The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller

  Rhouben’s legs fidget under his well-tailored pants. “How are you going to do that? Everyone’s heard of the way he dismissed you in the entrance hall.”

  I toss my hair over my shoulder. “By appealing to his better nature. Don’t you worry about that. Do you remember your part?”

  Rhouben wipes his brow with a handkerchief. “I tell my father Melita said she wasn’t feeling well. I ask if he would like to accompany me to check on her in her rooms. I need to act as though I’m concerned for my bride-to-be.” He grimaces as he says the words.

  “You can do this,” I tell him. “But remember, timing is everything. The good news is your father and Melita are staying on the same floor. Still, you must wait until you have Orrin and me in your sights.”

  Rhouben lets out a deep breath as he pockets his handkerchief. “All right. I’m ready.”

  Rhouben leaves me to retrieve his father, the Viscount of Thoricus, and I put on my best smile before seeking out Orrin, a small bouquet of flowers in my hands. The last letter I received said he was turning in to his rooms for the evening.

  Good thing I now know right where they are.

  He answers after two knocks. The earl is still dressed, and his face falls upon seeing me.

  “Lady Stathos, I don’t want to see you.” He starts to close the door in my face.

  “Lord Eliades, please wait a moment, won’t you? I have something I need to say.”

  He stops with the door cracked open only wide enough for his face to be visible. I take a deep breath. If this doesn’t work, I suppose I could always pull his bandit mask from my pocket and make him do what I need. But something tells me Orrin wouldn’t make a great actor.

  “I admire your good deeds greatly,” I start, careful not to wince at the outright lie. “I’ve been thinking about my actions of late and how I hurt you. I wish to change. No one is a more devout follower of the gods, and I can think of no man more righteous than yourself. I hoped you might be willing to help me change my character.” I try for a humble tone, but since I’ve no idea what that sounds like, I’m not so sure that I manage it.

  I relax as Orrin smiles, though faintly. “This is most admirable of you, Alessandra. May I call you Alessandra?”

  “Please do.”

  “The gods are always willing to forgive. It is mortals like myself who need more time to heed their example.”

  “It is I who am in need of an example,” I hurry to say. “Yours, in fact. Listen, I’ve always been at odds with Lady Xenakis.”

  “Why? She’s so delightful.”

  If one considers the sourness of a lemon delightful.

  “I wish to do something nice for her,” I continue, ignoring his question. “I’ve just learned that she’s retired early and is ill. I thought I might take these to her.” I lift up the flowers. “But I am not so sure I have the courage to go alone. Not after how terrible I’ve been to her in the past. Will you accompany me?”

  “You make it so impossible to say no to you.”

  I beam. “Thank you!”

  I put my arm in his before we take the stairs to the floor below.

  “Tell me of your latest business trip,” I say as we head down the corridor for Melita’s rooms. Orrin doesn’t even notice Rhouben standing outside his father’s door as he tells me lies of selling crops and tending to his duties as landlord of various tenants. I nod politely and offer a few appropriate responses.

  Rhouben immediately knocks on his father’s door as we round the corner out of sight. I hear the faint taps echoing behind us.

  When Melita’s room is finally in sight, I pause with Orrin outside of it.

  “Would you hold these for just a moment?”

  Orrin takes the bouquet without question, ever the gentleman.

  The corridor is far too quiet. Where is Rhouben? Perhaps his father is being difficult to coerce out of his room.

  “Aren’t you going to knock?” Orrin asks as we just stand there.

  “In just a moment.”

  Awkward silence fills the space.

  Orrin cocks his head. “What are we waiting for?”

  Where the hell is Rhouben? We cannot go in without knowing he’s right behind us.

  “I just need a moment to gather my courage.”

  Orrin nods in understanding. “Doing the right thing is not always easy. And being the bigger person, the first to reach out with kindness, takes great strength of character. You needn’t fear, though, Alessandra. Doing the right thing is never the wrong answer.”

  Orrin has an oddly twisted sense of right and wrong. He lies to me about his business trip. He steals from his peers. Are those not wrong?

  And then I hear it. Soft footsteps on the carpet and the deep baritone of male voices.

  Oh, thank the devils.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I needed to hear that. However, perhaps you wouldn’t mind entering the room first? Maybe I could follow your lead in this instance?”

  Sympathy alights in his eyes. “Of course.” He turns and taps three times on the door.

  “Come in!” calls Melita’s bright voice from within.

  Orrin lets himself into the room, and I continue walking down the corridor as the voices grow loud behind me.

  “The poor dear!” Rhouben’s father is saying. “Do you suppose we should have the cook send something up?”

  “Best to check on her first,” Rhouben says. “If it’s a stomachache, we don’t want to make things worse by sending up food.”

  “Quite right,” the viscount responds.

  I round the next corner as I hear the door to the room open.

  “What the devils!” the viscount booms. “Melita! What—what are you doing?” There’s a sound of shuffling feet.

  “I—I don’t know what’s happening.” That’s Orrin.

  “You were kissing my son’s fiancée! That’s what was happening.”

