Prince of Traitors

Owin

"Where is he, you lying son of a bitch," I spit. When Rahmi only laughs, I press my blade into his skin hard enough to draw blood.

The knob of his throat bobs, but he grins down at me. "Wrathful thing, aren't you, darling?"

"You haven't seen wrathful," I spit. "Tell me. Now."

"And ruin the show for your bodyguard and sweet little sister?" Rahmi asks, his turquoise eyes flitting toward where Kieran and Nimia stand behind me. "That would be awfully dull, wouldn't it?" He strikes, his hand smacking my wrist, knocking my knife away. His own dagger flashes in the light, and I stumble back and out of his reach. He twirls his knife in his hand, and lunges for me.

Kieran has his bow up and drawn in an instant. He fires, and Rahmi shouts as an arrow lodges itself deep in the muscle where his shoulder meets his chest.

He staggers backward, his shoulder blades hitting the wall as he drops his blade. I kick it away. He groans, sliding to the ground, but then laughs. "You've trained him well, haven't you?"

Kieran has nocked and drawn another arrow, his aim trained on Rahmi. "Careful," he growls.

Rahmi groans through gritted teeth as I wrest Jasper's satchel from his shoulders. I grab up my dagger and kneel in front of Rahmi. Taking a spare strip of cloth from my bag, I bind his hands. I raise my gaze to his, pressing the tip of my dagger against his throat. He swallows, wincing from the pain of his wound.

"Tell me where he is, Rahmi," I demand.

Rahmi's teeth are white as he grins. "Why should I do that?"

"If you value your life, you will," I say.

Rahmi shakes his head a little. "You won't kill me."

"Try me."

Behind me, Kieran growls, "Just tell her where the prince is."

"He's our friend," Nimia says. She clings to Kieran, her dagger aloft.

Rahmi's turquoise eyes flit to my sister. "Your friend is worth two million crowns, girl," he says.

I press my knife against his throat. "Tell me what you've done with him, or I'll kill you," I snap. "I won't hesitate."

Rahmi glares at me. "Then do it," he growls through gritted teeth.

I flip my knife in my hand, raise it to plunge it into his heart—and freeze. My knuckles go white around the hilt, my grip hard. Rahmi looks up at me, his chin high and his eyes steady. But no matter how much my blood boils, I cannot drive my knife into his flesh. Jasper and I spent two months with him, day and night. I know him. He's my friend, regardless of what he's done. I look him in the face, my mouth pressed into a tight line.

"Told you," Rahmi says. He frowns, his expression softening. "You won't get him back. I'm sorry."

I lower my knife. "Is he dead?"

"No." His voice is quiet.

"Where is he, Rahmi?"

The man sighs. "Still in the city," he breathes. "But he won't be for long."

"Please," I say. "You've got to give me more to go on."

Rahmi shakes his head. "That's all I can tell you, Owin. I'm sorry."

I swiftly rise to my feet. "That's horseshit."

"It's something," Rahmi snaps. "Now can someone please get this fucking arrow out of my chest?"

Kieran lowers his bow as I bend down. I grasp the shaft of the arrow and yank it out of Rahmi's flesh. He grimaces with a groan, his brow furrowing in pain. Blood spurts over the front of his shirt under his jacket. He doesn't say anything, just looks up at me as I slice the bindings on his hands with my dagger.

"I just have one more question," I begin. "Was any of it real?"

"Was what real?"

"Everything with the caravan," I say. "Getting to know us, becoming our friend. Was any of it real? Or were you just trying to get close to Jasper so you could hunt him later?"

Rahmi doesn't answer for a long while. He hauls himself to his feet, clutching his shirt against his wound. I hand him his dagger and he sheathes it at his hip.

Finally he raises his gaze to mine. When he speaks, his voice is quiet, creaking from him. "I'm loyal to my sister," he says. "For a long time all we had was each other." He turns to go, stepping toward the far end of the narrow street.

Kieran begins to step toward him, not wanting to let him go, but I grasp his sleeve, pulling him to a stop.

Rahmi turns back to me for a second, and tosses something down the street to me. I catch it out of the air. It's Jasper's necklace, the rings clinking together on the long chain. But there's something else on the chain. I look down and see a small coin purse tied to it. I dump out an Astrian coin into my hand, the tarnished gold metal bearing the royal seal, the lion's mouth open and claws out, the profile of the king emblazoned on the other side.

Kieran peers at the coin in my hand. I look up to give Rahmi a questioning look—and he's gone.