“What are you doing?” I burst out. “He’s supposed to be tied up! He’s our prisoner.”
“Worry not. Where’s he going to go?” the Roach asks. “You really think he can get past all three of us?”
“I don’t mind being one-handed,” Cardan interjects. “But if you’re going to restrain both of my hands, then you’ll have to pour the wine directly into my mouth.”
“He told us where the old king kept the really good bottles,” says the Bomb, pushing back her white hair. “Not to mention a stash of jewelry that belonged to Elowyn. He figured that in the confusion, no one would notice if it got lifted, and so far, no one has. Easiest job the Roach has ever done.”
I want to scream. They weren’t supposed to like him, but why wouldn’t they? He’s a prince who’s treating them with respect. He’s Dain’s brother. He’s Folk, like them.
“Everything is spiraling into chaos anyway,” says Cardan. “Might as well have some fun. Don’t you think, Jude?”
I take a deep breath. If he undermines my position here, if he manages to make me an outsider, then I am never going to get the Court of Shadows to go along with the plan that is still jumbled up in my head. I can’t seem to figure out how to help anyone. The last thing I need is him making everything worse.
“What did he offer you?” I ask, like we’re all in on the same joke. Yes, it’s a gamble. Maybe Cardan didn’t offer them anything at all.
I try not to seem like I’m holding my breath. I try not to show how small Cardan makes me feel.
The Ghost gives me one of his rare smiles. “Mostly gold, but also power. Position.”
“A lot of things he hasn’t got,” said the Bomb.
“I thought we were friends,” Cardan says halfheartedly.
“I’m going to take him in the back,” I say, putting my hand on the top of the chair in a proprietary fashion. I need to get him out of the room before he gets the better of me in front of them. I need to get him away now.
“And do what?” asks the Roach.
“He’s my prisoner,” I remind them, squatting down and slicing through the strips of my dress still tying his legs to the chair. I realize he must have slept this way, sitting upright, if he slept at all. But he doesn’t look tired. He smiles down at me, as if the reason I’m on my knees is because I am curtsying.
I want to wipe that smile off his face, but maybe I can’t. Maybe he’ll go on smiling that way to his grave.
“Can’t we stay out here?” Cardan asks me. “There’s wine out here.”
That makes the Roach snicker. “Something bothering you, princeling? You and Jude don’t get along after all?”
Cardan’s expression shifts into something that appears to resemble worry. Good.
I lead him into Dain’s office, which I guess I’ve just commandeered for my own. He walks unsteadily, his legs stiff from being bound. Also possibly because he has helped my crew down several bottles of wine. No one stops me from taking him, though. I close the door and turn the lock.
“Sit down,” I tell him, pointing to a chair.
He does.
I walk around, settling myself on the other side of the desk.
It occurs to me that if I kill him, I can finally stop thinking about him. If I kill him, I won’t have to feel like this anymore.
Without him, there’s no clear path to putting Oak on the throne. I’d have to trust that Madoc had some way of forcing Balekin into crowning him. Without him, I have no cards to play. No plan. No helping my brother. No nothing.