19. Raithe
Raithe
I should have known from the moment I saved her in the street that she was the Black Rose.
I’d missed her performance the night prior, too busy scouting escape routes for when I captured the Black Rose.
I’d kept my ass firmly planted in the main hall afterwards.
When I finally glimpsed her on stage tonight, she struck me as familiar.
The hues of her dark hair jogged my memory, but I knew for sure when she broke words to me in this suite. Guardians never forgot a voice.
I thought my intuition had guided me to Jere that day, but it was this woman all along.
As I watched the Black Rose’s terrified brown eyes shutter closed in my arms, I realized my error. I’d indulged her for far too long. Too much precious time had been wasted in this room whilst I waited to see what her intention with me was.
From how often her attention averted to the wine bottle, I surmised something was mixed with its contents. My senses—dulled as they were—still detected the presence of vervain when she held the glass to me.
I was not her intended Chosen target. A royal was.
Blue. King. Either she was expecting the king of Sagittarius, whose talisman was the turquoise stone, or the king of Gemini with his agate.
Given where we were, I’d bet the latter.
I hadn’t spotted another Chosen in Serpentine. I supposed I could have missed them amidst the dark and crowded labyrinth.
But this woman had been certain that I was King Zephyr.
To be prepared to commit such a treasonous act meant one of two motives. First, she was an utter moron. Second, she acted on behalf of the apostai. Or, more likely, both.
I unhooked the black mask shielding her face and tossed it aside. The movement sent her head lolling with her right cheek landing against my chest. Her lips parted open as she slept deeply.
The vehement crowd had ogled her body more than they praised her performance. Objectively, she did have a beautiful one: all long, tanned legs and soft curves that shimmered like starlight from the jewels and glitter on her skin.
When I entered young adulthood on the Isles, the other boys and girls couldn’t keep their curious hands off one another. I was either reading or training and had no interest in exploring physical connections. Not when I had my sights set on becoming a guardian.
My oath of celibacy as a Chosen never mattered, for to this day I never experienced what others described as attraction.
There was something about this woman that had held me captive.
The way she’d danced was beyond seduction.
It was passionate and desperate—beguiling, even, as she wove a somber story through every unbounded movement.
On its own, the music was inconsequential.
With her body, she became its storyteller.
These past minutes with her had, reluctantly, fascinated me. Something in her eyes—in her face—rendered me curious as she tried her best to seduce me.
Perhaps I was meant to intervene tonight and save the targeted royal from an attempted attack. For her to be tasked with such a mission meant she was either trusted greatly, or of little consequence.
I set her down on the bed. The bedside candle cast shadows that traced the sloping outline of her curves.
Despite the extravagant fabrics draped over her skin, her costume was scanty.
Her bare feet were gilded in gold jewelry.
With tentative fingers, I slipped off the jewels that connected along her thigh to her ankles, pocketing them for later inspection.
I lifted one foot to glimpse the undersole.
Nothing. I did the same for her other foot and stilled.
There it was. Two vertical lines connected by a curved base extending upward with a horizontal, waved stroke crossing through them.
The same brand from the apostate Alekko and I interrogated weeks ago, only fresher. The same brand under Helene’s foot. The same symbol on the entrance coins into Serpentine.
“Well, well,” I murmured.
The Black Rose was an apostate.
I tossed her over my left shoulder, needing both hands accessible to fight my way out of here if needed. I snuck out into the hallway and up a tunnel I’d previously discovered that led to where barrel shipments came and went.
I didn’t get far with the dancer before a stampede of footsteps chased after us.
The barred barricade at the base of the tunnel was locked, preventing a quick escape. It also seemed that since my discovery, a boulder had been placed on the other side of the gate. Even if I kicked the lock off, it would take a significant amount of force to break through it.
I gently placed the woman down against the wall as the herd of angry voices approached.
I should have been able to count exactly how many people advanced on us.
My guardian abilities weren’t at full strength, so however many there were, I would need to resort to my basic training until I got the fuck out of here.
Thankfully, my Athenian blades would make quick work of them.
Their torches lit the tunnel, and soon they came into view. All twelve of their masked faces contorted into greedy rage, each of them donning padded white armor and swords pointed in my direction.
I tapped my foot patiently as they neared. Three, two, one…
Relying on muscle memory, I attacked with caution. These were apostates—I could kill them all, but one man against this many would raise suspicion. I dodged their sloppy sword attempts as I charged, slicing at their shins with my blades.
They sank to their knees one by one in pain and surprise.
Normal blades shouldn’t have been able to cut through their armor, but these weren’t normal blades.
Their howls echoed throughout the chamber.
Rather than going for the killing blow, I knocked them out with precise force using the hilt of my blade.
With the little remaining mushroom tonic I had, I smeared the fungus into each of their mouths, hoping it worked and they would wake up with no recollection of their injuries.
More urgent calls loomed from Serpentine. I turned, preparing—
The bracelets, my intuition reminded me.
I glanced down at my wrist, then at the unconscious dancer, at the behest of my humming intuition. Crouching at her side, I slipped both our bracelets off in a single movement and tucked them into my pocket.
My body sang with returned strength.
I rammed my shoulder into the walled door. The boulder cracked beneath my brute force. I thrust my body into it further, the walls of the tunnel trembling. Dust and gravel cascaded from the ceiling. With one final thrust, I plowed through the wall that had to be at least five feet thick.
I secured the Black Rose in my arms and darted into the breezy night, leaving Serpentine in our wake.