Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
ISOLDE
“Hruudwulf looked upon his followers with hunger and fear as the moon crept over the mountain. ‘I do not wish to be like this,’ he whispered to Gaelena. ‘But this curse is beyond my control.’” ~ Southern lore
I ’d been glad the would-be assassin had slipped her mind for so long. As soon as that woman had thrown herself at the cell door, though, I’d known Audrey would get involved.
“I’m to take the messages to the pigeons, and use the birds matching the colored wax,” he repeated, looking down at the tubes in his hands that held the urgent requests for information Audrey had spent hours penning. “Then you want me to go to the prisoner. You want me to see if she needs clothing, food, or healing?” Thomas repeated, frowning. “But you actually want me to learn her name, how she’s being treated, and who seems to feel strongly about her. Is that correct, my lady?”
“Yes,” Audrey confirmed.
He nodded, his brow furrowed. “And, my lady, you’ll remain here? To receive my report?”
He was worried she’d again ignore the Butcher’s orders. Mortemon had been found coming out of an extensively joyful time with a few women and a lot of knappchs, but he wasn’t up to his job yet.
I breathed in the tisane as it steeped and let her settle Thomas’ ruffled feathers. She did a passable job of it, but he was only just leaving as Chay was returning, freshly bathed and tightening the sword belt around his waist. Impatience gnawed at me as I saw her eyes lingering on his hands on his belt. She was distracted by the knight, and not in a productive way.
“Would you like a brew?” Audrey asked him.
“No.” He didn’t ask for permission before he stretched out in her reading chair beside the hearth. He didn’t put his boots up on the table and kick off her latest pile of reports, at least.
She perched on the edge of her seat, her expression earnest. “I’m sorry about those children, and I’m sorry you were held in the dungeons and mistreated. Can I do anything now to help?”
I sipped the drink and warmed my behind on the coals while he pondered that.
“Don’t put yourself in stupid positions,” he decided, finally.
Audrey nodded, no doubt putting far more weight in those words than they deserved. She should have been able to attend an unwell family without anticipating the children trying to attack her. And yes, I’d seen it coming, but that was my role. It was his, too, and he hadn’t prevented the situation. So we’d all been stuck having to react to it instead.
“Is there anything specifically you’d like to advise on?” she asked him. “That’s a genuine question.”
He touched his fingertips to the black eye that didn’t look too sore. “Whatever you’re planning to help that woman in the dungeons, send her.” He jerked his chin at me.
Another larger mouthful was uncomfortably hot against my tongue. I resisted the urge to sigh. There went my last hope of convincing her to do exactly that.
“Why is that?” Audrey asked, frowning.
“Because she’s Matri’sion,” the knight said, the words inflectionless. “And they won’t see her coming.”
“Her name is Isolde,” Audrey said coolly. “You think stealth is required for a successful entry?”
I cleared my throat. “I’d advise we wait for Thomas’ report,” I jumped in before Chay could dig us any deeper and mention that of course the guards wouldn’t suspect a woman .
I’d seen the grab marks on her arms. I didn’t know if Audrey had, though.
“Do I get a battle axe now?” he asked her. “Or are you content with my sword?”
She made a noise of annoyance. “That talk was bluff.”
It didn’t need to be, though. I thought of the rumblings I’d heard about the Captain disagreeing with Steward Daniel’s decisions. A well-placed arrow and just the tip of a knife at the right time, in the right place?
She couldn’t keep the city, but she could bring it down.
“So I won’t be executing anyone else?” he asked. “Well, that’s even better than asking to not be in charge of killing children. You have my gratitude.”
I watched the way her eyes darkened and the rapid pulse in her neck. Her hands didn’t shake as she set down the cup, but adrenaline coiled in me. “I know you’re mocking me,” she said quietly, “because you’re hurting.”
He snorted, shutting his eyes. “Astute.”
With his eyes closed, he missed the genuine grief in her expression. But I saw it. I saw it, and hurt for her, and hurt for myself because I was beyond feeling bad for every little bump and bruise on an innocent party.
“I swear to you, Chay,” she said, the words heavy, “I’ll never ask you to take a life in my name again.”
“Don’t recall you asked,” he said, the relaxed pose looking forced. “I was ordered.”
Color in her cheeks, she picked up her cup. “Not by me.”
“Your actions dictate mine, my lady. ” He stopped feigning nonchalance, sitting up. “You ought to be the safest woman in the whole country, protected by all this wealth and a secret Matri’sion warrior. You could just waltz on out of here any time you liked and live a long, happy life somewhere that bottom-feeder could never find you. And yet, you’ve needed me to save your skin twice this moon?”
“Don’t think you’re special,” I recommended, my temper spiking but my words remaining cool. “You just happened to be in the right place and holding a sharp object.”
“Which you weren’t,” he snarled at me.
“Funny, because I recall I held them off plenty forcefully, considering I had no steel.”
