THE GUARD opened the door that led into the dungeon while Woref was still ten yards from it. Fifty torches blazed in the midnight hour, lighting the perimeter of the compound and path to the single entrance. If the albinos came for Thomas now, they would have to fight their way through three hundred of his best warriors. Even then, there was no way into Thomas’s cell. Woref carried the only key, and nothing short of the black powder the Forest Guard had once used would blast the bars free.
He stooped beneath the door’s thick lintel and descended the long flight of steps, the guard just behind.
“Wait here,” he said, taking the torch. He walked down the narrow corridor, boots loud on the rock floor.
There was a terrible risk in this plan of his, but the moment Chelise had spoken those words—Forgive me, my love, forgive me—Woref vowed to change her. Or kill her.
Thomas was no longer his concern. They would use him, destroy him, drown him. None of it would change anything. His bride’s love was all that mattered now. His whole purpose for living had focused on this day, he realized. The sum of his life would come down to winning and losing love.
Over time, he could persuade Chelise to submit to him. But as long as she loved Thomas, her affection would be compromised. And if he killed Thomas now, he would only live on in her mind, haunting Woref forever.
He couldn’t kill Thomas. Not yet.
But he could use Thomas to secure Chelise’s love.
Woref descended the second set of stairs quickly, eagerly. Ciphus had approved the plan for his own reasons, namely, to save Chelise’s life. If she publicly rejected Thomas and openly embraced Woref, the matter of her heart would be settled.
Woref heard the prisoner shuffle to his feet. Expecting another glimpse of his dear love, perhaps? You and your kind are the worst life has to offer. And when I’m finished grinding you under my feet, I’ll commit my life to finishing off the rest.
Thomas was standing in the middle of the cell, peering out expectantly when Woref stopped before the bars. His eyes glanced to Woref’s right, then returned when he saw the corridor was empty.
Woref paced, primarily to squash his impulse to throw open the door and kill the man where he stood. He blinked away sweat that leaked into his eyes.
“You and your precious Circle are finished, Thomas. I’m sure you realize that by now.”
The albino just looked at him.
“Your problem is that you misunderstand sentiments intended merely for self-gratification. Affection, loyalty, love. Your friends will come to your aid, bound by honor, but they will only find their own deaths. We will use their misguided sense of duty to our advantage.”
Still no reaction.
“You can’t save your friends, but you can save Chelise.”
His eyes moved.
“You do love her. I can see that.” Woref felt sickened by his own words, but he pushed on. “And if you love her, I would think you would be interested in saving her life.”
“I love her,” the albino said. “More than my life.”
“I’m not interested in your life!” Woref shouted. He calmed himself. “Do you know the price that she will pay for this heretical sentiment you’ve dragged out of her? You’ve sentenced her to death. It’s our law.”
“Qurong won’t kill his own daughter. She’ll never admit her love for me openly. And her father will believe her over you.”
“Then I will kill her!” Woref said. He was trembling, but he didn’t care. Let the jackal know the truth. “Only Elyon himself knows how desperately I need this woman,” he said. “If she won’t love me, then she won’t love any man. I’ll rip her tongue out and throw her to the dogs.”
Fear slowly crossed the albino’s face. “You won’t,” he said. “You’re too consumed with your own life to risk it.”
“I will. There are ways to kill that cannot be traced. I can assure you, the death of Chelise will be brutal.”
Thomas’s mouth turned down and began to twitch. His breathing was shallow.
Woref smiled. “You know that I’m capable of this. You know, in fact, that I would relish it.” He could hear both of their breathing now, loud and ragged in the narrow passage. The implications of what he was saying had the albino’s mind in a vise. Woref hadn’t expected to feel so much pleasure.
“If Chelise still loves you in three days’ time, she will die. Only you can save her life. I’ve arranged for you to spend time with her in the morning. No one will know. I will give you this one opportunity to change her mind and her heart.”
His words hung in the air between them. And their meaning had its full intended effect. Tears flooded the albino’s eyes and ran down his cheeks. His face knotted. He slowly lifted both hands, gripped his hair, and began to weep silently.
Woref smiled.
There was nothing else to say, but he was transfixed by this sight of such terrible sorrow. The albino loved the woman nearly as much as he himself did. And what could the albino say? Nothing. He was outwitted. Trapped.
He would have to find a way to convince Chelise that he no longer loved her.
“I will be listening and watching. Don’t think that you can fool me.”
Woref turned and walked from the cell.
The albino’s sobbing began when he was halfway down the second corridor.