King's Cage

“Besides the fact that he wins us points with less-hostile Silvers, Montfort has an interest in him.”

Montfort. The mysterious Free Republic. The twins, Rash and Tahir, paint the place as a haven of liberty and equality, where Reds, Silvers, and Ardents—what they call newbloods—live in peace together. An impossible place to believe in. But even so, I have to believe in their money, their supplies, their support. Most of our resources come from them in some way.

“What do they want?” I swirl the tea in my cup, letting the heat wash over my face. It’s not as cold here as in Irabelle, but winter still creeps through the Rocasta safe house. “A poster boy?”

“Something like that. There’s been lots of chatter with Command. I don’t have clearance for most of it. They wanted Mare but—”

“She’s a bit preoccupied.”

Mention of Mare Barrow doesn’t affect Farley as much as the memory of Shade, but a flicker of pain washes over her face anyway. She tries to hide it, of course. Farley does her best to appear impenetrable, and usually she is.

“So there’s really no chance of rescuing her,” I whisper. When she shakes her head, I feel a surprising pang of sadness in my own chest. Infuriating as Mare might be, I still want her back. We need her. And over the long months, I’ve realized I need her too. She knows what it is to be different and in search of someone like you, to fear and be feared in the same measure. Even if she was a condescending twit most of the time.

Farley stops pacing to pour herself another cup of tea. It steams, filling the room with a hot, herbal scent. She takes it in hand but doesn’t drink, crossing instead to the foggy window set high in her wall. It bleeds daylight. “I don’t see how we can with what we have. Infiltration of Corvium is easy compared to Archeon. It would take a full-scale assault, the kind we can’t muster. Especially now, after Nanny and an assassination attempt. Security at Maven’s court will be at its highest—worse than a prison. Unless . . .”

“Unless?”

“Cal tells us to wait. To let the Silvers in Corvium turn on each other. To let Maven make his mistakes before we do anything else.”

“And it will help Mare too.”

Farley nods. “The weak, divided court of a paranoid king will be easier for her to escape.” She sighs, staring at her untouched tea. “She’s the only one who can save herself now.”

The conversation is easy to twist. As much as I want Mare back, I want someone else more. “How many miles are we from the Choke?”

“This again?”

“This always.” I push back from the table to get up. I feel like I should be standing. I’m just as tall as Farley, but she always seems like she’s looking down at me. I’m young, untrained. I don’t know much about the world outside my slum. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and follow orders. “I’m not asking for your help or the Guard’s. I just need a map and maybe a gun. I’ll do the bleeding rest myself.”

She doesn’t blink. “Cameron, your brother is embedded in a legion. It’s not like pulling out a tooth.”

My fist clenches at my side. “You think I came all the way here to sit around and watch Cal spin his wheels?” It’s an old argument by now. She easily shuts me down.

“Well, I certainly don’t think you came all the way here to get killed,” she replies calmly. Her broad shoulders rise just a little, in challenge. “Which is precisely what will happen, no matter how strong or deadly your ability is. And even if you take a dozen Silvers with you, I’m not going to let you die for nothing. Is that clear?”

“My brother is not nothing,” I grumble. She’s right, but I don’t want to admit it. Instead, I avoid her eyes and turn to the wall. My fingers pick at the peeling paint, ripping away pieces in annoyance. A childish thing, but it makes me feel a bit better. “You’re not my captain. You don’t get to tell me what to do with my life.”

“That’s true. I’m just a friend who feels inclined to point something out.” I hear her shift, her footsteps heavy on the creaking floor. But her touch is light, a brush of her hand on my shoulder. She’s robotic in the movement, not really knowing how to comfort another person. Bleakly, I wonder how she and warm, smiling Shade Barrow ever shared a conversation, let alone a bed. “I remember what you told Mare. When we first found you. On the jet, you said that her search for newbloods, to save them, was wrong. A continuation of the blood divide. Favoring one kind of Red over another. And you were right.”

“This is not the same. I just want to save my brother.”

“How do you think the rest of us got here?” she scoffs. “To save a friend, a sibling, a parent. To save ourselves. We all came here for selfish reasons, Cameron. But we can’t be distracted by them. We have to think of the cause. The greater good. And you can do so much more here, with us. We can’t lose you . . .”

Too. We can’t lose you too. The last word hangs in the air, unspoken. I hear it anyway.

“You’re wrong. I didn’t come here by choice. I was taken. Mare Barrow forced me to follow, and you all went along with it.”

“Cameron, that’s a card you have played too many times. You chose to stay a long time ago. You chose to help.”

“And what would you choose now, Farley?” I glare at her. She may be my friend, but that doesn’t mean I have to back down.