Capture (12 page)

The riders nodded as one and filed out of the room. Eldin then walked over to the soldiers, and after a few quiet words, only two of them remained.

“Ryneq is being held here,” Eldin said as he turned back to the table and jabbed his finger at the map. “The old castle is surrounded by water on all sides, apart from this land bridge. According to our scouts, it’s heavily guarded by Rodethian soldiers.”

“How about by boat?” one of the soldiers asked. “We have fishing boats down in the harbor, surely—”

Eldin shook his head. “From what I understand, the Neest River is at its most treacherous along here, with large pockets of shallow water and sandbanks.” He ran his finger over the blue line on the map, tracing its path alongside the castle. “Our fishing boats would ground themselves before ever reaching the castle walls.”

“What about using our dragons?” Selene pointed at the castle as she spoke. “We could attack from the air, while our soldiers attack from the ground.

Eldin looked thoughtful as he studied the map. From what Nykin could see, the tree line went almost all the way up to the castle before thinning out to nothing. The dragons would have no visibility until they were above the castle itself, and would have to fly down low to be effective, but still….

“It’s something to consider,” Eldin said, looking up at one of the soldiers for confirmation. “But there’s always the danger that they’ll kill the king as soon as we begin our attack. And then all this”—he waved his hand over the map and around the room—“will have been for nothing.”

Nykin opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly lost for words. If that were the case, then it wouldn’t matter what plan they came up with. “Do you think they’d do that?” Nykin asked eventually.

Eldin sat down, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on the edge of the table. “I wouldn’t put it past either Hatak or Seran. They’ll want to get as much information out of the king as they can, but I suspect they have no intention of letting him live afterward.”

“So they’d just kill him, rather than risk the chance of him being rescued?” Nykin fidgeted, scuffing his boots against the floor. He hated sitting there just talking when Ryneq was being held prisoner. Nykin needed to be doing something.

“Yes, Nykin. I believe they would.” Eldin sat back in his seat and rubbed his hand over his face. “Which hardly gives us any time to get him out of there once we start the attack.”

Nykin pulled out one of the other chairs and sat down next to Eldin, the others all following suit. He stared at the map. Even with the dragons attacking from above, they’d have to fight their way across the land bridge and into the castle. Once inside they’d still need to search for Ryneq, and he could be anywhere. No matter how you looked at it, Hatak and Seran would have ample time to kill Ryneq before they got anywhere near him.

Nykin slumped a little, feeling defeated before they’d even begun. If only they could offer something to trade for him. There must be something that would tempt the lowland armies enough to let Ryneq go. Nykin absently ran his fingers along the edges of the map, wishing that Cerylea and Nysad were here, because….

Nykin jolted upright and slapped his hands on top of the table. “We could offer them the princess.”

Four pairs of eyes turned to glare at him as though he was out of his mind, but it was Eldin who spoke first. “Nykin, the king would have our heads if we risked the princess’s safety like that, even if we did know where she was to start with.”

He looked a little disappointed with Nykin now, and Nykin knew that he wasn’t explaining himself properly. “Let me try again, please. I don’t think you understand.”

Eldin gestured for him to continue.

“By all accounts, Seran is the more reasonable of the two leaders. If he believed that in allowing Ryneq to escape it would lead them to Cerylea, then I think they could be persuaded to let Ryneq go. But instead of leading them to the princess, Ryneq would lead them to a nice open space where the dragon riders and the palace guard would be waiting to attack. Then we rescue Ryneq.”

Nykin glanced around the table, waiting to see what they thought of his plan. He was convinced it would work. If they could somehow get Seran to let Ryneq out of the castle, and then get him to follow Ryneq to an open area, then they stood a much better chance of getting Ryneq out alive. Nykin had a vague idea of how to do it too.

“There’s several things wrong with that plan, though.” The highest-ranking palace guard was looking at the map as he spoke. “Firstly, the best workable open space is along here”—he pointed to an area just below the edge of the forest, where Torsere met the Neest River on one side and the Nalvaq Sea on the other. “It’s far enough away from the Rodeth border, and there’s an abandoned village nearby that would provide good cover for our soldiers. But there’s no way either Seran or Hatak would want to come so far over into Torsere.”

