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Before I could reply, his red phoenix plunged us into shadow as it swept over the opening forty feet above us. The bird’s bright red feathers and long, swooping tail were beautiful in the way brightly coloured tree frogs were back home. Touch one, and you die.

It circled again and then landed at the edge of the hole, its talons digging into the side. Then it lowered its head and twisted it. One eye fixed on me with terrible intelligence.

“Leave him,” I forced out.

Draga’s lips curved faintly, but it was almost as if he was hiding a small sliver of regret. “I can’t.”

His fingers twitched, and fire lashed across the chamber. Tavin screamed until all the air had left his lungs.

I choked out a cry and lunged instinctively, and the Rider holding me slammed me back against the rock, hard enough to bruise bone. My shoulder cracked painfully against the wall as rough hands held my bound wrists behind my back. The fire chain bit deeper into my throat, tightening with every movement.

“Stop,” I said, because the word came before pride.

Draga tilted his head at me then, much the same way his bird had done. There it was—the thing men like him waited for. The first crack.

“Answer me,” he murmured. “Who is the Princess Royal?”

Who, not where.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The flames constricted. My knees buckled, but the Rider behind me held me upright as pain flared down my spine and over my shoulders. My vision blurred at the edges.

“Lies won’t work.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “My father has a long love affair with getting the truth out of women. Breaking them.”

“Weak men normally do.” I glared at him.

The slap came fast enough that I tasted blood before I felt the blazing sting of the impact. My head snapped sideways. The Rider beside Draga lowered his hand slowly and sneered.

Draga glowered at him. He shrugged and replied, “Wanted to see if she was all talk.”

Metallic blood flooded my mouth, and I spat it at him.

“Your father made you arrogant.” Draga ripped me from the Rider holding me and shoved me against the wall. Shards of rock dug into my shoulders.

“If I had an uncle, he probably would have made many mistakes in my education, but cowering in front of the enemy wasn’t one of them.” I had never agreed with how my uncle ruled. That’s the thing with being a child: you can love your family, but hate what they do to others. Back then, I had no choice. But now I knew differently, and my cousins and I would be better.

Blood had seeped out from my lip and dripped onto the rubble at my feet. “I was thirteen when I was taken to the Barren, and everything after that was painful.” Pain was what I was well practised in receiving. Pain made me feel alive when so much of me was dead.

For the first time, irritation flickered across his face. I wasn’t what he had expected, and men like Draga didn’t like to be taken off guard. He wanted a simpering princess, not the hardened criminal I had become. And, Gods, if he caught up to Thorn, he would really meet his match.

“My prince,” the Rider behind me muttered. “The tunnels are stirring.”

From beyond the chamber came the rising roar of voices. Boots beating on stone. The hidden city had realised Riders were inside it.

Tavin tried to push himself upright. He was alive. Just.

“Don’t,” I whispered.

He peered at me through clouded eyes, and shame clawed through my ribs. I had brought this to him.

Draga noticed. “Loyalty is a bad habit.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’ve spent most of my life surrounded by men who sell each other out.”

A low huff escaped him, as if he reluctantly agreed with me. “You’ll make the journey interesting, and my father will enjoy making a spectacle out of you while I hunt down the other two. They left the same night as you. And we have the scent of two of you already. One might be held by Zeph, but the other one…”

I forced blankness to cover my face, but it was too late, because his smile spread wider.