Chapter 15
“Ah.” Asherton’s eyes locked on the snake, and he ran his tongue over his lips. “That is a …”
“Dragonbane adder, yes, I’m aware.” Magdala’s mouth was dry, her palms damp. They hadn’t taught her how to fight snakes in training. No one ever let loose a serpent on the sparring mat.
Asherton arched a brow. “How do you know that? Is herpetology part of your royal guard curriculum?”
“If you wore shoes, you wouldn’t be in danger,” she bit. “Now let me think.”
“A lot of good that’ll do us,” he grumbled.
Magdala glared at him.
Asherton shifted, like he meant to run.
“Stop!” Magdala warned. “It is a hundred times quicker than you!”
Her heart froze in her chest. If assassins or rogue curses or just his own stupidity caught up to Asherton and he died under her watch, it wouldn’t take Zephyr long to discover who she really was. Her father’s hatred would put a noose around her neck. Coming here had been a mistake.
Asherton rubbed his thumb along his lower lip, his eyes still fixed on the serpent.
“Don’t …” Magdala said, holding out her hand in a steadying gesture.
Slowly, Asherton crouched and reached for a forked stick lying a half-stride away. Smoothly, cautiously, he lifted it. He glanced at Magdala and a shadow passed over his face. His mouth tightened, and then he jumped back. The snake struck. Asherton dodged and slammed the stick over its body.
It writhed, trapped, then began to wriggle free.
Asherton darted out his bandaged hand, meaning to pinch its neck between his thumb and forefinger, but in the heat of the moment, he forgot that his bandages restricted his movement.
The snake twisted over his hand, and he swore as its teeth sank into the white cotton.
Magdala lunged, slashing at the snake with her knife.
She severed its head, and it sprayed blood across Asherton’s shirt.
He gasped as its body fell to the ground, twisting in death.
“What did you kill it for?” Asherton shouted, his cheeks flushing scarlet. He unhooked the snake’s teeth from his bandage and Magdala knocked it out of his hand.
She blinked at him, waiting for him to collapse. When he didn’t, she couldn’t decide how to feel.
“Why aren’t you dead?” Magdala demanded. If there was a curse, it was misfiring.
Asherton held up his hand. “Your blundering dressing is so thick, the teeth couldn’t cut through it.”
A gust of anger buffeted Magdala. “I told you to stay close to me! I told you not to wander off! But you don’t listen because you’re a bloody idiot.”
“And you are an incompetent assassin.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dragonbane adders don’t live on Elegy Island. You disappeared and then came around the corner just before a highly venomous, non-native snake appears? This was a ham-fisted assassination if ever I saw one.”
Magdala pinched the bridge of her nose. “If I was trying to kill you, why did I kill the snake?”
“It had already bitten me! You were covering your trail. Now, if you’re going to kill me, just do it, for Roz’s sake.”
Magdala shut her eyes and inhaled slowly. “I’m not going to kill you. I saw someone in the hedge.”
“I’m sure you did,” he said bitterly. He walked past her. “Don’t tell Zephyr about this.”
“Of course I’ll tell Zephyr! There’s an assassin wandering around the island!”
“Alright, go inside, then,” he said. “Explain this to Zephyr and see if he doesn’t have you back in Largotia in a blink.
It’s no trouble for my mother to send someone else.
But you’ll be disgraced. No one will take you seriously.
You’ll be the female bodyguard who couldn’t last two days on Elegy Island. ”
Oh, she hated him. Magdala was used to Julian and her father and their slow-witted friends, but sparring with Asherton did not end in the decisive victories Magdala usually enjoyed.
“Let’s make a pact,” Asherton said darkly, unwinding the bandage on his hand.
“Whatever happens, we don’t tell Zeph about any assassination attempts, or strange accidents that may befall me, and if you happen to be the …
” He cleared his throat. “… agent of any of those misfortunes, then you will do it quickly and quietly so he doesn’t find me until it’s long over.
I don’t want to haunt his next eight hundred years with memories of bloody goodbyes and writhing around in the dirt. And try not to be too messy about it.”
“I’m not going to do anything to you, you buffoon!" Magdala could not believe she was calling the crown prince of Allagesh a buffoon, but he irked her so; she couldn’t help it.
Asherton just laughed and shoved the bandage into his pocket.
Magdala bit her lip, then said, “Alright, since you don’t believe me, at least believe that I’m not going to kill you right now. I swear it on my mother’s grave.”
“Witch!” he snapped. “Your mother is alive!”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you have a tell. You bite your lip before you lie.”
“That’s not a tell,” she objected, leading the way down the path. “It’s a twitch.”
When they reached the entrance, Zephyr was crossing the overgrown lawn, a net resting on his shoulder. Magdala jumped back, pushing Asherton into the bushes. His clothing snagged on sharp branches and he swore at her.
“We can’t let Zeph see us,” Magdala said. “Your shirt is all bloodied.”
Zephyr disappeared through the kitchen door and Magdala grabbed Asherton roughly by the arm, dragged him to his feet, and dashed across the grass. Asherton followed her at a sprint as they ran up the broad steps and burst through the open front doors.
Asherton took off down the hall, but Magdala couldn’t resist the urge to turn and shut the doors.
As she did, footsteps sounded on the stairs to the kitchen.
Panicked, Magdala barreled into Asherton, grabbing the front of his shirt as she searched the hallway for somewhere to hide.
A broom closet stood open, and Magdala shoved him inside.
She followed, sliding in beside him, then clicked the door shut, plunging them into darkness.
“You’re standing on my foot,” Asherton muttered.
“Hush!”
Every time she inhaled, her chest brushed Asherton’s chest. She was overwhelmingly aware of the warmth of his body pressed against her, his breath tickling her brow.
Zephyr’s footsteps pounded in the hall. Asherton stepped back, trying to widen the space between them, and upset a broom. It clattered to the floor, and Zephyr stopped outside the door.
Magdala clutched Asherton’s arm, steadying him. He inhaled sharply.
“This is childish,” she muttered.
“It does feel cowardly,” he whispered.
“If I was going to kill you, this would be the place.”
“Zephyr is literally outside the door right now.” Asherton laughed quietly. “Would you just step out after wiping your knife blade on your pants?”
Zephyr retreated down the hall.
“Alright, now you can slit my throat.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Magdala burst out of the closet, sticky with sweat. Asherton shoved past her and jogged up the stairs to his room. He was stepping into the washroom when she caught up to him.
“I’ll bind your hand again,” Magdala said, but Asherton shut the door in her face. “Your Highness!” She pounded her fist on the solid wood.
“I don’t trust you!”
“I already bound it once!”
“Poorly. Go keep watch for Zephyr!”
Magdala rattled the latch. “Let me in!”
“Miss Devney! Have some decency, I am in the washroom.”
Magdala ground her teeth.