A Kingdom of Lies (Realm of Fey #2)

CHAPTER 28

I’d never seen so many Hunters in one place. There was a sea of them, a stain of leather-clad bodies passing across Durmain’s landscape. They snaked in an organised path, one smudge of darkness which paraded along the ground towards the glint of a city in the distance.

The ledge upon which we’d made camp jutted over the landscape, giving a perfect view for miles upon miles. Duncan had promised we were close to Lockinge as we had stopped here the night prior. In the belly of darkness, it was impossible to see anything for proof.

Now, in the fringes of dawn when the sky was blushed with pinks and deep orange tones, I could see it, a faint jutting of grey among the notoriously flat landscape. Lockinge. Capital of Durmain. A place I’d never been allowed to venture even remotely close to as per my father’s warnings. Of course, back then, I’d not understood why he’d wished to keep me from this place. Now, knowing what I did, it made perfect sense. Lockinge wasn’t a safe place, not with the Hand’s grip upon it, not for the likes of me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the prison of fey. It occupied my thoughts constantly, making my hands tremble. If only I could speak with Althea, determine how she got on with preparing numbers to come and aid me. So far there’d been no hint that a fey army followed – if they did the entirerealm would be alive with whispers. But I knew she’d never leave me, Ijust had to play the long game and keep focused.

Shrouded in thinning woodland, Duncan had felt it was the perfect place to sleep, until the heavy thumping sounded, waking us up to the horror of the army that moved in the distance. And that was what they were, an army of countless bodies marching across the ground below with only the heavy pounding of their feet to warn us that they were close.

It was impossible to shake the exhaustion that had made a home in my bones from the days of travel and lack of food. I had not seen my reflection in days, but if Duncan’s shadowed eyes and heavy features were anything to go by, I looked as terrible as I felt.

“Is this normal?” I asked, cautious to whisper even though we were leagues from any Hunter to hear us.

“No.” Duncan pursed his lips, eyes scanning the snaking shadow of Hunters as he too tried to make sense of what we were seeing. “The Hunters are in an abundance around Lockinge, but never have so many been seen close to the capital at the same time. It’s as though they have been called back. Previous commands from those above me have been to ensure my legion is spread. The further we are from one another the higher the chance of taking the bounty we need. But this… I can’t explain.”

His words set me at unease, seeing so many who would wish me harm. And throughout the crowd of my enemies, I saw countless cages. I couldn’t count on both hands how many I saw; each was stuffed full of figures. Fey . Being carted towards their final destination. They didn’t scream, nor fight, because there was no need. Those locked within the cages had given up; even from our distance I could feel it.

Where these Althea’s soldiers, those sent to help me? I hoped not, but still the idea made me sick to my stomach.

“And you still think you can get what you need from them?” I asked.

We had drafted a plan, one that required thievery. I was truly confident it would’ve worked, but seeing the numbers below had stabbed doubt within me.

“Regardless, it’s our only option. If we are to enter Lockinge together, it is with you at the end of an iron chain. Without it you will be cut down before stepping foot through the city’s outer suburbs. Birkhill is known for being the Hunter’s final checkpoint. The busier the town is, the less I’ll be noticed.”

The idea of Duncan separating from me was not my first choice, but it certainly was the only option. We’d planned for him to visit Birkhill, a town shadowed beneath the city. He would retrieve an iron cuff and return, alongside a horse if he could take one. It would give us entry to Lockinge without stirring much interest, and the iron cuff would certainly play into the story we had put together as to what had happened after the attack on our party all those days ago.

“There must be another way,” I pleaded, already knowing the answer as well as the lines upon my palms.

Duncan raised a finger and pointed to the dark shapes that flew over the army. “Those hawks mean that Trackers are among the numbers. If you are seen by those before we get a cuff back around your neck, you will draw the attention of that entire army. I know their kind. Kayne, someone I’m as close to trusting as any other, is one. They grow complacent that fey will not be roaming free this close to Lockinge, but one wrong step will ruin everything. Capturing their attention unprepared will not be wise.”

Kayne, the name rang a bell. He was the red-haired man I’d seen back in Finstock speaking to Duncan. I remembered the hawk, perched across his broad shoulder, and now put everything together about the creature’s purpose.

“Could Kayne be down there now?” I asked. “Maybe he will help you.”

