“This was meant to be,” his father had said as the funeral flames for Tomas lit up the dark sky.

“It was not,” Jonas gritted out through clenched teeth.

“There’s no other way to see it. To bear it. It was his destiny.”

“A crime was committed, Father. A murder at the hands of the same royals you would still sell your wine to in a heartbeat. And no one will pay for this. Tomas died in vain and all you can talk about is destiny?”

With the heart-wrenching image of his beloved brother’s spiritless shell branded forever into his memory, Jonas moved away from the crowd who’d gathered to be a part of the funeral ritual. He met his sister’s glossy eyes as they passed.

“You know what you have to do,” Felicia whispered fiercely. “Avenge him.”

And so here he was, ready to enter Auranos. A predator prepared to hunt an entirely different kind of prey. And he knew with a calm certainty that he would not return from this personal mission. He would die in the process—gladly, giving his life to avenge his brother’s murder.

“You look very serious.” A voice spoke to him from the shadows.

Every muscle in his body tensed. He turned to his right, but before he could reach for his weapon, he was met with a fist slamming into his gut. He staggered back, gasping for breath. A body slammed into his and took him down to the ground hard.

A sharp blade pressed against his throat before he could summon the energy to get back to his feet. He stopped breathing and stared up into a pair of dark eyes.

A mouth twisted with amusement. “Dead. Just like that. See how easy it would be?”

“Get off me,” Jonas gritted out.

The blade lifted from his throat. He shoved at the figure on top of him, which finally shifted back with a low rumble of laughter.

“Idiot. You think you could just disappear and nobody would notice you’re gone?”

Jonas glared at his best friend. Brion Radenos. “I didn’t invite you to come along.”

Brion ran a hand through his messy black hair. His teeth flashed white. “I took the liberty of tracking you. You leave a substantial trail. Made it easy.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t notice you.” Jonas brushed off his shirt, now ripped and dirtier than it had been to begin with. “You stink like a bastard pig.”

“You were never the best when it came to insults. Personally, I take that as a compliment.” Brion sniffed the air. “You aren’t exactly the freshest flower in the valley right now either. Any border guard would be able to smell you when you got within fifty feet of them.”

Jonas glowered. “Mind your own business, Brion.”

“My friend running off to get himself slaughtered is my business.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“You can argue with me all day and night if you like if it’ll keep you from entering this kingdom.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve entered this kingdom.”

“But it would be the last. You think I don’t know what you’re planning?” He shook his head. “I’ll say it again. Idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“You want to march into the Auranian palace and kill two royals. To me, that’s the plan of an idiot.”

“Both of them deserve to die,” he growled.

“Not like this.”

“You weren’t there. You didn’t see what happened to Tomas.”

“No, but I’ve heard enough stories. I’ve seen your grief.” Brion exhaled slowly, studying his friend. “I know how you think, Jonas. How you feel. I lost my own brother, remember?”

“Your brother slipped off a cliff when he was drunk and fell to his death. It’s not nearly the same thing.”

Brion flinched at the reminder of his brother’s shortcomings, and Jonas had the grace to wince that he’d been low enough to bring up such a sore subject. “The loss of a brother is painful, no matter how he meets his end,” Brion said after a moment. “And so is the loss of a friend.”

“I can’t let this stand, Brion. Any of it. I can’t make peace with it.” Jonas gazed across the open field beyond the thin line of forest separating the two lands. By foot, the palace was still a full day’s journey from here. He was an excellent climber. He planned to scale the palace walls. He’d never seen the palace itself, but he’d heard many tales about it. During the last war between the lands, nearly a century ago, the Auranian king of the day had built a glittering marble wall around the entire royal grounds, which contained the castle and the villas of important Auranian citizens. Some said an entire square mile was contained within these walls—a city unto itself. Part of such a large wall would be unguarded, especially since it had been so long since there was any substantial threat to worry about.

“You think you can kill the lord?” Brion asked.

“Easily.”

“And the princess too? You think slitting a girl’s throat will be that easy for you?”

Jonas met his gaze in the darkness. “She’s a symbol of the rich scum that laugh at us and wipe our noses in our poverty and dying land. Her assassination will be a message to King Corvin that this is unacceptable. Tomas always wanted a revolution between our kingdoms. Maybe this’ll do the trick.”

Brion shook his head. “You might be a hunter, but you’re not a murderer, Jonas.”