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  Morass. The steel flap flicked open, and something tumbled through onto the floor.

  The smell of potato mushed with cabbage wafted across to Talon.

  Dinner.

  He grimaced. Eating made him sick, and he couldn’t afford to be sick. Not when he had so much to do to escape. He would eat the mush later. If he felt less nauseous.

  “You will never get out of there, Nicholas,” a voice spoke into his head—

  just like they were his own thoughts, except they weren’t. “Eat your meal and forget about ever escaping.”

  Talon flinched. He would never think in Lukan’s hateful voice. Or, at least, that was what the voice sounded like.

  Talon looked around, trying to see where the sound came from, but, of course, that was pointless, given the dark. He reached out with his other senses, especially his ears, but heard and felt no one in the room with him.

  So where had Lukan’s voice come from? And how did the bastard know Talon hadn’t eaten his mush? Or that he had spent the day searching for a way out?

  Mom and Uncle Tao had said that Lukan’s eyes and ears were everywhere. Was this what they meant? Was Lukan able to see him in the dark when Talon, whose eyes were designed for the dark, saw nothing? Did Lukan have monster powers like Morass did?

  And this is the man Dmitri wants me to destroy!

  Talon slumped against the wall. Not only was it insane to even consider such an impossible plan, but his own weakness, compared to Morass’s and Lukan’s obvious strength, left Talon depressed.

  “I’m glad you grasp the challenge, Nicholas,” Lukan said. “You will never destroy me. Just like you will never escape this cell.”

  Lukan could even read his thoughts!

  Talon crumpled to the floor in shock and terror.

  How did he plan anything—an escape? a revolution?—if Lukan knew exactly what he was thinking?

  Arms wrapped around his aching head, he didn’t want to acknowledge how desolate he felt. His jaw clenched, and he sat up straight. If Mom were here, she’d say he wore his stubborn look.

  She’d be right. No one, no matter what they said in his head, was going to stop him escaping. Mustering all his defiance, he thought angrily, Go to hell, Lukan. You don’t control me.

  He staggered to his feet and carried on searching for chinks in the wall until the light from the hole faded into night.

  Chapter 20

  Axel pulled his nimble, two-seater vehicle to a halt outside the brightly lit stone archway leading into the cave under Stefan’s bedchamber. King Chad and King Jerawin awaited him and Lynx there. Stefan and Malika, too.

  After placating his two royal friends, he hoped to take Stefan aside to enlist his support in finding Nicholas. As close as he was to Chad and Jerawin, he didn’t want them knowing how hopeless finding Nicholas really was.

  He offered Lynx his hand to help her down and was surprised to see her biting her lip. His Lynxie, nervous?

  “You okay?”

  She grabbed his hand. “I know it’s stupid, but I never was any good around kings and emperors.”

  Axel smiled. “Right. You intimidated the hell out of them.”

  “On my good days.”

  “You underestimate yourself, Lynx.” Axel pulled her next to him. “Now come, let’s not keep them waiting.”

  He led her through the archway into a humid cavern. A pool of dark water sparkled in the center of the luminous space.

  The first person he saw was Malika. He smiled self-deprecatingly when his sister blatantly ignored him, although it had been some weeks since he’d seen her.

  “Lynx!” Malika squealed, running across the smooth stone floor toward her. She pulled Lynx into a hard embrace. “I am so happy to see you and so sad to hear about Tao and Nicholas.” Malika pulled back to look at Lynx through soulful brown eyes.

  “Thank you. Tao’s loss has been very hard, but I am confident we will find Talon. Soon, too.”

  Axel rubbed his chin, still unable to comprehend her overwhelming confidence that Nicholas would be speedily found, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

  And then to think they could mold the boy into a general men would follow into battle? That was about as likely as finding Nicholas in the first place.

  Winds knew, now that he had Lynx to share his time and energy with, he had no problem standing down as warlord of the alliance, but a man had to be realistic. No one would follow a callow youth into battle. The best the alliance could hope for was to put Nicholas’s face on a flag for the army to march behind.

