CHAPTER 52 #3
Carefully pushing the door open, she poked her head into the building. The candle in a wall sconce just inside sputtered, drawing her attention to its short stature. Whoever was responsible for maintaining this tenement was sloppy – as the overall condition of the building attested.
It wasn’t the sort of place a princess should be. But several white spots dotted the worn wooden staircase inside, so after taking a deep breath to steady herself, she stepped the rest of the way in and began to ascend the creaking stairs.
Voices sounded beyond many of the doors as she climbed, but none of them sounded familiar.
The dustings of flour continued, growing in frequency as she neared the top of the building.
Finally, she saw one on the landing, followed by several in the narrow passage beyond.
They were uneven, two on the right side followed by a larger one on the left that was partially on the wall next to a door. Beyond that, the hall was clean.
The low murmur of men’s voices reached her as she pressed her ear to the door, but they weren’t loud enough to distinguish. Then a creaky voice joined them. “If you’re in trouble, why are you arguing? And why does your aura look funny?”
Sakura smiled and lifted her hand to knock. If Cherry was in there, this was the right place.
The voices inside stopped. The door opened a crack, then swung wide. “Come in, quick!”
A hand grabbed her wrist, tugging her through the doorway. Keenan’s arms wrapped around her, and she responded in kind, burying her face in the solid leather at his chest. The blue cloak he’d worn at the ball draped around her, enveloping her in his faint, unmistakable scent of wood smoke and pine.
He sagged, knocking her against the wall when she couldn’t support his weight. His breaths were coming in ragged gasps again, and his forehead was hot where it pressed into her shoulder. “You shouldn’t have come, Sakura,” he whispered.
“I had to warn you. My mother—”
Suddenly, he straightened, spinning her around and pulling her back into his chest. He staggered backward into the wall, almost as if propping himself up. But nothing felt weak about the arm gripping her waist.
Something flashed in the dim light. Sakura stifled a scream when cold metal brushed her neck.
“You will fetch the tinderbox from your hiding place and give it to me, Oliver.” Keenan’s voice was cold and steady, just like the hand holding a dagger to her throat.
“King Banri was willing to believe you were behind the disappearances. He will be certain when he finds his daughter dead in your rented rooms, especially when I tell him I was too late to stop you.”
“Keenan?” she squeaked. “What’s going on?”
She shot a glance toward the guard on the other side of the small room, but the look on his face was not encouraging. Cherry crouched beside him, her green eyes wide and confused.
“Let her go,” Oliver said carefully, holding his hands out placatingly. “You don’t want to involve her in this.”
“I’ll involve anyone I have to. Including all of Daraigh.
” His eyes weren’t visible from her position, but Sakura imagined they were as hard as they’d been in the caverns.
“Do you think Prince Michael will stand by while his favorite guard is tried for murder in a foreign kingdom? But if he tries to defend you, it will lead to war between Ryuni and Daraigh. And I know you don’t want that. ”
Oliver’s eyes flicked toward a thin pallet in the corner as Sakura scrambled to make sense of the situation. If Oliver had stolen the tinderbox, why would he have sent Cherry with a way to be found? But if he hadn’t, why did Keenan need to demand it back? And using her as a hostage?
“Keenan, did you make a bargain with the queen?”
His hand flexed at her waist. “She told me to bring her the tinderbox by today. It was her price for looking for you and Miss Liesl.”
“Oliver…” Cherry murmured, her eyes pleading. “You know how important this is.”
“Every bit of it.” The guard inched toward the pallet. “All right, Keenan.” Bending slowly, he reached a hand under the corner and pulled out a severely dented tinderbox. “Here it is.”
“Slide it over here,” Keenan ordered. “And don’t you or the dragon come any closer.”
The tinderbox bounced across the uneven floor. Keenan stopped it with a foot. “We’re going down, Princess,” he muttered in her ear. “Be the smart girl I know you are and don’t try anything.”
He lowered himself to one knee, and Sakura went with him, painfully aware of the blade against her skin. His left arm released her while he snatched his prize from the floor. As soon as he had it, he pushed himself back up.
“Don’t follow me,” he said harshly. Then he shoved her forward, and the door handle slammed into the wall as his footsteps pounded away.
Oliver caught her before she tumbled all the way to the floor. Cherry leapt forward, but he held out a hand. “No! Stay here.”
“But the tinderbox—!”
“Not now.” Setting Sakura back on her feet, he grabbed his cloak from the lone chair and whirled it around his shoulders. “We need a plan first, and we won’t be able to get it from him.”
Sakura’s jaw dropped. “But he’s taking it to my mother. Why didn’t you stop him?” Oliver’s sword was belted to his waist. It wasn’t as if Keenan had caught him unarmed.
“Because he’s not himself.” Oliver knelt by Keenan’s discarded pack and dug through it. “I’d prefer not to kill him to stop him, any more than I would let him kill you to keep it out of his hands.”
Cold washed down her spine at his words. “He wouldn’t really have done it, would he? Not hurting women is ingrained into his very being.”
“You’d be surprised what a bargain’s magic can force someone to do if they reach the time limit without fulfilling it.
” He paused. “No matter how hard they fight it. But he was fighting it, Your Highness.” The guard’s eyes found hers.
“He wouldn’t have been in such rough shape otherwise.
The fact he could barely stand while holding you proves it. ”
So his illness had been the consequence of resisting strong magic? And Chujiro had accused him of being weak!
“We can’t let the queen have it,” Cherry protested. “If we can’t stop Keenan without hurting him, what are we going to do?”
Oliver’s jaw tightened. “That’s what we have to figure out.”