“They would if they thought they were getting the princess,” Eldin mused, sitting up a little straighter now. “We know that they’ve been sending soldiers over the border to search for her already, and that area is far enough away from the palace that they won’t fear a full-out attack.” He looked over at the two soldiers for their input, and they nodded in agreement. “But how would we get in touch with Ryneq to put the plan into action? And how do we not only persuade Seran that Ryneq will lead them to Cerylea, but also to just
let
him escape? There’s also Hatak to convince. He won’t just stand by and let it happen.”

Nykin took a deep breath, steeling himself. This was the part that none of them was going to particularly like, but Nykin was prepared for that. It was his idea, after all. “We need to get someone else in the castle.”

Selene turned to glare at him. “You mean get someone else captured?” She narrowed her eyes, and Nykin quickly looked down at his hands. “Someone like you?”

“Yes.” Nykin held his hands up to stop them as they all started to talk at once. “It was my suggestion.”

“They’ll never go for it, and neither will Ryneq.” Eldin cut in, silencing the others. “Assuming you can get yourself captured without getting killed, and assuming you can persuade the king to agree to it”—he paused for effect—“how exactly will you convince either Seran or Hatak to allow you both to escape, and fool them into thinking that Ryneq will lead them to Cerylea?”

Nykin shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t exactly planned that far ahead. It had all come to him in a rush, and he’d kind of glossed over that part in his head. But there was really only one option now that he thought about it. “They’ll have to believe I’ve turned traitor and that I’m willing to betray the king and Torsere. I’ll convince them that Ryneq trusts me, and that if we escape, I can get him to go to Cerylea first, instead of back to the palace.”

Selene threw up her hands next to him. “Gods, Nykin.” She jabbed him in the shoulder and shook her head. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”

The soldiers shared a look between them. “If he wore the uniform of a high-ranking palace guard, then they might believe him. If Ryneq gave him small pieces of information to pass on to Seran and Hatak, then they might also believe that he’d turned traitor.”

Eldin sighed as he looked over at Nykin. “They’ll know that a palace guard would never betray the king. You’d have to be very convincing to make them believe otherwise.” Nykin’s stomach sank and Selene gasped next to him as Eldin’s meaning sank in. “You’d need to make them think that you had information, or something else worth keeping you alive for, and then they’d have to torture you, Nykin. You’d be forced to endure it until they believed that you absolutely couldn’t take any more and would do
anything
to make it stop.”

Nykin swallowed thickly, his heart beating rapidly as he imagined all the things that scenario might entail. All of it was far too awful for him to think about for any length of time, and his hands were already clammy from fear. But if this was the only way to rescue Ryneq, then so be it. He forced the fear and dread to the back of his mind and faced Eldin with as much conviction as he could muster. “I know what’s in store for me and that it won’t be pleasant.” Selene scoffed incredulously next to him. “But I still want to go.”

There was silence in the room. Nykin felt Selene’s eyes on him, and her hand had already reached out to grasp his, but he couldn’t look at her. He was scared enough as it was. If he saw the fear in someone else’s eyes too, then he didn’t think he’d be able to go through with it.

Eldin shoved his chair aside as he reached over to grab Nykin’s wrist. “Have you forgotten about this?” He roughly pulled back Nykin’s sleeve to reveal his mark. “As soon as they catch sight of it, you’ll become almost as valuable to them as the king. Then they would never let either of you go. Do you have any idea what they’d do if they got their hands on a dragon rider?”

Nykin cringed back in his seat. “No, but they won’t see it.” Eldin just stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I can hide it.” He quickly explained about the magic-imbued cuff that the elves had given him, about how once he put it on, it would hide his mark even if it should then get removed after.

Eldin and Selene still looked skeptical, but the two palace guards regarded him with interest, leaning forward slightly in their seats. “It doesn’t have to be you, though. If it was one of the guards, then there would be no need to disguise this.” He gestured to Nykin’s mark.

The guard waited for Nykin’s answer, but he had nothing. He’d volunteered because it had been his plan, but other than that, there was no reason he could think of to justify it being him.

