5. Kit Making a Deal with the Devil
Kit: Making a Deal with the Devil
Kit wasn’t sure what had awoken him from a deep, dreamless sleep.
Perhaps it was the knowledge that he’d finally found the woman he’d been searching for over the past year and a half, or maybe there was a noise somewhere in the silent castle.
Regardless, he sat straight up in bed, panting as if he’d just run hard for a mile.
He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings, but it looked the same as it always had.
The worn armoire sat untouched in the corner.
His bedside table, which held a glass of water and an unlit candle, remained as he’d left it before falling asleep.
The only movement in the room came from the open window, through which the wind blew softly, making the lacy white curtains flutter in the moonlight.
The scene might have been scary if he were a child or afraid of the dark, but, as it was, it only filled him with peace. He was alone, as always. Nothing was?—
Just then, voices floated through the window. “…worked perfectly. Rumors will spread around the camp by dawn.”
Kit crept to the window and glanced down, where he saw two men wandering through the rose gardens.
The smaller of the two men idly reached down and plucked one of the fragile blooms from the bushes.
He sniffed it delicately, then let it flutter to the ground, uncaring.
He turned away from it to go the other way, crushing the petals beneath his boot.
Seeing the man’s casual disregard for the defenseless flower sent inexplicable rage coursed through Kit’s veins.
Before he could think his actions through, he let out a primal roar and leaped from the window, letting his wings carry him safely to the ground.
The man let out a scream of terror and scrambled backwards, knocking into his companion, who could only stare, gobsmacked at the hulking beast before him.
Both men turned to run, but before they could take a step, Kit caught them by their collars.
With deft movements, he looped their belts over a protruding sconce, keeping them firmly in place.
Then he crossed his arms, glaring at them.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Kit demanded, his voice sounding like a snarl to his own ears.
The smaller of the two men gazed up at him with wide eyes. “What are you?” he squeaked.
Kit rolled his eyes. Really, if the man was going to go wandering about an abandoned castle and get attacked by a half man-half dragon, he might consider not ticking off the beast when it had him helpless.
“I’ll ask the questions here, human,” he growled.
“Don’t make me repeat myself. What are you doing here? ”
“No…no…nothing,” the smaller man stammered, trying to hide behind his companion. “We were seeking shelter here from the cold of the evening, and we caught sight of your roses…”
“Don’t be absurd,” Kit growled, his sharp eyes raking over the two men.
They both wore the uniforms of the Sherwood Company’s lieutenants, so, he assumed, they’d wandered over from the camp.
And yet…he squinted. There was something he recognized about both men.
They were familiar to him, though he’d seen none of the lieutenants, other than Little John, before.
None of them had chanced to find the borders of the castle.
“Let’s try again. And don’t lie, unless you’d like to be missing a chunk of your hand. Who are you?” Kit demanded, looming over the two men.
They exchanged looks, and the broader man cleared his throat. “Er, I’m Guy Gisborne, and my friend is Lord William Scarlett of?—”
“Coleur. You’re both part of the Coleuran court, aren’t you?” Kit murmured. Just my luck. Not only do two intruders find my refuge, but they also are two people who I’ve met in my old life.
In fact, now that they’d said their names, he remembered both of them.
Six months before Kit had gone into hiding, William Scarlett had been a prime suspect in the assault of a chambermaid when a slew of ambassadors from Coleur had come to Hopka.
There had been no proof, however, and the girl had been too afraid to testify.
The experience had left a bitter taste in Kit’s mouth, but, as his father reminded him, they couldn’t do anything about the past. All they could do was prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
Guy Gisborne, however, hadn’t been so lucky.
The first night he’d been in Hopka, he’d gotten into a tavern brawl and ended up nearly beating a man to death.
Robin had been at the tavern that night and had happily testified about what had happened.
The legal courts had given the man the choice between serving two years in Hopka’s dungeons or exile from the kingdom.
Gisborne had chosen exile, though, from what Kit had heard, he hadn’t gone quietly.
Unaware of Kit’s wanderings through memory land, Will gave a jerky nod, not quite meeting the prince’s eyes. “We are…well, we were. We’ve run into some…complications at court.” He glanced at Guy, who gave a growl of his own. “So we came to the Sherwood Company for a change of pace.”
“And Robin approved you two?” Kit asked, praying his disbelief didn’t show on his scaley face.
Robin might have approved Will—and that was a big ‘might,’ because he’d been friends with the chambermaid who’d been assaulted.
But he certainly wouldn’t have approved Gisborne, not after the man had sent him death threats to convince him not to testify.
Robin was compassionate to a fault, but he wasn’t stupid.
Will’s eyes bugged out a little. “You know our leader?”
Kit scoffed. “You could say that.” That was the understatement of the century.
“He approved me. He hasn’t met Guy yet,” Will admitted. “See, he was supposed to meet him the next time he was at camp. But…” The man let his words trail off, and Kit had to resist the powerful urge to shake the man.
“Don’t need the approval of a spoiled rich boy pretending to be an outlaw,” Gisborne grumbled. “Better that he stays away, keeps his nose clean.” Will shot him a frustrated glance, but didn’t comment.
Kit took a deep breath to prevent himself from launching a fist at Gisborne’s nose. “Be that as it may, if you’re part of the Sherwood Company, what are you doing wandering my rose gardens after midnight? And don’t give me any lies about seeking shelter again.”
