Chapter 8 The One that Got Away
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
I flicked through the crumpled newspaper as I walked Lilyanna to the fencing room. Why had they shunted the story of the missing woman all the way to the back? I scanned each headline, my elbow irritatingly jostling Lilyanna with every turn.
She tripped over my foot and grabbed my arm to steady herself. I stopped while she unwound from my body, smoothing her gold tunic with an air of nonchalance.
“You should be concentrating more on your job and where we’re going,” she huffed. “These floors are most uneven.” She eyed the sconces flickering high on the walls. “And the walls could crumble at any second.”
I folded the paper and tucked it under my arm. I scanned the ceiling for any loose slabs or cracks. “Okay, job done. Shall we go now?”
She glowered at me but took my arm and let me lead her onward.
The castle did seem to be behaving. Even though the daylight barely penetrated the infrequently spaced narrow windows, the corridors were wide and straight.
But it was as though we were being corralled, it knew exactly where we ought to be heading.
What a ridiculous idea. I shook my head to clear it, trying to infuse my clogged mind with sane thoughts. I was just tired. Even if there was magic here, it couldn’t have a mind of its own. Someone had to be in control.
“I don’t feel like ending up like those other women.” She spoke lightly, but her nails gripped my sleeve, piercing my skin.
“His fiancées?”
“No, the ones from town. I won’t be dying like his fiancées, I’ve told you.
I’ve seen my future at the castle, but those murdered women are still worrying.
There was no talk about them in my premonitions and to have another occur only last night!
I’ve barely been inside this town for a week, and the grisliest events are unfolding. ”
“Oh, the tea leaves. Right. They only dictate your likelihood of marrying the prince, not of unfolding current events.”
She drilled me with a glare.
“Anyway, did you read it?” I waggled the paper at her.
“I scanned it at breakfast. The prince had it open. I presume that’s where you lifted it from?”
“I’m not a thief, thank you, but yes, I took it when he left. You were too busy describing how wonderful he is in painful detail to notice. I ate a few of those apple pastries at the same time.”
The corridor sloped gently downwards, a rare glimpse of the brackish sky opening above us through an elongated window.
How did they live all day trapped between these walls?
And Lilyanna had sworn not to ever leave.
I’d have to find the gardens and force her to enjoy some fresh air, as much for my sake as hers.
“There wasn’t much in it,” she continued. “Another woman gone, no body. They suspected there were links to magic, that someone is killing women who specifically harbor blood magic, but so far there’s been no clear motive. Or at least, not one widely shared so anybody could be next.”
The murders of the town women and the prince’s fiancées had to be linked.
One person with access to the castle doing them all.
If they were after blood magic, they could be coming for me next.
Or they could just take me out to clear the path to Lilyanna.
My skin pebbled as a chill snaked through me. “Are they sure she was murdered?”
“The prince told me at breakfast his guard had gone to investigate and will be bringing back more information. He said I was safe here within these walls.” She glanced again at the ceiling, her eyes tracking back and forth.
“Which guard did he send?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. The sullen one maybe? The one with the beard.”
“His name is Clement.” I flushed. I don’t know why her description of him bothered me, it was surprisingly accurate.
“Yes, that does sound right,” she mused.
The Sheriff could be involved. He was prowling around just last night, skulking through town but murder wasn’t his forte. Ferreting out secrets and using that information for his own gain was much more his style.
He would be far easier to lure than the prince, and he may have useful information about the women and if they were targeted for their magic.
Blood magic was the rarest of all, and highly prized by sorcerers and priestesses.
But how had they been captured? They should have lived their lives in quiet fear of discovery, keeping their gifts a closely guarded secret.
If anyone would know the answer, it would be the Sheriff.
I dropped the paper outside the heavy doors of the fencing room.
Sensing we’d arrived, Lilyanna straightened her shoulders and tossed her head into the air.
All her twitchiness morphed into a demure, sultry smile.
It would have been amusing had her nail marks not been indelibly imprinted onto my arm, tattooing her anxiety onto my flesh.
She patted some color into her wan cheeks and strode into the room as I held open the door. I nodded, impressed with her focus.
