Gleam (The Plated Prisoner Series Book 3)

by Raven Kennedy

  Grump shakes his head as I approach. “Can’t let you in, my lady.”

  “I know it’s late, I just need to speak with—”

  “None of the saddles are here anyway, Miss,” Patch tells me.

  All my bluster blows out of me in a puff of disappointment. “Where are they?”

  Patch scratches his jaw absently, his golden armor gleaming despite the darkness of the corridor. “In town. King’s orders. They were sent to...entertain some of Third Kingdom’s visiting dignitaries.”

  My shoulders crumple in misfortune. “Okay. Sorry to disturb,” I murmur before turning away.

  Behind me, the guards have an exchange, and when I hear shuffled footsteps, I look over my shoulder to find that Grump is following me. When I frown at him, he says, “You shouldn’t be walking at this time of night alone. I’m surprised the king doesn’t have a whole legion with you at all times.”

  My smile is tight. “He’s happy to give me a bit more freedom these days,” I say before I turn back around, hoping like hell he won’t report this to Midas and find out just how badly I’m lying. However, I’m not actually breaking the rule. It’s still dark out, which means I’m allowed out of my rooms so long as I have a guard...which I now do. Sneaking out part notwithstanding.

  “Shall I bring you back to your rooms?”

  I shake my head. “I need to speak with someone.”

  “At this hour?” he asks.

  “The king asked me to tell her something.”

  That shuts him up, which is good, because my nerves are frazzled enough as it is. I was hoping I could’ve spoken with Rissa about this, but since she’s not here, I have no choice but to go directly to Mist.

  Keeping my steps quiet, I try to tamp down my driving need to run. I don’t like this castle at night. It makes the glassed-in walls cast off a dark reflection of my silhouette, like a specter to mirror my movements in sinister intent. No matter how much I try to brush it off, I swear I can still hear the disembodied voices of Lu and me replaying in my head.

  Remembering the way to Mist’s rooms is a little bit difficult, but I somehow manage it without getting lost. It’s just my luck too, considering I’m dreading the confrontation.

  There’s one guard walking his rounds on her corridor, but he doesn’t try to intercept us once he notices me. Stopping in front of her door, I take a deep breath and try to steel my spine. I’m not sure it works.

  Not wanting to prolong this, I raise my hand and rap on the wooden door. Once. Twice. By the third time, the guards are looking at me like I’m crazy, but I don’t stop. I just keep knocking persistently, louder and louder, my mind racing.

  When I’m practically pounding on it with my fist and Mist still doesn’t answer the door, I start to really panic.

  Did Queen Kaila already do something to her? Is she lying in there right now, body already growing cold?

  The door suddenly wrenches open. “Mist,” I breathe out, relief like a crashing wave that surges past me.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she snarls, hastily closing her robe as she ties a knot at the front, clearly disheveled.

  “I need to speak with you.”

  Her eyes have dark circles beneath them, and I’ve obviously pulled her right out of her bed, a fact which has not softened her toward me at all. “Get away from my door! It’s the middle of the damn night, and even if it wasn’t, you’re the last person I’d ever want to see.”

  Grump clears his throat at the awkward exchange, but I can’t let her deter me.

  “Look, I know you don’t like me, but I have to talk to you, it’s important.”

  She looks over my shoulder to the men. “Get her away from me. These are my personal chambers that the king gave me, and I don’t want her here.”

  Her guard steps forward, not close enough to touch me, but he gives me a beseeching look. “My lady...”

  Nope. I didn’t get this far just to get scolded away. Gritting my teeth, I grip Mist’s arm and push myself inside, dragging her with me before anyone can react. I slam the door shut on the guards, throw the lock in place, and then lean against the wood with my arms crossed.

  “Who do you think you are?” Mist shouts in my face with outrage.

  She tries to get past me to unlock the door, but I shift over to block it. “Just listen for two minutes and I’ll leave.”

  “Fuck you, cunt!” she yells furiously, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

  Panic spikes in my gut, and I look around, as if Queen Kaila is lurking somewhere, ready to steal more words. “Keep your voice down!”

