The next day, William woke up with a knot in his stomach.
Despite the calm he put on in front of the prince and the guards, he was restless inside. He went over everything he had learned the day before, but the anxiety lingered.
It was a gamble, he knew that, but it was all they could do to solve the problem.
After eating only a couple of biscuits, they headed into the city. The captain of the city guard had already sealed off the area and sent one of his men to tail Jonah. He was near the artists' district; William would have to meet him there and try to draw him out.
The prince walked beside William to give him some final instructions. He was wearing dark, anonymous clothes, and a hooded cloak hid the gold of his hair.
"Be careful."
"So should you."
Alex smiled, gave him the dagger and took a step back. "I'll always be right behind you."
William nodded, then summoned Caedos from the grimoire.
"Stay with the prince. If things don't go as planned, you have to bring him to me."
"I don't like it. It's a stupid plan, and without me you're defenseless."
"It's all we can do."
"If anything happens to you, I'll eat the stupid little prince."
As soon as the preparations were finished, William took his leave of everyone and headed toward the artists' district, where he was supposed to meet Jonah.
He spotted him in a side alley, snickering with other young men. There were about half a dozen of them, roughly the same age, but William didn't recognize any of them.
He pretended not to have seen them and walked past. He felt their eyes on his skin and heard the laughter die down into whispers whose content he couldn't make out.
He turned and shot them a disgusted, haughty look. Jonah pressed his lips together, and William moved on. The bastard had seen him and recognized him, and he would never let how the mage had looked at him slide.
Jonah would follow him to beat him up or do worse, and that was all William needed.
William continued toward the poorer neighborhoods, where he would spring the trap. Behind him came the sound of footsteps, slow and steady. The sound made his heart leap into his throat.
They were following him.
He was about to turn into a side street when a hand grabbed his tunic and dragged him into an alley. Panic sank its teeth into his stomach; his heart hammered in his chest.
This was wrong.
Jonah slammed him against the peeling wall. "Where are you going, all alone, Xianese?"
William went pale and tried to push him away. "Who are you? What do you want?"
The boy spread his hands and took a step back. "A friend of your dear little brother. Noah, that's his name, right?"
"I doubt my brother would be friends with someone like you."
"You know how it goes—you argue, then you make up."
William quickly glanced behind him. It was a dead-end alley, and the only way out was blocked by Jonah's companions.
Everything was going wrong.
Jonah stepped forward, forcing him to retreat. "Your brother is a particularly unpleasant brat, with that mixed-blood face. And he bit me, the little pest."
"If he did, it means you deserved it."
"And he deserved the kicks I gave him afterward."
William pressed his lips together. "You're a bastard."
"I hear that all the time." Jonah tilted his head, amused. "I've heard about you, you know? They say your beauty is… otherworldly."
"Let me go."
"I've also heard you suck cocks."
William stiffened. A cruel smile stretched Jonah's lips.
"Come on, no need to be shy. I heard it from someone I trust. Says that at the Academy you sucked cocks and took it up the ass for money. Is that how you paid for your studies?"
William backed away, panic swelling in his chest. "No…"
"How much did you charge? Two denars? A crown?" Jonah stepped closer again. "I can give you one denar in exchange for a blowjob."
"I'm not a prostitute."
His back hit the icy wall at the end of the alley, and fear seized him. He was trapped, and not where he was supposed to be. The prince would never make it in time.
Jonah sneered. "If you don't want money, even better for me. We'll have some fun today, boys. The Xianese is used to taking two or three at the same time."
He grabbed William by the arm and twisted it behind his back. William gasped, his thoughts slipping away. Jonah pulled the dagger from his belt and tossed it aside.
"So, who's first?"
They surrounded him, and William panicked. They were bigger than him, more numerous, and armed. He couldn't remember anything the prince had taught him, and he had no magic to rely on.
"Let him go," said a hoarse voice.
Panic loosened its grip. Had a passerby noticed what was happening and stepped in?
A man shoved one of them aside, and William's heart sank into the pit of his stomach.
