I left a numb, shell-shocked Vienne with the king, queen, and princess, and I stormed from the castle, more determined than ever to find Anniston.

Whoever had taken that precious little child wasn’t going to live to see another day. That was my promise.

As soon as I exited the keep, a party of people were hurrying toward me, Brentley, Allera, and Soren among them.

“Did you find anything?” I demanded.

“We captured these two,” Brentley answered, out of breath as he motioned to two men with their hands tied with ropes around their wrists as the soldiers containing them pushed them forward for me to deal with. “They were just outside Mandalay near one of the sand mountains between the castle and the village. We think they may be Far Shore scouts.”

I strode to the two men and looked them both in the eye.

“We asked about Anniston, but they’re not talking.”

With a nod, I eyed one, then the other. “Did you help kidnap that baby?” I asked.

When the bolder one spit at my feet, I took that as a yes.

Not in the mood to play games, I yanked my dagger from its holder and grabbed him by the bangs of his hair before shoving him back-first against the wall of the keep and pinning him there.

Placing my blade against his throat, I moved my face right up alongside his and said, “Where’s the baby?”

The idiot only spit on me again, right in my face this time, so I shook my head and sliced his throat open.

“Wrong answer.”

As he slid to the ground, dead, I turned to the next man and meaningfully wiped his friend’s blood off my dagger onto the leg of my trousers, then shrugged his spit off my cheek with my shoulder.

When he met my gaze, his eyes widened. He tried to back away, shaking his head, but the soldier holding him wouldn’t let him budge.

I reached for him.

“It’s in the forest, in the forest!” he babbled, trembling uncontrollably. “Still alive. We didn’t kill the kid. It’s okay, I swear. We just wanted to use it as leverage to get your attention.”

“Well, now you have my attention,” I said, pressing the blade to his throat. “Where in the forest?”

“Th-that way.” The Far Shore coward pointed, his finger unable to remain steady. “I’ll take you. I’ll take you right to it.”

“Yes, you will,” I murmured softly. “And if there’s a trap, if anyone attacks us, or if a single scratch is found on that child… I will personally make you hurt—a lot—before you die.”

The fool’s head bobbed up and down. “Okay. Okay.”

Letting go of him, I stepped back and stowed my dagger before turning to face the rest of the group. “This fellow’s agreed to show us where Anniston is.”

They merely stared at me.

Finally, Allera gave a low whistle and shook her head. “Damn, Urban.”

My jaw hardened as rage overwhelmed me. “They made Vienne cry.”

“Reason enough,” Brentley said slowly. Then he clapped his hands together. “Alright, then. Let’s go get our little girl back.”

We followed the lead of the bound man, taking another dozen soldiers with us, in case it was a trap. It took nearly twenty minutes of walking time to reach the spot where they were keeping her, each minute making my gut burn hotter because I could feel Vienne’s agony through my mark, increasing with each step. Add that on to the fact that I couldn’t bear to see that sweet little baby I’d held once in any distress, and I wanted to murder pretty much any enemy who crossed my path.

I heard her cries before she even came into view. Throwing caution to the wind, I sprinted forward, headlong, ignoring Brentley and Allera who yelled after me, warning me to be careful.

All I could focus on was Anniston’s angry wail. It bothered me to hear such a sound; it’d rip Vienne apart if she’d heard it. I had to make it stop, had to make the babe happy again.

Two more men were with her, sitting around a campfire they were attempting to light. Neither held her, just let her cry on the ground on top of a pile of blankets. They hadn’t even swaddled her. Her bare legs looked almost purple from the chill as she kicked violently.

“God…damn you,” I muttered, charging them.

They wouldn’t have heard me coming over the wails of the baby, but the prisoner who’d led us here called out a warning, causing his friends to lurch to their feet and whirl toward me. I beheaded one and diced open the other’s chest before either of them could react. Then I was dropping my sword and falling to my knees beside the wailing infant so I could tug her into my arms.

