XVI

Heavy keys turned the lock at the end of the corridor and the large door to his section of the dungeon slammed open. Arlian could make out the footsteps of at least two people—one of them was surely the guard, but the other—when she came into sight, Arlian was both elated and crestfallen that Mariel had to see him like this.

“Arlian!” she called, running to his cell.

“Mariel.”

“When I heard, I came straight away, but they wouldn’t let me see you. I’ve been waiting all this time. My love—why is this happening? They say you tried to assassinate King Dalthyn.

“Lies.”

But of course, it was true, but no one could have known his motives, not at any time, except maybe Gracian, and it was still a stretch. Arlian was the Captain of the Castle Watch. He had the right to bear his blade if he sensed danger of any kind, and for any reason.

“I want you to go.”

“What?” Mariel said. “But I had to see you—Arlian, we have to get you out of here. We can speak to Kandrion. Surely he can do something?”

“He knows I’m here, Mariel.” He let that hang in the air for a moment. Then he continued. “But Balthazar…” he shook his head. “Someone killed the king. And it might as well be me.”

“How can you say that?”

The guard was listening in—the whoreson. Arlian lowered his voice. “It’s not safe. Go home, Mariel. Better yet, leave Aevalin. Take the King’s Road and go to Haven where your cousins live. Get far away from here.”

“I can’t—no, I just can’t!”

He reached his arms out of the cell and put them on her cheeks. They kissed. The last sweet thing in Arlian’s life. Mariel’s lips trembled.

“You need to prepare to leave the city—“

“No, I won’t leave you.”

“Go to the town of Moorbrook,” he said. “If I don’t meet you there soon, forget about me. Do as I say. Go to Haven.”

“I refuse. I’ll speak to Kandrion and ­­make him do something!”

He looked away, feeling defeated. Helpless. “Everything is about to change. I fear for you. The world we know will soon be gone—replaced by an unending nightmare of death and misery. An age of dungeons and monsters.”

The look on her face pained him. She was a brave woman, but the shock and the deep seated terror below the surface, he could see. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop this from happening.”

“Your time is over,” the guard said.

“No, wait!” Mariel said, “Please. Just a moment more.”

He grabbed her by the arm. “I’ll wait for you!” she said. She grabbed his hands, kissed him once more as her tears began to fall.

The guard pulled her away, their hands breaking contact. Mariel reached out for him and it was all Arlian could do not to weep for his wife.

“I’ll wait for you, Arlian! No—get off me! Let go! Arlian—I’ll wait—my love, I swear! I will wait!”

He swallowed, slinking back into his dark cell and fell on the hay piled against the back of the cold stone wall. “We are… all doomed,” he muttered.

She didn’t hear him. He hadn’t wanted her to.

The door was shut and the keys scraped into the lock. Imminent execution. Arlian was the lucky one. “Mariel. I’m so, so sorry…”

Prince Balthazar would reign. The Grand Mage Klause Schuar would open a new tear—a gash into a world of evil and dark magic and all their avaricious dreams would come to fruition.

The Schuarists would believe they secured a victory for the good of the world, but the fools would bitterly rue the day that fell upon them.

Mariel…

Suddenly his anger welled and he leapt from the hay at the cell bars and slammed his fists against them. “We are all doomed! WE ARE ALL DOOMED—ALL DEADALLOFUSDEAD!!!”

No one heard him screaming.