The fact is that I wasn’t prepared to die. Not only would I be dead, but even worse, it would prove everyone right who had called me a fool for coming here. Besides, it would give Gregor the last laugh, and I had no intention of dying and allowing him that satisfaction. However, I assumed that Devlin probably had no plans to die either. One of us would have to lose. I hoped it was him.
The pirates formed a rowdy and uneven circle around us. Imogen was left outside the circle, but I preferred that. If things did go badly, I didn’t want her to have to see it. I mumbled my wish for the devils to use their mischief against Devlin, rather than me. It was a fair request. The devils had spent a lot of time on me lately.
Agor tossed my sword into the ring, requiring me to dive close to Devlin to retrieve it. I leapt at it and quickly rolled away from him. He stabbed at the ground and caught the back of my shirt, which snagged for a second before I tore free.
Devlin had punched his sword so deeply into the ground that he needed both hands to tug it out. I used that opportunity to slash his ankle. He yelped and brought his sword up at me as it came loose. I blocked it with my sword, though I had to roll on my back to do it. When he reared up for a second swipe, I kicked hard at his knees, knocking him backward.
Around us, the crowd was cheering for Devlin. I didn’t detect anyone calling my name, at least, not without some wish for my death attached to it. No big surprise there.
While Devlin stumbled away, I jumped to my feet and ran for him. He recovered and we locked swords. It was obvious that he was far stronger than I. I could block his blows but only with considerable effort, and mine seemed to have little more impact than if I’d tossed feathers at him.
However, I had the advantage of being a smaller target and was much quicker on my feet, so it was easier to dodge his hits and swipes. I was also younger, so I decided to make him move as much as possible, to tire him. Gradually, that seemed to be working. His sword still struck mine ferociously, but his reaction time was slowing. I used the gaps to work in extra hits.
He attacked to my right, which I blocked, but it knocked me off balance. He used the moment to switch hands, and so I charged forward, piercing his shoulder. Devlin cried out and fell back. With his weaker arm and with his injury bleeding profusely, I finally gained the advantage.
I increased the speed of my sword, forcing him back against the crowd, which had now largely fallen silent. They gave him no leeway and for the first time it occurred to me that there might be several who liked the idea of losing Devlin as their king. However, that didn’t mean any of them wanted me to have the job.
Devlin dropped his sword and I exhaled, relieved that this fight was about to be over. But his other hand swung at me from behind his back, and I ducked when I realized what he was holding.
“That’s my knife!” I scowled, insulted that he had attempted to kill me using my own weapon. I hammered his arm with the flat edge of my blade. His reflexes reacted and the knife fell. He started toward it but I kicked his thigh, knocking him to the ground.
Devlin put an arm in the air for mercy and slowly rose to his knees. I kept my sword at his neck as I crouched low enough to pick up my knife. “Thanks for not making me steal this. That was going to be a lot of work.”
Devlin bowed his head. “Sage . . . Jaron, spare my life, I beg you.”
“If you want to live, then release Imogen first.”
“Devlin has no authority to release her, even to save his own life,” Agor said, stepping forward. “She still must answer for violating the pirate code.”
“But I can save you, Jaron,” Devlin grunted, and held his wounded shoulder. “If you kill me, my pirates will never accept you as their king. From the instant I fall, your rule will be challenged by one pirate after another until your strength eventually fails. So if you give me my life, I’ll give you yours. I’ll let you go free, and the pirates will never come against you again.”
“If this is a sincere offer, tell me the names of anyone else in my court with any connection to you.”
Devlin growled, but I kept the point of my blade at his neck. To encourage the conversation, I gave him a scratch and he said, “There’s no one else. After Conner’s failure, Gregor was our only remaining connection to your court.”
I withdrew the blade slightly. “And do I have your word on this?”
“Yes.” He looked up at me. “Please.”
“Then I accept your offer. With one exception. If I can trade one life for yours, then it must be Imogen’s. Let her go. Assure me she has safe passage away from here.”
Devlin blinked in disbelief. “And what happens to you?”
“You have me. But she walks free.”