  A voice clears. “I’m sorry, Lord Thoricus,” Melita says. “I didn’t mean to disrespect you or your son.”

  “Oh, this is far past disrespectful. How dare you ruin yourself while engaged to my son! What would your father say? This is a horrid scandal, and we will have no part of it! I can’t believe you would tell him you were ill so you could meet up with your lover!”

  “I still don’t know what’s happening,” Orrin says. “I came to support Lady Stathos. Lady Xenakis just threw herself at me!”

  “Lady Stathos? Are you dallying with two promised women, then, Eliades? Shame on you,” Thoricus says. “And you, Melita? I can’t even imagine how disappointed your father will be. Come, Rhouben. Your engagement to Lady Xenakis is officially over.”

  And then the two men depart the way they came, Rhouben with far much more spring in his step, I imagine.

  “Are those flowers for me?” Melita asks.

  “Yes, but they’re not from me,” Orrin says. “They’re from Alessandra. She should be right out in the hall. I—I have to go.”

  I still can’t see anything from where I hide around the corner of the corridor, but the viscount must have left the door to Melita’s rooms open, allowing me to hear the voices of the two still inside.

  “No, we must talk,” Melita says. “I never knew you cared for me so! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Was it seeing me with Rhouben? Did it make you so jealous? Oh, Orrin you are one of the most handsome men at court! Of course I would choose you over Rhouben. Rhouben doesn’t care for me one whit.”

  “You are mistaken. I don’t even know your given name.”

  “But of course you do! You wrote it in your letter.”

  “My letter?”

  There’s a sound like paper unfolding.

  “It’s remarkably close to my handwriting and that’s my seal, but I’m afraid I didn’t write this.”

  “But of course you did!” Melita’s voice grows frantic.

  “I’m so sorry for your distress, but here.” I imagine him handing her the flowers. “I must go find Lady Stathos.”

/>   “Lady Stathos? Why would you bring her into this?”

  I take off down the corridor, making myself scarce before Orrin has a chance to discover me.

  * * *

  KALLIAS AND I HAD arranged for a late dinner that evening, due to a meeting he knew would run late.

  When I join him in the library, I don’t walk, I dance my way through the door, twirling my skirts after me.

  “Whatever are you doing?” Kallias wants to know.

  “I’m in an excellent mood tonight.”

  “I can see that.”

  I pause in my twirling to take note of Kallias and his big grin. “What?”

  “I’m in an excellent mood, too. We learned many things during tonight’s meeting. We’ve rounded up all the Pegain revolutionaries. They’re to be put to death first thing tomorrow. And we’ve found several peasants carrying the bandit’s stolen money. One of them is ready to talk! Though he doesn’t know the bandit by his true name, he can identify him by sight. All we need to do is have him take a look at all the nobles.”

  I laugh a little before pulling the mask from my pocket. “We don’t need to do that.”

  Kallias rises from his chair so fast it almost tips over. He startles Demodocus into taking a few steps to the side. The king strides over and takes the mask from my fingers.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “From Orrin’s room.”

  “Eliades?” Kallias says with disbelief. “This is the incriminating evidence you found? How could you not tell me straightaway?”

  “I made a promise to Rhouben. I told him I would get him out of his engagement with Melita, and I did. Now you are free to lock up Orrin.”

  Kallias is too pleased over the sight of the mask in his hands to give me any more grief over the timing. He fairly runs to the door and barks orders to throw Eliades into the dungeon until Kallias can come deal with him.

  When he returns to the table, Kallias holds up a glass of wine. “I think a toast is in order.”

  I find my own glass and lift it.

  “To you, Alessandra. May your wit never be used against me.”

  I laugh before tipping the contents of my glass into my mouth. “And to you, Your Majesty. To your fine leadership. This growing empire wouldn’t be what it is without you.”

  His eyes are on mine as he tips back his glass a second time. And something about that gaze, the way it drinks me in—it curls my toes within my slippers.

  But our celebrating is interrupted by a presence at the door.

  “Come in,” Kallias calls after a pause in which I think he seriously considered turning the intruder away.

  A servant enters with a platter held atop the fingertips of his right hand. He lowers it before me.

  “A letter for you, my lady.”

  I take the parchment and look to the handwriting spelling my name on the front. I do not recognize it.

  “I have no guesses as to whom it’s from. There’s no seal,” I tell Kallias as I read the note to myself.

  “What is it?” Kallias asks when he sees the look on my face.

  I know who is trying to kill the king. The assassin was a distraction. Something to occupy the king’s mind before the real attempt on his life is made. I cannot divulge the individual’s identity in a letter. They are much too powerful. If this note should be intercepted, I fear for my life. Suffice it to say, the king cannot trust his councilors.

  I’m told you are one of the few whom the king trusts. That is enough for me to trust you as well. Meet me at the address listed below in two nights’ time. I will find you then. Wear a flower in your hair, so I may know you.

  May the gods bless the king.

  “There’s no signature,” I say as I pass the note over to him.

  He must read it three times over before focusing on me again. Then he stands abruptly, rushes to the doorway, and calls back for the servant who delivered the letter.

