A little further down from the princess and the ranger, another couple swayed to the violin notes floating through the starlit hall. I glared at Nelyssae as she squirmed in front of Shade and brushed her curves against his athletic body. They moved in perfect step with the music and the other dancers.
Irritation bubbled through me. Of course the damn assassin knew how to dance. Was there anything he didn’t excel at? His smug voice drifted through my head. It’s not about having the need. It’s about being prepared for every eventuality. Fuming, I drew my eyebrows down. At least I knew how to ride and how to make a fire now. Did I really have to add dancing to that damn list too?
Shade leaned forward and, with lips brushing her ear, whispered something to her. She drew back and swatted his muscular chest with the back of her hand while a sultry smile spread across her features. I stared daggers at her.
“Fine!” I banged the half-empty glass down on the table. “Let’s dance then.”
Niadhir blinked like a startled bird at my violent outburst but composed himself quickly. After placing his crystal goblet on the white silk in a much calmer fashion, he held out his hand and gave me a satisfied smile. I slammed my palm onto his and dragged him towards Shade and Nelyssae.
“Storm,” the scholar said in a gentle voice. “In a dance, it is the man who leads.”
“I am not a follower. I am a leader.”
Niadhir drew back and stared at me as if I had just informed him that I liked running around the city naked during a full moon. Realizing that it had been the wrong reply, I gave my head a quick shake and transformed my features into an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry.” I smiled up at him. “I don’t know where that came from. Of course it’s the man who leads.”
The confused look stayed on his face for another moment but as soon as we reached the dancefloor, it disappeared and he started instructing me on how to stand and move in step with the music. He lost me about three sentences into the explanation but I nodded at the appropriate times anyway. I was sure I would figure it out regardless. I mean, compared to the complexities of breaking into a mansion, how hard could a little dancing be?
Very difficult, apparently. A startled yelp rang out as I twirled in the wrong direction and stumbled right into a lady in a voluminous silver dress. Nelyssae snickered behind her hand to my left. Ignoring her, I tried to catch up with the rest of the dancers and ran over to where Niadhir had disappeared to in the ever-moving line of people. Once I finally made it back, I tried again.
The crowd spun together and formed several smaller groups. Me and three other ladies ended up in a ring with our hands together in the middle, moving slowly around like the petals of a flower. One of them was Nelyssae. A haughty smirk dripped from her lips as she flicked eyes brimming with superiority over my halting steps. I narrowed my eyes at her but before I could spit out the curses brewing on my tongue, the dancers shifted again and formed new groups of four.
Sprinting to the one with only three in it, I managed to rejoin them before we were left too far behind. A star elf in a pure white dress with sharp lines met my gaze from across the interlocked hands.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Maesia said, her face stern and eyes hard. “This is not the place for you.”
Surprised, I simply stared at the strange elf I’d met in the library the other day. That time she had threatened me and now she was outright telling me that I had no place here.
“What the hell have I ever done to you?” I shot back.
Only silence met me. I shook my head as the group broke apart again. Two long lines formed. One had all the ladies and the other one all the men. Skidding to a halt in the space left for me, I barely managed to take my place before the whole row of ladies moved forward.
Niadhir gave me a proud smile as I got close. “You are doing well.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled as we touched hands before all the ladies backed away again.
Next to the scholar, Shade tore his eyes from Nelyssae and glanced at me. Amusement played over his lips. I sent him a murderous stare. If I’d had a knife at that moment, I would’ve thrown it at him. Damn assassin.
My foot stepped on something soft and slipped. The noise of fabric tearing sounded below me. I managed a panicked look down just before the train of the dress I’d accidentally stepped on was yanked away. The heavy dress I wore apparently wanted me to fall because it pulled me further off balance when it tipped to the side. Despite my arms flailing like a deranged windmill, I tumbled to the frosted glass floor in a heap of silver and white.
That treacherous skirt rustled in the air before flapping down on the floor. I closed my eyes. Humiliation burned through my whole body like wildfire. All around me, silence had fallen. I didn’t want to open my eyes to face the embarrassment, so for a moment I just stayed there, fervently praying to Nemanan that a chasm would open in the floor and swallow me.
Malicious giggles rang out somewhere above me. When I finally allowed my vision to return, I found Lady Nelyssae and her posse pointing and laughing at me. I shot to my feet.
“If I were you, I would shut my mouth right now,” I said in a voice laced with fury and madness. “Before anyone gets hurt.”
The smug ladies flinched and stopped snickering. Death and insanity tried to claw its way out of my soul and it was only by sheer force of will that I kept the darkness from exploding.
“By the Stars,” Niadhir said and stepped in front of me. “What is going on? Come with me.”
He placed a hand on my arm and led me from the disaster on the dancefloor. Since I was too mortified and pissed off to protest, I allowed him to lead me to an unoccupied table by the wall. Yanking out a chair, I dropped into it. The delicate wooden thing creaked in distress at being handled in such a rough way.
Niadhir lowered himself into the one next to me and placed a soft hand on my arm. “What happened?”