“It’s okay,” I murmured softly. “It’s okay now. We’ll get you back to your momma right away, mistress. Warm and safe. She misses you just as much as you miss her.”

Holding her out, I checked her over for bruises and scrapes before tugging her back against the warmth of my body and bouncing her soothingly. Her nappy was soiled through, but I didn’t even mind, I was so relieved to find her alive and well.

Lifting her higher, I kissed her temple and closed my eyes. She settled some as she burrowed into me, but the babe was still clearly agitated and wanted to go home.

“Is she okay?” Soren asked from behind me, his voice almost hesitant.

I turned to him. He was her father; I knew I should probably hand her over to his care, but I couldn’t seem to relinquish her just yet. “Yes,” I rasped, pressing my cheek to her brow. “She’ll be okay. She just needs Vienne, I’m sure.”

He nodded, his face ashen and marred with what I could only guess was concern.

Allera stepped forward, opening her arms. “Why don’t you give her to me, Brother? Brentley and I can return her to the castle, while you deal with…things.” She glanced back at the Far Shore soldier on the ground who was still alive with blood seeping from the chest wound I’d given him.

I nodded and handed the baby over, warning her to watch for wetness. Brentley gathered the blankets from the ground and shook them out before covering Anniston as Allera patted her back soothingly.

I nodded to my sister and watched her go, Brentley and Soren flanking her for security’s sake as half our guards left with them.

Then I curled my hands into fists and turned to the two remaining Far Shore men.

The one with the chest wound focused on my mark as he pushed unsteadily to his feet. Clutching his injury with one arm, he sneered, “Hell, from the way you came roaring up here, I thought you might actually be some tough shit. Except you’re nothing but a pansy High Cliff nanny, aren’t you?”

I said nothing as I picked my sword up from the ground and I killed his traitorous friend who’d led us here.

With a gulp, he watched the other man drop to the ground, and the snark seemed to drain right out of him.

“So you’re from Far Shore?” I asked, turning back to him.

His gaze darted to the Donnelly soldiers who circled us.

When he nodded uneasily, I shook my head. What the fuck? Why would Far Shore do any of this?

“Why did you make it look like a Lowden attack?”

He frowned, obviously confused, before insisting, “We didn’t.”

“But the carriage explosion…” I started, only to realize…fuck.

“What carriage explosion?” the man asked, clearly confused.

He had no idea about that carriage, meaning that had to be totally unrelated to this, meaning… Donnelly had more than one enemy banging at its door.

Shit.

“You didn’t send us a magic-filled carriage to kill some of our royals?” I asked, anyway, just to be certain.

The soldier snorted. “Shit. No, that wasn’t us. Promise. We’d have loved to take credit for such fine work, though.” A look of interest crossed his face. “Which royals did you lose? The king, I hope.”

“No lives lost, mate,” I told him pleasantly. “Sorry to disappoint you. But tell me, why the kidnapping? Why that child?”

He shrugged. “That’s the one we were told to take. Said it’d get the most attention. Cause the biggest stir.”

“But why cause a stir? I don’t understand.”

Beginning a slow, lewd grin, he cackled, “We needed to distract you, mate.”

I shook my head. “Distract us from what?”

He nodded. “I suppose it’s okay to reveal the big secret now, since it’s too late for you to do anything about it. Plus, I want to see the look on your face when you learn more are coming. While all you idiots were running around, crying over your lost baby, an army bigger than yours marched into Donnelly territory, right under your noses. And they’ll arrive at your pathetic Iron Castle any minute to kill you all.” He threw back his head, laughing maniacally.

I watched him passively before shaking my head. “You really do hate us, don’t you? Tell me something, soldier? What did Donnelly ever do to you?”

“Oh, so you claim Donnelly blood, do you, when you have one of those pussy-assed High Cliff marks? Or are all the Donnelleans getting them now, shoving it in the faces of the other realms how you’re all cozied up in bed together?”

“You resent the Donnelly, High Cliff alliance,” I realized.