  Mist must hear the frenzy jumping in my tone, because she actually shuts up with her screaming. “Why should I?”

  “Because these walls have ears, and trust me when I say, you don’t want the queen to hear you.”

  A frown hooks her lips downward, the shadows of the dark room broken up only by the low-burning fire. Taking advantage of the way I’ve caught her off guard, I decide to just blurt out what I have to say, though I keep my voice quiet. I don’t want the guards to hear, and I have no idea how far the queen’s powers can reach. “Your life is in danger, Mist. Queen Kaila is going to have you killed.”

  She blinks and backs up a step, confusion warring with the anger that mottles her face. “What?”

  “It’s true,” I say, taking a step away from the door. “Malina is dead, and Midas is planning on remarrying the queen of Third Kingdom so that he can have control over yet another kingdom. Queen Kaila doesn’t like competition, and she definitely doesn’t like the idea of you bearing his child.”

  Mist places her hand on her slightly rounded belly, though her dark eyes narrow in suspicion, their almond shape tightening. “You woke me up to spew lies?”

  “I’m not lying,” I insist, begging her to see the truth of my words right there on my open expression. “The queen spoke to me tonight, threatened me, and told me in not so many words that she’s going to make sure you aren’t an issue.”

  Mist scoffs before her hand comes up to fiddle with the tie of her robe. “Sure she did.”

  “It’s the truth. You need to leave.”

  A look of pure contempt crosses her face. “So that’s your play? Trying to scare me into leaving?” She shakes her head, the fury returning in twin patches of red on her cheeks. “Well, it’s not going to work. You’re so caught up in your jealousy, hating that I have special treatment, that I have the king’s heir, that you’re willing to try and trick a pregnant woman?” She sneers, looking me up and down with hatred. “You’re pathetic.”

  “I’m trying to save your life,” I hiss.

  She laughs, but the sound isn’t humorous or even pleasant. It grates against the cold air of her sitting room, dark claws of catty dislike to leave me in stung shreds.

  “Get out.”

  “Mist—”

  “I said, get out!” she screams, the violent lash making me jolt backward, and the guards start to knock heavily on the door behind me. Great Divine, I really hope Queen Kaila and her power is nowhere nearby.

  “Fine, I’ll go,” I say placatingly, hands raised.

  Mist is shaking all over, the color on her cheeks now moved down to her neck and chest. I don’t want to cause her distress, and I’m obviously not getting through to her.

  But I don’t care how much she loathes me, I don’t want her or her baby to be killed. If it were anyone else telling her this, she might listen, but she’s too blinded by her hatred of me.

  With a defeated sigh, I turn around and grip the lock, but before I turn it, I speak quietly, hoping for one more chance at getting through to her. “I know you hate me, and that’s okay. But I swear to you, Mist, I’m telling the truth. I don’t want you or your baby to be hurt. Talk to Rissa. She’ll tell you that you can trust me. I can get you out where you’ll be safe, but I’ll need your answer at the ball.”

  I glance over my shoulder at her, and I catch the tai
l-end of doubt flashing through her expression.

  “A new queen isn’t going to tolerate a bastard born from another woman, Mist,” I say gently. “Just...please. Talk to Rissa. Consider it for your baby’s sake.”

  “Even if it were true, which I don’t believe it is, Midas would never—”

  “You can’t trust Midas,” I snap vehemently. “He’s always going to choose the best option for himself to get ahead, and with a new wife, you’re no longer it.”

  She knots her arms in front of her defensively, but despite the aggravated posture, I can see the anxiety in the tightness of her eyes, in the way her toes dig into the flooring. “Why would you even tell me this?”

  My shoulder lifts in a shrug. “We saddles should stick together, right?” I say it lightly, but inside, it’s a deep-seated, melancholic thought. If only we could stop competing, stop the petty jealousies, stop letting men pit us against one another. Imagine what women could do if we started being loyal to each other?

  Mist’s lips press into a thin line, and an indiscernible look crosses her face before she jerks her chin up. “Leave.”

