The Kingdom Thief

Chapter 34

Kane's P.O.V

I try to ignore the cold piece of metal that Wren keeps steadily placed on the temple of my head. The unpleasant feeling is not for the gun itself, but the idea that I am now in a place where a gun to my head would be the only acceptable way for me to walk around.

I say walk but it is more of a push.

If Wren felt any type of pity for my part in our situation, she sure doesn't show it. She stands behind me, leading us farther and farther into the castle, keeping a firm grip on the gun.

But the fear I feel has nothing to do with the gun. I know Wren would never pull the trigger. I wouldn't have allowed her close enough to even aim a gun at me if I didn't trust her as much as I do.

No, the fear I feel is for the uncontrollable yet beautiful masterpiece of destruction and chaos that is currently executing her plan to burn this place to the ground. All of my fear is directed at the idea that the one thing I have to live for will not be standing by the end of today.

It took every fiber of my being to allow her to get out of bed this morning. Every single part of me strained to plead with her to not put herself in danger. If I thought there was any chance of convincing her to stay away from the castle today, I would have begged on my knees, pleaded until I couldn't form words anymore for her to stay behind.

But I know Bridget all too well and I know that there is about as likely a chance of convincing her to stay out of this revolution as hell has of freezing over. It's one of the what seems like infinite reasons I'm completely in love with her, even though knowing she is in danger has me screaming on the inside and forgetting how to breathe.

"Stop thinking about her" Wren softly hisses into my ear. "You slow down when you do and we don't have time for you to analyze every single thing that might go wrong."

I bite back a growl because, while infuriating, Wren is also right. Worrying about Bridget will not help anything.

"You're not worried for Mason?" I ask back, curious how she can appear so calm and collected while knowing that by now, Mason has been caught by the castle guards.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I'm worried about him. If there is anybody foolish enough to risk their lives out of selflessness it is him. But I'm not letting myself think about it. I am focused on our goal because, if we fail, the two of them don't stand a chance in hell of walking out of here alive."

"How reassuring" I mutter but immediately shut my mouth when we turn the corner to find two guards walking in our direction.

"You!" one of them points at Wren. "What are you doing with a prisoner?"

Wren lets out a cool laugh that even makes me shiver slightly. "Oh, this isn't just any prisoner. Do you two imbeciles honestly not recognize your old General of the Royal Guards?"

The two men go slack jawed despite the fact that I don't recognize either of them. But they must have heard enough about me to be surprised at my 'capture'. I clench my jaw and twist my face into fury, appearing to them as a man pissed off to have been caught by a servant.

The one on the right finally collects himself enough to shake his head and straighten his back. "Well, we can take him from here."

Wren lets out a scoff. "And let you two take all the credit for capturing the infamous General Kane Parson? I don't think so. I'm heading to the throne room right now to deliver him to Jack and I'll be damned if I'm not the one to turn this traitor in."

"But you're a maid" the guard on the left states.

Wren speaks with words so sharp and cutting that I almost flinch. "And this maid appears to be the only competent person working at this castle" she is seething now. "How is it that, out of all the men you have stationed around the castle, none of them saw this man sneak in and it was only when he got almost to the center of the castle, that the person to catch him turned out to be a lowly servant?"