“I’ve checked the rooftops of most courtyards. I can’t find him anywhere,” Bianca said. “I can’t find Harren either.”

  “Look at where we are,” Godwin whispered. “Do you remember this place? This is where Harren lost his arm. The bones should be here somewhere.”

  Bianca was befuddled. “I thought Godric installed gates in the hallways here.”

  “He did,” Godwin said. “There are intruders in the castle. The ones you travelled with. They crept into my chambers without any of the Sentinels knowing.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Bianca said. “We have to find Stroke. Harren is not in his chambers, Zishang and the other guards have already seized Mara.”

  “Harren is in my chambers right now,” Godwin whispered. “I am watching from one of the Sentinels right now. Killian has Death on the wall; my brother has ordered the white-haired one onto both her knees.”

  “Snow?”

  “Is that her name? Doesn’t matter. Zishang and his guards shall be there soon to put stop my brother’s evilness. How did I not see how terrible he was? Have I been so blind my entire rule?”

  A dragon flew above them with a roar. Neither Godwin nor Bianca reacted to it. “We have to find Stroke fast,” she said. “We need to scare those dragons off.”

  “The Sentinels will rip off their wings should they dare to come lower to the city. The dragons know better.”

  “Why are they here?”

  “I see owls guiding their paths. Your god brought them here. Your god is our enemy.”

  “The Voiceless One doesn’t act like that,” Bianca said. “There is some other reason they’re here. The owls see what we don’t.”

  “Will the owls lead us to Stroke? I thought not. Keep Blacksteel is a large walk. Harren may have already found my little brother and told him. The last place to look is Stroke’s chambers, and it is rare to find him there.”

  “What about Runaya’s chambers.”

  “I checked there. I kicked down the door. The windows were shut, not a shadow in the room. He wasn’t there.”

  “Then why are you still talking? We’ve got to find him.”

  The two sprinted to his chambers and found the door half-open. His room was destroyed, windows smashed and letting in rain. The desk was split in half, books torn, chandelier ripped from the ceiling. They found one book intact by the flame of a candle.

  “We’re too late,” Bianca realised. “He must know that Runaya is dead. Harren found him first.”

  Godwin picked up the book and flicked through the pages. It was filled with scribbles and portraits of Godwin, Harren, Bianca, all of the servants of the keep. Stroke had scribbled out each face, even his own, all except for Runaya’s. There was fresh ink next to her hair, a doodle of a tree.

  “I know that tree,” Godwin said. “I’ve seen him draw it before. This long branch, that’s how I recognise it.”

  “I know it too,” Bianca said. “Outside the walls. He always took Runaya there. He took me there once.”

  “I didn’t him leave Keep Blacksteel,” Godwin said. “Are we certain this isn’t a ruse? The Sentinels see all.”

  “If I was him, that’s where I’d go.” She touched Runaya’s face on the paper. “He travels with his gift. We have to get there before he leaves.”

  ————————————————————————

  Quinn rushed into the tavern. “Cousin,” he yelled. “Have you seen Fiasco? Have you seen her? I cannot find her. The doors to the keep have been locked from the inside.”

  “That was my command,” Zishang slurred. “Come and drink with me, brother. Come, come. It shall be over soon.”

  Quinn slapped him across the face with a backhand. “Speak sense! Where is she?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “She could be in the castle. She could be out the city. She could be flying in the clouds with all of those dragons… woooo, woooo.”

  “He’s fuckin’ out o’ it,” Bollo said. “I’m sure the lady is fine an’ dandy, cap’n. She’ll be held up wit’ a bunch o’ others, keepin’ them safe and calmin’ them down from the dragon threat.”

  Quinn grabbed Zishang by the collar of his breastplate and dragged him across the table, gritting his teeth. “Why are the castle gates locked? What have you done?”

  “What haven’t I done,” he whispered. “Princess Runaya is dead because of me. I never saved her. She’s dead. Gone.”

  Quinn covered his cousin’s mouth. “Have you gone absolutely made? Lower your voice.”

  Zishang licked Quinn’s palm, making him recoil in disgust. “I don’t care,” Zishang said. “People know. The word is spreading. The servants heard Prince Harren screaming at Stroke. They spread it into the streets faster than I could contain it. When those dragons fuck off… they’ll rebel, unless true justice comes.” Zishang grabbed Quinn by his ear, using all his energy to speak coherent. “You need to find Fiasco and get out of the city. Get her out. Get her out.”

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  “C’mon lad, let him go,” Bollo said, separating them. “There’s no trouble the three o’ us can’t solve.” He snatched the wine from Zishang’s grip. “Ye’ve had enough, cap’n. Get sober faster or I’ll kick yer bloody stomach and bring your drinks out myself.”

  Quinn shown fear. He spit into his palm and dragged the rain into the tavern, forming a trident and pointing it at Zishang. “What have you done?” he asked again. “Tell me why the gates are locked or I swear I’ll take your head off.”

  “Following your urges, again,” Zishang said with a hiccup. “I didn’t lock it to keep people out. I locked it to keep Harren inside.”

  “Prince Harren?” Quinn scoffed. “Is this a joke?”

  “Nope. Nope. Nope. I couldn’t lock all the doors… I’m sure some will be open, but that idiot would never figure that out.”

  “Yer not makin’ any sense lad,” Bollo said. “You told me—”

  “I know what I said,” Zishang interrupted. “I didn’t want you to worry, old man. The king isn’t intending to exile his brother. He is intended to execute him, and the whore—there will be a battle, and now that Stroke knows the horrible truth, only the gods know how this city will suffer from their rage.”

