Using the keys I had stolen from the sleeping guardsman, who had also had a generous portion of valerian-laced lamb stew, I wordlessly and soundlessly unlocked Maksim’s cell door, muffling the noise of the key in the lock with the cuff of my sleeve. Then, picking my steps carefully in the low light, I crept across his cell. Palming the keys to stop them from jingling, I allowed myself one kiss of his scruffy cheek before working methodically through the keys to find the one that fit the cuffs on his wrists. As soon as he had one arm free, he pulled me to him in an embrace.
“Are you okay?” I whispered into his ear, barely doing more than making the shape of the words on my out breath.
He nodded. “Are you?”
And I nodded, too, not willing to risk more than that.
I made short work of the second cuff, and he took me by the hand, leading me through the back entrance to the dungeons, which I unlocked with one of the least-used skeleton keys on the ring after sliding the tray of food under the door of the nearest cell. Whoever the prisoner was, he was in for a treat when he awoke—I’d brought the food from the royal kitchens, not the dungeon larder.
We didn’t say a word to each other as we wound our way through the secret warren of hidden passageways and back corridors of the castle. Not until we were safe and alone in his own quarters did we finally, finally, lock ourselves together in a long lover’s embrace.
I let go first, bringing him a glass of water and some food from the side table in his sitting chamber.
“Excellent idea,” he said, downing the water in a matter of gulps and setting to work on the apple that I’d handed him.
I sat down beside him, almost bubbling with the plan I had figured out. Staying was an absolute impossibility. But in the hours since I’d seen him, I’d hatched what I felt was the only answer for the two of us to escape this dreadful place and finally have a shot at a happy life together. “There is a boat leaving for Zeylos at first light. We can go there to the southern islands. I have just enough coin saved to get us that far. And then we can disappear.”
He was shaking his head before I’d even finished the sentence. I’d known he’d fight me on my idea, but I hadn’t known he’d be outright dismissive.
“No fucking way. I’m fighting Galen for you at dawn. I’m claiming you as mine, in public. I’m not going to give you a life on the run, Anika.”
The sinking feeling that had threatened to engulf me for the last few days began to take a firmer hold. Maria had learned from the gossip mill that there were two things everybody said about Prince Galen. First, that he was a sorry excuse for a human being. But second, that his skills as a swordsman were second-to-none. He had been trained from the day he could hold a sword. He had fought, and won, a hundred battles. He had never lost a duel. And he always fought to the death.
Maksim’s skills with swords and knives were excellent as well; I’d seen that firsthand many times. But I knew in my gut he was up against someone far more skilled than he was. And someone who had no problem killing for sport.
Tough as Maksim was, he was no monster. I’d seen him kill on my behalf, but that was in the heat of an attack or an ambush. It was dirty, bloody and wild. And perhaps, in a back alley or an alehouse, he would have the upper hand over Galen. But I couldn’t imagine him in a formal, sanctioned duel. And I didn’t want to be the one to put him in that position, either.
I grabbed Maksim’s hand in mine. “Please. Please don’t do this. I can’t bear the thought of a life without you.”
He took my cheek in his hand and pulled me closer. “I will win you. I will keep you. Because you’re my fucking destiny. That’s all there is to it.” He rose, tossing his apple core aside.
“Maksim, please…”
He shook his head.
“I’m not backing down,” he said, and then opened up the big bureau on the far side of the room. Inside were a dozen gleaming longswords. And Maksim chose the biggest one, from the very center, which had the hawk sigil of his mother’s family on the hilt.
The dawn sun emerged from the clouds just as Maksim and I approached the edge of the tree line on horseback. Behind us rode Aiden and Maria. Hardly a week earlier, I’d dreamt of the four of us riding like this. But in my dreams I had been happy. Now, I was filled with nothing but dread.