17. Chapter Seventeen #2
“Oh! I believe it. This life was chosen for Keida, but she understands the weight of purpose and duty. Smart girl, that one. One I am proud to have mentored. How is my best cleric doing?” Janus eagerly grinned at me.
I rolled my eyes, hugging his arm as we walked slowly through the gardens toward the side gate.
We’d talked so long, I nearly forgot about the hidden figures in the bushes.
The castle was full of clinking metal from the knights in full armor to the metal workings, it wasn’t an unusual sound.
Even in the gardens. Then I caught a flash of silver between tree branches while I regaled Janus with the tale of the festival.
Minus the kiss, the sex, and the other stuff.
Horrid, frozen intuition trickled down my spine like sweat.
My stomach clenched. A hushed whisper tugged on my skin, urging me to duck.
Usually, when things like that happened, I tended to ignore them as paranoia.
Only, the voice at the back of my head, their presence was something more forceful than my own gut instinct.
Like the hands of a god of wisdom, his blessing still pumping through my veins.
I’ll admit, it looked odd for me to be in the middle of a story and simply dropping to a low crouch.
My hands rushed to cover my head, all the flowers Janus worked so hard to weave in my hair falling to the ground.
I heard my godfather question me, but the exact words he used were lost on me as I stared down at a pile of flowers…
with their stems carved by his thumbnail.
Runes I would know anywhere, carved into the flesh of the flower, hidden like a snake in the grass.
Which is exactly what sprang out of a bush at Janus.
He yowled, jerking away from me. It was too late, the serpent got him by the ankle and bit down hard.
I rushed forward, squeezing behind the snake’s jaw and releasing its hold on my godfather’s leg.
Janus tumbled to the ground, pale and already drenched in sweat.
Panic pumped through his eyes as we both stared at an inky black serpent with three red eyes and long fangs.
“Avaris preserve me,” he murmured. I held the serpent firmly. If I let go, it might strike at him again, or worse, me. If I threw it, we might never see it coming again. But…I couldn’t kill it. Even as my arms trembled, I couldn’t break it in half.
Janus fell back into the cobblestone path with a heavy fwump. I rose to my hooves, confused and unsure of what to do with my new friend. A familiar clang, clang, clang, of someone in armored boots approached.
Two ruffians in shoddy armor stepped out from the brush, an empty canvas bag in one hand, short swords in the other.
“Shame, we were hoping the little beast would get both of you. Lot harder to take you kicking and screaming, girl. So don’t think about it.”
“What is this?” I glanced back at Janus, to see if I could catch him still breathing.
He did not have purple lips or any regular signs that the snake injected him with poison.
In fact, Janus looked like a man who’d merely fainted at having a serpent jump scare him from a bush.
What is this? A Cardinal of the order? Fainting over a snake bite?
“This is divine intervention, girl,” the first sellsword snickered, stalking forward.
He stepped over Janus, forcing me to step backward.
I held the serpent fast, but it no longer rattled in my grip.
It laid deathly still. I couldn’t spare to look down at it.
Instead, I locked gazes with the man slowly approaching me like I was the wild animal.
“Poor little cleric’s kid, you’re going to make me a very rich man. ”
“I doubt it—” My voice cut out as my legs hit the side of a garden box and I was trapped in a strange corner of the garden.
There were no knights within view, I had no weapons on me, and I was holding a snake that would no more defend me than bite me.
Great, love this, think Melrose! He finally caught up to me, and I tossed the snake at him.
He swatted it away, the serpent hitting the ground and slithering angrily in a haste to the bushes.
I panicked, once more, letting my mouth get me in trouble.
“What’s the plan here? Huh? Knock the Cardinal unconscious then kidnap the daughter of the Hierophant Rex? Inside the castle? Are you a fool!”
The slap was sharp and jarring. It sent my world spinning even though I didn’t move.
I blinked rapidly to get the sky to hold still.
My tongue felt fuzzy and steadily grew heavier in my mouth.