“I stepped on a damn dress and fell over,” I muttered and crossed my arms. “Didn’t you see that?”
The dancing had resumed in the middle of the room, and for a moment only the breathtaking tunes of harps and violins sounded. At last, Niadhir opened his mouth again.
“Are you alright?”
“Never better.” I nodded at the tables on the other side of the room. “Could use a drink, though.”
He gave my arm a quick squeeze before rising. “Of course. I will be right back.”
While the polite scholar went in search of some much-needed alcohol, I tried desperately to mend my shattered self-esteem. I hadn’t thought it possible to feel even more out of place than I already did, but boy had I been wrong. Every day felt like I was part of a well-rehearsed play, only I was a last-minute stand-in from the bottom of the list and someone had forgotten to actually give me the script so all I did was blunder in and out of every scene with no clue of what to say or do.
Before I had even arrived in this strange place, I had felt lost and now all I wanted to do was go to bed, pull the cover over my head, and hide from the world.
Insistent words from long ago stabbed into my brain. What do you want?
I gave myself a mental slap. Hiding? What the hell kind of weak loser talk was that? I shouldn’t be hiding. The world was the one that should be hiding from me.
As I watched Niadhir weave his way back towards me, I shook my head vigorously and slammed my mental armor back in place. Right now, I just needed to survive the night. Light from the candelabras glinted off the crystal goblets in the scholar’s hands. My mouth twisted into a wry smile. And the contents of those glasses would definitely help with that.
17.
Flower-scented winds whipped through my hair. I felt loads lighter. As soon as I’d gotten back to my room and closed it in Niadhir’s face, I had practically ripped off that ridiculous dress and those sparkly hairpins. After putting on the plainest clothes in the closet and pulling back my hair in a simple braid, I had kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the windowsill.
The cool night air against my skin was a blessing after the heat I’d endured in that ballroom packed with dancing people and lit candles. Elaran’s window had been left open so once I made it across the wall, I jumped right into his room.
He jerked back a little in surprise when I landed on the floor. The assassin leaning against the wall right next to the window, however, only twisted his head to look at me with a serious expression on his face.
“What’s this business about Storm Casters dying?” Shade said without preamble.
“With everything that’s happened tonight, that’s where you want to start?” After a confused shake of my head, I flicked a hand dismissively and clicked my tongue. “It’s none of your business.”
Taking a step forward, I aimed for the bed Elaran currently occupied but only made it that one stride before the assassin’s arm shot out in front of me.
“I asked you a question.”
“And I said it’s none of your business.” I shoved his arm away.
His hand snaked around my wrist and he whirled me around, trapping me against the wall instead. “It is my business. Our business. If you’re dying, I... we...” He trailed off before repeating, “It is our business.”
Tilting my head back, I stared into his intense black eyes before moving my gaze to Elaran. The wood elf watched me in silence. I blew out an irritated breath and crossed my arms.
“Apparently, I sold my soul to a demon when I was eleven in exchange for power. So there is that. But everyone who’s done that has ended up either killing themselves in a storm they created because they can’t control the demonic powers, or taking their own life because they accidentally killed someone they cared about.” I nodded at the assassin. “Like I almost did to you in Travelers’ Rest.” Glaring at him, I made as if to slink away. “Satisfied?”
The Master Assassin put a hand below my throat and pushed me back into the wall. “Not so fast.”
A range of emotions drifted across his handsome face. Most of them far too serious for my liking. I couldn’t handle a grave conversation about the implications of having sold my soul or the prospects of dying in some horrible way. Fortunately, whatever the assassin had seen in my face, he seemed to have understood that. Relief flooded through my chest when a teasing grin spread across his lips instead. Right now, I would take teasing over just about anything.
Shade’s black eyes glittered as he met my gaze. “Did you just admit that you care about me?”
“What? No. I...” I huffed and drew my eyebrows down. “I never said that.”
From atop the white covers, Elaran chuckled. “He’s got you pushed into a corner now, doesn’t he?”
Deciding to get out of that corner, literally and figuratively, I ducked under Shade’s arm and took refuge on the bed next to the amused elf. “You’re idiots. Both of you.”
The black-eyed assassin shot me another satisfied grin before striding over to the chair by the desk. It scraped against the floor as he dragged it into position and dropped into it.
“Queen Nimlithil said she had an alternative for you,” he picked up. “What’s that about?”
“Apparently, there’s a way to get rid of it.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not seriously considering it, are you?”
“No. I don’t know.” I let out a long exhale. “What matters is getting out of here. Until then, I can’t spare the brain capacity to think about it.” Shade looked like he was about to protest so I changed the subject before he could. “They know who we are.”
The mattress bounced up and down underneath me as Elaran shifted his weight.
“Thanks to me, it seems.” He shook his head, discomfort clear on his face. “How could I have let that slip?”
“Yeah it’s not like you were drugged or anything.” Picking up a fluffy white pillow, I threw it at him. “Let it go. The important thing is, we now know they know and that they’re keeping us here for a reason.”
“You’re saying we didn’t know we were here for a reason before that?” Shade arched an eyebrow at me.
