Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
SEVERING THE ILLUSION
The journey north took me three days on horseback. Siobhan had ruined my mood with her appearance and the long trek over empty moorlands ate into a huge chunk of my imposed time limit. If that wasn’t enough, I had to pay for a horse out of my earnings.
The coin purse clinked in my pocket as the mare plodded up and down the dales.
Twenty-five gideons, although a pretty generous sum, was already almost half gone.
Five for the horse, five for food, a skin of water and hardy wool-lined clothing, then a further five for a myriad of small knives and a leather thigh holster.
If I'd been attacked en route, they would have done me little good against the spears and sabers of the Moors people, but I felt safer knowing they were all strapped within easy reach and invisible to an onlooker.
Mist rose amongst the brown gorse and purple heather like specters clutching at the ground, desperate not to be dragged up into the skies.
Permafrost leeched into the soil, causing the heavy hoof falls of my mount to crack like ice.
I stroked the soft brown fur of her neck, inhaling the sweet smell of hay from her mane.
“We’ll stop for a rest soon, Siobhan.” I patted her gently.
“I’ll get you the finest lodgings in the city.
” I smiled to myself, content with my choice of name.
I’d thought it amusing to imagine riding Siobhan until she collapsed, having her be unable to keep up with me.
Me! But then I realized I actually quite enjoyed the horse’s company, her soft whinnies and faithful companionship.
Also, she had stubbornly refused to get involved in any of my jokes, which was very sensible.
Being trapped between a devil and a human when you were only a beast was a very unsafe place to be.
Just as the cold finally penetrated my marrow, congealing the very essence of my core, the edge of the city arose from the mist. I wrapped my numb fingers around the worn leather reins and urged my horse toward the serpentine path leading up to the wall.
From a distance, the wall looked like any other, a dull expanse of gray that bisected the countryside. Up close, it was magnificent.
Stones of every size and shape, ranging from ebony to silver to gray were stacked baklava style like an expensive pastry that had been shipped from far overseas.
Where there should be springy moss and signs of weathering, glittering facets of diamond sparkled, translucent and radiating light like the wall harbored its own lifeforce. A soul.
I whistled and Siobhan the horse snorted her approval.
We continued to the top of the path and halted at what I hoped was the gate. It looked like every other section of the wall, except for a small rectangular hole where a set of suspicious looking eyes peered out.
“Three gideons to enter Prince Bellinor’s land.” A gloved hand appeared in the slot where the eyes had just been. The fingertips poked through the fabric, bitten nails and worn skin chafed to a shiny red.
“Three?” I rarely ventured north. In fact, the last time I was here there was no wall, but it wasn’t three, that much I knew.
Probably one, at most. The temples, seers, and blind faith in omens that increased with every footfall up the country usually had me scurrying back to the warm, free lands of the South.
I’d falsely assumed their piety would have made them more hospitable to strangers.
Maybe Siobhan had told them to up the fee, that they could keep the excess for themselves. She had sway everywhere.
The hand remained, fingers twitching in impatience.
“Fine.” I dug out the coins and returned the depressingly empty purse to my pocket.
The hand was sucked back inside the dark hole, and the slow cranking of a lever began.
The gate opened just enough to allow us through, then snapped shut.
I dismounted and tried to take a step toward the gate person, but my thighs locked, fire sparking up my back.
I grabbed onto the reins and stared at my useless legs.
“Long ride?” The woman who operated the gates came forward and offered me a hand. With difficulty, I straightened. Every muscle in my body screamed hellfire, even my skin pulsed in irritation. “The chafing’s the worst, lass.”
I grunted.
“Usually, I advise travelers to avoid bathing for a few days but in your case, you may want to grit your teeth and brave it.” She wrinkled her nose.
I grunted again.
“Stables are a mile to the east alongside the wall. There is no riding within the city, mind. Taverns are everywhere so take your pick and the market will be setting up shortly.”
I took a shaky step, the feeling returning to my extremities like knife blades. “Did I already pay you for all this information?”
She laughed. “We set the toll depending on whether we like the look of the traveler or nae.”