  “Who gave this to you?” Kallias demands of him.

  “A guard at the palace’s entrance.”

  “Which guard?”

  The servant coils inward. “Couldn’t say, sire. They all wear hats. He didn’t look up. Your Majesty, I don’t think it would help. I doubt he was the one to initially deliver it. It could have gone through one of the groundsmen first and before that—”

  “Enough,” Kallias says. “I understand. Resume your duties.” He shuts the door after him and turns to me. “What do you make of it?”

  I take the note from him, looking over its contents again before answering. “Whoever wrote this letter knew I would show it to you.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “They praise you far too much. You are not well liked among your people. If it were a member of your nobility, he would just come to you himself.”

  Kallias bristles at the words, but I continue. “He or she hopes to lure you out. Either because it’s a trap to do you harm or because they wish to speak with you in person. Since they didn’t outright ask for your presence, I’m inclined to believe the former.”

  “They left too much up to coincidence for it to be a trap,” Kallias says.

  “Or they did their job well enough to make you think so.”

  “Either way, I’m going.”

  “You can’t go. Not if it’s an attempt on your life.”

  “I’ll go in disguise.”

  I eye the shadows swirling about his figure. “You cannot disguise those.”

  The shadows disappear in a heartbeat, and Kallias in all of his solid beauty stands before me. The difference really is astonishing.

  “And now you’re vulnerable to attack,” I point out.

  “Only if I’m recognized. I won’t be by the time I’m done.”

  I shake my head. “Don’t be stupid. If they see you with me—”

  “You intend to join me?” he asks, cutting off the rest of my sentence. A boyish hope lingers around his eyes. I don’t know if I can see it because they’re so bright without the shadows, or if it’s the first time he’s shown me such an expression.

  “Of course I’m going. I’m not letting you go alone to this—what is this address? Do you know it?”

  The hope is instantly replaced with a mischievous raise of his brows. “I know it. I’m rather shocked you don’t.”

  “What is it? A public place? A tavern of some sort?”

  “Not exactly. It’s a club. A private one. But I can get us in.”

  “If it’s private, how are we to get in without our identities being discovered?”

  “Leave that to me.” He thinks a moment. “I wonder why our contact wishes to meet you there. It’s a gentleman’s club.”

  “So I will stand out in a sea of men?”

  “Well, there are ladies there. They’re just not the kind who wear very much clothing.” He fades back into shadow, as though he’s trying to hide his expression. “Will that be a problem?”

  “Are you asking if I have a problem dressing like a harlot for a night?”

  “I wouldn’t have said it exactly that way, but yes.”

  An excuse to show off my best assets to Kallias?

  “How exactly would you say it?”

  “I would ask if you have any issue with letting men believe you to be a lady of the night.”

  I laugh lightly. “Will I be in disguise?”

  “Of course. Just in case our contact does know what you look like and is only trying to mislead you.”

  “Mislead us.”

  Kallias brushes away the comment with a hand. “In two nights’ time, we will be the ones doing the misleading.”

  CHAPTER

  21

  I have a sense of déjà vu when Kallias shows up in my rooms holding a dress. It was not long ago when Leandros was the one offering me a dress to enjoy a night of fun with him.

  Only tonight is far more likely to be a night of danger and deception.

  I hold out the garment so I can get a proper look at it. “Do I want to kno
w where you got this?”

  “It’s clean, if that’s what you’re worried about. Freshly washed.”

  “There’s more to it than I would have thought.”

  “I need your arms covered,” he explains. Without his shadows, we are at the highest risk of touching. Though I’m sure he will wear his own gloves, there can’t be any mistakes.

  “It won’t be a problem,” I say. “With this low neckline, no one will be looking at my arms.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Kallias waits outside for me while I lace up what little there is of the bodice. I can’t wear boots to hide my knife, so I find a way to tie the sheath into one of my garters. Since I can’t very well be seen leaving my quarters like this, I don a scarlet cape over the top of everything. With the way it clasps about my throat, the sides cover my cleavage and shoulders. No one will think anything of the absence of petticoats. I’m known to wear all kinds of oddities.

  When I find Kallias, he’s holding a red rose, the thorns already having been plucked from the stem. I hold out my hand for it.

  “It’s not for you,” he says.

  “But I’m supposed to wear a flower to mark myself.”

  “And that would put you in danger. I’ll give the flower to some girl at the club to draw our contact out. Then we’ll question him properly once we have the upper hand. I have men already canvassing the area. Dressed as civilians. Some are already stationed at the club discreetly.”

  “And what if your own men are in on the attempts made against your life?”

  “Then I suppose we’d best hope they can’t see through our disguises.” He pulls out a blond wig for me, curled ringlets bouncing every which way. Kallias helps me to secure the whole mess over the top of my head, tucking all the strands of my dark hair beneath it.

  For himself, a light brown wig and a slight beard, which he attaches with some sort of adhesive.

  “How do I look?” he asks.

  Actually, he looks a lot like Leandros now. The hair color and beard length are the same, though I doubt he would appreciate such a comment.

  “Less kingly,” I offer.