I groaned and scowled at him. “Shut up. I’m saying that we now have confirmation they’re up to something more than just rescuing wayward souls, as they call it.”
Shade tipped his head to the right and studied me for a moment. “Fair enough.”
Air full of jasmine and roses blew in through the window, making the white curtains flutter. Elaran leaned forward.
“We also found out that Princess Illeasia had nothing to do with the drugged interrogation,” he said.
“We don’t know that.” I frowned at him. “Just because the queen said she was the one who asked you stuff doesn’t mean the princess wasn’t involved.”
The auburn-haired archer ran a hand over his tight side-braid. “I don’t think she was. She’s... different. There’s no dishonesty or deception in her eyes. I don’t think she’s involved in whatever it is that her mother is doing. She’s just... her.”
“If you say so.” I rolled my eyes. “Just be careful when–”
“Of course I’m careful,” he cut off. “It’s not like I’m going to go tell her all our plans or anything. I’m just saying that she’s probably not a threat.”
Holding up my hands, I signaled that I didn’t want to argue. Shade drummed his fingers on the desk next to him.
“We need to find the end of that chute,” the assassin said. “The one we found today might’ve been useless because it’s in a different part of the castle, but it did confirm that they use them for something and that they’re locked by latches from the outside.” He moved calculating eyes between us. “So keep working on the princess and Niadhir and get them to take you to different parts of the building so we can find it.”
“So you can keep putting your lips to Nelyssae’s ear while she giggles and touches your chest.” I flicked my eyes to the ceiling and let out a dry chuckle.
“Yes. Same as you.”
I huffed. “I haven’t been doing anything like that.”
“No?” Strange emotions blew across Shade’s face. “Who was that clinging to his arm all evening, dancing and sipping sparkling wine? That wasn’t you?”
“It’s not the same thing!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Elaran cut in and heaved an exasperated sigh. “Enough with the squabbling. It’s not getting us anywhere.”
The assassin and I threw one last glare at each other before admitting that the elf was right and getting back on topic.
“Fine,” I muttered. “We keep working on our targets. In whatever way we prefer,” I added with a pointed look in Shade’s direction.
He shook his head at me before filling in, “Until we find the end of the chute.”
The mattress shifted under me as I placed my hands on it and pushed off. “Alright, plan settled. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go forget this day ever happened and pray to Nemanan that I never have to do anything like it ever again.” Grabbing a hold of the window frame, I climbed back into the night while calling over my shoulder, “Good talk.”
Cicadas sang far below me while I made my way back to my own room. Now all I had to do was keep playing nice and pour honeyed words into Niadhir’s ear until he showed me around the castle. Getting people to do what I want would’ve been so much easier if I’d had my knives. A dull pang hit me when I thought about my trusted tools and clothes that were still missing. Without them, I felt even less like me. And I was forced to persuade people by other means. Like charming them. I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes. Sweet-talking. Oh joy. My specialty.
18.
Weeks dragged on without a single suspicious metal plate in sight. By feigning an interest in architecture, just as I had planned, I had gotten the unsuspecting Niadhir to show me a lot of strange rooms. Shade and Elaran had done the same and every night we’d met in the elf’s room and filled in our map until we concluded that our combined efforts had combed this whole wing. And still no trace of a flower-stamped metal p
late that would signify the end of the chute.
“What are you thinking about?”
How my escape plan has been entirely fruitless so far. But instead of voicing that out loud, I gave Niadhir a small smile. “Oh, nothing.”
As I stabbed the embroidery needle into the white cloth again, I wondered briefly if anyone had ever actually answered that question honestly. If someone wanted to share what they were thinking, they’d already be speaking, wouldn’t they?
The scholar smiled back at me before pushing a book out of the way to make room for another. I glanced at the half-empty library around us. Everyone else was occupied elsewhere and only the books in the white wooden shelves around us took note of our conversation. If I was going to make a move, it had to be now.
Since Elaran, Shade, and I had searched this entire wing more than once, we had come to the conclusion that the end of the chute had to be outside the castle. The only problem was of course getting out to check. I had tried hinting to Niadhir that I wanted to go outside but had been wholly unsuccessful. For all his intelligence, he was terrible at taking a hint. Now I had committed to redoubling my efforts which involved something truly horrible. Flirting.
Placing my ugly embroidery of a flower on the table, I leaned forward. “Actually, I was thinking about something.”
Niadhir looked up from his book. “Oh?”
I had absolutely no idea how to be seductive so I just tried to copy the things I’d seen Nelyssae do to Shade at the numerous balls and banquets we had attended these past weeks. While twirling my hair with one hand, I placed the other on his arm and gave him what I hoped was a sultry smile.
“I would love to go outside and spend a day in town with you.”
He blinked at me in surprise. “You would?”
The giggle I pressed out sounded fake even to my own ears. Stifling a cringe, I instead gave him a soft swat with the back of my hand. “Of course I would. Just you and me, strolling around your gorgeous city, looking at the architectural wonders and drinking in the sunlight.”
A Storm of Glass and Stars (The Oncoming Storm Book 4) Page 11