37. Nicholas
37
Nicholas
W e barely uttered goodbyes to her friends in our frantic haste.
Ella navigated the dark streets with ease. Without knowing her direction or intent, all I could do was monitor the sleeping town around us, watching for signs of trouble.
Ella prowled with an equal amount of awareness, convincing me my role was wasted. Perhaps if there were guardsmen on nightly patrol routes, I could prove more useful, but through careful curation, I’d removed them as an obstacle.
I had no doubts, patrols or not, she would manage just fine.
Who the hell was this woman cloaked in night? When all this came to an end, I might seriously offer her a position in my guard. She put most of my men to shame.
I contemplated how much of a hit the treasury could afford to take, knowing it would require a gluttonous sum to convince her. She had no qualms expressing her disdain for the Crown, or specifically me for that matter. Whatever it would cost, I knew she’d be worth more.
The moon cast a silver lining over the grounds of the deserted market square, but we kept to the shadows along the edges of buildings until we crouched between two stalls. In the cramped space, my knees barely had room to bend without knocking into hers. “As lovely as it is to watch you work, you could fill me in anytime, you know,” I whispered, but she shushed me with a fierce hiss.
Alright then.
She targeted the stage at the top of the square, so I fixed my gaze toward it as well. We did our best to conceal the huffing our lungs begged for, since we’d essentially battled an incline from the pier, winding between homes and alleys without breaking our speed. The moisture in the air did nothing to reduce my growing perspiration.
During the silence, with only the dull roar of the occasional wind sifting through the town, I took stock of the information I’d gained tonight. Powerful magic, long since thought extinct from this land, walked these very streets.
In fear, no less.
This was the state my kingdom existed in. Come dawn, I would set out new orders. Any bodies found or detained from confrontations would be protected. No burning unidentified persons, no jailing the elderly after life-threatening injuries. It felt like control under my reign was slipping from me day by day, and those who wished harm upon my people were prospering.
I’d found myself reaching out to Ella, using her to anchor me when that raging guilt punched through me. Literally, by resting my hand on her hip.
Her heart and vigor for doing the right thing were awe-inspiring. Someone who cares that deeply also feels deeply. I made a silent promise to myself to not let her suffer alone. Surely, we had more tragedies before us as we continued down this dangerous path, and I doubted that the witch’s words regarding loss were only meant for me.
Knowing that the seer saw beyond my black mask had made my entire body tense. Her eyes raked over me as if she could see the royal blood flowing through my veins. I feared she’d expose me, and that in doing so, I’d lose Ella. But for whatever reason, she hadn’t, and I was thankful.
I wasn’t ready to sever ties, not yet. Not when she was the only one helping me make progress with the disappearances. Not when she’d become the one person I looked forward to seeing most when my world had become smothered by a heavy blanket of responsibilities.
I hadn’t been paying attention, lost in swirling thoughts, when Ella’s breath hitched. A man, highlighted in silver light, struggled to drag a closed crate by himself. “What is that?” I whispered.
“I don’t know, but I say we find out.” I heard the devious smile under her mask before she bolted. Just as she had that night with the fire wielder.
Without a moment to think and assess, I sprung after her. The hilt of my sword was already in my grip, unsheathing the metal until it rested before me in warning.
“What the—” The man didn’t have time to finish this sentence before Ella’s fist connected with his cheek. I thought I might have heard a bone crack, and my chest seized, thinking she might have broken her hand. She faltered not one bit as she saddled him on the ground, gripping the fabric around his collar.
“Where are you taking them?!” she barked, her voice deep and feral like I hadn’t heard before. A woman determined to find answers.
“W-who?!” the man started swatting at her, and the sight sent my trained fighter’s mind into a blinding fury. Before he could blink, my sword pressed below the now bouncing knot in his throat.
“She asked you a question,” I growled, still fuming over his attempts at knocking her off him.
“I-I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He held his hands up in supplication, eyes darting between the glimmering steel and my steady grip.
“The missing people!” she seethed through clenched teeth, the sound partially muffled by the fabric over her mouth.
His lips trembled, words sputtering in fear. “I-I don’t know anything!”
Ella lifted him by the collar, forcing his flesh to bend around my sword. I held it at an angle that pressed into him. If she’d lifted him any further, it would break skin. But she thrust him back against the ground.
“You’re lying. Why else are you out here at this hour?!” Her temper flared, and I worried what fate would befall the man before me if she continued.
“Check his crate,” I said, trying to dampen the tone of command I’d grown used to wielding.
She released her hold on him with vigor, bringing herself to her feet to stalk over to the box. She leaned before it, her fingers caressing the metal lock. In a swift motion, her hands disappeared beneath her hood, then came out to reveal a thin pin that she used to pick the lock.