She pointed down the central street which shot straight as an arrow toward a large castle in the distance.
Houses were crammed down either side like the parting of hair on a head, leaning toward each other over the road.
Wooden signs flapped in the breeze and lines of dripping washing hung suspended between them.
There was an unsettling familiarity about it.
The street was the same, the shape of the houses, the faint freshness of the moors in the air, but since the prince had claimed this land and barricaded the inhabitants inside with his wall, the town I once knew had mutated.
I felt it in the quiet lingering in the vacant side streets and in the moss infiltrating the seams of the houses.
“Castle is down there. Prince already has a new lady of the court mind, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“How often does he get new ones?”
She shrugged. “There is some kind of curse on them poor women. A few have disappeared, some supposedly returned to their towns in the dead of night never to be heard from again.” She lowered her voice.
“The last one was found in such a state, the body couldn’t be identified except for the tiara of rubies and diamonds impaled in her skull. ”
I grimaced. “A gift from the prince?”
“Aye. The Goddess has her reasons.”
Excellent. If he had faults after all, and the image spread throughout the rest of the kingdom about his generosity was fictitious, this would be a breeze.
If he was being targeted for something he’d done by having his ladies of the court murdered, and the people were blaming the Goddess instead of him, there would be scope for blackmail.
I could lure him out. How could he not be directly involved in something like that?
“But you need to keep your eyes open, lass,” she continued. “There’s been other disappearances, all young women, rumored to harbor magic.”
“What kind of magic?”
She raised her brows, her hat jumping up her forehead. “Does it matter? All’s illegal up here. The prince is more lenient than most, although don’t let gossip like that travel down South to the queens.”
“Are they linked? The prince’s murdered fiancées and the local women?”
She shrugged. “If I knew that, lass, I’d have a pretty penny by now and be living out my life on the coast somewhere, not freezing out here manning the gate.”
I gathered the reins under the horse’s chin and turned her toward the narrow path that ran alongside the stone wall, my mind brimming with information.
“Before I go, did you set the high toll because you liked the look of me? Thought I was rich enough to pay?” I gave her my best smile, which unfortunately involved my cracked lips bleeding.
She chuckled. “Aye, lassie. I thought you’d be able to pay, but I doubt it’s your own hard-earned money you're touting.” She eyed my old cloak and scuffed boots, raising her eyebrows again at the pristine flaxen pullover underneath. “That cashmere?”
It was a little flashy, but if I was about to spend the winter in the North, I’d be damned if I had to wear only sheep’s wool.
My smile widened. “Whore or criminal?”
She patted me on the shoulder. “I have no preference. Both’ll find plenty of work up here.” She returned to a small three-legged stool by the gate and resumed her vigil of the moorland beyond.
Good. I could play both roles easily.
Siobhan, the horse, seemed quite content with her new lodgings as I passed over the reins—and the rest of my coin purse—to the groom before winding my way to the castle. I stuck to the main street knowing I’d get lost in the random crisscross of alleyways that made up the perimeter.
The castle was monstrous. Like the wall, the stone was injected with glittering diamonds. The alcoves and speared turrets concealed toothy gargoyles, while long slits lined every side where arrowheads could be notched and poised ready to fly for an assailant.
Guards flanked the towering main doors, sabers dangling from their belts, the hilts carved from translucent gemstones.
The pair at the door said nothing as I approached.
Both women had their dark hair severed from their faces, tight cheeks drawn into identical superior expressions.
I had no doubt they would impale me the moment I raised my hand to knock.
I continued walking the perimeter, eventually spotting the servant's entrance. Another guard had been posted here, closely scrutinizing the face of every person that scurried up to the small door.
I slotted in behind a woman carrying a basket stuffed with bread.
My fingers twitched and saliva pooled in my mouth as the aroma wafted over to me.
Perhaps she’d let me have the parchment they were wrapped in?
I would lick the condensation off, rolling the flavors around in my mouth as I savored every drop.
My stomach growled audibly, and the woman rolled her eyes at me and moving the basket out of reach before returning her attention to the guard.