“I would hope so. If something goes wrong tonight, then he would assist, I believe it. I don’t doubt his loyalty to me as a brother, more than a fellow Hunter. But even he cannot know about you – about us. Even brothers turn on each other when they go against a shared belief. I’m not ready to test our friendship, not under these circumstances. If I’m recognised, I am merely a lucky fucker who survived the attack on the party.” He gestured to his unkempt appearance. “I certainly look the part.”

“In and out,” I echoed something he had said to me the night prior.

“Indeed,” he replied, the sultry smile returning to his face. “And am I not an expert of that already? Trust in me, Robin. I go at dusk and will be back before the sun reveals itself tomorrow.”

“And if not?” I asked, the words no more than a whisper.

Duncan placed his hand upon my cheek, letting me melt into his touch. We cared little for the dirt and grime that had caked our bodies from the lack of washing. “If I don’t return, then I forbid you to come looking for me. Turn back. Return home. I cannot guarantee your safety if you come for me. Nor would I wish for you to risk going to Lockinge alone.”

“So, I’m expected to sit here and wait for you like a good little pup? I still think you are a fool to not let me come and help. I have the skill–”

“Skills that will have you killed before you can use them.” Duncan laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “If you walk into a town full of Hunters, they won’t see you as a king, but as a blood bag ready for draining. No, you stay here. Put your trust in me. And if I’m the one to fail, then you turn away. Understand?”

It took a moment to reply, and I couldn’t do it with words. Instead, I nodded, hating how difficult it was to lie to him.

“No more talk of this, okay?” Duncan said, placing a kiss between my brows. “We should rest whilst we can. We can’t afford to expend any unnecessary energy whilst being this close to Lockinge.”

Duncan was right. We did need to rest. But I wanted nothing more than to rain down my power across the army beneath us. Watching those cages being carted towards the city did not sit right with me. It turned my stomach into knots, discomfort repeatedly stabbing into my chest.

For all we had planned, nothing prepared me for when we’d finally enter Lockinge. Duncan would return to his act of general and me as a captured fey. Then what? We relied on his title, and mine, to get us through the doors. Duncan was still confident my presence as king of a fey court would be enough to get the Hand’s attention.

That did little to keep my anxieties at bay.

I missed Althea and Gyah. More times than I cared to count I would lose myself to what-ifs and maybes. What if I’d returned to Wychwood with them? Then I remembered what waited for me beyond the border.

Nothing.

An empty, abandoned Court. No family. No Erix. Doran Oakstorm and his endless petition against me. Just cold, endless, nothingness.

At least here, with Duncan, there was warmth. His body close to mine, his promise ringing loud and true in my head. But there was also the promise of saving the fey the Hand had captured. That was my focus. I wouldn’t leave without them.

Since leaving Finstock, this was by far the quickest day to pass. All we could do was watch as the seemingly endless army finally moved on until it was nothing but a dot on the horizon. We did so in silence. No matter how I willed the day to slow, for Duncan’s hold on me to carry on without any need to stop, dusk finally came and with it his departure.

“Remember, wait for me until dawn. If I don’t make it back, then you forget me and return home.”

Home. What a strange concept. It was a word I felt had no meaning to me anymore.

I gripped his cold, calloused hands and squeezed. “Duncan, don’t leave me until you promise you will come back. If we are bargaining promises, that’s what I need to hear from you.”

His hand cupped the side of my face, gently but shaking slightly. “I will do my best. But I also need to hear you say it – tell me you will not come after me.”

I couldn’t lie to him again. Instead, I looked up at him through my dark lashes, blinking slowly at him, fighting back tears. “I can’t help but feel as though this is a goodbye.”

Duncan leaned forward, pressing his brow to mine. “It is merely a see you soon, darling.”

My hands felt strange as he let go of them. They seemed to hover in the space they’d been as he turned away, straightening his jacket as he faced the dark path still visible through the tree line before us.

I waited, wrapped in the chill from the dropping evening temperature as Duncan took his first steps away from me. Just as he was to be engulfed in shadows Duncan paused, looking back at me with verdant eyes glinting and lips upturned. “I haven’t even left and already long to return to you, Robin Icethorn.”

I exhaled all the tension that had built within my chest. Smiling back at him, I clung to the hope that this plan would work, stealing his confidence. “Then get on with it and hurry back to me. Who knows, perhaps my bed will not be cold tonight after all.”