Will gave an audible gulp. “We…er…had some business to discuss without prying ears,” he mumbled. “We didn’t know the flowers were so important to you; otherwise, we would never have touched them.”
Gisborne gave a barking laugh. “Yeah, we would have. You wanted something to give your girl for your ‘one-month anniversary,’ or whatever nonsense. Why not a rose?”
Kit shook his head, astounded by their idiocy. Without taking his eyes off the two men, he reached down and picked up the rose that Will had stepped on. He ran his finger reverently along the rumpled petals. “He was going to give his girl a rose he’d deliberately dropped on the ground?”
Will shot Gisbourne a dirty look. “I would not give her that rose. It’s pretty enough, but not perfect. And she deserves perfect.”
“So you were just going to go around picking flowers and throwing them on the ground until you found one that was perfect?” Kit asked, disbelief creeping into his voice. This man couldn’t possibly be that stupid…could he?
Will hung his head sheepishly. “I guess you’ve never been in love, have you, beast?”
A rumble sounded at the back of Kit’s throat. “I’d watch your words if I were you, thief. After all, you’re at my mercy.”
Will’s face grew white. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I apologize. It’s just…I haven’t seen a monster like you before. I lost my head.”
Kit’s growl grew louder, and he might have given into temptation to hit the man if Gisborne hadn’t chosen then to speak up. “What if we could get you a girl? One who wouldn’t see any problem with you being a beast?”
Kit could only stare at him, revulsion making his stomach curl. Were these two planning to just pawn some poor, unsuspecting girl off on him without her knowledge or consent? What type of man?—
“Guy, I don’t think—” Discomfort washed over Will’s face as he caught Kit listening.
Turning away from him as best he could, he leaned in and whispered, “What if the queen finds out?” His voice was low enough that a human’s ears probably wouldn’t have picked up the words, but Kit’s sharpened hearing caught the words easily. “She specifically told us?—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Gisborne hissed back, his voice just as low. “If we don’t get her out of camp, the queen’s going to use us for target practice, anyway. At least this way, she’ll be out out of the public’s eye.”
Will continued frowning, but he said nothing else as Gisborne continued, “She’s not a looker, Nellie.
She’s kinda big, and she’s got a bit of a temper, but she wouldn’t be able to hurt you, I suppose.
She’s pretty compliant, too, if that’s your thing.
” A sadistic grin flitted over his face.
“And the best part is, no one is going to be looking for her. She’s going to be kicked out of camp tomorrow, or at least, that’s the bet.
She doesn’t have any friends or family, so you could do whatever you want to her. ”
Kit’s frown deepened as the man continued to describe the poor lass. He was talking about her as if she were just a piece of meat, not a living, breathing person.
Part of him wanted to refuse the offer outright and dump the two on the doorstep of the local constable.
That would be the right thing to do. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a way to do that where the constable didn’t immediately let the two men go.
He could make a report, but that assumed that the local law enforcement didn’t kill him on sight.
Plus, there was no evidence. It was a he said-he said moment, which, unfortunately, left him pretty powerless.
Alternatively, he could just let the two reprobates go.
Warn them not to come back, or else he’d do to them what he should have done at the beginning of this whole mess.
But if he did that, there was a chance that they’d come back with a bunch of hunters, all crying for his blood. That would be bad, too.
As he tossed the options around in his head, his mind caught on the girl’s name.
Nellie. Unless there were two women at camp who bore the same name—not unlikely, given the fact that there were at least two other Christophers in Hopka’s royal court and five Roberts—it could be the girl he was looking for.
“This girl,” he said, interrupting Gisborne’s tirade about the benefits of having a defenseless woman. “She’s got brown hair and green eyes, yeah?”
Will and Gisborne exchanged a look. “How did you know that?” Gisborne demanded. “Have you been spying on the camp?”
Kit rolled his eyes. “No, you idiot. I saw her in the forest. Is it the same girl or not?”
Will nodded. “She’s not pretty, but she’s willing to do almost anything we ask of her, so we keep her around,” he said, shrugging. He still didn’t look happy about the situation.
Kit’s stomach turned again, but he nodded. “Fine. Bring her to me tomorrow, and you two can go free.” As he moved to free the two men, something occurred to him. “Wait. Are you sure she’d come willingly?”
Will looked at him like he’d lost his mind, which, he admitted to himself, wasn’t far from the truth. “Of course. Like I said, she’ll do anything we ask. And it’s not like she’s got much of a choice.”
Kit’s stomach gave another lurch, but he nodded.
“Fine. I’ll meet you at the old oak on the east side of your camp.
And come alone.” With a sharp motion, he jerked both the men off of the sconces and set them on their feet.
“It goes without saying, but if I ever catch the two of you near here again, they won’t even find pieces of your bodies. ”
Will gave a squeal of fear and even Gisborne paled, but they nodded before fleeing the rose gardens.
Kit watched them go with hooded eyes, his heart heavy.
Somewhere up above, a bird gave a mournful trill.
Kit searched the branches until his eyes landed on a brilliant orange bird.
It looked like the same one he’d seen that morning, the one who had perched on his shoulder.
On instinct, he gave the same whistle command he’d given the bird he’d trained back in Hopka.
But instead of coming to him, the creature took flight, soaring into the clouds, until it was barely a speck in the distance.
When he’d lost sight of the bird, Kit turned and trudged back into the palace, feeling more like a beast than ever before. As he walked, a question echoed in his mind: What have I done?