A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Twenty-One

"Finagale?"

I sat up with a start. Kassia was leaning against the bars of our cell, flanked by two large Deorans. How they had managed to sneak up on me, I had no idea. Castin looked just as startled, and Kovin was still asleep. I got to my feet and walked over to the bars, stopping just far enough that she couldn't touch me if she reached through. She wasn't going to fall for an act, so I didn't bother with one.

"Finally decided to come deal with me?" I asked, crossing my arms.

The guards on either side of her bristled, and Kassia smiled. Her bright, fake smile. "Finn, remember what I told you last time about watching your tone?"

"What do you expect me to do? Bow and call you 'my lady'?" I asked. "Or would Kel Kassiandra be more appropriate?"

"Kel? I'm not a woman knight," she said, waving away the suggestion. "No, Lady Kassiandra is about as accurate as you can get in Teltish. In any case, I don't care about what you call me. I care about your tone. I can forgive your rudeness, because I think it has its charms. Kalvahi and the king aren't going to feel the same way. You might not believe it, but I don't exactly want you see you tortured and executed."

"Not when Castin and Kovin are here to threaten," I said.

She nodded. "Accuse me of being cruel if it makes you feel better. It isn't my fault we're on opposite sides of this war. If King Zianna interrogated a Deoran prisoner, you'd probably consider it just, wouldn't you?"

She was wearing a red dress made of some sweeping, airy material. Jewellery sparkled at her neck and around her wrists. Her hair was draped over her shoulder in elegant waves. She wouldn't dress up to impress me, and suddenly her appearance and her words clicked together.

"You're taking me to the king?"

"Imagine that," she said. "A nobody thief meeting with not one, but all three monarchs. When the king heard that my prisoner had been in meeting rooms with both King Zianna and Queen Navire, he insisted he have a chance to meet you as well. He'll be disappointed, I expect. You're not the noble folk hero the stories make you out to be."

I tried to ignore the fluttery fear in my stomach. I didn't want to meet the king. Queen Navire had made me nervous enough, and she had been nothing but friendly. King Deorun wasn't going to be friendly. I grasped desperately at the only idea that came to me. "Maybe you shouldn't take me to him. I don't think you really want him to see who ruined your plans in Zianna."

She titled her head and tutted. "Finagale, I'm not that vain."

"Take me." Castin appeared at my side. I flinched, only to mentally curse at myself for it. Castin could move quietly, but he shouldn't have managed to surprise me.

Kassia was still looking at me. I suspected she recognized my flinch for what it was. "Go sit down, Castin. This has nothing to do with you."

"Your king can torture me." Castin's voice was hard and steady. "He'll never know the difference. We're both nobody thieves."

The situation was quickly getting away from me. I saw interest spark in Kassia's eyes, and I saw the determined set of Castin's jaw. The fear I was feeling blossomed into panic. "No." I didn't sound nearly as firm as Castin had. "Kassia, no, leave him alone."

With one finger, Kassia beckoned him closer. I reached out, but he stepped past my arm without pause. Once he was close enough, Kassia slipped an arm through the bars and plucked at the pair of cords around Castin's neck. The pendants slipped out from under his tunic, and Kassia let them settle on his chest. One was the carved Tros and Anniva amulet I had given him in Zianna. The other was a chip of white stone, rough and unpolished, hastily wrapped and attached to a cord.