Cloak, Torn: Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 29

My blood was rushing so hard in my ears that I barely heard him.

“She got here a week ago with her son, and two days ago, she married the King.”

She wasn’t. She couldn’t. Not after everything. We couldn’t have failed now. We should have gone faster. We should have- we should have…

“Her son?”

We’d failed. We hadn’t saved Warren’s brother.

“Prince Klate. The King declared him the heir of Rensland.”

We hadn’t killed Jayla. She was a Queen. She’d have everyone looking for spies and Fabellians and we’d never even have a chance. There was no way. Not with guards everywhere and castle walls and magic and royalty and the chance every single day that someone would murder us in the street and the mountains separating us from home. Home. We were so far from home… So far from Mother. Mother, who I would never see again. From a father who blamed me for her death. From another tombstone in the garden.

I didn’t have a home anymore.

“But... How? How did she…” Warren said.

Ryan grunted.

“She made a lot of promises from what I heard. Said she could get Fabel back for Rensland. She's been winning a lot of people over that way.”

“What, and they just believe her?”

“If you ask me, she's a snake. I’d bet my forge that she's using magic. Everyone's heard of her of course. Wicked sorceress and all that. But she's always been Fabel’s problem. And now she just up and marries the King? She's got a son already, and he knows her reputation. There's something going on,” Ryan said. “She's blackmailing him, or using magic, or something. I don't like her, no matter how many promises she makes.”

“What about everyone else?” Warren asked.

“Hate runs deep in Rensland. We don't forgive old scars easily. Fabel was ours once. Most people want it back enough to overlook the Queen's methods, so long as she follows through. And King Hale has always been a good king. He gained a lot of respect. I’d follow him anywhere, as would most anyone here.”

Warren looked at me.

“Tell him,” I said. “He's on our side.”

“We're chasing Jayla,” Warren admitted. “We've got scores to settle. She’s got a lot to answer for in Fabel. Thank you for your information. This…puts a twist in our plans.”

“If you don't mind me asking, what kind of a score?”

She killed three of my grandparents, cursed my father, basically killed my mother, cursed Warren, stole his brother, killed his parents, cursed about fifty other people, lied to a giant, and generally made our lives miserable.

“She killed my family and tore us apart,” I said.

“She cursed me,” Warren added. “It's her favorite trick - turning people into animals. I was a wolf for a while.”

Ryan glanced at Warren’s fingers. There was still dried blood crusted to his nails.

“I see,” he said. He drummed his fingers against the counter. “I may have something for you.”

He dug into a bag at the foot of his stool. From it, he pulled a set of claws and teeth. Except these were made of steel. The claws were long, curved blades like eagle talons. They were connected to a fingerless glove. The teeth were a small, metal sheath. They looked like teeth, but they were razor sharp.