Kate placed her palm against Signe’s forehead. Physical touch made connecting with another mind easier, but this was all for show while she reached out with her magic to the two golds. The moment she sensed them, she grasped hold and forced them to her will.
Their minds folded to her power at once, bending like stalks in the wind. Kill the Lord Ascender! she commanded, and both men obeyed, bursting through the door with maces raised. Their spells soared toward Rendborne, and he raised his hand like a shield before him. The magic fizzled and died as it reached him, and in the next moment he summoned lightning in the palm of the same hand and cast it at both the golds. Still attached to their minds, Kate felt the pain tear through them. She shrieked and let go.
Turning toward her, Rendborne cast another spell. The magic hit Kate like a strong wind, and she fell to the ground, paralyzed.
“You really should not have done that.” Rendborne retrieved the collar. He placed it around Kate’s neck, melding the broken pieces together with his magic.
“Kill me now,” Kate said. “I won’t do what you want. Not ever.”
He smiled coldly. “I wasn’t ever threatening to kill you, Kate. Your death has no value. Only your abilities do.” Rendborne turned to the golds, who were just now recovering from the attack. “Go and fetch Bonner . . . and his father.”
Chills erupted down Kate’s skin, and she struggled in vain to break free of the spell. Why is his father here?
The golds returned all too quickly, dragging in the Bonners, both of them in chains. Thomas visibly trembled with fear.
The moment Bonner spotted Kate and Signe, he began to struggle. “What are you doing? Let them go!”
For a second it was all the golds could do to keep control of him, but then Rendborne froze him in place with his magic—a vortex of air surrounding him.
“Don’t struggle, son,” Thomas said, his voice kind and gentle as ever. “It won’t change anything.” Although his words were strong, Thomas seemed to sag beneath the weight of them.
Rendborne drew a knife from his belt and approached father and son standing side by side. “I warned you, Kate, there would be a death to pay if you disobeyed me.” Rendborne raised the knife to Bonner’s throat.
“NO!” Kate screamed, terror robbing her of reason. “Don’t hurt him! Please, I’ll do whatever you want.” Rendborne was right; everyone had a breaking point, and he had found hers.
“Yes, I know you will do what I want now,” Rendborne said. “But still, the consequences of your disobedience must be paid.” He pressed the knife to Bonner’s throat, a sliver of blood appearing beneath the blade.
“Don’t hurt my boy,” Thomas sobbed. “Take me instead.”
Rendborne glanced at the old man. “Very well,” he said, and before anyone could react, he pivoted toward Thomas and sliced his throat. The man let out a single, liquid gasp, then crumpled to the floor.
Bonner’s scream was loud enough to shake the walls. The agony in the sound ripped through Kate. She could see him struggling against the magic that held him, mad with the need to kill the man before him, to do anything to save his father.
“Settle him down,” Rendborne said, releasing the vortex of air around Bonner. At once, the golds turned their maces on him. Bonner fell to the ground as they beat him over the head, neck, back, legs, arms, everywhere. Kate cried for them to stop, but it made no difference. She was still paralyzed by Rendborne’s magic, helpless to act. They continued on until all the fight went out of Bonner, and he slumped against the floor, his face pressed into the ever-expanding pool of his father’s blood.
Rendborne turned back to Kate. “This was the punishment for the first disobedience, Kate. I recommend you do not try a second one.” He pointed his hand at her and released her from the paralysis.
“Why are you doing this?” Kate said, tears making her voice thick. “Who are you?” She couldn’t pull her eyes off Bonner. He was still conscious, but only just. Thomas, she couldn’t bear to look at, heartsick with memories of laughter shared over meals, his gentle teasing that his son should find a wife like her.
Rendborne bent toward Kate, removing the magestone on his right hand. The skin on his palm blurred for a moment, then cleared, revealing the raised, branded flesh there, a faded eight-spoked wheel set inside the holy triangle. An uror mark? Seeing it only added to her confusion. He cupped her chin, raising her face to his.
“Who are you?” she said again. She peered into his golden eyes, feeling the weight of age in them. He seemed both old and young at the same time. A god, Vikas called him. A god in human form.
“You will know me in time. But for now, do as I command, Kate, and the suffering will end.” Rendborne released her.
She felt the fight ebbing away from her. She could not defeat this man. But Bonner and Signe still lived. She needed to do whatever it took to keep them from further harm.
“Don’t do it, Kate.” Bonner raised his bruised and blood-smeared face toward her. “I’d rather die.”
“I can’t let you.” Kate climbed to her feet, then turned and walked over to Signe, defeat bowing her spine until she felt she might break in two. I am Traitor Kate, she thought. Betrayer of her prince, her kingdom, and her friends.
35
Corwin
THE HELLGATE WAS BOTH LESS frightening than Corwin had imagined it would be and yet far more impressive. Or maybe the reality of finding it, of learning that the mythical place existed, just hadn’t yet sunk in. They’d found it so easily this time. With Raith’s magestones he and Dal had spotted a well-worn path shortly after entering. They followed it as it snaked between the skeletal white trees until they reached the crumbling battlements of an ancient fortress.
At first they thought the fortress was abandoned, but after tethering the horses a safe distance away, they approached one of the gaping holes in the wall and spotted movement beyond, the distinctive flash of a gold robe in the fading sun. Kate must be here, Corwin thought, watching the activity near the keep. For a moment the urge to rush in headlong nearly overwhelmed him, but he pushed it back down again. Deciding to remain outside had nothing to do with Raith’s warning and everything to do with instinct. He’d spent too long studying military strategy, both with his tutors at Norgard and with the Shieldhawks, to do something so reckless as to charge a fortress like this, one with a single door and no windows. He and Dal had made certain of it, doing a sweep of the perimeter to make sure.
Now, with night fast approaching, they’d returned to the spot nearest the path that had brought them here, taking cover close to the wall to observe the comings and goings. They watched as golds came in and out of the fortress, often carrying crates, of the sort they used to transport their magestones from city to city, which they loaded onto wagons. When a group of them later carried out a cage, Corwin’s chest gave a lurch at the sight of the daydrake inside it. It seemed his hunch was true—the golds were behind the vile creatures.
“How many golds do you think are in there?” Dal said.
“I’ve counted thirty, maybe more,” Corwin replied, keeping his voice at a whisper. “But we can’t be certain.”
“They don’t seem concerned with intruders.”
Corwin nodded. They hadn’t spotted a single sentry. He supposed these magists didn’t fear discovery, not with the magical shield hiding them.
A rustling noise drew Corwin’s attention, and he peered behind him to see Raith approaching on foot with his mace drawn. Corwin waved to him, a finger pressed against his lips.
“What have you found?” Raith whispered, reaching them. He peered through the gap where two golds loitered in the bailey out front of the opened door into the fortress. Corwin quickly told him everything they’d seen so far, and Raith listened without comment, nodding at turns.
“What do we do now?” Dal said, addressing the question to Raith.
The magist traced a finger over the birthmark on his face. “We need to capture one of the golds for questioning.”