“Then release her yourself.” Devlin grunted at the men behind us, “You heard this fool’s bargain. Move aside!”
The crowd parted, revealing Imogen behind them. Tears stained her cheeks and new drops fell again when she saw me. I reached for the ropes around her wrists and began untying them.
“This can’t happen,” Imogen said. “There must be another way. If you finished it with Devlin —”
“He was right. If I took his place as king right now, they’d kill me first and then come for you. At least this way, one of us walks free.”
“Then let it be you,” Imogen said. “You must save your kingdom.”
“You will save it. You must return to Drylliad and expose Gregor’s treachery.”
“No, Jaron. They’re going to kill you!”
Getting killed wasn’t in my plans, although admittedly, the outlook wasn’t presently as good as I would’ve liked. But Devlin still needed me to find that cave. I had some time.
I glanced back at the pirates. Several were tending to Devlin’s shoulder but many more looked my way with fisted hands, waiting for the order to take me. I knew what would happen when they did, and it terrified me. But I didn’t want Imogen to see, didn’t want her to know. The thought of it made my own hands shake, and I had trouble loosening the rest of the rope.
Panicked, Imogen touched my cheek with her free hand. “A king would give his life for his country. But I’m asking you to save it, and not just for me. If you fall, all of Carthya falls.”
Unable to loosen the knot on her right hand with my trembling fingers, I used my knife to slice through the rope. She pulled free, then wrapped her arms around me and said, “If there’s any friendship between us, then you must do what I ask. There has to be a way for you to leave. Find that, and come with me, please. It’s not too late.”
Forcing myself to concentrate, I leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “This isn’t over. I didn’t come here to fail.”
“And I didn’t come here to lose you!” Her fingers dug into my shoulders with the desperation she felt. “All that’s left is for you to run. If you won’t do that for me, then do it for your people. Don’t they matter to you?”
“Of course they do.” It hurt that she’d suggest otherwise. I closed my eyes, almost too full of emotion to breathe. But when I opened them again my voice was firm. “Take Mystic and get to Drylliad. Do not come back here. Ever.”
Before she could respond, several pirates grabbed me from behind. They removed my sword and took the knife. Again. I didn’t resist, except for what it took to watch Imogen as she ran to Mystic and leapt on his back. She paused when she saw me and looked for a moment like she might try fighting Devlin herself.
“Go!” I yelled at her.
With tears streaming down her face, Imogen nodded, then kicked at Mystic’s side and disappeared into the woods.
By this time, Devlin had been given a chair and his shoulder was wrapped in a bandage. He’d need better care soon, but it would do for now. They brought me to face him and forced me to my knees at his feet. Refusing to kneel, I shifted my legs into a sitting position. That only amused him temporarily.
“You made an oath to me,” Devlin said. “Can we agree that you violated it?”
Not by my definitions, but again, Devlin wasn’t the type to debate the subtleties of word meanings. And possibly even then I had violated it.
“Any chance we can bypass the cruelest method of death and settle this over a game of cards?” I asked.
Devlin chuckled lightly. “Are you afraid?”
Afraid didn’t even begin to describe the terror I felt. Pinched behind me, my hands still shook. But I was angry with myself too. Because for all my good intentions, it was obvious that I had been wrong to come here. There were so many who would pay for my mistakes.
Devlin leaned in toward me. “You should be afraid. Because I still have my whip and my map of Carthya. I’ll give you as many lashes as it takes until you’re ready to disclose the location of that cave.”
He nodded at whoever was holding me. They yanked me to my feet and dragged me to the same post where Imogen had been tied only moments ago. Dried blood stained the wrist holds of the post. I briefly wondered whose it was and what they’d done to earn a place here. Whoever it had been, the blood had probably come from them trying to pull their hands free. The pirates would let me get to the same point of desperation, I was sure of that. I was equally certain that when they finally did decide to kill me, I’d be grateful for it.
As they began to tie me, I wanted to yell out, to release some of my fear that way, but I held it in. Imogen wouldn’t be that far from here yet, and I didn’t want her to know what was about to happen. If it was possible to scream on the inside, though, I was, and the sound of it was deafening.