“You’re fucking right we resent it,” he shouted, the veins in his neck and forehead popping as he roared out his anger. When he surged toward me, one of my soldiers caught him from behind, keeping him in place. “We were Donnelly’s closest neighbor. Not High Cliff.”

“You mean, aside from Blair, Lowden, and Near Shore,” I said, purposely picking at his temper.

But he ignored that, ranting on. “We should’ve been chosen. High Cliff is practically all the way across the Outer Realms from here. And if that wasn’t enough of a slap in the face, you Donnelly bastards jacked up our price for clear rock like we were some kind of enemy. You did this. Not us.”

I shook my head, confused, certain Caulder hadn’t raised any tariffs recently, but the soldier roared, “Don’t you dare fucking deny it, you fucker. I know! I’m the one who learned from the people of Realm Tipton that you’re charging them far less than you’re charging us, and they live farther away from you than anyone. So, why? Why, damn you?”

I just stared at him, baffled.

Insulted that I wouldn’t answer, he spit at me and thrashed against the guard holding him to no avail.

I was really getting tired of all the spit.

“How dare you ask me why,” he screamed, “when you’re the ones who started this. You claimed war the moment you turned your back on our offer for an alliance and then upped your prices. You monsters are the ones to blame.”

I almost felt bad for the idiotic Far Shore loyalist. He honestly thought Donnelly had wronged him. He was a true patriot to his homeland.

But he never should’ve taken Vienne’s daughter. That was the last mistake he’d ever make.

Stepping toward him, I murmured, “You’re going to die, regardless. You know that, right? No man can steal a child from his mother for any reason and expect to get away with it.”

His breathing picked up and his limbs began to tremble, but he met my gaze with a bravery I almost respected.

Yeah, he understood.

“But,” I went on. “It’s up to you whether I do it fast or slow. So what else of consequence do you think you can tell me that might inspire some mercy from me, soldier?”

He stared at me a moment before saying, “I can tell you that the handful of us who got in never would’ve breached the castle walls to even reach the babe without help from the inside. You have a traitor in your midst.”

I shuddered out a furious breath and gnashed my teeth, wondering if finally I was going to learn the name of the dark magic bearer. “Who?”

The man merely began to laugh. “Oh, no,” he said. “No. I think it’ll give me pleasure to die knowing you’re clueless as to who betrayed you.” Shaking his head, he grinned and added, “Right under your noses.”

Nodding in acceptance because I hadn’t thought such significant information would be so easily attained, I gazed off toward the setting sun. “Fair enough,” I murmured. “Can you at least tell me how you breached the castle walls?”

Because if the opening to Vienne’s secret tunnel under the moat had been compromised, we were all screwed.

He shrugged. “Sure, I can tell you that. We came in right through the front gate, hid under the wagons that rolled in from the market. No one was the wiser. You really ought to have your gate guards check under there from here on out.”

“Duly noted,” I murmured. “Thanks.”

Smiling my gratitude, I slid the blade of my dagger quickly across his throat.

Gasping for breath, he reached up to stanch the flow of blood that gushed from the cut. Eyes bulging, he gaped at me in astonished betrayal.

“Don’t worry, mate,” I told him encouragingly as I patted the side of his shoulder. “You’ll be dead before you hit the ground. That’s quick and merciful enough for you, isn’t it?”

His eyes locked up with the dull, death stare, and the soldier who’d been holding him let go so he could topple face-first toward the forest floor.

I stepped over his dead body, already pointing at a nearby soldier who was gaping at the man I’d just killed.

“You,” I barked, singling him out. “Get my top commanders sent to me right away and start warning the others to suit up and gather their weapons. We’re going to war.”

At first, the man could only gape.

I clapped my hands and shouted, “Do it now, please!”

“Y-yes, sir.” He stumbled backward away from me before scrambling around so he could race off and do my bidding.

“Shit,” I said under my breath as I ran my hands through my hair. We were going to fucking war. This was not how I wanted to end my day.