"Brann…"
"So you do remember me, little whore." The scar near his chin—right where William had burned him three years earlier—pulled tight as Brann smiled. "You and I have some unfinished business, remember?"
He remembered, but he had hoped Brann had left the city.
"You shouldn't provoke me. This will end badly for all of you."
"And why not? You don't have your grimoire, you can't do anything to me." Brann grabbed him by the arm. "And you're outnumbered."
"You know him?" Jonah asked.
"Yeah. The whore burned my face three years ago."
"Oh, so you want revenge?"
"Obviously." Brann nodded to the others. "Two on watch. The rest of you, hold him down. You can have your fun after me."
"As you say, boss."
William swallowed. They had called him "boss." Jonah wasn't the brains of the group—he never was. All this time they'd thought they were dealing with a merchant's son, but Brann was the one pulling the strings.
The brute who terrorized everyone in the district, the one who had tried to beat him thirteen years ago. Was he the one threatening people into silence? Was he the one who had egged Jonah on?
Brann grabbed his face. "You've gotten even prettier over the last three years, William."
"L–let me go…"
"Did you really think I'd forget the scar?"
"You deserved it. I told you not to touch me."
Brann slapped him hard across the face, a dull pain throbbing along his cheekbone.
"You're still so full of yourself. Maybe you learned magic at the Academy, but you never learned how to shut your mouth."
"You raped a girl," William spat. "A child!"
"They deserved it."
"They're people!"
Brann struck him again. "They were females. You look like them—who knows what you've got between your legs? I've always wondered. Maybe today I get to satisfy my curiosity."
"Try it and I'll kill you."
"With what? You're unarmed. Weak." He yanked at William's robe, pulling it open and popping a couple of buttons. He took the jade pendant the prince had given William and rolled it between his fingers. "And what's this pretty little trinket? A gift?"
"Don't touch it!"
Brann smiled unpleasantly and tore the pendant from his neck. "I think I'll keep it. Compensation for the scar. I'm sure I'll make a nice profit selling it."
"I wonder how he paid for it." Jonah snickered. "His family's poor, aren't they?"
"He kisses the asses of nobles. They're bored people—bet they find someone like him interesting."
"They say he sold his body at the Academy for a few coins."
"Well, he had to pay for his studies somehow." Brann grabbed William by the hair and jerked his head back. "If you give us decent service, I might give you the pendant back."
"Take your hands off me," William hissed.
"Strip him. Today we're having fun with a Xianese whore."
------------------
Alex drummed his fingers against his forearm, his eyes darting from one side of the small square to the other. There was no one around. William was late.
He stepped away from the window and paced back and forth inside the warehouse, but he couldn't calm his nerves. He was used to waiting, but this time the restlessness wouldn't leave him. Something felt off.
"He should already be here" he murmured.
Sven sighed. "Maybe he couldn't get the bastard to follow him."
"He would've come back here anyway."
"Maybe he's just late."
It was possible, but the feeling that everything was falling apart wouldn't leave him.
"Caedos, where is William?"
The serpent huffed and coiled himself on top of Alex's head. "In the city."
"Where?"
"Not too far from here."
Alex let out a slow breath. So he really was on his way.
"But he's stopped moving," Caedos added.
The unease sharpened. Had something gone wrong?
"Lead the way."
Sven pushed off the wall. "Your Highness, I don't think—"
"William comes first."
He left the warehouse with Caedos, anxiety eating him alive with every passing second. He knew it had been a terrible idea, that he never should have agreed.
He never should have let William take such a risk.
And he prayed he was all right, that he would reach him in time, because if anything had happened to him, he wouldn't answer for himself. He would kill them all and not feel even a shred of remorse.
He crossed squares, alleys, and streets. The people of Lenz moved aside as he passed, but to Alex it felt like he wasn't fast enough—nothing compared to the relentless pounding of his heart in his throat.
"It's nearby," Caedos said. "That alley."
The prince flinched. Two men were standing guard—this was very bad. Without slowing down, he drew his dagger and drove it into the first man's thigh. Then he smashed a fist straight into the second's face and rushed into the alley.
His breath caught.
"William!"