The acoustics of the room muffled my tread as I headed for Clement. Hunting trophies lined the walls, pelts, antlers, and taxidermized animals speared on diamond hooks. I avoided eye contact, knowing their beady gazes would reappear in my nightmares otherwise.
The sleepless nights had finally caught up with me. I swayed into Clement, standing like a human totem beside me. He glanced at me in surprise but didn’t shrug me off. I leaned in closer, propping my weight against his muscular side.
Did he just flex his bicep? I snorted, disguising the noise with a loud yawn.
“How do you stand so still for so long?” I groaned.
The prince parried with Lilyanna, both wielding long sabers that flashed under the glow from the candelabra. The click, click, click, of blade upon blade was putting me into a trance. He remained silent, maybe he was still irritated about last night?
“Are you ignoring me, Clement? Come on, it was only a little nibble.”
I nestled deeper into his side, letting his body heat envelop me. I yawned again, earning me a tut of disapproval.
“I told you to stay in your room. To never leave her side,” he muttered.
“Yes, I’m sure if the roles were reversed, you’d have no problem sticking to her,” I said, and he frowned down at me. “You’re not very subtle, my friend. Can’t keep your eyes off her.”
“I’m not watching her.” He reddened beneath the dark stubble and resumed focus on the two figures dancing round each other. “Not the way I watch you.” The admission came so quietly I almost missed it.
He couldn’t possibly mean it like it sounded.
I studied his closed-off face, the dark circles under his eyes.
Just for a moment, I forgot he was a royal guard and realized he was just a man.
One with secrets, a hidden truth that encompassed his entire being.
And I wasn’t making his life any easier.
He did have to keep watching my every move, but thankfully, he didn’t know the real reason why.
I turned with a sigh to watch the couple sparring. Lilyanna was remarkably good. If the prince had any thought about letting her win today, that had gone up in a flaming pile of shit. She was the one who quite obviously kept dropping her defense to allow him the odd point. I loved it.
“And don’t call me friend.” Clement gently pushed me off him, his hand lingering on my arm a beat too long. “I’m doing my job.”
“Of course, I don’t blame you. When you’re just grunts like us, you’ve got to take any perks offered.”
He growled, a deep feral sound from deep within him that sent chills of pleasure coursing through me. He could move away, stand on the other side of the room like Bryn, but he didn’t.
She’d very clearly made a beeline across the expanse of blood-red marble in the dining room this morning when we’d entered, all because I’d casually asked her how her day had been going so far.
She’d once again taken a position as far away from me as possible.
She caught me looking, smoothed back her already perfect hair cinched into the neatest bun I’d ever seen, and turned away.
She propped one leg back against the wall, her hand falling to the hilt of her saber.
Maybe she was embarrassed that she had nothing interesting to say to me, and it wasn’t that she found me irritating.
Either way, there was one less person between me and the prince.
I just needed to befriend Clement to gain access.
“Bryn doesn’t like me then?” I asked.
“She thinks you’re a distraction.”
“Oooh, what kind of distraction?” I whipped my head back toward where she was studiously ignoring us.
He laughed, quickly stopping himself. He cleared his throat. “Not the good kind.”
“And what do you think?” I nudged him.
He caught my elbow and placed my hand back by my side. “She’s been here a long time. Well before me, and we both trust each other implicitly. To do this job, you have to.” He let go and resumed his focus on the prince. “So, let us work.”
I sighed and dragged my hands down my face.
My skin was clammy, and I knew there were dark circles etched under my eyes too.
I’d managed to cover most of Lilyanna’s with an oily moisturizer I’d found in the room, but I didn’t want to smell of literal roses all day.
Why the prince was unable to find anything with a different scent was beyond me.
That cloying, sweet odor made me nauseous, but was it enough of a reason to sentence him to death?
My head dropped onto Clement’s shoulder again. I sniffed, rolling my cheek so that it pressed against the soft sleeve of his tunic. Goddess, he smelled good. Refreshing, like pine. My mind wandered into the woods, soft pine needles cushioning my feet, the wind glancing against my skin.
“Did you just smell me?” Clement asked, his lips twitching.