“No steel?” he repeated, incredulous. “Are you a Matri’sion or a mouse?”
I drew breath to hit back, but Audrey, to my shock, laughed at him. I turned, stunned, to see her, hand pressed to her mouth trying to hold the mirth in, tears forming in her eyes as she gasped for breath. “I’m sorry,” she managed, standing. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She grabbed me with her spare hand, and I couldn’t help but smile at that overflow of amusement. “By the One, sir,” she said breathlessly, turning away from him, “I don’t know what sort of mice you get in the west, but I doubt you want to see Isolde with steel in her hands.” And without ever looking back, she vanished up the stairs.
He sat in her chair, deflated, staring after her. I couldn’t read his expression, but there was some confusion in there, like he’d expected she’d collapse at his feet.
I didn’t tell him that she’d been trained to take a lot of hits, but wouldn’t stand to see others take them. He’d figure that out, or not. If he came for me a few more times, it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her all her guards were merely burdens.
Still, the small twinge of compassion I felt for the big lump surprised me.
He had been short-changed. There was no denying it. But she’d never once asked more of him than he’d already been forced to give. He didn’t know that when she said she’d never ask him to take a life, she’d meant it.
And now his uses had yet another limitation.
It felt like she’d stolen all the joy from the room when she left. I was glad she’d helped herself to it. “Be careful,” I told him, gathering up her cup and brew. “We’ve no room for more enemies.”
“Are you threatening me?” he asked, the words low and dangerous.
I rolled my eyes, and the compassion died brutally. As if I’d expend energy to give up an advantage? A friendly reminder was wasted on this man. “Mayhap you ought to do a lap of the battlements,” I suggested. “Cool off.” And mayhap we’d get lucky, and the north wall would crumble under the weight of his ego, sending him for a nice dip.
Upstairs, Audrey was brushing out her hair. She paused to take a sip. “What do you plan to do about the would-be assassin?”
Her expression became determined, and I sent a moment of prayer to my gods for patience. “We could take her with us.”
It wasn’t a question, but the tone she used, the lift of her voice at the end, and the way she lingered undermined the strength of her statement.
She’d gone toe-to-toe with the Captain of the guard without losing her cool, though. That had been a drawn-out exercise in “how to out-polite a man furious he’s backed himself into a corner”. The poor child deserved some gentleness.
There wasn’t much to be had in La’Angi, and I had little to spare. But I said, “Audrey, you know that’s a bad idea.”
“She wants to hurt my father,” Audrey pointed out, sensibly. “I want to hurt my father. We’re practically sworn allies, Isolde.”
“A lot of people want to hurt your father,” I reminded her. “For good reason. That doesn’t mean they’ll be your friend. People can dislike the Butcher and not give a tinker’s cuss about you.” This one had also already attempted to murder Audrey, but I figured that could go without saying. “If you’re curious about having her in your bed, I can introduce you to some lovely women who might strike your fancy and not your jugular.” Color flared in her cheeks, but I didn’t know if that was because she was uncomfortable with the topic, or with the accuracy of my guess. “Or if it’s just a fleeting experience you’d prefer, you’re best to pay for quality services from a professional.”
She cleared her throat. “That wasn’t my intention. I assumed what she said was simply a ploy to catch my attention.”
It had worked, too. “If you take her out, she’ll attempt to kill you, then flee.”
“I think you’re right.” She sighed in regret, setting down her comb gracelessly to nurse her tisane. “Why didn’t he kill her?”
Playing “let’s predict the Butcher” was one of the games I enjoyed less than others. “Leverage. Amusement. Control. Evidence.” I shrugged. “Why should he? It isn’t like she can escape and cause him harm, and feeding one more mouth is no strain.”
“Do you think she’s important?” Audrey mused. “To the Southerners?”
I sighed. “If she is, what does it change?” She was stuck in another rut, and I could just see where we were going. “If I agree to free her, we could escape in her wake. Use her like a distraction.”
“Divide their attention,” Audrey agreed, clearly thinking she could talk me into fleeing with the woman rather than away from her. “I like it, Isolde.”
I did, too, if she’d agree to actually get out of here. But when I looked into my charge’s eyes, I didn’t believe it.
She was dug in. This was her home. It was on the tip of my tongue to acknowledge it, but she turned away, finishing her drink in one hearty mouthful, breaking the moment. I held in another sigh, feeling it nestle up under my ribs.
It had been a long time since my encounter with the soothsayer’s prophetic vision. The burning need I’d had to end the control the locways had on the lives of so many, to disrupt our predetermined destinies, had settled over time. Whenever I recalled where we were and how long we’d been here, I had to struggle against a sense of failure.
But mayhap we were exactly where we needed to be to untether fate from its moorings. It was possible my charge was the agent of change. She’d driven plenty of it so far. And if she wasn’t, well, she’d likely be another lesson. So I left Audrey to find joy in her hope a little longer.