  ————————————————————————

  Stroke saw Godwin and Bianca leave the city through the eyes of the Sentinels. He cried in his hideout, a hole in a roof that gave him a small crawling area to sleep and hide from the Sentinels. He whispered Runaya’s name, drowning in a puddle of his own tears, then vanished with the next strike of lightning. He stared into Runaya’s room from the outside of the window, standing on the ledge with his head against the glass.

  “What didn’t you tell me?” he whispered. “I never should’ve let you out of my sight. What was I thinking?”

  He broke the glass with his forehead after ten hard strikes. Blood trickled down his nose and to his chin, his face riddled with tiny shards of glass and bruising. He removed the soles of his iron boots and walked on the sharp fragments of the window, using the pain to mask his despair. Her shelves were filled with wilting flowers, dying of thirst. He grazed them all with his knuckles then smashed each vase and pot against the wall. He punched the carpet until the skin of his knuckles split to the bone and then cowered in the corner, weeping as he watched his own form through a Sentinel. It saw something he didn’t see—a loose floorboard under the corner of a rug. He ripped the plank out and found a small silver chest.

  “What is this?” he whispered. “Secrets?”

  He opened it slowly and found an assortment of items. A letter; the silver ring he once gave her; a blue handkerchief with his name on it; a pearl necklace that she only wore when with him; a fake rose still bright red.

  His breath got quicker as he quickly opened the letter. Three tiny rocks fell onto his lap as he unfolded it.

  “My dearest Stroke,

  If you’ve found this, then my nightmare has come true. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I lied to you. This was the only way. I love you so much it hurts to be apart. Harren keeps us apart. He is evil, we both know it, he has to die.

  I know you never believed the rumours, but I want to make you a promise that I was always yours. I never touched a man. I never let a man touch me. I only ever looked at you, my handsome boy.

  Do you want to know my favourite memory? Our first kiss, when we snuck into Dastane and collected seashells on the beach. I never thought the sea was such a beautiful thing. Thank you for everything that you gave me. In every universe, I am yours, and I would always choose to be your girl if I could live a thousand lives.

  Farewell, my everything. Use the tears of the angels. Kill them all. I love you.

  ~Runaya.”

  Stroke gathered the tears of the angels and kept them safe. He kissed the letter. “I thought that letter Deatb gave me was a fake. I should’ve seen it was real. Forgive me, my love, forgive me. I shall kill them all.”

  An owl hooted from the broken window. Stroke grabbed it and got a vision of Runaya’s death at Caron. He saw Killian stomp on her head, then Death fighting against the Valan guards.

  “He is not your enemy,” he heard Runaya say. “Death and the others are your allies. Go to them. Save them.”

  “Runaya…” Stroke whispered. “I hear you. Come to me. Please come to me. Follow my voice.”

  “Prince Stroke?” Fiasco entered cautiously. Upon seeing the blood, she walked a glass-free path to him and knelt with him. “Let me help you. Come with me and—”

  “This rose,” he interrupted. “When we first fell in love, she gave me this flower and said to me… I will love you until this flower withers. The flower is fake, but she has left me so early.”

  “She was kind,” Fiasco said. “There’s so much blood, Prince Stroke. We need to bandage your cuts.”

  “Why are you here?” he groaned. “Haven’t you seen the dragons in the clouds? Can’t you hear their roars. You should be out in the streets, making the people feel safe.”

  She shook her head dutifully. “I have a message. Death and some others are in the dungeons.”

  Stroke was shocked. “Where? Free them. None of them are my enemies. Set them free.”

  “I can’t, my prince. They are in the cell of godsteel.”

  It all began to make sense to the young prince. He turned to the owl at the window, who proudly held pure black eyes. He stretched a finger to it and got a clear vision of Harren stomping his way to the kitchens of the keep.

  “The Voiceless One brought the dragons here to distract Godwin and Bianca,” he realised. “My fate is to… kill Harren?”

  “Kill Harren?” Fiasco repeated. “My prince… I don’t know much of the gods or their ways, but don’t you think there’s been more than enough violence? I heard whispers that Mara has been seized by the Valan guards. Godwin plans to give justice to her and Harren for what he did to Runaya.”

  “It was both of them,” Stroke snarled. “They’ll both die.”

  “I know the rage you feel. When I lived at Arcyril I lost people I loved to thieves and murderers. I wanted them all to die. I fought with others to get my revenge, but it changed nothing. Without Bianca I would be hateful. Don’t be hateful. Let them face a true punishment, one that they deserve.”

  Stroke feigned a smile, then struck her in her temple with the hidden silver chest. She fell unconscious from one blow. The prince caught her head before it the glass-filled carpet.

  “Fuck you,” Stroke hissed. “Fuck fate.”

  A second owl flew in and attacked the prince. It defended Fiasco with spread wings, boasting yellow eyes. Stroke grabbed it and hit against the wall, killing it and releasing an explosion of feathers into the chambers. He stomped the black-eyed one to death, next, kicking the carcass out of the window.

  “I follow you no longer,” he declared. “The Voiceless One is dead to me… I hear the song of a new god. I hear their tune. La-la-la, la-dee-dee.” He slipped the silver ring onto his wedding finger, dragging Fiasco by her green hair out of the room and into the hallway. “I hear you, Runaya. I’ll kill everyone. I promise.”