  Giving her a stiff nod, I turn around and flip the lock. I have no idea if she’s actually going to talk to Rissa, but if I managed to put even a sliver of doubt in her mind, then it was worth it. At the very least, I hope that she looks over her shoulder.

  With the click of the lock, the door is swung open, and I walk out past the guards, ignoring their disapproving looks.

  On the way back to my rooms, emotional and mental exhaustion crushes me from the inside out, until my spinning mind and curdling heart have made my temples throb and my eyes burn. The jarring impact of this night is like being stuck under the brutish steps of a burden, heels driven down to squash me under its weight.

  When we get to my corridor, Scofield and Lowe are the ones stationed outside my door, and their eyes widen at the sight of me.

  “My lady! How... You were in your rooms all day and night,” Scofield says with clear distress, pulling at his light brown hair in a nervous gesture.

  I can’t answer him. I don’t have the mental capacity right now to try to come up with a plausible lie, nor the emotional availability to care to.

  Instead, I move past him without a word and close the door, locking it behind me, and then I fall into the bed, the forbidding disquiet in my chest taking up too much space.

  I need sleep, and then first thing in the morning, I need to speak to Rissa. Then I can meet Slade at the library and tell him everything. Together, we can get a handle on the situation with Mist, on Queen Kaila, and hopefully, Lu will also have found Digby.

  Despite those rational thoughts though, anxiety flutters through my system like provoked wasps stinging up my insides, because I’m not sure if I’ve done enough.

  I fall into a troubled sleep, praying to the goddesses, but it’s a silent voice to a starless sky, and when have they ever listened to me, anyway?

  Chapter 40

  AUREN

  I wake with a determination steeped into my bones.

  Midas, Digby, Mist, Rissa, Kaila. These obstacles piled up on top of me last night, but sleep and restless thought did one good thing for me. It stoked my anger and my resolution enough to drive away the anxiousness.

  I’m too close to getting what I want to mess it up now.

  Getting up from bed, I tromp over to the curtains and pull them open. I’m greeted by a milky morning, six inches of snow already piled up on the floor.

  I dress hurriedly, with the backdrop of the baying dogs coming from outside. Wearing a simple silk gown, corset snapped impatiently, boots and gloves and cloak secured, I rush outside to the balcony, determined to sneak out so I can try to talk to Rissa again. It can’t wait until nightfall.

  Yet when my hands come down to grip the railing, my body jolts to a stop. There’s a guard standing just below, gold plated armor subdued beneath flakes of snow. He’s walking along the front of the dogs’ pen, stance relaxed as he strolls along, but my stomach drops.

  Backing away slowly, my steps take me to the balcony door, and I rush inside, heart suddenly racing with apprehension.

  Midas knows I’ve snuck out. There’s no other explanation. I’m not sure what the implications of this are, but the grounds below my balcony have never been guarded before, so I know it’s to ensure I stay inside. Honestly, I’ve been careless. Last night, I was so concerned with getting to Rissa and Mist that I didn’t think about myself.

  Not good. This is not good at all.

  With my lips pressed into a thin line, my eyes flick to my nightstand, and an idea sparks to life. If I can’t go to Rissa, I’ll just have to get Rissa to come to me.

  The fire hasn’t yet been lit, but I ignore the chill as I walk over and yank open the nightstand drawer. There are a few sheets of parchment inside, and I grab them along with a quill and ink, and hastily scrawl a note for her.

  I don’t dare say too much. Everything I write will undoubtedly be relayed to Midas, so I simply invite her to come up to my rooms for tea. A seemingly innocent request, but Rissa will know something is amiss.

  I’ll tell her about the offer to leave with me in Fourth’s army, and I’ll get her to convince Mist to come with us. I have a feeling I’m going to need to give her a hell of a lot of gold.

  Meanwhile, Lu will find Digby, and then we’ll get out of here.

  I’ll finally be free.

  Heading over to my bedroom door, I open it, startling Scofield and Lowe, who are sitting just outside. I just can’t shake these two.