“But” Eldin offered instead, and Nykin looked over at him expectantly, “I believe he has an advantage that members of the guard do not.”

When it became obvious Eldin had no intention of explaining farther, the guard sighed. “You’d have to somehow find where Nysad’s keeping the princess, then. Make sure you wouldn’t actually lead them to her by accident.”

“No need.” Eldin answered, “Ryneq will know where she is.” He stood up and walked over to the fireplace, watching the bright-orange flames for a moment before turning to face them all again. “That’s the plan, then. We will need to pass on most of the details to the members of the guard and the other riders, but no one else must know that it will be Nykin. As far as anyone else is concerned, the person going in to rescue Ryneq is a soldier.”

“But won’t they recognize him?” Selene asked, her hand sweeping over Nykin’s hair and uniform.”

Eldin smiled sadly. “No.” He gestured for Nykin to follow him as he headed for the doors. “Come then, Nykin, we need to get you ready. The rest of you work out a plan to get Nykin captured by the lowland scouts.”

Nykin hurried after him as he slipped out of the doors and headed for the Eyrie.

E
LDIN
PAUSED
at the bottom of the steps, waiting for Nykin to catch up to him. “Are you sure about this, Nykin?” He carried on walking as soon as Nykin fell into step alongside him. “I know how much you want to get Ryneq back, we all want him back, but this plan could very well get you killed. There’s no guarantee that the Rodethians or Athisians won’t just kill you on sight.”

“I know that.”

“And even if they take you….” He trailed off, but Nykin didn’t need him to spell it out. He was well aware of how it could all fall apart so easily.

“What other choice do we have, Eldin?” Eldin sighed and looked away, because they both knew it was their best chance. “It has to be someone. Why not me?” They finally reached the entrance to the Eyrie, and Nykin realized he had no idea why they were here. “I thought I needed to dress as a palace guard, why are we here?”

Eldin ushered him forward, toward the tunnels. “Because there are a few things you need to take care of first. This isn’t just your life that you’re risking.”

Oh.
Suddenly Nykin understood all too well. How could he have forgotten? “Fimor.”

“Yes.” Eldin led the way into the first empty landing cave and walked over to the edge. “You need to discuss this with your dragon, Nykin. He needs to know everything, including the fact that there’s a strong possibility that you could die.”

“It won’t kill Fimor though, will it?” Nykin’s stomach dropped at the thought of anything happening to Fimor because of him. “If I… if I die… he’ll be okay?”

“Dragons don’t die with their riders, but they do suffer, Nykin. The stronger the bond, the longer it takes them to recover.” Eldin turned away from the entrance, his expression somber. “Call him.”

Nykin swallowed thickly and closed his eyes. “Fimor?” He spoke the words aloud for Eldin’s benefit, knowing that he’d want to make sure Nykin told Fimor everything. “Are you there?” Nykin’s fingers automatically wrapped around his wrist, and his thumb absently traced over the magical symbol layered into the skin there. The familiar warmth flared through the mark, and Nykin relaxed as the connection took hold.

“Hello, Nykin. I can feel Eldin with you. This must be serious.”

There was still a teasing tone to Fimor’s words, and Nykin desperately didn’t want to have this talk. He didn’t want to tell Fimor that he was about to risk his life, risk their bond, but time was running out for Ryneq. “We have a plan to rescue the king.” His heart thundered in his chest as he prepared to tell him the rest. “I’m going t—”

“Wait, Nykin. I’m coming down. I can feel your heart racing, and I suspect I should be there beside you to hear what you have to say next.”

“Okay.” Nykin sighed and opened his eyes. “He’s coming here,” he said when Eldin gave him a curious look. They both waited in silence, watching the mouth of the cave for Fimor’s arrival.

Nykin heard the familiar beat of wings and looked up to see Fimor’s red scales shimmering in the fading light. Eldin quickly moved away from the edge to allow Fimor room to land, and settled back against the side of the cave, out of the way.

As soon as Fimor had tucked his wings away, he turned to face Nykin and narrowed his eyes.
“Tell me.”