I almost smiled at her preparedness, but kept a steady watch between her and the man under submission, my boot now anchored in the center of his chest.
“It’s full of weapons,” Ella said. She held up one of the swords. The craftsmanship of the well-formed hilt, the blade that I knew balanced perfectly upon a finger. They were weapons from the castle armory, forged from Highcrest’s mined iron. Cold dread swept over me, turning my stomach leaden.
“How did you get those?” I asked the man, simmering anger weaving through my quiet words.
“I-I-don’t—” he frantically spewed.
“HOW?” My boot sunk into his sternum, the angle of the blade now more precarious against his clammy skin. He groaned, his feet flailing in fear.
Ella strode over, peering down at the man. “Where are you taking them?” she asked. A clever question that I hadn’t thought to ask through the near blinding rage roiling in my gut.
The mask of the man slipped, his taut body melting into a still calm. His words no longer quivered. “I’ll never tell.”
Ella crouched down, elbow resting on her bent knee, an almost too casual pose that increased the threat of unpredictability. I made a mental note to admire it later, when the edges of my vision weren’t clouding with red.
“Well, then tell your boss that the jig is up. My friend and I here, we’re done letting you take what you want and getting away with it. Four of your buddies would vouch for us, but, unfortunately…” She shifted her focus to her gloved hands, assessing her fingers as if she could see her nails. “It ends. Now. And unless you want all of your blood to spill, I suggest you leave my town alone.” Cold venom dripped from the threat.
“Oh yeah? And what are you go—” Before he could finish, her boot met his face with a violent kick.
I took a step back from the man reeling on his side, hands covering his nose as he whined.
“For starters, I’m going to take these weapons,” she said with an air of boredom. “Then, the next time I catch you or any of your crew slinking around, I’m going to take this dagger—” She unsheathed the dagger at her side, toying with it lazily in her grasp. “— and ram it into your hearts.”
He scrambled clumsily to his feet, eyeing us both with a glare that promised unfinished business before sliding his gaze to the crate he’d lost. A moment of hesitation, of considering the risk of claiming it again. I raised my sword, a promise that before he reached his precious cargo, he’d find himself skewered. The gods blessed him with wisdom as he took off running into the night, unsurprisingly headed for the docks.
“Should we go after him? In case he runs into your friends?” I asked.
“Nah,” Ella said. “She’ll see them coming. What should we do with this?” She twisted to face the stolen weapons.
“I think he retrieved it from under the stage. We would have heard his struggled grunting before we saw him otherwise.” A perfect hiding spot, right in plain sight at an easy access point to the unimpeded pier under the cover of nightfall. “We need to move it, fast. If there’s more crew on that ship, they’ll probably band together to come collect.”
“I have an idea.” Ella moved with graceful precision, bending over to grab one end of the crate. “Grab the other end.”
I sheathed my sword, stalking over to assist. “I like when you boss me around,” I quipped.
“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes, but I knew she smirked behind the mask. I grinned in reply.
She led us to the vendor stalls on the far side. I didn’t question when we approached a bakery stand and awkwardly maneuvered the oversized box behind it, tucking it under the lip of the counter.
“We should go,” I said, standing to my fullest height to glimpse any traces of unwelcome company.
“Agreed,” she breathed.
I waited until she exited the booth, letting her slip by me. She took off in a run, her steps near silent as she went. I hurried behind her, muting mine in her wake. Somehow she’d read my mind, taking us far away from the market, and I had a suspicion of where we’d end up.
When I returned to the castle, I would have to snuff out the now confirmed traitor within my walls carefully. Dozens of people had access to the armory. Maybe following that thread would lead to uncovering this entire mess that had been operating right under my nose. I stifled my anger, honing my focus to keep myself agile as we moved deeper through the town, nearing the outskirts.
I couldn’t help my gaze from settling on the limber woman in front of me, moving like the wind. She’d charged that man, not one ounce of fear in her tiny body stopping her from interrogating him, even though he had to be over a foot taller than her. Not quite up to my height, but against her petite frame? Still intimidating. This woman was fearless. Motivated. Ruthless, maybe. After all, she’d thrown a dagger at my head.
I replayed what she’d said to the man, how she threatened to kill him, but didn’t. I questioned if she would ever cross that line. For as much anger as she possessed in her heart, it wasn’t venomous. She didn’t seek power, or the thrill of ending a life. Focused? Yes. Bloodthirsty? No.
Had her perception of me changed the night I took a man’s life? Did she know I had before Sverik burnt the bodies to ash? When it came to her, I didn’t hesitate, and I knew in the future I wouldn’t either. Did that make me a dangerous ruler?
The questions circled my mind like vultures above carrion as we approached the base of the outlook. I followed her up the slope, wondering what I would say once we reached the top.