  “My lady, did you need something?” Scofield asks.

  With the message folded between my fingers, I pass him the paper. “Can you have this delivered to the royal saddle wing? It’s for Rissa.”

  His light brown eyes flick down to my outstretched hand for a second before I hear, “I’ll take that.”

  My head turns at Midas’s voice, and the guards practically jump out of the way. He grabs the letter before I can react, reading it with a skim of his gaze.

  “No need,” he says, folding it back up and slipping it into the pocket of his golden trousers. “You won’t be here for tea today, Precious.”

  My stomach bottoms out, but he comes inside before I can reply, and I instinctually move out of the way, not wanting to be anywhere near him. The golden buttons on his tunic are shaped like bells, filigree thread reaching up toward his collar and down each cuff. He’s immaculate as always, smooth jaw and pressed pants, shoes so shiny that they reflect the room.

  The base of my ribbons lift like hackles, and when he motions to someone behind him, I watch as a maid comes inside and heads right for the fireplace, setting it alight with fresh wood and kindling.

  I stay right where I am, back facing the wall next to the door, my eyes not leaving him as he saunters around, probably noting whatever else I’ve gilded in this room since he was last here.

  The corporeal anger borne beneath my ribs makes her presence known once again, the creature bloomed from soured soil tilled in the resentment of my soul. I’d had a reprieve for a while—distracted from my fury by Slade’s presence, but now she’s back in full force.

  I haven’t seen Midas since he struck me.

  My cheek may be healed, but the mark he left on me doesn’t show on my skin. It’s soaked in, saturated far below, twined to the crevices of my contained fury.

  I look at him and think, do you know? Do you know that Queen Kaila intends to kill the woman carrying your child? Do you even care? Did you give Kaila your blessing?

  The sad truth of it is, he probably did. Why settle for a bastard child from a saddle when you can have a legitimate heir from a young queen?

  When the maid leaves and I’m alone with him, Midas finally looks at me, smoothing a hand over his honeyed locks. His brown gaze flicks to my cheek, relief there for one second before it’s gone again.

  I was right about him avoiding me. He didn’t want to
see the guilt of his actions tarnished on my face.

  “How are you, Precious?”

  I’d be really fucking good if he never called me that again.

  “Fine.” Everything about my posture is stiff, unable to fake any sort of pleasantness.

  There’s a hesitancy in his demeanor, but it’s not him trying to tread carefully. It’s something else. Something I can’t quite pinpoint.

  He gives a sharp nod. “I apologize for not being more attentive. I’ve been very busy, gone most every day to meet with Queen Kaila or make appearances in the city or deal with my advisors and the prince. Fifth and Sixth Kingdoms have needed my attention as well as a firm hand.”

  I swipe a finger along my cheekbone. “Well, I think it’s safe to say you definitely have the firm hand perfected.”

  He sucks in a breath, jaw tightening, but just as quickly, he exhales out the anger, shaking his head before he shoves his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry. You know I am. I’ve been riddled with guilt since that night.”

  “Guilt doesn’t assuage the guilty.”

  The narrowing of his eyes precedes his brows pulling in, a line divided to separate the charm on his face from the true nature beneath. He opens his mouth like he’s going to spout back something combative to douse me with, but instead, he closes it again and seems to reconsider.

  I keep waiting for him to tell me about the betrothal to Queen Kaila, for him to inform me of Malina’s death.

  But he does neither.

  I used to think he confided in me, that our murmured conversations late at night in the privacy of my cage were something special. Yet I see now that he only told me things when it served a purpose, a manipulation. A way to steer the reins he trussed around his gold-touched saddle.

  “The ball is tomorrow night,” Midas reminds me as he strolls leisurely over to the fireplace and lets his hand rest on the mantle. “I would like you to come with me today and add some finishing touches around the castle.”

  Of course that’s why he’s here. It’s not really to apologize. He just needs my power. I probably should be grateful for the reprieve I had from him for so many days, earned by the repercussions of his strike, but I wish it’d been even longer.