no matter what I had said, eventually I would give in to anything Devlin wanted.

Agor grunted as he reared his arm back in his first move to strike me, only the whip didn’t fly.

“What?” Agor looked behind him, confused.

I looked as well. Roden was standing at the edge of the crowd of pirates who had gathered to watch. In his hand was the end of the whip. He’d wound it around his wrist and continued to wind it, pulling it from Agor’s grip. In all that time, he never took his eyes off me. I could almost feel them boring into me.

Roden had stopped my whipping for now — which I greatly appreciated, but there was a total lack of sympathy in his expression, and that concerned me.

“How dare you,” Agor said.

“Roden! What’s the meaning of this?” Devlin asked.

Roden finished winding the whip and then tossed it to the ground. Addressing me, he said, “A message came ordering me back early. It said that a boy named Sage was with the pirates, promising some sort of treasure. But I told myself it couldn’t be you.”

“It’s not the first time you’ve been wrong about me,” I said.

Roden raised his voice. “Devlin, you promised that any action involving the king of Carthya would be my privilege.”

“That all changed when your king got himself made one of my pirates.”

Roden turned to me, genuinely surprised. He noticed the branding on my forearm and his mouth dropped open. Our eyes met again and I smiled, a little embarrassed at how stupid it sounded when Devlin said it aloud.

“Him?” Roden shook his head fiercely as if the movement would help his understanding. “The king of Carthya is a pirate?”

“We didn’t know who he really was.”

“You should have known!” Roden’s face darkened. “I told you about him. I warned you.”

Even bound and ready to be whipped, I couldn’t help but feel a little honored that the pirates had to be warned about me.

“You told us about Jaron,” Devlin said. “The name of Sage was never mentioned.”

Roden looked at me and his eyes narrowed. “Whatever his name, I’m here now and he’s mine. Release him.”

Devlin shook his head. “He just bargained away his life to me, saving a girl named Imogen.”

Roden shot a glare at me. This time I looked away. I didn’t want any questions about her involvement here.

Roden turned back to Devlin. “You’ve already made a bargain with me.”

Devlin had begun to bleed through the bandage on his shoulder, yet he still made the effort to stand and face Roden. “We agreed that when the pirates attacked Carthya, you would have the king as your reward. But this is different. Jaron came here on his own.”

Roden stepped closer to Devlin, clearly angry. “The plan was just to kill Jaron, and let Avenia take both the blame and the spoils. If you kill him here, Carthya will want revenge on us.”

“I’ve heard his reputation,” Devlin said. “Carthya won’t fight for him.”

“Yes, they will,” Roden said firmly. “If he’s the boy I knew at Farthenwood, then his people will follow him to the devil’s lair and back.”

I cocked my head at that. Was I still the boy Roden had known at Farthenwood? I wished I could talk with him in private. There was so much anger in Roden’s eyes, but was that because of me or Devlin?

Roden folded his arms. “So what are your intentions with him?”

“Somewhere in Carthya is a cave full of the wealth of the royals. I’ll do whatever it takes until he reveals that location, then it’ll be my decision what to do with him after that.”

“No,” Roden insisted. “I want him. Now.”

Devlin ignored Roden. “Agor, give Roden’s king twenty lashes to start, then we’ll ask him about the cave.” To Roden he said, “I’ll make you this deal. After I have Carthya’s treasure, you can take whatever’s left of Jaron. I don’t wish to deprive you of your revenge.”

My head snapped up then. Roden wanted revenge because I had taken the throne of Carthya and he had not. But he’d already given me a rather painful cut on the arm. We were more than even. Despite the disadvantage of my current position, I felt justifiably angry.

“This bargaining will stop at once!” I yelled. “Devlin, you’re a coward and a pig. Give me whatever punishment you want. I will never,
never
reveal the location of that cave. And, Roden, you know my name. You know that throne always belonged to me. Nothing you can do will ever change that fact. It will only make you a traitor, a lower form of life than Devlin, if that’s possible.”

Without waiting for an order, Agor grabbed the whip and moved to strike me with it. I had closed my eyes in anticipation of the sting, so I didn’t see the speed of Roden’s movement. All I knew was that before the whip touched me, Agor’s angry cry turned to a grunt of pain and he fell to the ground. When I looked, Roden stood behind him, his sword red with blood.

“Stop him,” Devlin shouted.

Just as he had with my vigils at the castle, Roden cut through the pirates like they were little more than soft butter. It didn’t take long before the rest of them backed away. And once they saw where he was going, they stopped fighting him entirely.

Devlin stood behind the rest of his men, not because they were protecting him but because he was using them to hide. He had withdrawn his sword but held it limply in his good arm.

“I am the king of these pirates,” Devlin said. “Roden, you have violated the oath —”

“And you violated our bargain,” Roden said. “Drop your sword.”

“Never.” Devlin raised his sword to attack, but in a single move, Roden deflected his thrust and stabbed Devlin just below the chest. Devlin was dead the instant he hit the ground.

There was a long moment while everyone stared at their king’s body, as if it was impossible that after so many years he could be gone so quickly, and with surprisingly little effort on Roden’s part.

Roden stared at him too. Of course, Devlin had made the first strike, but I didn’t think Roden had intended to kill him. Now that he had, Roden was more than just a pirate here. And he knew it.

“You have a new king,” Roden announced. “You will follow my orders now.” The others looked up at him, not sure what to expect next. Then he nodded at me. “Get Jaron down from there and someone find him a shirt. Put him in the jail until I decide what to do with him next.”

“My traitorous captain of the guard is in the jail,” I said. “One of us is bound to kill the other in there, so if you want access to us both, I’d suggest taking me elsewhere.”

Roden glanced at a pirate next to me who said, “I’ll put him with a boy we just locked away. I think they came here together.”

“Is it secure?” Roden asked.

“Probably more so than the jail. Nobody’s ever escaped it.”

“Fine.”

The ropes were cut away from my hands and pirates grabbed me on either side. Roden never looked up as they led me away. I said nothing to him either, mostly because I didn’t know the words. Roden hadn’t saved me from the pirates. He’d only delayed what now seemed inevitable.