Chapter 16: The Cells of Hollin

I closed my fist around the ring until the gold bit into my palm.

"Alone," Jorund read over my shoulder.

"No," said Caelan.

"I'd hate to be rude to a man who writes such friendly notes, but no."

"No," I said.

We were dressed in the time it took the fire to settle.

The captain of the Chancellery guard was waiting in the street outside, in the shadow of the wall, with his helm under his arm.

The man who had wept at my feet in the ford had not slept either.

"My queen," he said.

"There is a postern under the north tower that the cooks use to carry slops."

"I have the key."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I swore to the king, and he is dead of something that wasn't his illness."

"If I am wrong, I will hang at dawn."

"You are not wrong," I said.

He led us through a stinking stone passage that dropped under the tower, with a lantern shuttered to a slit.

Two guards stood at the bottom with a table and a dice cup between them.

Caelan stepped out of the dark with a smile and a bottle of wine.

"Gentlemen," he said.

"Is this the way to the cells?"

The nearer guard stood, and Jorund hit him from behind.

The man dropped without a sound.

The other reached for his sword.

Caelan took the bottle by the neck and broke it on his helmet.

The guard folded onto the table, scattering dice.

"I'd have liked to drink that," Caelan said.

"You'll live," said Jorund.

They did not look at each other as they said it, and they were already moving in step.

We took the stairs down two at a time.

The cells of Hollin were cut out of the rock, a long corridor of iron doors with lamps in cages.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Three Wolves, One Irresistible Pull from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.