“Stupid bitch,” he seethes. “If I weren’t getting paid to deliver you intact, you’d feel the length of my sword for that little stunt.”
I’m shaking with anger and fear as I get to my feet. “You killed them. Those guards outside—”
“And whose fault is that?” he roars, so incensed that spittle flies through the slot. Lank black hair falls over his sweat-dotted brow. “If you’d kept your mouth shut, they’d still be alive.”
I stare at him—at the crazed glint of hatred in his eyes—and know there is little point in arguing. Steeling my shoulders, I ask, “Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t need to explain myself to the likes of you.”
“Coin, then? It must be.” My head tilts in contemplation. “I wonder, Gower…what is the going rate for betrayal these days?”
“I owe you no loyalty, bitch. I didn’t betray you.”
“Maybe not. But you betrayed your leader. Your prince. And I’m certain he will be less than forgiving when he finds out.”
He flinches ever so slightly at my words. “He’s not going to find out.”
I laugh. “You’re delusional. You really think you can kidnap me and no one will notice?”
“I have a plan—”
“I’m guessing whatever plan you had went to hell the minute you killed those guards outside.”
Gower’s eyes flash with wrath. “You know nothing!”
“I know Penn will kill you for this,” I whisper in a bald voice. “There is no place you can run, no place you can hide. He will hunt you down wherever you go. His face will be the last you see before your pathetic existence is snuffed out like a flickering candle.”
“I have fought beside Pendefyre for years. You have been around for…what? A handful of weeks?” His voice is sheer malice. “He may enjoy bedding you, but I assure you, he will hardly mourn your loss. No one will. You may be of importance to our enemies, but all in Caeldera will forget you long before I’ve reaped the rewards of this exchange.”
His words knife through me, but I keep my expression still and calm as the waters at the center of my mind’s eye. “Is that how you justify your actions, Gower? The reward purse outweighs your conscience? Assuming you have a conscience, that is. Doubtful, seeing as you’ve kidnapped me for a bit of extra coin.”
“Not a bit of extra coin, you stupid bitch! Efnysien is offering immortality for the one who delivers you to him!”
I struggle to keep my shock buried beneath a mask of indifference.
Gower’s eyes go unfocused, as though he is not fully there. Not fully seeing me or speaking to me. “Deliver the girl, get tolive forever. His scouts have spread the missive far and wide. It’s only a matter of time before someone takes him up on the bargain. Why not me? Why should I not benefit from your existence? Your life for mine. A fair trade if I ever heard one. Who in his right mind would resist such a reward?”
My eyes scan his face more intently. I have never looked at him—reallylooked at him—before. He is always scowling at me or storming off before I can study him with any sort of acuity. But now, seeing him up close for the first time, I notice a faint yellowing of his skin. A jaundiced undertone I have observed in sickly babes and dying men. His eyes, too, show signs of illness. They are ringed with deep shadows, their whites turned the dull shade of curdled cream. And there is a gauntness to his cheekbones at odds with the complexion of a healthy warrior.
“How long have you been dying, Gower?”
His gaze jerks back to mine, wide with shock. “What did you say to me?”
“You’re dying. I can see it clear as day. Judging by your pallor, you’ve been ill for quite a while now.” I take a swing in the dark, hoping my guess strikes home. “Has the vomiting begun? The bloody stools? The burning bile in your throat?”
“Shut up!”
“Your reaction suggests that it has,” I say softly. “You must be in a great deal of pain.”
“You have no idea. No idea what—” He chokes into silence, his teeth gnashing together to contain his words. “It doesn’t matter. Soon, I will be healed. I will be immortal. And you…you will be dead.”
“No.”
His scowl darkens. “No?”
“No.” I shake my head at him, almost in pity. “I will not die.Not today, in any case. And not because of you, you miserable excuse for a man.”
“You little—”