  But, of course, Lynx couldn’t see that. In fact, she could see little else beyond her raging need to get Nicholas back, no matter the cost in men and resources. An emotion evinced by her cruel reminder of his past actions in Norin. More pragmatic and level-headed, that wasn’t how Axel waged war. Of any kind.

  “Your arm!” Malika prodded Lynx’s broken arm.

  “The downside of wrestling with the Lord of the Rack—six weeks of immobility.”

  Malika gulped. “Morass? Lynx, you are one of kind.” She grabbed Lynx’s other hand from Axel. “Come, we obviously have two kings and a count waiting to meet you, but all that can wait.” She waved at Stefan, Jerawin, and Chad standing at attention opposite the pool. The only one she would know was Stefan.

  Understandably, Lynx smiled at Stefan first. Axel’s friend was even grayer than he had been when she had seen him last, but instead of looking old, the silver gave Stefan a quiet, distinguished air.

  If Axel was the fire in the alliance, then Count Stefan Zarot, Lukan’s Lord of the Conquest, was the ice—the rock on which the alliance built much of its intelligence.

  Lynx seemed surprised when Stefan smiled back. Probably because Stef wasn’t known for showing emotion.

  Tall, ginger-haired, King Chad stood on one side of Stefan. He nodded at Lynx with approval.

  Dressed in a flowing green cotton kaftan, with a yellow sun, two moons, and an array of stars tattooed onto his blue-inked face, King Jerawin beamed at her as if she were a long-lost relation.

  After Axel’s defection, Lukan had sent an invading force to Lapis. The lowland parts of the country bordering the sea had quickly been swallowed up into the empire. That left the highlands, which had remained firmly in the hands of the alliance. Jerawin continued to snub Lukan by maintaining a small court in Oldfort, once a small mountain town in Lapis, now the citadel of his government in exile.

  Before Lynx opened her mouth to greet anyone, Malika dragged her in front of Axel’s nephews and niece. Sebastian, a good-looking lad who reminded Axel of Stefan at that age, was a little older than Nicholas. His brother, Dominic, was a tad younger, and precious little Ivana was nine.

  Despite overtly supporting Lukan, Stefan had been insistent at his children’s births that none of them be embedded with ice crystal gemstones next to their eyes. Being in Treven had helped, so none of the three wore stones.

  “Sebastian, Dominic, and Ivana, this is Lynx,” Malika enthused. “She’s the reason we live here in Treven. She’s the reason you’re free from the confines of the palace, unlike your poor cousins. She’s the reason you’re safer than any children in the empire.”

  Three sets of big brown eyes stared with open admiration at Lynx. Then the children bowed.

  Lynx blushed. “Malika, really! I had nothing to do with any of that.”

  Stefan’s big hand dropped onto her shoulder. “You sell yourself short. Do you really think Axel would have formed the Pathfinder Alliance if Lukan hadn’t imprisoned you?”

  Axel couldn’t resist a smile that Stefan had echoed his own words to Lynx.

  Lynx smiled back at Axel and then at Stefan. “So Axel tells me. It’s good to see you again, Stef.”

  “You too, Lynx.” Stefan nodded at his children. “Head off upstairs until the picnic is served.”

  The two boys obeyed without murmur, but Ivana ran across to Axel, grabbed a hug and a kiss, and then scampered off after her brothers. Her aff
ection made his heart sing.

  Stefan took Lynx’s elbow and turned her to face the kings. They bowed to her.

  Lynx’s blush threatened to consume her face.

  Axel smiled derisively. “See, I told you. You worried for nothing.”

  He rescued her from Stefan and pulled her toward him. She leaned into him, almost as if she needed support. That surprised him, but he wrapped his arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

  King Jerawin bowed his head over his tented fingers. “Empress Lynx, I am deeply sorry about the loss of your son. If there is anything we”—he gestured at King Chad—“can do, you only need ask.”

  Lynx smiled her thanks. “As I have already said, I have every confidence that we will soon find him.” She turned to Axel. “Isn’t that right?”

  In the interest of keeping his allies happy, Axel nodded. “Of course. There’s no doubt about that.” He turned to Stefan. “I need to speak to you. Your help may be needed.”

