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We travel down the steps and into the true dungeon rather than the secondary horror chamber we’d been chained in. The stench of piss fills my lungs as I descend into torch-lit darkness.
Seventeen guardsmen remain down here. Seventeen that we spared because they chose to lay their swords down. The rest are either out in the realm on Patrick’s orders or with him on that ship.
My gaze meets Griffyn’s through the bars. “Enjoying your stay?”
“Fuck off,” he snaps, his attention darting from me to Bowman then back to me.
“I need to know if you knew of Patrick’s identity. And before you answer, you should know I can tell if you’re lying.”
“And how is that? You clairvoyant?”
“I’m a Tenebris soldier,” I reply.
His eyes widen.
“Which means that I can hear your heart rate and will know if it increases. I can see clear enough to make out whether your pupils dilate or not. So—” I cross my arms. “Do I need to repeat the question, or can you answer truthfully?”
Griffyn looks to his men then turns back to me. “If you can tell I’m lying, how did you miss Patrick’s treachery?”
Not the king, I muse. But Patrick. “You’re right. I should have noticed it. But I was a bit preoccupied and wasn’t paying close enough attention. A mistake I will not make again.” My thoughts had been on Carleah. She was a distraction, and my inability to separate my feelings from my duty very nearly cost us all our lives, and it did cost Alysia hers.
“We were not aware of his true identity.”
Truth. “And were you aware that he wishes to unleash the giants upon this realm?”
“Giants?” Griffyn laughs. “They are but fiction.”
“I assure you they are not. Answer the fucking question.”
His expression turns serious. “No.”
“Legend says the giants are peaceful,” one of the guards says. “So why does it matter?”
“Because the legends are lies,” I reply. “The Tenebris and the giants are allies. It is why they gifted Nemoregno with vials and vials of blood so they could continue to build their armies.”
“What do you mean?” Griffyn questions.
I step closer to the bars. “The reason we are so much larger, faster, and stronger than you isn’t because of good breeding. It’s because they inject Nemoregno children with the blood. It fuses with ours and enhances all of our abilities.”
Griffyn’s eyes widen so far I can see an intense amount of white staring back at me. Every single one of his guards looks equally shocked, leading me to believe that none of them truly understood just who it is they’ve been serving.
“Why are you telling us all of this?”
“Because I need you to realize that my intentions are to stop that fucker from waking the giants and rescue Carleah Rossingol.”
“She’s his captive.”
“Yes. He kidnapped her and is going to use her blood to wake them.”
Griffyn’s face reddens. “She is his betrothed.”
“No. She’s mine,” I growl. “Her life does not matter to him,” I tell the soldier. “He will slaughter her for this goal just as he sent Tenebris soldiers to kill every Navalis man, woman, and child.”
At that, all of the men in the cells stand. “He killed them?” Griffyn growls. “I had family in Navalis. Friends.”
I move closer to the bars. “And they’re all dead because of the king you served.”
“That little brat was never our king,” a guard at the back growls.
