Chaol didn’t know why they’d chained him up, only that he was thirsty and had a pounding headache, and that the irons holding him against the stone wall weren’t going to budge. They threatened to beat him every time he tried pulling against them. They’d already knocked him about enough to convince him they weren’t bluffing.
They. He didn’t even know who they were. They all wore long robes and hoods that concealed their masked faces. Some of them were armed to the teeth. They spoke in murmurs, all of them growing increasingly on-edge as the day passed.
From what he could tell, he had a split lip and would have some bruises on his face and ribs. They hadn’t asked questions before unleashing two of their men on him, though he hadn’t been entirely cooperative once he’d awoken and found himself here. Celaena would be impressed by just how creative his curses had been before, during, and after that initial beating.
In the passing hours, he’d moved only once to relieve himself in the corner, since when he asked to use the washroom, they just stared at him. And they’d watched him the entire time, hands on their swords. He’d tried not to snort.
They were waiting for something, he realized with a strange clarity as the day stretched into evening. The fact that they hadn’t killed him yet suggested that they wanted some sort of ransom.
Maybe it was a rebel group, seeking to blackmail the king. He’d heard of nobility being captured for that reason. And heard the king himself order the rebels to kill the petty lord or lady, because he would not yield to traitorous filth.
Chaol didn’t allow himself to consider that possibility, even as he began saving up his strength for whatever stand he’d make before he met his end.
Some of his captors whispered in rapid arguments, but they were usually silenced by others who told them to wait. He was just pretending to doze off when another of these arguments occurred, a hissing back and forth about whether they should just free him, and then—
“She has until dawn. She’ll show up.”
She.
That word was the worst thing he’d ever heard.
Because there was only one she who would bother to show up for him. One she that he could be used against.
“You hurt her,” he said, his voice hoarse from a day without water, “and I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.”
There were thirty of them, half fully armed, and they all turned to him.
He bared his teeth, even though his face ached. “You so much as touch her, and I’ll gut you.”
One of them—tall, with two swords crossed over his back—approached. Even though his face was obscured, Chaol recognized him by his weapons as one of the men who had beaten him earlier. He stopped just beyond where Chaol’s feet could kick.
“Good luck with that,” the man said. By his voice, he could have been anywhere from twenty to forty. “You’d better pray to whatever gods you favor that your little assassin cooperates.”
He growled, pulling against the chains. “What do you want from her?”
The warrior—he was a warrior, Chaol could tell by the way he moved—cocked his head. “None of your business, Captain. And keep your mouth shut when she arrives, or else I’ll cut out your filthy royal tongue.”
Another clue. The man hated royals. Which meant that these people …
Had Archer known how dangerous this rebel group was? When he got free, he’d kill him for letting Celaena get tangled up with them. And then he’d make sure that the king and his secret guards got their hands on all of these bastards.
Chaol yanked on the chains, and the man shook his head. “Do that, and I’ll knock you out again. For the Captain of the Royal Guard, you were far too easy to capture.”
Chaol’s eyes flashed. “Only a coward captures men the way you did.”
“A coward? Or a pragmatist?”
Not an uneducated warrior, then. Someone with schooling, if he could use vocabulary like that.
“How about a damned fool?” Chaol said. “I don’t think you realize who you’re dealing with.”
The man clicked his tongue. “If you were that good, you would be more than the Captain of the Guard.”
Chaol let out a low, breathy laugh. “I wasn’t talking about me.”
“She’s just one girl.”
Though his guts were twisting at the thought of her in this place, with these people, though he was considering every possible way to get himself and Celaena out of here alive, he gave the man a grin. “Then you’re really in for a surprise.”