  “Then it’s just as well that I have some news,” Stefan said dryly. “Felix contacted me. He wants to cut a deal. About Nicholas.” He gestured to benches craved out of stone, made comfortable with brightly colored cushions. “Sit, and I will explain.”

  Axel’s entire body stiffened at the mention of his father’s name. Untrustworthy Felix Avanov was the last person in the world he wanted to negotiate with. But pragmatist that Axel was, he forced himself to relax as he sat: Felix was also potentially the best person to talk to about Nicholas as he was the one who had embedded the boy and then imprisoned him. Whatever happened with their negotiations, Axel intended to walk away from the deal with far more than his estranged father got out of it.

  Lynx sat next to him, twitching impatiently as the others picked their seats and then got comfortable.

  Axel leaned in to whisper, “Patience, my love.” He added, gravely, “Please leave negotiating with Felix to me.”

  Lynx frowned, and for a second, he thought she’d argue, but she nodded and whispered, “You know what my goals are, right?”

  “You have made them abundantly clear.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Then you have the floor.”

  Stefan pulled out his informa. He held it up. “Can I call him up?”

  “I have no desire to commune with that snake.” Chad’s furrowed face spoke his hatred of seventeen years of Chenayan occupation of his land. This very chamber under the palace, with its hot-spring-fed swimming pool, had once been his, before the Chenayan invasion. Now he visited as an invited guest, who slunk in and out of his old home under the shadow of secrecy.

  “Me neither,” King Jerawin added, “but I would like to hear what the bastard is offering.”

  “Fine. We keep you out of the picture.” Axel nodded at Stefan. “Call him up.”

  Lynx’s fingernails dug into Axel’s hand as Stefan fiddled with his informa.

  A flicker of light, and Felix burst into the air in front of Stefan. Instead of his usual hideous green cloak, Felix wore a hideous green dressing gown. It was the small hours of the morning in Cian. He looked paler and older than he had at the cottage.

  Axel felt no pity for the conniving scoundrel.

  From the pictures of Malika and her family behind him—Axel’s face was conspicuous by its absence—it looked like he was in his private quarters.

  Felix cleared his throat noisily. “Stefan, my son. I am glad for this opportunity to meet with you. I take it you have discussed my offer with my other son and the empress?”

  “Welcome, Father,” Malika said.

  A smile melted Felix’s face. “Malika! I did not expect you. How are my dear grandchildren?”

  “We’re not here to exchange pleasantries,” Axel said.

  “Axel! Even better.” Felix’s eyes darted around, but with the camera facing Stefan, he would not have seen Axel. “Perhaps you would step in front of the informa.”

  Axel remained at Lynx’s side. “Make your offer.”

  An expressionless pause from Felix. He slowly lifted his hand with two severed fingers and clasped his dressing gown with the remainder of his digits.

  Making a point?

  If so, Axel felt no remorse.

  “So be it. Axel, as Stefan will have informed you, I have hinted over the past months that Lukan is planning something that will have a grave impact on us all.”

  Another pause. Did Felix expect a comment?

  When none was forthcoming, he continued. “I would love to tell you exactly what that is, but as I said at the cottage, I have to protect your mother. By giving you Lynx, I have bought us some time. With your help—”

  King Jerawin chose that moment to sneeze. He threw up is hands, his face contorted in a universal sign of apology.

  Felix’s cunning eyes scanned across the image. “Stefan. Axel. When are you going to introduce me to the rest of the people in that chamber?”

  The Lapisian king looked pained at being the cause of the interruption.

  Instead of being irritated by it, Axel was pleased. He suspected—hoped—Felix would cut the link. That would give him a moment to speak to Stefan about this so-called threat. Once he had Stefan’s answers, he would call Felix back.

  As Felix clearly wanted something, hence the call, Axel didn’t doubt that the man would be standing by.

  “They are of no concern to you,” Axel replied to Felix.

  “Then I cannot negotiate. Good day, Axel.”

  “No. Wait.” Lynx leaped to her feet just as Felix’s image flickered and died. She slapped her forehead. “He knows where Talon is.”

  Axel frowned at her. “I know that, and I’m handling it. But first I need to know what threats Felix is warning us of.”