He ushered her through, and I stepped to the front.
“Business?” the guard barked.
Yes, what a great question. “I have come...” What had Siobhan said I was doing? I can’t say to assassinate the prince, to infiltrate his private quarters and to upend the entire queendom. “To see about...a job.” That sounded right.
The guard rested his hand upon the diamond hilt of his saber. His uniform was neatly pressed, all a rich, sapphire blue. It would probably make just about anyone look dashing and handsome. Who didn’t like a side of power with their latest exploit?
He cleared his throat, and I returned my eyes to his face.
“I have a job,” I said. “Here. To start, now.” Goddessdamnit what was wrong with me? I blamed Siobhan—the devil not the horse. She’d stolen my free time, forced me straight back into work when I needed to blow off steam and purge the previous hunt from my system.
I wished Candyman was here for a few hours.
He’d be packing up and traveling to the next location, collecting whichever women or oddities he came across on the way.
Oh, what I’d do to be back there, left to my own devices, blown like a will-o'-the-wisp whichever way the wind gusted.
It would definitely not be this far north.
“Stay.” The guard held up his hand as if I were a dog.
I started, snapping from my musings. I glared at him, cursing the thrill of submission that shot through me.
He returned a few minutes later with a tall reedy woman. She wore a light blue pinafore with a classic white apron and matching cap. Surprisingly, her humble dress was complemented by a rather astonishing matching set of diamond-laced ruby earrings and necklace.
“You are the new lady’s maid?” Her nose twitched as she inhaled my musty horse-sweat-countryside odor. “Tam?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Maid. Maid! If it wasn’t degrading enough to be bound into this awful contract and forced to do Siobhan’s bidding, now she’d sent me to clean up shit and tuck little rich girls into bed at night. Maybe I should just give myself to her now. Would it be worse?
“You’re a little old for a maid, aren’t you?”
“I am only twenty-eight. I think experienced is a better word.”
Unimpressed, she continued scouring my body with her dark eyes as if she could magically clean me just by willing it. “Perhaps it is better this way.” She folded her arms and cocked her head.
“Why is that, ma’am?”
“You’re tough looking. Unapproachable.”
I was, in truth, quite flattered and so remained quiet in case more compliments came along.
“Also, forgettable. The prince won’t be interested in you, and the lady of the court won’t be jealous.”
Was that still good? Technically, I did need to blend in and disappear, so yes, I’d accept that as well. I smiled and waited for the conclusion to her musings.
“Are you armed?”
“Armed? I’m a maid.” She held my stare, and my body wilted. Siobhan would love this woman. “Yes, I am.”
“Good. Keep it hidden.”
She turned and pushed open the small side door. I followed quickly, cataloging the locations of my knives as I scanned the corners, ceiling, doorways, and anywhere that looked remotely secretive.
We passed through a bustling kitchen into an endless cramped corridor. As the kitchen doors swung shut behind us, life stilled, severing the illusion of a bustling, vibrant household. No people, no noise, just emptiness.
Small passageways flitted off at irregular intervals and a dark hole sporadically appeared in the wall.
The feeling of being watched clung to my body like a shadow, but when I turned my attention to it, trying to make a set of eyes appear in the gloom, nothing happened.
My fingers twitched toward the knife at my thigh.
“Your room is here, adjoined with the lady of the court.” She stopped outside a plain wooden door. “You have the lower area, and she has the upstairs suite. Inside, there are clothes and a bath, which you must take immediately.”
I grunted my acceptance. I did stink.
“If you need me, my room is next to the kitchens or you can ask for Matron, but there should be no questions, no trifling concerns, and no accidents. Your one job is to guard Lady Lilyanna.”
“I’m her babysitter, not her bodyguard.”
She ignored me. “Do not leave her side. Do not leave her alone for a moment and for Goddess’s sake,”—she bent to whisper in my ear, her voice almost inaudible—“never leave her alone with the prince.”
She snapped erect again, brushing invisible dirt, or perhaps my odor, from the front of her apron. “Go and bathe. Your posting begins now.”