He grabbed me by the face, forcing me up on the tips of my hooves.
I saw over his shoulder as the other also stepped over Janus, neither of them interested in the Cardinal.
Who, if we’re being honest, is the one with all the power here. I was the Hierophant’s daughter. I’m worth nothing…except to papa. Except to Keida, but no one knows that yet. They were here to blackmail Leonardo…and I bet Janus hired them. A Cardinal getting jumped by a magic snake?
Fury licked up my spine as I glared directly at the man holding my face. “You know the problem with enchanted platemail armor?”
“What’s that?” he sneered.
“That it’s never rooted in actual functionality.
Falls apart at the seams if you’re good at dispelling enchantments.
” I steadied my heartbeat, using the fabric of the cloak and my dress to muffle the sound of me snapping my fingers.
A sharp jerk of my knee to the right, and the connections between all the pieces of his armor broke.
His face immediately reflected the realization I broke his enchantment.
Then all the plates clattered to the floor.
I sank all my weight to the cobblestone, sending the sellsword holding me forward.
He stumbled face first into the garden box.
The other rushed after his friend to help.
I was on my hooves in a beat, deflecting hands reaching for me with rapid cat smacks of my hand.
Look, I’m a lover not a fighter. When he punched me in the chest, I kicked as hard as I could into his shin and heard the sick crack as I snapped something important.
Someone stepped on my cloak, so I unclipped it and dove away from the clump of fumbling men.
I spun to face Janus again, fury and betrayal pumping through my veins.
Janus was gone. I stared at the empty spot where he once laid unconscious. That bastard! One of the men brandished his sword again, reminding me of my priorities. Blessed by Lucien’s wisdom, I knew better than to stick around for a fight I couldn’t win.
My hooves clacked against the stone, echoing with the rapid beat of my heart.
I raced in the opposite direction of them in the garden.
My Lady, please, one more blessing would be amazing.
Could you bless me with wings? I pumped my arms at my sides.
My lungs burned with effort as I rounded a corner into the opening for the castle.
Or maybe a blessing of night? Could it get really dark, so dark they can’t see me?
I came to a skittering halt as another man in rough looking armor, matching those from the garden, stepped out from the shadows of a hallway. Fuck, can’t go that way.
I backtracked, stumbling over my own hooves, into the garden.
I headed for the side gate out of the gardens and found another jutting out into my path.
Breathe. Think. Assess. I stopped a few feet from one of my pursuers.
Glancing around I searched for another weapon against the man twirling his shortsword.
“Lady Melrose!”
Thwack!
The one blocking my retreat into the garden slumped to the ground.
Cleric Ramone held up his staff toward the other ruffian behind me as a threat.
I twisted slowly, gawking at the disheveled man.
He put his hands up. Cleric Delainey slunk out of the shadows of the castle halls, wrapping her clawed, webbed hands around the man’s neck.
Inky magic crawled up his face into his eyes quickly like a disease spreading through his veins.
With a single gasp, he was out and Delainey dropped him into a heap on the floor.
Slack jawed and with ichor seeping out of him, the man wouldn’t be down for long. But long enough to escape if we scoot!
Ramone took my one arm, guiding me away from the unconscious ruffians. I panted, “Have I told you two lately how much I appreciate you?”
“Right back at you, my lady. These pants are superb!” Ramone beamed at me.
“I’ll pay you both back for saving my skin in any fashion you like. I’ll make you ballgowns!” I laughed as Delainey booked it ahead of us.
“Hold onto that thought till we get you away from the Cardinal, my lady,” Delainey bellowed over her shoulder.
I sputtered as we raced back toward the Cathedral, “I think I would have rather faced a Yeti.”
“See! I told you!” Ramone roared from my side.
“Yetis! Do! Not! Exist!” Delainey barked back as she held open a side gate open for the three of us. “And if it had, we’re ill equipped to fight one. Now, let’s get a move on before the Lunar Cleric has our hides for not rescuing her sooner.”