59. Lilias
Lilias
SMILE AND KEEP WALKING
Ithought I knew my way around the palace of Vsenrog. I lived here, after all, even if it wasn’t for that long. I assumed I could find my way from the fourth floor to the stables.
Gods, was I wrong. Petrys and Zarek lead me through a maze of narrow, dark passageways and tight staircases. There’s an entire world behind the walls of Vsenrog’s palace, and it’s not until we actually leave the building and step into the soft, cool night air that I start to get my bearings.
We’re in the kitchen gardens. We left the palace through a little back door I’d never even noticed, then stepped around what smelled like a refuse pile.
Petrys walks slowly, keeping his back to the wall and his eyes on Zarek.
Zarek stumbled going down the first flight of stairs, but I caught his arm, and he’s been fine since then.
Well, he’s been looking at me like he wants to eat me alive. Again. My cheeks burn, and I turn away from his dark eyes and hungry lips. I’m still trembling from what he did to me in the servants’ passageway. Damn, I never knew it could feel like that.
And I want more. I want to beg him for more. Hells, I want to get down on my knees in front of him, unlace his pants and—
Petrys clears his throat. I glance up and try to look like I wasn’t just fantasizing about my husband.
We’re at the edge of the kitchen garden.
Soft, distant music fills the air, mingling with the slow rustle of voices.
Behind the low stone walls of the kitchen garden, a long row of high windows burns with the light from dozens of chandeliers.
“There are probably going to be people in the garden,” Petrys says in a low voice. “Hopefully just couples looking for a little privacy.”
He looks at both of us like he can read our minds and, yes, those are terrible thoughts. Then he clears his throat again.
“Lilias, give the cloak to Zarek,” he says. “And Zarek, keep the damn hood up.”
“Of course,” Zarek replies. “I’m not a complete idiot, thank you.”
Petrys rolls his eyes. I pull off the heavy, dark cloak and hand it to Zarek. He tugs it over his shoulders, then brings the hood up, hiding his face.
“We’ll keep to the shadows,” Petrys continues. “Everyone knows I’m guarding Lilias, so they shouldn’t be surprised to see us together. Hopefully, you’ll just look like a second guard.”
“If no one looks too close,” Zarek says, in a low voice.
I open my mouth to ask what will happen if someone does look too closely, but something about the way the two brothers look at each other makes me think I don’t want to know the answer. I twist my hands together and try to ignore the way my throat feels like it’s closing.
“Alia’s waiting for us at the far end of the stables,” Petrys says. “We make it that far, and we get the fuck out of here.”
Zarek nods. He lifts his hand to touch the metal vial around his throat, the one that holds the ashes of Dungal.
“Gods be with us,” he whispers.
Petrys nods, then turns to me.
“If anyone approaches us,” he says quietly,“smile and keep walking.”
I smile. And we start walking. The gravel of the path crunches beneath our feet. I wince at the sound. It seems very loud against the low thrum of the music drifting out of the brightly lit windows.
My heart almost stops when we pass the first couple, a man and a woman holding hands and whispering as they walk. Petrys tilts his head. I try desperately to smile. And then they’re gone, following the path behind us, and I finally remember to breathe.
The windows of the ballroom still feel like they’re very far away. We have to walk the length of the ballroom, then turn and continue through the gardens to reach the stables.
Gods above. I feel like it’s going to take us a thousand years to make it that far.
Every burst of applause from the palace’s grand windows, every break in the faint, distant music, makes me jump.
I’m sure we’re about to hear screaming, then men rushing into the garden with their swords drawn.
The longer we can go without raising an alarm, the better, Petrys said.
But surely the men guarding Zarek’s cage will notice he’s gone?
The closer we get to the ballroom, the more people there are in the garden. I feel like my heart is going to explode every time someone approaches us. Petrys smiles and nods, returning pleasantries and walking slowly, like he has all the time in the world.
No, like he’s trapped here. Like he’d rather be somewhere else, but he’s stuck with the noblewoman in the huge dress who’s wandering the gardens with a panicked grin plastered onto her face.
I force myself to breathe, then turn to stare through the windows.
We’re close enough to the ballroom now that I can see the men and women on the other side of the glass.
I watch light sparkle off the jewels around a woman’s neck and catch on her glass of wine.
The man beside her whispers into her ear, and she throws her head back to laugh.
It’s like watching people living in another world. We walk past that window, and I glance in the next. Elegant bodies move across the dance floor, weaving in and out, following the steps of a dance I vaguely recognize. I think I learned that one. I could probably fake it, at least.
And then my body goes cold.
Blayne. He stalks the edge of the dance floor, scowling at the men and women swaying to the music. He’s glaring at the dancers, examining them like he’s trying to find something he lost. The song ends, and everyone applauds.
Everyone but Blayne. He turns away from the dance floor and walks past the window, his eyes hard above his frown.
“Oh no,” I whisper.
I don’t realize I’ve stopped walking until Petrys brushes his fingers against my arm.
“What’s wrong?” he whispers.
I open my mouth and try to breathe.
“Blayne,” I gasp.
Zarek makes a noise in the back of his throat, a low growl. Petrys glares at him.
“What about Blayne?” Petrys asks, his voice low and sharp.
“He- He’s—” I gulp another breath. The garden feels much colder. “I need to go through the ballroom,” I declare.
“No,” Zarek replies.
I turn to him. “I’ll meet you at the stables,” I say. “But I need to go in there first. Blayne is looking for me. And if he doesn’t find me in there, he’s going to keep looking—”
My voice pinches and fails. I think about Laurance’s face when I held the blade to his neck, the rage in his eyes when he called me a crazy bitch.
I messed everything up in Ethiria. I’m not going to do that again.
“He needs to find me,” I finish. “Blayne has to think everything is normal.”
“Shit,” Petrys hisses, turning to Zarek. “She’s right. He’ll send someone looking for her. And if they can’t find her, they’ll come looking for you, won’t they?”
“No,” Zarek says. “I’m not leaving without her.”
There’s a raw edge to his voice, something ragged and sharp. Petrys takes a deep breath, then turns and puts his hands on his brother’s shoulders.
“Zarek,” he says in a low whisper. “You know she’s right.”
“I’ll go with you,” Zarek says. “I’ll keep my hood up.”
“No,” Petrys replies. “You go in there, and you’re a dead man. And is that any way to repay your wife for rescuing your sorry ass?”
Petrys smiles, but his eyes are hard. Zarek scowls, then shakes his head as he pulls away from his brother.
“I’ll be with her the whole time,” Petrys says.
“The longer we can go without raising an alarm, the better, right?” I offer, in a sad mimicry of Petrys.
Zarek raises his hands in front of his chest, like he’s surrendering.
“Half an hour,” Zarek finally says. “And then I’m coming back for you.”
Petrys reaches forward, taking Zarek’s hand in both of his like they’re coming to the end of a business agreement.
“We’ll be there,” Petrys says. “Tell Alia to have the horses ready.”
Zarek turns and meets my gaze. I stare at him in the darkness as the music of the victory ball swells all around us. Then Petrys reaches forward and claps Zarek on the shoulder.
“Go, you idiot,” he growls.
Zarek vanishes into the shadows. And I turn toward the light.