  She sat and folded her hands in her lap. “Sorry. I—”

  “No words needed.” Axel squeezed her hand and turned to Stefan. “You attend High Council meetings. Have you heard any mutterings that corroborate this disaster Felix keeps hinting at?”

  “Not a word. And I’ve been listening because Felix has been more insistent of late that Malika and the children spend more time at the palace. You know how much we all hate being there.”

  “I struggle to get the boys to go for the grandparents’ birthdays,” Malika added. “Let alone for an unscheduled visit in summer.”

  Face serious, King Chad asked, “So we can put it down to Felix’s usual scaremongering?”

  “It’s Felix’s style to blackmail people into doing what he wants,” Stefan said.

  Axel nodded. “Agreed. But as Lynx says, he knows where Nicholas is. Chad, Jerawin? Staying? Leaving?”

  “Spirits forbid it ever be said that the King of Treven is fearful of the Chenayan dog. If Jerawin stays, so do I.”

  Jerawin raised a hand. “It’s my fault this happened. I will reveal myself if it helps return the Light-Bearer to us.”

  Axel turned to Stefan. “No doubt Felix is waiting for me to capitulate. Get him back.”

  Within seconds Felix’s image reappeared.

  Axel took the informa from Stefan and tilted it around the room. “Stefan. Malika. Lynx. Chad. Jerawin. No one else. Now, what are you putting on the table?”

  If Felix was surprised to see the two kings, he didn’t show it.

  “Son, in essence, nothing you haven’t already heard. If Lukan is threatening my family, then I have no more use for him as emperor. But the old problem remains. He is protected by the Dmitri Curse, so we cannot kill him.”

  “Let Talon go, and he will take care of Lukan in a heartbeat,” Lynx interrupted.

  Axel smiled. “I’ll second that.”

  “Is that what you want for your son, Lynx? To be a murderer?” Felix demanded. “For that is what your Talon will have to become to get rid of Lukan.”

  “It would not be murder,” she said defensively. “He will merely be doing what he was born to do.”

  “He’s such a loving boy,” Felix soothed. “I always thought that while I watched him in your cottage. So gentle
and caring. Respectful, too, of you and Tao. How long will that last if last if he has to bloody his hands?”

  “And being in prison isn’t going to change that innocence?” Lynx yelled.

  Lynx was allowing Felix to manipulate her emotions. Axel touched her arm, hoping to calm her; Felix would play havoc with her mind if she let him. She shivered with rage at Felix under his touch.

  “Of course it will change him. My dear, that is inevitable. The trouble is that you have expectations that cannot—”

  Axel interjected before Felix could continue his manipulation. “Is Nicholas awake?”

  “Yes, and showing a stubbornness of spirit that would leave even his mother breathless.”

  “It’s called character,” King Jerawin butted in. “A trait very ill-distributed amongst some of you Avanovs.”

  Pride infused Lynx’s face for her son.

  Felix leaned forward in his chair, his expression more open than Axel had ever seen.

  He instantly doubted Felix’s integrity.

  “My dear Lynx, Nicholas has shown no interest in the Dmitri Curse or in his role as savior of Chenaya. Another good reason why setting him on Lukan would not help us.”

  “He has other more important things to worry about. Like avoiding your torture. And I’m sure if you freed him, he’d have no trouble slitting both your and Lukan’s throats,” Lynx shot back.

  Felix’s maimed hand trailed to his neck. “Which is precisely why his release has to be carefully controlled.”

  Lynx hissed in a breath.

  Fearful of more manipulation, Axel tilted the informa to look at Felix. “Let me get this straight. You actually expect me to believe that you want to release Nicholas?”

  “Son, I want to negotiate all manner of things with you, the Light-Bearer being one of them.”

  “The slime ball hasn’t confirmed his intention to free Nicholas,” Lynx said pointedly.

  “Noted.” Axel squeezed her hand, just as pointedly. “Patience is running thin here, Felix. Get to the point.”

  “Very well. As a show of good faith, I am willing to give up my ice crystal dreams. Without a mass rollout of ice crystals, we no longer need to wage war in Treven. Chad can have his country back.” A mocking smile aimed at Axel. “And all those vermin troops you worry so much about can heave a sigh of relief. They will get to live out their pointless lives in peace.”